Journal article

Publication year: 2015

Pages: 574-595

Journal: Peabody Journal of Education

Volume number: 90

Issue number: 4

DOI Link: https://doi.org/10.1080/0161956X.2015.1068086

Publisher: Taylor and Francis Group

Abstract: 

In Europe and all over the world, higher education systems face the
challenge of preparing an increasing number of students for the labor
market and teaching them discipline-related knowledge and competences as
well as generic competences. But what requirements do higher education
graduates actually meet on the labor market? To identify higher
education graduates’ generic job-related activities and requirements, a
literature review was conducted that considered 30 job analysis
questionnaires and publications. Additionally, transcripts from employer
interviews, which were conducted by a cooperating project, were
analyzed. Based on these materials, 49 generic job-related activities
and requirements could be identified and transformed into a
questionnaire based on the assumptions of the Job Requirements Approach.
After running an online survey with 10,511 higher education graduates
and using reliability and confirmatory factor analyses, eight conceptual
areas of job-relevant generic competences could be confirmed (“Planning
and organizing of work processes,” “Promoting others,” “Leading,”
“Dealing autonomously with challenging tasks,” “Information processing,”
“Number processing,” “Communicating in foreign languages,” and
“Physical performance”). The results demonstrate what higher education
graduates are doing at work, what requirements they are facing, and
which conceptual areas of job-relevant generic competences can be
applied to higher education graduates in general. The results can be
interesting for curriculum developers and academic quality managers, for
policymakers and employers, and for the scientific community and the
graduates themselves.

Harvard Citation style: Braun, E. and Brachem, J. (2015) Requirements Higher Education Graduates Meet on the Labor Market, Peabody Journal of Education, 90(4), pp. 574-595. https://doi.org/10.1080/0161956X.2015.1068086

APA Citation style: Braun, E., & Brachem, J. (2015). Requirements Higher Education Graduates Meet on the Labor Market. Peabody Journal of Education. 90(4), 574-595. https://doi.org/10.1080/0161956X.2015.1068086