The new buzz word in Indian education is 'employability'. With slowing admissions because of both overcapacity and poor value to students, those in education are being told repeatedly that most graduates are not employable and that until the education sector is able to produce employable graduates, students will find it difficult to transition into careers. I have not checked it, however I am sure there are numerous definitions for the term 'employability'.
There seems to be no clarity at a functional level as to what 'employability' is or to put it more accurately, what it actually consists of. Industry experts opine that there is a lack of skills, many mention 'attitude' as the problem. Academic circles discuss 'knowledge, attitude, and skills' and when one tries to get to know what knowledge, attitude or skills, then either there is a long list or none at all.
To break down employability or classify the various components, it is useful to look at 'employability' as a bundle of qualities. Knowledge; about oneself,business and industry, and domain,
Skills that include life skills such as critical thinking, problem solving, decision making, active listening and monitoring ability. Attitude; to career, to life in general and other human beings. career expectations and values need also to be right for someone to be really employable.
Sudhakar model of employability at the present moment looks like the list below.
I am now hoping my friend Vijay P will use this framework to write an article worth publishing in a journal. A lot of work on life skills has been done by the United Nations which can be one good reference. While there are no references here, most of the qualities listed have been proven by research as essential for 'employability'. Based on feedback I am happy to detail each of the dimensions.
Can we provide all of this to students who do not want to learn, have great expectations based on nothing and make transformational changes in the limited time a graduate or post graduate program offers? That is a question, primary, secondary and high schools need to ponder.
Look forward to feedback, as this is a topic where clarity is urgently needed for India! We should not end up doing the half bake differently, we need to do a good job on the whole.
There seems to be no clarity at a functional level as to what 'employability' is or to put it more accurately, what it actually consists of. Industry experts opine that there is a lack of skills, many mention 'attitude' as the problem. Academic circles discuss 'knowledge, attitude, and skills' and when one tries to get to know what knowledge, attitude or skills, then either there is a long list or none at all.
To break down employability or classify the various components, it is useful to look at 'employability' as a bundle of qualities. Knowledge; about oneself,business and industry, and domain,
Skills that include life skills such as critical thinking, problem solving, decision making, active listening and monitoring ability. Attitude; to career, to life in general and other human beings. career expectations and values need also to be right for someone to be really employable.
Sudhakar model of employability at the present moment looks like the list below.
Can we provide all of this to students who do not want to learn, have great expectations based on nothing and make transformational changes in the limited time a graduate or post graduate program offers? That is a question, primary, secondary and high schools need to ponder.
Look forward to feedback, as this is a topic where clarity is urgently needed for India! We should not end up doing the half bake differently, we need to do a good job on the whole.
Nice one Sir.
ReplyDeleteProbably, our present education system stresses only on 'excellence' in 'Knowledge' aspect, which, most of us agree, is not at all sufficient. What is needed is 'Excellence' in all - knowledge, skill and attitude. Only then, we can expect the real 'Employability'!!
That’s very thoughtful, Sir. The aspect of 'Employability' needs urgent and immediate attention from academicians, policy makers, industry bodies and students alike. While we can gather that there is some effort from some quarters, the 'sum' of these efforts is still miniscule. The numbers relating to employability amuse and amaze me to a great extent. That's the reason I have been concentrating on this area of research. We can surely work on this to delve deeper into the issue and come up with something significant which can make a difference.
ReplyDeleteVijay,We need to expand this and write a full scale article suitable for a peer reviewed journal with good references. Call when you want to do it!
Deleteregards
gps
Thought provoking article Sir. Maybe I will also work on it in a culture-based angle.
ReplyDeleteDr Cynthia Menezes, Bangalore University