Research article

Statistical Analysis and Employability skills Equation for Graduate Students in the Bahamas

Syed Qudus* and Joyti Choudhry

Assistant Professor, College of Business, University of The Bahamas, Bahamas

Submission: September 20, 2023; Published: October 04, 2023

*Corresponding author: Syed A Quddus, Assistant Professor, Accounting , College of Business, University of The Bahamas, University Drive, P. O. Box N-4912, Nassau, Bahamas, Email: syed.qudus@ub.edu.bs

How to cite this article:Syed Q, Joyti C. Statistical Analysis and Employability skills Equation for Graduate Students in the Bahamas. Ann Soc Sci Manage Stud. 2023; 9(3): 555765. DOI: 10.19080/ASM.2023.09.555765

Abstract

A statistical analysis was carried out to systematically explain and evaluate how the possibilities of acquisition of entry-level positions are raised by aiding and improving different employability skills. The data was collected from final-year undergraduate (Accounting, Banking & Finance, Computer Information Systems, Management & Marketing) students by using a convenient sample technique through a questionnaire, floated on an online G Monkey survey instrument to collect primary source of information based on Likert scale. The study finds that students used a combination of traditional and student-centred learning methods and pedagogies to acquire employability skills. The students’ responses data was analyzed using SPSS based techniques, ‘Cronbach’s Alpha’ , ‘backward regression’, and ‘ANOVA’ respectively to check the reliability of data, to iteratively examine the statistical significance of the employability factors, and to check whether ‘employability skills’, ‘academic skills’, ‘personal management skills’, ‘Teamwork skills and learning methods’ are the important employability factors, for the final-year undergraduate (Accounting, Banking & Finance, Computer Information Systems, Management & Marketing) students. However, based on student’s response analysis, it was investigated, the ‘employability skills’ ( F=28.45, P<0.000, α=0.05, Fc=1.39),‘personal management skills’( F=3.391, P<0.000, α=0.05, Fc=1.29) , ‘Team skills’( F=6.531, P<0.000, α=0.05, Fc=1.27) have no impacts on the possibilities of acquisition of entry-level positions, but students of all disciplines agrees with the significance of employability factors in ‘academic skills’( F=0.559, P=0.812, α=0.05, Fc=1.32). By knowing the effect and significance of employability factors/indicators it will be very beneficial and easy for graduate students to choose and acquire employability skills. The study contributes to the literature by providing the perceptions of graduate students from specific premises and respondents of a particular background in the Bahamas context.

The statistical analysis of students’ responses shows, the employability factors were ‘numeracy skills (mathematical)’, ‘IT literacy skills’, ‘decision making skills’, ‘communication skills’, ‘critical-analysis skills’, ‘competence in specialized subject area’, and ‘ability to apply specialized knowledge from various field’. While the literature finds communication skills, problem-solving skills and interpersonal skills often appear among the highest ranked skills in terms of importance, the significance of this study is that ‘learning skills’ ranked as the second most important employability skill [1].

A regression model equation was developed for forecasting the probabilities of acquisition of entry-level positions based on ‘numeracy skills(mathematical)’, ‘IT literacy skills’, and ‘decision making skills’, ‘communication skills’, ‘critical-analysis skills’, ‘competence in specialized subject area’, ‘ability to apply specialized knowledge from various field’, skills [2].

Keywords: Employability Skills; Numeracy Skills; IT Literacy Skill; Communication Skills

Introduction

Rapid technological change, digitization and globalization are changing the structure of today’s workplace. Technologies that didn’t exist barely a decade ago are increasingly changing the nature of jobs, work practices, and skills requirement [1] (World Bank, 2019). Technologies such as artificial intelligence, robotics, 3D printing, big data, the Internet of things, machine learning, drone technologies, nanotechnology, renewable energy technologies, and biotechnology are increasingly becoming mainstream in the workplace. In the process, these technologies are destroying old jobs as well as creating new ones [1,3]. New technologies have also changed the skill composition required to perform the remaining jobs, often moving them towards more skill-intensity [4,5]. Consequently, the “lifecycle of competencies needed for successful performance in the job is shortening rapidly” [1,5]. Rapid technological change and equally rapid knowledge obsolescence have meant that workers must continuously reskill and upskill to retain their employability [1,6]. In addition, the global trends towards massification of higher education have meant that more and more graduates are competing for fewer jobs, reducing the currency of a first degree, as well as, increasing the competition in graduate labor markets [7,8]. Increasingly, new graduates are entering graduate labor markets that are very competitive, congested, dynamic, precarious, turbulent, and unpredictable [9,10]. In addition, more and more new graduates are entering non-graduate and recently graduated jobs (i.e., clerical and administrative jobs in banks (tellers), customer services, marketing, etc.), which are linked to wide-spread underemployment and problematic long term career development trajectories [1,11,12].

There is now a growing realization that having a degree with good grades and technical knowledge (discipline-specific knowledge) is not enough for new graduates to succeed in today’s dynamic labor markets [7,8,13]. For example, a graduate who has excellent academic grades but have poor interpersonal, teamwork, critical thinking, and communication skills is unlikely to be successful in his/her first graduate-level job. Graduates need to develop additional soft/generic/employability skills needed to stand out and navigate inevitable challenges associated with transiting from school into the world of work, and to progress in their chosen careers [14]. Graduate employability broadly comprises of knowledge, skills, behaviors, and attributes that enables a graduate to get a job, stay on a job, do well on a job, find another job if necessary, and progress in their chosen career [1,15-17].

Developing graduate employability is a multi-pronged endeavor involving multiple stakeholders, such as students, higher education institutions (HEIs), academics, career services, employers, employers’ associations, government agencies, NGOs, parents, etc. [1,18,19]. Despite this diffused responsibility, however, the literature generally seems to assign responsibility for employability to the individual student in the first instance, and higher education institutions (HEIs) in the second instance [1,20,21]. Hence, our exploratory research focuses on the views of students.

The vies of students on their employability are crucial, as they are the main stakeholders who are directly impacted by their higher education learning experiences [1,22]. There is now significant research which suggest that students often have a blurred understanding of what graduate employability is, what skills are needed by employers for entry-level positions, and how to enhance their career prospects during their studies at university [13,23]. Students often fail to link their learning experiences at university to future careers [1,9,24]. Consequently, they may not always avail themselves of university-wide opportunities that may exist to enhance their employability profile while studying at the university [1]. Garcia-Aracil et al. [25] argues for the need to explore students’ perceptions of their preparedness for transition to the world of work [1]. Ergun & Sesen [26] takes note of the fact that there has been limited empirical research on students’ perception of their employability [1]. Andrewartha & Harvey [27] observes that students’ views and perceptions have largely been ignored in the employability arena [1]. Academic researchers have not pursued research on students’ views with the same vigour as they have done on employers’ [1,22,28].

The overall objective of the research is to examine business students’ perception about their employability skills as they approach graduation. Relative to the views of employers, the perceptions of students on graduate employability are less understood [1,22,28]. However, students’ perceptions are important, as individuals’ choices of action are often influenced by their perceptions, irrespective of objective realities [1,29,30].

Research Questions

To achieve the above stated research objective, four research questions were developed for the study. The three research questions are:

The following four research questions were developed for this study.

What are the effects of Employability skills on their recruitment for entry-level positions?

What are the effects of academic skills (‘numeracy skills(mathematical)’, ‘IT literacy skills’, and ‘decision making skills’, ‘communication skills’, ‘critical-analysis skills’, ‘competence in specialized subject area’, ‘ability to apply specialized knowledge from various field’) on their recruitment for entry-level positions?

What are the effects of personal management skills on their recruitment for entry-level positions?

What are the effects of teamwork skills on their recruitment for entry-level positions?

Research Methodology

We adopted an exploratory descriptive research methodology. The triangular design approach was adopted from Rosenberg et al. [31] and Wickramasinghe, Perera [32]. In our study, we administered questionnaires to final year business students (as a proxy for graduates). Atfield, Purcell [33] and Kenayathula et al. [34] also used final year students’ perceptions as a proxy for graduates [1]. At the time of the survey, most final year students were a semester away to completing their studies. Issues of first employment would certainly pre-occupy their thoughts at this stage of their degree program [1].

A questionnaire was developed and put in survey monkey. The questionnaire had five major sections: general employability skills, academic skills, personal management skills, teamwork skills, and teaching/learning methods [1]. The different items in the questionnaires were derived from the various literature reviews, especially from Wickramasinghe, Perera [32], Bloom, Kitagawa [35], and Mainga et al., [1]. Documentary analysis was done on various secondary sources, such as journal papers, books, and articles found in various internet databases. Data analysis was done using SPSS (V22).

Source: Survey data.

Source: Survey data.

Source: Survey data (N = 82).

* The mean difference is significant at the 0.05 level.

*** The mean difference is significant at the 0.001 level

** Based on your perception as a graduating student, which of the following factors do you see as key or most important in securing an initial graduate-level job? (please rank in order of importance, i.e., 1 – 14, with 1 = most important). Scores were reversed scored out of 12, so that larger score means represent most important.

Source: Survey data (N = 71)

*The mean difference is significant at the 0.05 level.

**Which of the following skills do you perceive as fully developed in you, now that you have completed your degree program? (please say whether you agree or disagree with statements given below, using the following scale: 5 = strongly agree, 4=agree, 3=neutral, 2=disagree, 1=strongly disagree).

Source: Survey data (N = 70)

*The mean difference is significant at the 0.05 level.

***The mean difference is significant at the 0.001 level.

**Which of the following skills do you perceive as fully developed in you, now that you have completed your degree program? (please say whether you agree or disagree with statements given below, using the following scale: 5 = strongly agree, 4=agree, 3=neutral, 2=disagree, 1=strongly disagree).

Source: Survey data (N = 70)

*The mean difference is significant at the 0.05 level.

*** The mean difference is significant at the 0.001 level

**Which of the following skills do you perceive as fully developed in you, now that you have completed your degree program? (please say whether you agree or disagree with statements given below, using the following scale: 5 = strongly agree, 4=agree, 3=neutral, 2=disagree, 1=strongly disagree).

Data Analysis and Discussion

We start our data analysis with demographic analysis of respondents. The sample data characteristics are shown in Table 1 [1]. The data was collected from final year students in the College of Business, which has three departments: Accounting, Banking & Finance; Computer Information Systems; and Management & Marketing. The students were studying several different majors: Accounting, Banking & finance, Computer information System, Economics, Economics & Finance, Finance, HRM, Marketing, and Management. 24.4% of respondents were male, while 74.4% were female. 60% of respondents were working, while 40% were not. In terms of age, 66.7% were between 20-24 years, 21.1% were between 25-29 years old, 6.7% were between 30-34 years, 3.3% between 35-39%, and 1 student was above 40 years. 1 student did not provide his/her age. Most graduating students in our sample – more than 83% - are either millennials or Generation Z [1].

We performed some reliability tests for the six variables used in the study; Employability skills, Academic skills, Personal management skills, Teamwork skills, Learning methods, and Perceived employability. The results are shown in Table 2 [1]. Since the Cronbach’s alpha coefficients are all above 0.6, all multidimensional variables used in the study presents acceptable internal consistency reliability for an exploratory study in the social sciences [1,36-38].

We proceed in our data analysis and discussion by answering the respective research questions.

i. What are the effects of Employability skills on their recruitment for entry-level positions?

The student’s response analysis ( F=28.45, P<0.000, α=0.05, Fc=1.39) in Table-3, answers the research question-1 and summarizes the employability skills perceived by graduating students, as being not important when employers are recruiting fresh graduates for entry-level positions, consequently, there is room for continuous improvement. For all the employability skills studied here, there was alignment in perceptions of their relative importance between the three groups of students in the three departments: Accounting, banking & finance; Computer information systems; and Management & marketing.

ii. What are the effects of academic skills on their recruitment for entry-level positions?

The student’s response analysis in Table-4, answers the research question-2 and but students of all disciplines agrees with the significance of employability factors in ‘academic skills’( F=0.559, P=0.812, α=0.05, Fc=1.32). There is indication that students were satisfied with the level of academic skills (‘numeracy skills(mathematical)’, ‘IT literacy skills’, and ‘decision making skills’, ‘communication skills’, ‘critical-analysis skills’, ‘competence in specialized subject area’, ‘ability to apply specialized knowledge from various field’) on their recruitment for entry-level positions. These skills are foundational, a base on which to acquire further skills, knowledge, and attributes as they progress in their initial employment. The mean scores given to all the academic skills by students could be rounded to ‘agree’ (4 = agree), with regard to how fully developed these skills were in them at the time of graduation. The results may suggest that students were, on average, happy with the level of academic skills that may have a more direct link with technical/discipline-specific knowledge. The result seems to be in line with some past findings that suggest that employers may sometimes be satisfied with graduates’ discipline-specific knowledge, but still observe that the level of soft skills are below what the labour market expects [1,39,40]. However, a degree with good grades in discipline-specific knowledge is no longer sufficient for career success in today’s labour markets [1,8,41,42].

We performed some reliability tests for the six variables used in the study; Employability skills, Academic skills, Personal management skills, Teamwork skills, Learning methods, and Perceived employability. The results are shown in Table 2 [1]. Since the Cronbach’s alpha coefficients are all above 0.6, all multidimensional variables used in the study presents acceptable internal consistency reliability for an exploratory study in the social sciences [1,36-38].

IT literacy skills & problem-solving skills involving mathematics (numerical skills) were the least developed of all the academic skills presented in Table 4. It may be possible to be concerned with the students’ perceptions on these two skills, as they are very central to 21^st Century careers [1]. The fact that students perceived IT literacy as one of the least developed academic skills among graduating business students may be surprising, being the millennial generation. Several reviews of literature on digital competence of university students have revealed that though millennials are assumed to be ‘digital natives’, they actually do not have high digital competencies. Most of their digital competencies are associated with informal leisure and socialization activities (i.e., use of Facebook, emails, WhatsApp, etc.) and are not automatically transferable to academic and career contexts [1,43].

With regard to relative low rating of capabilities in ‘problem-solving involving mathematics’ (numerical skills), several studies have shown that most business students often find maths-based courses (i.e., introductory statistics, management science, decision science, operations research, quantitative methods, etc.) among the most difficult [1, 44]. Most business students see mathematical courses more of a barrier than a “language for precise communication” [1,45].

Personal management skills

The student’s response analysis ( F=3.391, P<0.000, α=0.05, Fc=1.29) in Table-5, answers the research question-3 and summarizes the employability skills perceived by graduating students, as being not important when employers are recruiting fresh graduates for entry-level positions, consequently, there is room for continuous improvement. As personal characteristics, attitudes, attributes, behaviours, and dispositions are becoming important in 21^st century careers [1,46]. For all the employability skills studied here, there was alignment in perceptions of their relative importance between the three groups of students in the three departments: Accounting, banking & finance; Computer information systems; and Management & marketing.

Teamwork skills

answers the research question-1 and summarizes the employability skills perceived by graduating students, as being not important when employers are recruiting fresh graduates for entry-level positions, consequently, there is room for continuous improvement. The student’s response examination in Table-6, teamwork skills’(F=6.531, P<0.000, α=0.05, Fc=1.75), answers the research question-4 and the students of all disciplines agrees that the employability skills perceived by graduating students in this section are not important when employers are recruiting fresh graduates for entry-level positions, consequently, there is room for continuous improvement. All the three groups of students ‘agreed’ that the various teamwork skills were fully developed to some extent in graduating students. According to students, the ‘ability to resolve & manage conflicts’ and seeking a team approach where appropriate (i.e., as opposed to a ‘go it alone’ approach), were the least two developed teamwork skills among graduating students. Most employees today spend an increasing amount of time working in work groups, teams, and projects. About 95% of U.S workers are said to work in more than one team [1,47]. The below Coefficient, the Table 7 shows the significance of each independent variable in predicting the dependent variable. The positive value shows that there is a positive effect of independent variables on the dependent variable. 5) ’, ‘IT literacy skills’, and ‘decision making skills’, ‘, ‘critical-analysis skills’, ‘competence in specialized subject area’, ‘ability to apply specialized knowledge from various field’) on their recruitment for entry-level positions?

This table also facilitates in formulating the econometric model which is:

Forecasting the probability of acquisition of entry level positions=β0+β1Numerical skills+β2Communication skills+β3IT literacy skills+β4Competence in specialized subject area+β5Decision making skills+β6Critical analysisskills+β7Team work skills+u

Where,

Y= Forecasting the probability of acquisition of entry-level positions

X1= Numeracy skills (mathematical)

X2= Communication skills

X3= IT literacy skills

X4= Competence in specialized subject area

X5= Decision making skills

X6= Critical Analysis skills

X7=Team-Work Skills

u= error term

By substituting the values in the above equation from table 4 for our study becomes:

Y = 1.050 + 0.145X1 + 0.176X2 + 0.158X3 + 0.156X4+0.157X5+0.147X6+0.148X7+u

Implications and Conclusions

The research emphasizes the significance of taking students’ point of view about their employability at the time of graduation [1]. The regression model has been developed for predicting the probability of acquisition of entry-level positions, by capturing student’s view and adding a bit in it from literature. The statistical analysis of students’ responses shows, the employability factors were ‘numeracy skills (mathematical)’, ‘IT literacy skills’, and ‘decision making skills’, ‘communication skills’, ‘critical-analysis skills’, ‘competence in specialized subject area’, ‘ability to apply specialized knowledge from various field’.

Graduating business students tended to have a high view of their competences on various dimensions of academic skills. However, there is concern with their relative competencies in IT literacy skills and numerical skills (problem-solving skills using mathematics). While business students were satisfied with the level of personal management and teamwork skills they had developed by the time of graduation, there seems to be some room for improving their level of ‘creativity and innovative skills’ and ‘ability to resolve and manage conflicts’ in teams. However, the development of such skills is complex, and requires much more than business students’ exposure to creativity and innovation techniques or formulaic approaches [1,48].

A combination of traditional teaching methods (i.e., lectures, class discussion, reading and working alone, etc.) and student-centred learning methods and innovative pedagogies are needed to develop a wide range of employability skills needed by graduates to succeed in the workplace [49-55]. However, studies in Australia, Europe, Canada and the US suggests that significant staff training is needed to achieve optimal effectiveness, and to develop the ‘right’ portfolio of learning methods more tailored to different disciplines (Hora et al., 2015; Lorange & Thomas, 2016) [1, 56-68].

References

1. Mainga W, Murphy-Braynen MB, Moxey R, Quddus SA (2022) Graduate employability of business students. Administrative Sciences 12(3): 72-107.
2. Quddus Syed, Choudhury Jyoti, McHardy Dale (2023) Statistical analysis: How sale models change consumer buying behavior. Annals of Social Sciences and Management Studies 8(3): 555737.
3. OECD (2018) Skills for Jobs. OECD Publishing, Paris.
4. Campbell TA (2018) A phenomenological study of business graduates’ employment experiences in a changing economy. Journal for Labour Market Research 52(4): 1-10.
5. De Vos A, Jacobs S, Verbruggen M (2021) Career transitions and Employability. Journal of Vocational Behavior, pp. 126.
6. Delloitte (2020) The upskilling imperative: Building a future-ready workforce for the AL age. Delloitte Development LLC. Canada.
7. Pinto LH, He K (2019) ‘In the eyes of the beholder’: the influence of academic performance and extracurricular activities on the perceived employability of Chinese business graduates. Asia Pacific Journal of Human Resource 57: 503-527.
8. Tomlinson M (2008) The degree is not enough: students’ perceptions of the role of higher education credentials for graduate work and employability. British Journal of Sociology of Education 29(1): 49-61.
9. Lock E, Kelly K (2020) Ignorance is risk: An exploratory investigation of Australian higher education students’ perceptions of their education–employment pathways. Journal of Teaching and Learning for Graduate Employability 11(1): 22-36.
10. Watzlawik M, Kullasepp K (2016) Career as Affective Journey: How Constant Flux Challenges the Search for Career Pathways and Counselling. Integrative Psychlogical & Behavioral Science 50(3): 492-506.
11. Osseiran G (2020) Higher education massification and the changing graduate labour market in the Spanish retail banking industry: A case study. Oxford Review of Education 46(1): 63-78.
12. Erdsiek D (2017) Dynamics of Overqualification: Evidence from the Early Career of Graduates, Discussion Paper No. 17-020, ZEW – Centre for European Economic Research, Mannheim, Germany.
13. Dolce V, Emanuel F, Cisi M, Ghislieri C (2020) The soft skills of accounting graduates: perceptions versus expectations. Accounting Education 29(1): 57-76.
14. Succi C, Canovi M (2020) Soft skills to enhance graduate employability: comparing students and employers’ perceptions. Studies in Higher Education 45(9): 1834-1847.
15. Behle H (2020) Students’ and graduates’ employability. A framework to classify and measure employability gain. Policy Reviews in Higher Education 4(1): 105-130.
16. Romgens I, Scoupe R, Beausaert S (2020) Unravelling the concept of employability, bringing together research on employability in higher education and the workplace. Studies in Higher Education 45(12): 2588-2603.
17. Van Harten J, de Cuyper N, Knies E & Forrier A(2022) Taking the temperature of employability research: a systematic review of interrelationships across and within conceptual strands. European Journal of Work and Organizational Psychology 31(1): 145-159.
18. Clarke M (2018) Rethinking graduate employability: the role of capital, individual attributes and context. Studies in Higher Education 43(11): 1923-1937.
19. Sin C, Amaral A (2017) Academics’ and employers’ perceptions about responsibilities for employability and their initiatives towards its development. Higher education 73: 97-111.
20. Sin C, Neave G (2016) Employability deconstructed: perceptions of Bologna stakeholders. Studies in Higher Education 41(8): 1447-1462.
21. Cheng M, Adekola O, Albia J & Cai S (2021) Employability in higher education: a review of key stakeholders’ perspectives. Higher Education Evaluation and Development.
22. Tymon A (2013) The student perspective on employability, Studies in Higher Education 38(6): 841-856.
23. Amoroso LM, Burke M (2018) Developing career-ready business students: Three curriculum models. Journal of Education for Business 93(8): 420-429.
24. Scott FJ, Connell P, Thomson LA, Willison D (2019) Empowering students by enhancing their employability skills. Journal of Further and Higher Education 43(5): 692-707.
25. Garcia-Aracil A, Monteiro S, Almeida LS (2018) Students’ perceptions of their preparedness for transition to work after graduation. Active Learning in Higher Education 22(1): 49-62.
26. Ergun M, Sesen H (2021) A Comprehensive study on university students’ perceived employability: Comparative effects of Personal and Contextual Factors. SAGE Open, p. 1-7.
27. Andrewartha L, Harvey A (2017) Student voice and influence on employability in Australian higher education. Journal of Teaching and Learning for Graduate Employability 8(1): 202-214.
28. Higdon RD (2016) Employability: The missing voice: How student and graduate views could be used to develop future higher education policy and inform curricula. Power and Education 18(2): 176-195.
29. Soares ME, Mosquera P (2020) Linking development of skills and perceptions of employability: the case of Erasmus students. Economic Research-Ekonomska Istrazivanja 33(1): 2769-2786.
30. Vanhercke D, Cuyper ND, Peeters E, Witte HD (2014) Defining perceived employability: a psychological approach, Personnel Review 43(4): 592-605.
31. Rosenberg S, Heimler R, Morote ES (2012) Basic Employability skills: a triangular design approach. Education + Training 54(1): 7-20.
32. Wickramasinghe V, Perera L (2010) Graduates’, university lecturers’, and employers’ perceptions towards employability skills. Education + Training 52(3): 226-244.
33. Atfield G, Purcell K (2010) Graduate labour market supply and demand: Final year students’ perceptions of the skills they have to offer and the skills employers seek, Working Paper 4, Futuretrack, Institute for Employment Research, University of Warwick.
34. Kenayathulla HB, Ahmad NA, Idris AR (2019) Gaps between competence and importance of employability skills: evidence from Malaysia. Higher Education Evaluation and Development 13(2): 97-112.
35. Bloom MR, Kitagawa KG (1999) Understanding Employability Skills. The Conference Board of Canada, 257-99 Report.
36. Hair JF, Sarstedt M, Ringle CM, Mena JA (2012) An assessment of the use of partial least squares structural equation modelling in marketing research, Journal of Academy of Marketing Sciences 40: 414-433.
37. Straub D, Boudreau MC, Gefen D (2004) Validation Guidelines for IS Positivist Research. Communications of the Association for Information Systems, 13, Article 24.
38. Janssens W, Wijnen K, Pelsmacker PD & Kenhove PV (2008) Marketing Research with SPSS. Pearson Education Limited: Essex.
39. Monteiro S, Almeida L, Garcia-Aracil (2021) “it’s a very different world”: Work transition and employability of Higher Education graduates, Higher Education. Skills and Work-Based Learning 11(1): 164-181.
40. Abbasi FK, Ali A, Bibi N (2018) Analysis of skill gap for business graduates: managerial perspective from banking industry. Education + Training 60(4): 354-367.
41. Okolie UC, Igwe PA, Nwosu HE, Eneje BC, Mlanga S (2020) Enhancing graduate employability: Why do higher education institutions have problems with teaching generic skills? Policy Futures in Education 18(2): 294-313.
42. Hossain MM, Alam M, Alamgir M & Salat A (2020) Factor affecting business graduates’ employability – empirical evidence using partial least squares (PLS). Education + Training 62(3): 292-310.
43. Sanchez-Caballe A, Gisbert-Cervera M, Esteve-Mon F (2020) The digital competence of University students: a systematic literature review. Aloma 38(1): 63-74.
44. Brookshire RG, Palocsay SW (2005) Factors Contributing to the Success of Undergraduate Business Students in Management Science Courses. Decision Sciences Journal of Innovative Education 3(1): 99-108.
45. Grossman TA, Mehrotra V, Sidaoui M (2016) A Student-Centered Approach to the Business Management Science Course. Informs: Transactions on Education 16(2): 42-53.
46. Confederation of British Industry [CBI] (2019) Education and Learning for the modern world: CBI/Pearson Education and Skills Survey report 2019. London: CBI/Pearson.
47. Center for Creative Leadership (2015) The state of teams.
48. Sosa R, Kayrouz D (2020) Creativity in graduate business education: Constructive dimensions and connections. Innovations in Education and Teaching International 57(4): 484-495.
49. Bateiha S, Marchionda H, Autin M (2020) Teaching Style and Attitudes: A Comparison of Two Collegiate Introductory Statistics Classes. Journal of Statistics Education 28(2): 154-164.
50. Campbell M, Cooper B, Rueckert C, Smith J (2019) Reimagining student employability: a case study of policy and practice transformation. Journal of Higher Education Policy and Management 41(5): 500-517.
51. Datu JAD (2021) Beyond Passion and Perseverance: Review and Future Research Initiatives on the Science of Grit. Frontiers in Psychology 11: 545526.
52. Farashahi M, Tajeddin M (2018) Effectiveness of teaching methods in business education: A comparison study on the learning outcomes of lectures, case studies and simulations. The International Journal of Management Education 16: 131-142.
53. Finch DJ, Hamilton LK, Baldwin R, Zehner M (2013) An exploratory study of factors affecting undergraduate employability, Education + Training 55(7): 681-704.
54. Gil-Domenech D, Berbegal-Mirabent J (2020) Making the learning of mathematics meaningful: An active learning experience for business students. Innovations in Education and Teaching International 57(4): 403-412.
55. Hogan ME, Young K (2020) Designing Group Assignments to Develop Groupwork Skills. Journal of Information Systems Education 32(4): 274-282.
56. King AZ, King H (2021) Developing Team Skills in Accounting Students: A complete Curriculum. Journal of Higher Education Theory and Practice 21(7): 116-142.
57. Longmore A-L, Grant G, Golnaraghi G (2018) Closing the 21^st-Century Knowledge Gap: Reconceptualizing Teaching and Learning to Transform Business Education. Journal of Transformative Education 16(3): 197-219.
58. Lucas B, Hanson J (2016) Learning to be employable: Practical lessons from research into developing character, Technical Report, Centre for Real-World Learning, University of Winchester. UK.
59. Mohiuddin K, Islam MA, Sharif M, Nur S, Talukder MS & Alghobiri MA (2020) Enumeration of Potential Teaching Methods in Higher Education: A Cross-Disciplinary Study. Education Research International, Article ID 8870412.
60. Osmani M, Weerakkody V, Hindi N (2017) Graduate attributes in higher education: Examining academics’ perception in the Middle East. Journal of Education for Business 92(2): 53-64.
61. Osmani M, Weerakkody V, Hindi NM, Al-Esmail R, Eldabi T, et al. (2015) Identifying the trends and impact of graduate attributes on employability: a literature review. Tertiary Education and Management 21(4): 367-379.
62. Osmani M, Weerakkody V, Hindi NM, Eldabi T (2019) Graduate employability skills: A review of literature against market demand. Journal of Education for Business 94(7): 423-432.
63. Phelps AL, Szabat KA (2017) The Current Landscape of Teaching Analytics to Business Students at Institutions of Higher Education: Who is Teaching What? The American Statistician 71(2): 155-161.
64. SRI International (2018) Promoting Grit, Tenacity, and Perseverance: Critical Factors for Success in the 21^st SRI International, Menlo Park, CA.
65. Starcher K (2016) Reducing Statistics Anxiety in Undergraduate Business Students. Currents in Teaching and Learning 7(2): 18-27.
66. Suleman F (2018) The employability skills of higher education graduates: insights into conceptual frameworks and methodological options, Higher Education 76: 263-278.
67. Virtanen A, Tynjala P (2019) Factors explaining the learning of generic skills: a study of university students’ experiences. Teaching in Higher Education 24(7): 880-894.
68. Whittemore ST (2018) Transversal Competencies essential for Future proofing the workforce, White Paper.