Abstract:
The Research study was carried out with the aim of identify the employability skills
development in graduates in Faculty ofApplied Sciences. To achieve the objectives a
model of employability was introduced that can be used as a framework for working
with undergraduates to develop their employability, identify the perception of
employers concerning the employability skills of graduates, and graduates’ perception
of the employability skills that they possessed. The model was developed based on
existing research on employability skills and experience ofthe author. Inclusion ofthe
various factors to the model was also discussed and justified using existing research
work. The developed employability model consists of three principal variables
namely; personal skills, core skills and process skills. For each principal variable, sub
variables were identified and there were 16 sub variables in the model.
Due to the time limitation instead of longitudinal research, the study employed a
comparative study of two cross sectional samples of first year and final year
undergraduates from four universities. Size ofthe sample was 670 undergraduates and
110 employers. The study adopted a survey method and data were collected through
two sets of questionnaires with the aim of gauging undergraduates’ and employers’
perceptions on employability skills possession of applied science graduates.
The Results of this study revealed by being at the university, graduates developed
employability skills that are required to gain the employment. Furthermore, personal
skills are developed most at the university and process skills were the least developed
skills. The study disclosed the difference between employers and undergraduates’
perception for all 16 employability skills, where employer rated graduates much lower
than that of undergraduates. The results ofthe study also suggested that with different
age groups of employers the perception relating to the possession of employability
skills of graduates tend to differ. It is recommended the developed model of
employability to be applied for other graduates. Some recommendations and
suggestions for future research were highlighted.
