Graduate Attributes in Australian Higher Education: Implications of an Economic Rationalist Approach

2019 ◽  
pp. 1-10
Author(s):  
Craig B. Murison ◽  
Glenda Hepplewhite
Keyword(s):  
Higher Education ◽  
Graduate Attributes

scholarly journals Perceptions of academics in Nigerian higher education institutions on graduate attributes in computing disciplines that are desirable for employability and entrepreneurship in Nigeria

2021 ◽  
Vol 8 (1) ◽  
pp. 019-027
Author(s):  
Bashiru Lawal ◽  
Aliyu S. Rafi ◽  
Bashir Idris ◽  
Agunlejika Aderogba Joseph
Keyword(s):  
Higher Education ◽  
Academic Staff ◽  
Colleges Of Education ◽  
Graduate Attributes ◽  
Leadership Quality ◽  
The North ◽  
Related Discipline ◽  
Innovative Thinking ◽  
Development Support ◽  
Descriptive Survey

This study sought to determine the computing disciplines’ graduate attributes that are perceived as most important by academics of Nigerian Higher Education Institutes (HEIs) to make graduates in computer related disciplines desirable to potential employers and entrepreneurship in Nigeria. The descriptive survey research design was adopted. One hundred and Fifty (150) academic staff of computer related disciplines across the HEIs (Universities, Polytechnics and Colleges of Education) in the North-Western Nigeria were screened and used through convenience random and purposive sampling methods. The Computing Disciplines’ Graduate Attributes Scale (CDGAS) (r = 0.90) was the research instrument used in gleaning the field data. Three research questions were raised and one hypothesis formulated, tested and analyzed using Pearson Product Moment Correlation (PPMC). The findings revealed that effective communication skills, leadership quality, collaboration and teamwork, lifelong learning skills, cognitive ability and practical skills, ability to apply knowledge to solving theoretical and practical problems creativity and innovative thinking are the most important computing discipline’ graduate attributes that are desirable for graduate employability and entrepreneurship in Nigeria. Also, result from hypothesis testing showed no significant relationship between computing discipline graduate attributes desirable for employability and that of entrepreneurship in Nigeria (r = 0.622; P < 0.05). Conclusively, the study recommended that career development support efforts should be included in the curriculum, which will focus on helping prospective graduate in computing related discipline on how graduate attributes can hinder or increase their employability and entrepreneurship strengths.

scholarly journals Graduate attributes: implications for higher education practice and policy

2016 ◽  
Vol 40 (2) ◽  
pp. 155-163 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jennifer Hill ◽  
Helen Walkington ◽  
Derek France
Keyword(s):  
Higher Education ◽  
Education Practice ◽  
Graduate Attributes

scholarly journals What Does Reflection Look and Feel Like for International Students?

2020 ◽  
Vol 10 (S2) ◽  
pp. 1-16
Author(s):  
Georgina Barton ◽  
Mary Ryan
Keyword(s):  
Higher Education ◽  
International Students ◽  
Reflective Thinking ◽  
Scholarly Literature ◽  
Graduate Attributes ◽  
Workplace Experience ◽  
Significant Attention ◽  
Area Of Study

Reflection, reflective thinking and reflexivity have received significant attention in the scholarly literature on higher education yet there is limited research that explores these concepts in relation to international students. This paper consequently explores what reflection and reflective thinking might look and feel like for international students. We theorize the importance of supporting international students in becoming reflexive practitioners in their chosen area of study; particularly in respect to graduate attributes including reflection and employability. The paper attends to this theorization by sharing Rodgers’ (2002) four functions of reflection, a reflective thinking model – the 4Rs – as well as Archer’s (2000, 2012) notion of reflexivity. We explore how higher educators might consider these frameworks comprehensively when working with international students particularly in the area of workplace experience.

scholarly journals THE MODERATING EFFECTS OF GENDER, CAREER, MORAL MINDSET ON THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN THE GRADUATE ATTRIBUTES AND READINESS FOR EMPLOYABILITY AMONG ENGINEERING COLLEGES GRADUATES IN OMAN

2020 ◽  
Vol 5 (3) ◽  
pp. 16-30
Author(s):  
Masoud Rashid Al Hinai ◽  
Abul Bashar Bhuiyan ◽  
Nor Azilah Husin
Keyword(s):  
Higher Education ◽  
Human Capital ◽  
Conceptual Framework ◽  
Influence Factors ◽  
Influential Factors ◽  
Moderating Effects ◽  
Public And Private ◽  
Factors Affecting ◽  
Higher Education System ◽  
Graduate Attributes

The Omani higher education system has enlarged noticeably since 1970 both in the number of students and in the infrastructure.  As a result, there has been a wide investment to provide quality higher educational institutes capable of providing suitable graduates to fulfill the requirements of both public and private sectors with a focus on females to assure equal gender educational and career opportunities chances. Therefore, graduates’ readiness for employability has become a major issue for Higher Education Institutes (HEIs) in Oman due to the growing concern from governments and industries on the quality of the graduates.  Therefore, the main objective of the current study is to develop a conceptual framework for the graduate readiness for employability and incorporates the graduate attributes including human capital attributes, social capital attributes, individual attributes, institution-related attributes, and active learning attributes moderated by gender, career, and moral mindset among Engineering Graduate in Oman. The study uses available sources of existing literature based on the four main keywords ‘higher education’, ‘graduate attributes ‘or ‘readiness for employability, and ‘skills gaps in Oman’. The study also justified by the following theories which are human capital; education and economy development; behavior theory; and motivation theory. The literature utilized for this study covers the latest literature (from 2013 to 2020) extracted from Google Scholar, ProQuest, and Scopus, and other online resources. Based on the summary findings, the study develops a framework that analyses the effects of influential factors on the graduate readiness for employability that will be considered as an empirical study on the graduates of the engineering colleges in Oman. Moreover, the study also concluded that there are moderating effects of gender, moral mindset, and career mindset on the influence factors and the graduate readiness for employability among Omani engineering colleges’ students. The results of the study will fill the gap in understanding the main factors affecting the attainment of graduates’ readiness for employability skills in Oman. The study recommends justifying this conceptual framework by empirical data from the Engineering Graduate in the Higher Education Institutes (HEIs) and draw a policy guideline for ensuring of readiness of engineering graduates for employability in the HEIs in Oman.

scholarly journals Student Skills and Employability: A Study from Students’ Perspective

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Le Thai Hung ◽  
Pham Thi Anh Phuong
Keyword(s):  
Higher Education ◽  
21St Century ◽  
21St Century Skills ◽  
Development Planning ◽  
Informal Logic ◽  
Employability Skills ◽  
Skills Development ◽  
Research Report ◽  
Viet Nam ◽  
Graduate Attributes

This study is aimed at evaluating the relationship among students’ skills and their employability based on surveying students using 5 point Likert scale. The survey includes 490 students whose major are foreign languages and the results show that there are differences in the level of awareness between first year students, third year students and last year students. Thanks to the data analysis, it is revealed that most students believe that the university reputation has an important role in their employability (Mean= 3.80), they can do any kinds of work provided that work matches their skills and experience (Mean=3.05); therefore, students need to have some other skills in order to become successful in finding their jobs. Among the skills mentioned in the survey, the skills for working in group, skills for adaptability, skills for listening to others, skills for risk acceptability, skills for public speaking and skills for critical thinking are  more effectively contributing factors to employability in comparison with other skills. Keywords Students, employability, skills, attitude, influence References [1] Bộ Lao động Thương binh và Xã hội. (2018). Bản tin cập nhật thị trường lao động Việt Nam - quý II năm 2018. [2] Đào Đăng Phượng. (2017). Thị trường lao động và sự hình thành nguồn nhân lực ở Châu Âu và Việt Nam. Paper presented at the Hội Thảo Khoa Học Quốc tế "Tăng Cường Cơ Hội Tiếp Cận Thị Trường Lao Động Cho Thanh Niên và Sinh Viên Việt Nam Sau Khi Tốt Nghiệp. [3] Hà, T. T. (2017). Tiếp cận thị trường lao động cho sinh viên Việt Nam trong thời kỳ đổi mới giáo dục. Paper presented at the Kỷ yếu hội thảo khoa học quốc tế Tăng cường cơ hội tiếp cận thị trường lao động cho thanh niên và sinh viên Việt Nam sau khi tốt nghiệp.[4] Andrew Rothwell, Ian Herbert, & Frances Rothwell. (2007). Self-perceived employability: Construction and initial validation of a scale for university students. Journal of Vocational Behavior. [5] Andrews, G., & Russell, M. (2012). Employability skills development: strategy, evaluation and impact. Higher Education, Skills and Work-Based Learning, 2(1), 33-44. [6] Bailin, S. (1987). Critical and Creative Thinking. Informal Logic, 9(1), 23-30. [7] Bénabou;, R., & Tirole;, J. (2001). Seft-confidence and personal motivation. Paper presented at the the Oxford Young Economists’ Conference. [8] Cavanagh, J., Burston, M., Southcombe, A., & Bartram, T. (2015). Contributing to a graduate-centred understanding of work readiness: An exploratory study of Australian undergraduate students’ perceptions of their employability. International Journal of Management Education, 13(3), 278-288. [9] CBI on higher education. (2009). Future Fit: Preparing Graduates for the world of work. [10] Christopher D. Connors. (2017). Five Core Values that Define Success for Every Individual. The Mission Org. [11] Dearing, R. (1997). Higher Education in the Learning Society.[12] Hillage, J., & Pollard, E. (1998). Employability: Developing a Framework for Policy Analysis. DFEE Research Report RR85, Department for Education and Employment, London. [13] How to Develop Adaptability - One of the Top 10 21st Century Skills for Graduates. [http://oysterconnect.com/blog/how-develop-adaptability-one-top-10-21st-century-skills-graduates]. [14] Ilieva, D. (2014). Methods for perfecting presentation skills. Paper presented at the 13th international scientific conference Economy and Business, At Elenite, Bulgaria. [15] Joshua J. Jackson, & Dustin Wood. (2010). What do conscientious people do? Development and validation of the Behavioral Indicators of Conscientiousness (BIC). J Rer Pers, 44(4), 501-511. doi:10.1016/j.jrp.2010.06.005[16] Kalfa, S., & Taksa, L. (2015). Cultural capital in business higher education: reconsidering the graduate attributes movement and the focus on employability. Studies in Higher Education, 40(4), 580-595. [17] Katherine Fulgence. (2015). Employability of Higher Education Institutions graduates: Exploring the influence of Entrepreneurship Education and Employability skills development program activities in Tanzania. (PhD degree), University of Siegen. [18] Le Thai Hung, Nguyen Thi Nhu Ngoc, & Duong Anh. (2018). Assessing career adaptability of early childhoodteachers invietnam. Paper presented at the Proceedings of international conference: New trends in education.[19] Lee, S., & Brinton, M. C. (1996). Elite education and social capital: The case of South Korea. Sociology of Education, 69(3), 177-192. doi:doi:10.2307/2112728[20] Mason, G., William, G., & Cranmer. (2009). Employability skills initiatives in higher education: What effects do they have on graduate labour market outcomes? Education Economics, 17(1), 1-30. [21] Nunnally, J. C., & Bernstein, I. H. (1994). Psychometric theory: New York, NY: McGraw-Hill, Inc.[22] Osmani, M., Weekkody, V., Hindi, N., Al-Esmail, R., Eldabi, T., Kapoor, K., & Irani, Z. (2015). Identifying the trends and impact of graduate attributes on employability: a literature review. Tertiary Education and Management, 21(4), 367-379. [23] Salovey, P., & Mayer, J. D. (1990). Emotional Intelligence: Imagination Cognition and Personality.[24] Tom Oliver, & Lievens;, F. (2014). Conceptualizing and Assessing Interpersonal Adaptability: Towards a Functional Framework. Taylor & Francis Group, 52-72. [25] Ward, R., & Watts, A. G. (2009). Personal development planning and employability. York: Higher Education Academy. 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Supporting Graduate Attribute Development in Introductory Accounting with Student-Generated Screencasts

2016 ◽  
Vol 8 (3) ◽  
pp. 65-82
Author(s):  
Jessica K. Frawley ◽  
Laurel Evelyn Dyson ◽  
James Wakefield ◽  
Jonathan Tyler
Keyword(s):  
Higher Education ◽  
Undergraduate Students ◽  
Soft Skills ◽  
Descriptive Analysis ◽  
Self Directed Learning ◽  
Student Surveys ◽  
Graduate Attributes ◽  
Novel Approach ◽  
Introductory Accounting ◽  
Directed Learning

In recent years educational, industry and government bodies have placed increasing emphasis on the need to better support the development of “soft” skills or graduate attributes within higher education. This paper details the adoption of a student-generated multimedia screencast assignment that was found to address this need. Implemented within a large introductory accounting subject, this optional assignment allowed undergraduate students to design, develop and record a screencast so as to explain a key accounting concept to their peers. This paper reports on the trial, evaluation and redesign of this assignment. Drawing on data from student surveys, practitioner reflections and descriptive analysis of the screencasts themselves, this paper demonstrates the ways that the assignment contributed to the development and expression of a number of graduate attributes. These included the students' skills in multimedia, creativity, teamwork and self-directed learning. Adopting free-to-use software and providing a fun and different way of learning accounting, this novel approach constitutes a sustainable and readily replicable way of supporting graduate attribute development. This paper contributes understandings that will be relevant to both researchers and practitioners.

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