Perspectives of Businesses and Employers on Graduate Attributes and Skill Development

Contents

Introduction        2

1.        Perspectives of businesses and employers on graduate attributes and skill development..        2

2.        The assessment of policy and current issues in Australian higher education        4

3.        Implications for changes and practices        6

Conclusion        7

References        8

Introduction

Along with the development of the society, there is an urgent need and pressure for higher education institutions to increase their accountability and accessibility in assessing the quality of teaching and learning as well as delivering significant progress with reference in graduate attributes. It means that students must know which things the labor market expect from them and what they can do as results of their studies. With this essence, graduate attributes in higher education are viewed as the combination of skills, knowledge, attitudes and values that “contribute much more to the profession in contemporary society and complex business environment” (Chalmers and Partridge, 2012). These shape the orientating framework for educational outcomes in higher education institutions through which their graduates are able to adapt the needs of business and labour market with significant qualifications and skills. The paper aims to create a comprehensive analysis towards the needs of business implying for the practices and changes in higher education in Australia to meet those needs in the next generation.

1. Perspectives of businesses and employers on graduate attributes and skill development

Understandably, from the perspectives of employers, graduate attributes are considered much more than simple “employability” (Banta et al, 2009). The concept is broader and more academic that refers to academic and career competencies that create values for both individuals and society (Kalfa & Taksa, 2015). some attributes expected that could gain favour in higher education institutions are critical thinking skills including analytical reason, problem-solving and reflective judgement; communication skills; management skills; leadership and teamwork as well as personal attributes including self-awareness, self-development, self-learning, self-reliance, flexibility, moral and social responsibility (Baporikar and Ali Shah, 2012). Those attributes are expected to increase and contribute much more to the sustainability of the graduate labour market due to the changing nature and structure of such the higher education market over years. Businesses and employers tend to develop their desires and expectation in choosing employees based on their attributes. According to this, Jones (2012) indicated that the contemporary society witnessed a significant change in labour market when the individual values and attributes could drive their career prospects and future development. This refers to the strong understanding of individual roles in contributing and building blocks for the sustainability of both organizations and the community.

Having the same idea, Rakesh, Pushpendra, and Mariam (2017) highlighted that all employers seek for valuable candidates who can support them in branding in the international market with their capabilities and knowledge. That not only refers to the values and attributes they have in the current situation but also embraces the need for continuous connection, learning and development to meet the change of the wide market (Oliver et al, 2014). Most of organization and businesses appreciate team skills, leadership, verbal communication and interpersonal skills are what they expect from their candidates (Baporikar and Ali Shah, 2012). According to this, there is an evidence that most of them try to find out innovative, creative and passionate individuals that can integrate their personal and individual values and competencies into the mutual expectation and outcomes of the organizations (Hill and Walkington, 2016). They also point out that there is still an identified gap between the graduate perceptions of skills and competencies and their identified expectation. For more details, Baporikar and Ali Shah (2012) argued that graduates tend to think that they can make them brighter and more outstanding in the mind of employers by higher grades while the employers’ values are to find out “more aspects related with personality and other personal qualities of young graduates”. That refers to the combination of content knowledge, interpersonal skills and the attitudes for continuous learning and development within the context of the organization.

In addition, the perspectives of businesses and stakeholders also value soft skills in the international market (Hill and Walkington, 2016). That demonstrates that businesses and the industry force less pressure on the performance of academic success and content knowledge. However, the gap between expectation and performance in the graduate labour market is obvious when it might be unrealistic to expect most of graduates can fulfil the requirements of the employers and the industry in a short time when there is a no connection between organizations, industries and universities to make the transfer process more successful and effective (Kalfa & Taksa, 2015).

One of the most important things businesses and stakeholders tend to desire and expect from the graduate labour market is that the graduates are the result of systematic assessment process and approaches (Kalfa & Taksa, 2015). In addition, they should have enough awareness of what they possessed and what they could contribute to the industry and the community (Harvey, 2005). That highlights the importance of the possible, effective and enviable performance measurement system within higher education environment in order to practical and effective assess the ability and skills of the students, thus ensure essential and wide-accepted skills for their graduates.

1. The assessment of policy and current issues in Australian higher education

Within Australian higher education, graduate attributes as well as the short-term learning outcomes are considered as drivers to introduce and practice measureable approaches and teaching methods. Attempts have been made to help those universities increase and improve the nature of the higher educational environment building significant contributions of graduates to the market and community (Australian Qualification Framework Council, 2010). These approaches and attempts refer to the process of “articulating of description of the employability skills of graduates, for example generic skills and graduate skills” (Oliver et al, 2011). Traditionally, employability skills of graduates reflect the skills, abilities and knowledge of graduates that are able to support them in converting disciplinary content knowledge into applicable practices and practical implementation in order to fulfil a high degree of completion of different contexts (Kalfa & Taksa, 2015).