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Labour Market Demand And University Graduate Employability Skills
[A CASE STUDY OF NORTH-WEST NIGERIA]
CHAPTER TWO -- [Total Page(s) 15]
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General Households Survey (GHS)
The objective of the GHS conducted by the National Bureau of Statistics
(NBS) is to collect data on social and economic characteristics of the
population for monitoring the effects of Government policies and
programmes. In a section to be filled in respect of each person who is
fifteen years and above, the following information are solicited, main
job during previous week (9 options), reason for doing nothing during
previous week (8 options), primary or main occupation, secondary
occupation, unemployment (voluntary/involuntary) and income last month.
It is an annual survey in which the sample of households is divided into
monthly sub-samples. One sub-sample is surveyed each month such that
the exercise is spread out uniformly throughout the year to even out
seasonal effects.
Administrative Sources of Employment Data
Employment statistics are generated as by-products of the administrative
system. Such data are in the form of registers and in some cases
aggregates of categories of employees. The following are routine sources
of employment data in Nigeria:
(a) Professional and Executive
Registry: Most professional associations keep a register of members and
their employment status. Official gazettes in which details of civil
servants are periodically published are also sources of employment data.
(b) Payroll of Establishments: This is a very reliable source of data on wage employment.
(c)
Industrial Training Fund (ITF) and Inland Revenue: Most wage earners
contribute to NPF and their records with the agencies managing the fund
will include name, age, gender, employment and employer which, except
the name can form the basis for aggregation. This is also true of tax
forms submitted to the Inland Revenue Service.
(d) Employment
Exchange Registry: This is a major source of unemployment of unskilled
workers, primary and secondary school leavers who register with the
exchanges. Also, the exchange itself is a source of information on
vacancies that can be filled by unskilled workers. Statistics of
industrial relations as collated by the Federal Ministry of Labour and
Productivity (FMLP) is another major component of administrative
statistics.
(e) Annual Reports: Most Government ministries and
parastatals produce annual reports of the year’s activities. Such
reports often contain information on established positions, existing
stock of labour, vacancies and withdrawals.
Graduate Employability
The concept of employability has been a subject of discussion for many
years, but there has been a growing interest in graduate employability
over the last decade. As the interest in promoting graduate
employability has increased, numerous studies have produced detailed
breakdowns and taxonomies of particular skills and attributes required
to promote graduate employability. More recently, authors have moved
towards a more complex understanding of graduate employability and
proposed a number of inter-related attributes, skills and competencies
that help individuals to both secure and perform well in employment.
Employability is an individual's ability to gain initial employment,
maintain employment, move between roles within the same organisation,
obtain new employment if required and ideally secure suitable and
sufficiently fulfilling work (McQuaid, Green & Danson, 2005).
McQuaid, Green & Danson (2005) further explained that employability
remains a contested concept in terms of its use in both theory and
policy while throughout the past century it has been used as both a
predominantly labour supply and a labour demand concept. They suggested
that the narrower supply-side focus of the initiative approach is
valuable in its generation of a set or sets of skills and supporting
national and institutional policies and practices that can contribute to
improving individual employability. However, the scholars maintained
that a broader-interactive approach permits the additional consideration
of vital demand, personal circumstances and other factors that
influence the employability of people in a particular labour market or
at a particular time and so are fundamental to those people gaining or
changing employment (McQuaid, Green & Danson, 2005).
Employability is a difficult concept to define. It is a
multi-dimensional concept- and there is a need to distinguish between
factors relevant to obtaining a job and factors relevant to the
preparation for work (Little, 2001). Employability is not just about
students making deposits in a bank of skills (Morley, 2001). Knight
(2001) and Yorke (2001) considered the concept of employability to be a
synergic combination of personal qualities, skills of various kinds and
subject understanding. According to Yorke (2001), Knight & Yorke,
(2001), there are two main concepts of employability, these are: the
educational conception relating to the ability of graduates to tackle
‘graduate’ jobs and the ability of the graduate to get a job, any job.
Harvey (2000) asserted that employment and employability are not the
same thing. Being employed means having a job, being employable means
having the qualities needed to maintain employment and progress in the
workplace. Employability from the perspective of higher educational
institutions is therefore, about producing graduates who are capable and
able in terms of the delivery of academic programmes and extra
curricula activities
Rothwell & Arnold (2007) proposed an
approach for understanding employability that was based on interrelated
components which included wider contextual factors such as:
(a) The student’s academic performance and engagement in his or her studies
(b) The student’s confidence in his/ her skills and abilities
(c) The student’s ambition
(d) The student’s perception of the strength of the university’s brand
(e) The reputation the student’s university has within his/her field of study
(f) The status and credibility of the student’s field of study
(g) The student’s awareness of opportunities in the external labour market (p. 24).
Employability is a complex blend of skill, attitude, experience,
motivation and interest, underpinned by the ability to learn and to
apply that learning to the challenges that work presents. The general
consensus appears to be that employability, whilst encompassing more
than an academic degree alone, is not just skills-based either. Knight
and Yorke (2004) defined employability as a set of achievements,
understandings and personal attributes that make individuals more likely
to gain employment and be successful in their chosen occupations. This
evolving model of employability appears to be a more nuanced fit with
long-term career trajectories. It raises troubling questions about the
emphasis and pressure our society appears to be increasingly placing on
youth to choose a viable, vocational career pathway early and to stay
with it.
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ABSRACT - [ Total Page(s): 1 ]ABSTRACT WILL B E UP SOON ... Continue reading---
APPENDIX A - [ Total Page(s): 1 ]APPENDIX 1Sample Size Table*From The Research Advisors ... Continue reading---
QUESTIONNAIRE - [ Total Page(s): 2 ] ... Continue reading---
LIST OF FIGURES - [ Total Page(s): 1 ]LIST OF FIGURESFigure 1: Conceptual Model of Labour Market Demand and University Graduate Employability Skills ... Continue reading---
TABLE OF CONTENTS - [ Total Page(s): 1 ]TABLE OF CONTENTSContents Title Page Table of Contents List of Figures CHAPTER ONE INTRODUCTION Background to the Study Statement of the Problem Purpose of the Study Research Questions Research Hypotheses Significance of the Study Scope of the Study Operational Definition of Terms CHAPTER TWO REVIEW OF RELATED LITERATURE University Education and Its Mandate Theoretical Framework Concept of Labour Market Demand Sources of Labour Demand in Nigeria Concept of Graduate Employability Employabil ... Continue reading---
CHAPTER ONE - [ Total Page(s): 6 ]CHAPTER ONEINTRODUCTIONBackground to the Study Education is a means of empowerment to an individual and the society. Also, it is a strong weapon for developing human capacity needed for a sustainable national development. Tertiary education, which comprises universities, polytechnics, colleges of education and mono technics, has been identified as a means of developing human capacity required for sustainable national growth and development. Specifically, universities are saddled with the ... Continue reading---
CHAPTER THREE - [ Total Page(s): 3 ]Purposive sampling technique was used to select three management staff from the seven selected banks (these are bank managers, heads of operation and marketing). Purposive sampling technique was used to select four heads of departments in commerce and industry (these are heads of administration, human resource, production and marketing). This sampling technique was also used to select four heads of departments in commerce and industry (these are heads of administration, human resource, productio ... Continue reading---
REFRENCES - [ Total Page(s): 3 ]REFERENCESAbiodun, S. O. (2010). Analysis of mismatch between demand and supply of skills and university graduate unemployment in Nigeria. Unpublished M.Ed Dissertation, Lagos State University.Adamu, I & Dangado, K. I. (2013). Assessment of views of business education graduates on the effect of technological advancement on their employability in Nigeria labour market. International Journal of Academic Research in Progressive Education and Developm ... Continue reading---
