Graduate Employability Skills in Bangladesh: Assessment of the Student Perception during pre-COVID and Post-COVID period
In this period of COVID transition, the graduate recruitment for workplace is becoming more complex because the employers seek to recruit the best employees for their organization with necessary employability skills. The current research is intended to identify the employability skills possessed by the undergraduates of Bangladesh. The study will also examine whether there is any change in the possession of employability skills among the undergraduates before and after Covid19 due to skill development training. The study was conducted on 200 undergraduates from the public, private and national universities of Bangladesh. To analyze the data, factor-wise descriptive analysis has been conducted. And to see factor-wise mean, mode and standard deviation, t-test has been conducted. Later, to see mean difference, Paired Sample T-Test has been conducted. After performing paired t-test, the result showed that there was a significant difference between the employability skills possessed by undergraduates before Covid19 and after Covid19. From data collection and analysis, Basic Literacy and Numeracy Skills, Critical Thinking Skills, Leadership Skills, Management Skill, Interpersonal Skills, Information Technology Skills, System Thinking Skills, Work Ethic were the employability skills possessed by the undergraduates. The study found out that though graduates possess major course oriented specific skills, but they lack of basic employability skills. Higher Education Institutions (HEIs) need to introduce work-integrated learning (WIL) programs to assist their students in acquiring employability skills and relevant work experiences. The findings of the study can be helpful in understanding WIL and implementing it in the HEIs to develop the employability skills of the students.