THE ISSUES OF MATCHING GRADUATES' COMPETENCIES TO INDUSTRY NEEDS IN A DIGITAL TECHNOLOGY ERA: A QUALITATIVE STUDY

Authors:

Joseph E. Kossi Assogbavi​

Prof(Dr. Dr.) Rajendra Parsad Gunputh

Dr. Eric Bindah

Dr. Koami A. Edoh

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UOM RW 2022

AGENDA

Introduction​

Background of the study

​The objective of the study

Literature review

Methodology

Findings​

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INTRODUCTION

The current context of the labor market, governed by the omnipresence of technological change, is leading to a reflection on the thorny question of the adequacy between training and employment, especially regarding the issues of matching graduates' competencies to industry needs in a digital technology era.

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BACKGROUND OF �THE STUDY

• Statistics in almost all countries reveal an increase in the unemployment rate, while year after year, graduates of all kinds leave training schools and universities.
• There is a qualifying gap between the realities of business and the skills acquired by graduates in many areas of education.

BACKGROUND OF �THE STUDY

• In Mauritius, for example, the current trend seems to favor the information and communication technology industry, which has become an essential engine of the country's economy with a contribution of 5.8% to GDP.

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• However, this industry employs only about 24,000 people with more than 850 companies operating in this sector.
• The human resource needs for this sector are still evident. Yet there is no shortage of graduates in the country

OBJECTIVE OF THE STUDY

• Mainly, this article analyses this problem by focusing on the reasons that explain the general lack of a high employability rate among young people with diplomas.

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• In a specifical point of view, it highlights the mismatching issue between graduates competencies and the IT industry needs.

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LITERATURE REVIEW

• According to Bratucu, and al.,(2017), one of the main challenges for higher institutions is the slow adaptation of the curricula to the transformations and innovations on the constantly changing and evolving labour market;

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• For Cai et al., 2017, another important issue of increasing the employability of future graduates is the university curriculum. In this respect, there are authors that propose a “conceptual idea of social partnership in the design of educational programs”, a partnership between universities and specialists from regional entities of labour market.

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LITERATURE REVIEW

• Referring to Fitriyanto & Pardjono (2019), many factors cause vocational school graduates to still not getting a job after graduating;

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• For Hanafi (2012), one of these factors is because there is an imbalance between the skills mastered by vocational high school graduates with the skills needed in the labor market, especially employability skills to maintain a job in various conditions and job requirements.

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METHODOLOGY

• This study has been addressed in a qualitative approach.
• The data collection was based on semi-structured interviews, which were made possible by a specially written interview guide.
• 11 persons have been interviewed. And their statements have been analysed and lead us to the findings as follow:

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FINDINGS

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Some of the interviewees' statements based on the questions in the interview guide are as follow:

Interviewed person 1: My first studies background is Graphic Designer; but for the fact that finding job in that sector was very difficult, I felt obliged to learn Computer Sciences. Now, I get employed based on my Competencies in Computer Sciences, specifically as a Web Designer and Developper;

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Interviewed person 2: I started studying Human Resources Management in a High Education Institution here in Mauritius. But, by prospecting the future in terms of the Labour market, I switched on Digital Humanities, which is a major giving me the opportunity to be adapted to the trend,

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FINDINGS

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Interviewed person 3: In order to increase your chance to get employed, you are called to have the required skills for your work before your Employer; Training based on these requirements may lead us to the majors with such realities. Everywhere nowadays, Digitalisation is the leitmotiv to the extent that those who haven’t these backgrounds are not easily adapted to the labor market,

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Interviewed person 4: Tasks have been perfomed manually until everything becomes Computational. For that purpose, it is compulsory to reskill yourself. And the good news is the fact there are so many Schools training people in these area.

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CONCLUSION

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• The presence of a mismatch between the graduates and the needs in the technology industry sector in Mauritius is a current reality. This forces some to retrain to adapt.

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• It also emerges that this study serves as a reflection on the future orientations of high school students or those who plan to study at university.

THANK YOU FOR YOUR KIND ATTENTION