Making graduates more employable
Business models require the right balance between technology, talent and the human connection
IT IS axiomatic to state that business models across all sectors of the economy are being fundamentally disrupted. From the pervasive use of exponential technologies, the rise of smart machines and artificial intelligence, shifting demographics, increased market transparency, limitless individual choices and client sophistication – to their structural impacts are clear to see.
The confluence of the foregoing factors is the key driver of the transformation of business models.
Amid this myriad of challenges facing modern businesses, one of the key challenges is to find the right balance of technology, talent and human connection. Participants in the labour market must, of necessity, possess in-demand skills, and importantly, a large appetite and inclination to learn new skills to become and stay employable in a meaningful and sustained manner throughout one’s career.
Helping the workforce adapt to this fast-changing world of work is the defining labour challenge of our time. Given the enormous responsibility that higher education carries in this context, responsible and responsive leadership is required from academic leaders and their institutions to build an enduring link between skills development, employability and enterprise development. Preparing students with a set of disciplinary skills in a particular degree is, at best, inadequate.
Besides aggressive workforce development and in the South African context in particular, where there is an alarming increase in the gap between the “haves” and “have nots”, we need to find meaningful and creative skills and enterprise-development solutions to draw in those who are not fully participating in the economy
Specifically, there is a serious mismatch and divergence in what employers are seeking in the candidates, in addition to qualifications and the actual skills candidates have. This issue of employability skills is particularly important for those who are already in low-productivity jobs in the workforce or students who have completed their education, but are unable to get a job. Improving the supply of educated people for employability requires more than just qualifications.
A crucial element for business and educational leaders, therefore, is to align workplace needs with higher education preparation systems to promote student success in a career after graduation, rather than simply focusing on traditional academic achievements or grades. Attending a higher education institution and becoming career-ready often require more from students than simply performing well academically.
As higher education institutions seek to improve graduate employability, they have also placed importance on the development of the next generation of entrepreneurs. While the debate continues on the efficacy of entrepreneurship education, the literature has acknowledged employability and entrepreneurship as complementary skills. For example, in a competitive job market, the importance of an entrepreneurial spirit, flexibility, and an eagerness to achieve results cannot be over emphasised.
Education, therefore acts as an indicator or signal of abilities and skills. Individuals invest time and money in education in order to “signal” to employers that they possess the requisite skills, lessening the perceived risk an employer feels during the hiring process. Within this context, education itself is a proxy for ability rather than a process through which ability is developed.
Consequently, this new impetus in higher education institutions has led to the development of strategies directed at enhancing graduates’ employability skills including soft skills, introducing new courses, modifying existing courses, and offering work experience opportunities.
Entrepreneurship education therefore is concerned with supporting learners to develop a skills set that enables them to look beyond their disciplinary expertise, identify connections across commerce and culture, and effectively pursing unique and innovative opportunities. Such skills are applicable to any employment situation or occupational sector and those necessary to build a successful enterprise.
Research has shown that enterprising students and graduates are generally regarded as being more employable than those without enterprise skills. Since many of the enterprise skills can be regarded as entrepreneurial behaviours, this would suggest that students with a higher entrepreneurial spirit would be more enterprising, more employable, and consequently more likely to obtain higher-level graduate employment.
The solution for unemployment lies, to a large extent, in the creation of institutions which innovate at the intersection of the 3Es, namely, education, employability and entrepreneurship.
Policymakers, parents, employers and students are looking for something that is part higher education, part skills centre and part employment exchange.
Higher education institutions will need to continually renew and adapt their strategies so that they can continue to work towards meaningful educational outcomes and impact on one hand, while radically revising and developing curricula for a different and uncertain future on the other.
Undoubtedly, the countering forces will be strong, and the desire for protectionism, conformity to old norms of predictability and familiarity will cause significant tensions. However, given the defining challenges of our time, the global business environment, labour markets and indeed students will pin their hopes on academia that must have brave leaders, with bold ideas. Leaders need to ensure that the intersection between education, employability and entrepreneurship is stronger than ever.
Ahmed Shaikh is a senior academic and managing director at Regent Business School. He writes in his personal capacity