Graduate Employment Type In Relation To Areas of Specialisation: A Case Study of a Selected Higher Learning Institution in Botswana (Published)
The purpose of this paper was to determine whether graduates of a selected higher learning institution (HLI) in Botswana got jobs in their areas of specialisation. The issue of graduates who are not employed in their field of specialisation has gained prominence in national debates world over. The mismatch between graduate employment types in relation to graduates’ fields of specialisation has created a dichotomy which has generated growing interest for governments, ministries of education, regulatory authorities, institutions of higher learning, industry, students, and parents at large. With a bigger chunk of the national fiscus in Botswana going to funding education, the dichotomy has turned into an issue of national interest. The study employed the case study research design while the research approach was quantitative. Survey strategy was used for data collection. This study’s target population was all former full time students at the selected HLI in Botswana who graduated between 2007 and 2014. Since the study was a quantitative one, convenient sampling procedure was adopted. The sample size adopted for this study was 250. The study revealed that across gender, more graduates were employed in their fields of expertise when compared to those employed in fields they did not specialise in. Gender-wise, there were more female graduates employed in areas of expertise when compared to male graduates.
Keywords: Higher Education, Human Resource Development Council (HRDC), graduate employability, graduates
Graduate Employment Type In Relation To Areas of Specialization: A Case Study of a Selected Higher Learning Institution in Botswana (Published)
The purpose of this paper was to determine whether graduates of a selected higher learning institution (HLI) in Botswana got jobs in their areas o specialisation. The issue of graduates who are not employed in their field of specialization has gained prominence in national debates world over. The mismatch between graduate employment types in relation to graduates’ fields of specialization has created a dichotomy which has generated growing interest for governments, ministries of education, regulatory authorities, and institutions of higher learning, industry, students, and parents at large. With a bigger chunk of the national fiscus in Botswana going to funding education, the dichotomy has turned into an issue of national interest. The study employed the case study research design while the research approach was quantitative. Survey strategy was used for data collection. This study’s target population was all former full time students at the selected HLI in Botswana who graduated between 2007 and 2014. Since the study was a quantitative one, convenient sampling procedure was adopted. The sample size adopted for this study was 250. The study revealed that across gender, more graduates were employed in their fields of expertise when compared to those employed in fields they did not specialize in. Gender-wise, there were more female graduates employed in areas of expertise when compared to male graduates.
Keywords: Higher Education, Human Resource Development Council (HRDC), graduate employability, graduates