Skills Gap Analysis: University Graduates Employability

Skills Gap Analysis: University Graduates Employability Mr. Qais Mohammadi Mr. Mohammad Rafiq Mokhles Abstract This paper aims to identify the skills gap among the graduates of private universities in Kabul city. The study focuses on identifying the skills that are required of graduates by the employers; however, the universities do not instill such skills in their graduates of Management Sciences. It is evident that unemployment among the graduates is a matter of national concern, not only for the government, but also for the universities. The study will use a structured questionnaire to ask the employers and alumni of private universities, to identify the skills that the graduates lack, however are important to get a job in the market. Additionally, the paper will propose the top ten skills required of Management Sciences graduates in the job market, that has to be focused on in the universities. Introduction: The twenty first century brought with it technological advancements, increasing business demand and massive economic crisis that has forced many professions to be reinvented over and over again. Demanders all over the world are demanding greater levels of skills from their employees. Employees and newly graduated students in Afghanistan are also suffering from the existence of skills gap in finding their desired jobs. Basically, most of the researchers studying the skills gap in E-Business mainly discuss the deficiency in digital skills without examining if other interpersonal, cognitive, or self-awareness skills are also lacking, (al, 2019). Newly graduated students are mostly lacking in soft skills like, critical thinking ability, decision making, oral communication, team building, leadership, diversity management, multitasking, accountability, personal and work ethics, knowledge of the business, quantitative skills, application and use of technology, writing skills, resistance to change, embracing organizational culture and etc. the mentioned weaknesses among the newly graduated students can be because the old system curriculum thought in the universities of Afghanistan (public & private). Experts have tried to identify the reasons behind the existence of skills gap. They claim that megatrends such as technological development, globalization, automation, sophisticated customers, demographic change, and urbanization are transforming the world and the business landscape along with it (al, 2019). By skills gap it cannot be meant that all individuals are not having the same skills (critical thinking ability, decision making, oral communication, team building, leadership, diversity management, multitasking, accountability, personal and work ethics, knowledge of the business, quantitative skills, application and use of technology, writing skills, resistance to change, embracing organizational culture and etc.) because each discipline’s meaning varies from individual to individual (Muthy, 2019). Various researches were conducted on skills gap, one of which was published in 1990 is Work and Occupation. But most of them were focused from sociology view point. However, the importance of skills attracted attention of economics and psychology beside sociology after 1990. As a result, Communication is the factor the effects the effectiveness of individuals and organization (Muthy, 2019). It is expected of the readers to keep in mind at least two limitation, when basing the results of this study for their decision making. First of all, the researchers have identified and surveyed the more formal and established government organizations, non-government organizations, public enterprises, and private business for the purpose of this study. Because, the employers of small and micro enterprises (with less than 5 employees) may not be in demand of some of the skill, then the employers that were surveyed. The second, is that the results of this research are based on the perception of the employers, and the skills they think are important for the graduates, rather than the skills that are needed for the job. Literature Review The unemployment rate rises with the level of education, partly because youth with lower educational background come from lower income household and cannot afford to remain unemployed for long. This keeps labor productivity low. For youth who are better educated unemployment rates are linked to lack of technical and soft skills. Based on the findings of a research, (Suresh, 2015) the educated people unemployment rate in Afghanistan is 65% which is the highest compared to Pakistan, India, Bangladesh and Nepal. As stated by Seetha (al, 2019) Skills Gap and Upskilling; Isolating and Reducing the in MENA E-Business. Almost 50% of the employers surveyed admit that their workers would benefit from additional trainings and development. However, many firms lack in house training programs. As per a research conducted by (al, 2019) A skills mismatch in the work force occurs when the skills possessed and look for are different. Basically, most of the researchers studying the skills gap in E-Business mainly discuss the deficiency in digital skills without examining if other interpersonal, cognitive, or self-awareness skills are also lacking, (al, 2019) Based on a research (al, 2019), Skills gap has the potential to lower the company’s productivity level and increase the company’s cost. In addition, the skills gap reduces the company’s profit level and has an adverse effect on the company’s sustainability. (A study on assessment skills gap to enhance workforce performance, Manjunath; MB Shravan Dechaka (al, 2019). Among the kay findings of a research (National career match making firm grad staff; in a survey of 503 people which was conducted in Sep 2016, and entry level reciting tactics), regarding the obstacles that graduate students face in finding career opportunities were: I, Awareness, II, guideless not skilled or motivation, career service department not connecting with students. A survey which was conducted in Sri Lanka states that, current education and training system do not produce graduate to meet the requirements of the job. Many organizations and companies often complain about the difficulties of getting recent college and university’s graduates with the required skills and adequate trainings for available jobs (Kanter 2013). Because of some important causes which are; a, Poor communication skills of graduates. b, lack of learning how to learn new skills by students. c, lack of employer’s involvement in the process of curriculum development. d, companies don’t want to invest in training new employees.  Skills Gap: The American society for Training and development (ASTD) defines skill gap as gat between the current capability of organization and skills it needs to achieve its goals. Hence, based on the definition it can be observed that skills gap is the mismatch between the demanded labor force with specific skills and the actual supplied labor force with specific skills. Soft Skills: Concerned with the interpersonal characteristics and qualities of an individual for interaction with others in work environment (Lara Chaya et all, 2019). Communication Skills: Communication can be defined as the transmitting process of individual from individual-to-individual. Communication study is important for both organization and employees, because each activity needs either of the verbal or non-verbal communication. Technical Skills: To undertake a specific task appropriately is known as the technical skill. However Green, defines technical skill as the ability of one unit of labor effort to convert input in to output, and also states that minimum requirement of technical skill is needed to solve complex problem (Green 1989). Findings of different researches have proved that existence of only technical skills in labor cannot be guaranteeing improvement in the performance level of the labor, but the existence of soft skills have also been given the same degree of importance alongside existence of technical skills for the improvement of performance level employee and growth of the organization. Problem Solving Skills: Training employees for improving their problem-solving skills is the most effective practice by a matured organization. To face the uncertain consequences in business positively employees should have proper problem-solving skills, (Manjunath S, et all 2019). Decision Making Skills: Mostly problem solving and decision making are considered the same in work environment, but they are different, as the term suggests, problem solving begins with problem identification, whereas decision making skills are necessary for solving problems. In order to provide quality education and to equip graduates with the knowledge, skills, and attitude required of them in the job market, universities conduct market research in an attempt to look for the skills gap among the graduates. Based on their finding they later on offer and design curriculums and programs in a way to fill these gaps and meet the market demand. However, in Afghanistan other than market research, some other methods of designing curriculum and offering programs is very common, such as copying curriculum from other universities, following the market trends, and benchmarking curriculum. While, everyone of these methods may have its own advantages and dis-advantages, none of them could be as good as designing curriculum based on the need of employers. Because, at the end of the day, the employers are the one who are going to hire the graduates. Since, there are very few studies in Afghanistan that can serve the purpose, the current research paper will look at the skills gap that exists among the graduates of universities in Kabul. The current paper has identified the most required skills the employers believe graduates must have. While, the graduates of universities lack in Kabul. This paper will serve as a guide for the Ministry of Higher Education, public and private universities, students, and the education industry of Afghanistan to develop, reform, and offer quality higher education in the country. Literature Review As stated by Seetha (2014), ((2019), 2019) almost 50% of the employers surveyed admit that their workers would benefit from additional trainings and development. However, many firms lack in house training programs. As per a research conducted by Thomson ((2019), 2019) a skills mismatch in the work force occurs when the skills possessed and look for are different. Basically, most of the researchers studying the skills gap in E-Business mainly discuss the deficiency in digital skills without examining if other interpersonal, cognitive, or self-awareness skills are also lacking, ((2019), 2019)(Cassono, 2002, Petravo & claxton, 2005). Based on a research ((2019), 2019), Skills gap has the potential to lower the company’s productivity level and increase the company’s cost. In addition, the skills gap reduces the company’s profit level and has an adverse effect on the company’s sustainability. (A study on assessment skills gap to enhance workforce performance, Manjunath; MB Shravan Dechaka ((2019), 2019) BB33. Vol, IX, Issue IV, APRIL 2019). Among the kay findings of a research (National career match making firm grad staff; in a survey of 503 people which was conducted in Sep 2016, and entry level reciting tactics), regarding the obstacles that graduate students face in finding career opportunities were: I, Awareness, II, guideless not skilled or motivation, career service department not connecting with students. A survey which was conducted in Sri Lanka states that, current education and training system do not produce graduate to meet the job. Many organizations and companies often complain about the difficulties of getting recent college and university’s graduates with the required skills and adequate trainings for available jobs (Kanter 2013). Because of some important causes which are; Poor communication skills of graduates, lack of learning how to learn new skills by students, lack of employer’s involvement in the process of curriculum development, companies don’t want to invest in training new employees. Methodology Population The population pertaining to current study is all the employers and recent graduates of both public and private universities in Afghanistan. The researchers have segmented the employers based on the following three criteria: first of all, the employers based in Kabul city were surveyed. Secondly, the employers in both public and private sector were surveyed. Lastly, the employers of medium and large enterprises were surveyed. Since, the researchers are looking at the skills gap among the graduates of economics and management sciences, they have excluded the graduates of other degrees from the population. Additionally, to better understand the existence of skills gap among the graduates of universities, the researchers have excluded the graduates of top five universities of Afghanistan from their study. Because, these students would possess most of the skills needed in the job market. Top five universities in Afghanistan according to the Ministry of Higher Education (MoHE) are Kardan University, Kabul University, American University of Afghanistan, Kandahar University, and the Medical University of Kabul. Furthermore, the researchers have considered only undergraduate degree for their study. Recent graduates in this study means all those students who have graduated two years before the conduction of the study. Sample The researchers have taken two samples for the purpose of this study. The first sample was taken from the companies who had recruited the graduates of economics and management sciences of the targeted population. The size of the sample was 121 employers in various sectors, who had recruited fresh graduates in the current year or in the past year. However, only 110 of the questionnaires were properly filled, while 11 of the questionnaires were missing data points because they were filled by the employers who had not recruited fresh graduates in the past two years. The data was analyzed based on the 110 valid entries. Another sample was taken from the same companies where 96 graduates of economics and management sciences were working with these employers. The graduates had less than two years of work experience in the job market. The researchers have chosen convenient sampling technique a nonprobability sampling technique for both the samples. The list of employers was taken from universities in person or were derived from their website. Data Collection The researchers have used both primary and secondary data in the current paper. Secondary data was collected from websites, reports, and magazines produced by universities and MoHE. However, primary data was collected using two separate self-administered questionnaires for both of the samples. The questionnaires used both dichotomous and Likert scale questions. The employer’s questionnaire focused on finding out whether or not the fresh recruitments possessed the skills that the employers needed. While, the Graduate questionnaire focused on finding out what skills were the graduates lacking in the work place. To confirm the data, both the questionnaires asked about the existence of the same skills among the graduates. Data Analysis The researchers have used descriptive statistics to determine the level of agreement or disagreement on the availability of the skills among the graduates. Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) was used for data analysis. SPSS produced individual tables for each question of every questionnaire, which took a lot of space; therefore, the researchers created a summary table for every one of the questionnaires, to save pages. Table1: Have you employed any fresh graduates? Frequency Percent Valid Percent Cumulative Percent Valid In 2020 44 36.4 40.0 40.0 In 2019 66 54.5 60.0 100.0 Total 110 90.9 100.0 Missing System 11 9.1 Total 121 100.0 Source: SPSS Output The above table indicates that 40 percent of the employers had employed fresh graduates of the public and private universities in their organization. However, 60 percent had not employed fresh graduate in 2020, but still had graduates of universities as their employees in 2019. Table2: Employer’s Data Analysis Skills SDA% DA% Cumulative Percentage Universities have a strong curriculum 43.6 46.4 90.0 Universities equip graduates with Modernize Knowledge 60.0 39.1 99.1 Universities equip graduates with advanced and up to date Technical Knowledge 59.1 37.3 96.4 Fresh graduates have Practical Experience 49.1 42.7 91.8 Fresh graduates are English Language Proficient 43.6 50.0 93.6 Fresh graduates have the ability to Undertake Work 49.1 48.2 97.3 Fresh graduates are responsive to Market Needs 47.3 45.5 92.7 Universities equip graduates with Technical Writing Skills 42.2 50.5 92.7 Universities equip graduates with Practical Skills 48.2 44.5 92.7 Universities equip graduates with Research Skills 36.4 47.3 83.6 Universities equip graduates with Communication Skills 53.6 44.5 98.2 Universities equip graduates with Critical and Analytical Skills 40.0 51.8 91.8 Universities equip graduates with Interpersonal and Soft Skills 37.3 56.4 93.6 Source: Authors compilation Among the employers, 90 percent believe that public and private universities do not have a strong curriculum. However, only 10 percent of the employers believe that the universities do have a strong curriculum. Additionally, more than 99 percent of the employers believe that the university graduates do not have modernize knowledge. Similarly, more than 96 percent of the employers believe that the graduates of universities do not have advanced and up to date technical knowledge. However, 3.6 percent believe that the graduates of universities do have such knowledge. More than 91 percent of the employers either agree or strongly agree that the fresh graduates of the universities do not have practical experience. While only, a little more than 8 percent believe that the fresh university graduates do have practical experience. Among the surveyed employers more than 93 percent believe that the graduates of universities are not language proficient. On the contrary, only a little more than 6 percent believe that the university graduates are English language proficient. Among the employers, 97 percent either strongly agree or agree that the graduates of universities cannot undertake work. However, only 2.7 percent believe that they can undertake work. When the employers were asked whether the graduates of universities were responsive to the market needs. Almost 93 percent of the employers stated that the university graduates were not responsive to the market needs. However, only 7 percent of the graduates were responsive to market needs. More than 92 percent of the employers indicated that the graduates of university did not have technical writing skills. However, 7.7 percent believes that the graduates do have technical writing skills. Similarly, more than 92 percent of the employers believe that the university graduates do not have practical skills. However, only 7.3 percent of the employers believe that the graduates possess practical skills. Meanwhile, more than 83 percent of the employers believe that the university graduates do not possess research skills, while, only 16.3 percent of them believe that the graduates do possess research skills. Moreover, above 98 percent of the employers believe that the university graduates do not have communication skills. While, only 1.8 percent of them believe that the graduates do have communication skills. Meanwhile, close to 92 percent of the employers believe that the graduates do not have critical and analytical skills. However, 8.1 percent believe that the graduates have critical and analytical skills. Similarly, more than 93 percent of the employers believe that the graduates do not have interpersonal and soft skills. However, only 6.4 percent of the employers believe that the graduates do have the mentioned skills. Table3: Alumni Data Analysis Skills SA% A% Cumulative Percent Your Degree Program has equipped you with Modernize Knowledge 8.3 87.5 95.8 Your Degree Program has equipped you with Advanced and up to date Technical Knowledge 20.8 75.0 95.8 Your Program has instilled Practical Experience to Prepare You for The Job Market 4.1 12.5 16.6 English Language Proficiency 25.0 50.0 75.0 Your Degree Program has equipped you with the Ability to Undertake Work 12.5 54.2 66.7 Your Degree Program prepared you to be Responsive to Market Needs 8.3 70.8 79.2 Your Degree Program has equipped you with Technical writing skills 20.8 41.7 62.5 Your Degree Program has equipped you with Practical Skills 20.8 54.2 75.0 Your Degree Program has equipped you with Research Skills 16.7 37.5 54.2 Your Degree Program has equipped you with Communication Skills 37.5 37.5 75.0 Your Degree Program has equipped you with Critical and Analytical Skills 20.8 54.2 75.0 Your Degree Program has equipped you with Interpersonal and soft skills 25.0 54.2 79.2 Source: Authors compilation Table 3 indicates that most of the employees, who were working in the same organization where the employer’s data was collected, had a huge dis-agreement with the perception of their employers. The table 3 shows that most of the employees, unlike their employers, believe that they have the skills required for the job market. For example, more than 95 percent of the employees believe that they have been equipped with modernize and advanced technical knowledge. Similarly, more than 75 percent of the employees believe that they have been equipped with interpersonal and soft skills, critical and analytical skills, communication skills, practical skills, and English language skills. In addition to that, close to 80 percent of the employees believe that they are responsive to the needs of market. Given the interpretation above, the researchers found out that there was a huge difference between the perspective of employers and their employees about the skills and competencies of the later. Therefore, the researchers conducted follow up interview with the surveyed employees of the companies. The results of the interview indicated that the employers were not providing feedback to their fresh employees on their performances. Therefore, the fresh employees believed that they were performing very well in the organization. The reason that the fresh employees believed that they were meeting the expectation of their employers was that the employers simply did not provide feedback to their fresh recruits. Discussion The data collected from the employers about the skills they required from the graduates, indicates that the current expectations of the employers are not met by the university graduates. The university graduates simply, does not possess the skills that are required in the market. Therefore, most of the graduates may be left without employment. However, most of the job announcement websites are announcing jobs on a daily basis, there is still a wide range of unemployment among the graduates of universities in the country. In some cases, jobs are being re-announced more than once, because employers cannot find suitable employees for the position. The researchers deliberately took out the top five universities of Afghanistan from the data collection, which resulted in better highlighting the skills gap among the graduates. Obviously, the top universities of the country are going a further mile, in filling the skills gap in the market. However, to have better understood the skills gap, a majority of the universities were taken into consideration, rather than just a few tops, which could act as outliers, and distort the data. Similarly, the data gathered from the employees of the employers who were surveyed for the purpose of this research indicated completely different, and opposite results. The data gathered from the graduates suggested that they were, not only, meeting the expectation of their employers, but also, performing very well in the job environment. It is evident from the comparison of the variables from both the tables that there is a huge disagreement between the employers and their employees. While the employers believe their fresh recruits lack specific skills, the employees believe that they are doing great in the organization, and that they do possess all the skills that are required of them in the work place. To better understand the situation the researchers got curious and collected further data through interviewing the employed graduates on the phone. From the interviews, it was evident that the employers did not provide feedback to their fresh recruits on their assignment. The lack of communication between the fresh recruits and their employers about the performance of the former, had led to the false satisfaction among the fresh recruits. Given this new perspective made the data meaningful in the sense that the claim of the employers stands still. The employers have indicated that the graduates of the universities do not have some of the most important skills required in the 21st century. They have indicated that the most important skills such as communication skills, interpersonal skills, critical and analytical skills, ability to undertake work and meet the market needs has to be instilled into the graduates of universities to prepare them for the job market. Conclusion and Recommendations In short, the skills gap among the graduates of universities in Kabul is very high. The employers believe that the fresh graduates do not have the ability to undertake work, and cannot communicate their ideas. In other words, the employers are not satisfied with the abilities of the graduates at all. The employers are expecting the universities to do a better job in preparing the graduates for the job market. The researchers and the employers have the following recommendations to fill the skills gap among the graduates of universities in Kabul. Instead of designing the university curriculums based on the ideas of a few professors in a room, it has to be based on the data collected from employers, graduates, current students, and the professors. Where all of them indicate the expectations of the market, the modern skills and knowledge that is required, and the attitude that is expected of the students in the job market. Additionally, the courses should be designed to meet these expectations. The universities should revise their curriculum at a much faster pace, then they are doing now. Keeping with the advancement of the market and technology, it is highly recommended that the curriculums should be revised every three years. The curriculums of universities should not ignore anyone of the three important parts of curriculum: Knowledge, Skills, and Attitude. Actually, specific courses should be included in the curriculum to address all these three areas. Students should be exposed to practical activities rather than limiting undergraduate studies to classes. In other words, co-curricular and extra-curricular activities that can strengthen the practical skills and abilities of the students should be highly encouraged in the universities. Internships in the universities should be highly encouraged and should be an inseparable part of the undergraduate studies. Currently internships are mostly provided at the end of the degree, which by then is too to be useful. Internships, should actually, start at the beginning of undergraduate studies, where the students can learn theory and then practice them in the workplace, rather than learning all the theories in the beginning, and then practicing all of them at once, in the last semester of their studies. Thus, aspiring for experiential education. Experiential education should be the new norm in the universities, to impart practical skills in the graduates. The Ministry of Higher Education of Afghanistan is expected to ensure the practice of experiential learning in the universities and encourage universities to address the skills gap among the graduates by redesigning their curriculum. Students should be encouraged to become self-learners, not to limit their learning to the lectures and courses offered in the university.  Reference List Skills Gap and Upskilling; Isolating and Reducing the in MENA E-Business IBIMA Publishing Journal Human Resource Management Research, Vol, 2019, Article ID 519819, 9 Page, ISSN; 2166-0018, (WEF, 2014; Gaul, 2014; Thomson, 2009), Skills Gap and Upskilling; Isolating and Reducing the in MENA E-Business IBIMA Publishing Journal Human Resource Management Research, Vol, 2019, Article ID 519819, 9 Page, ISSN; 2166-0018, Skills Gap and Upskilling; Isolating and Reducing the in MENA E-Business IBIMA Publishing Journal Human Resource Management Research, Vol, 2019, Article ID 519819, 9 Page, ISSN; 2166-0018