Employability Skills of University Graduates: A Study of the Perceptions of Sana’a University EFL Graduates and their Employers

Abstract

The current study aimed at investigating the perceptions of the EFL graduates at Sana'a University and their employers on the competence level in the employability skills of the graduates and the importance of these skills for the graduates to find jobs. The researcher used two research approaches to achieve the study objectives which are quantitative and qualitative. The quantitative approach was the descriptive survey method and was conducted through administering a close-ended questionnaire including (70) employability skills classified in twelve dimensions. The questionnaire was conducted on a proportionally strata random sample selected from the EFL graduates at the departments of English, faculties of Education-Sana'a, Languages (English and Translation departments), and Arts and Human Sciences in Sana'a University. The total number of the EFL graduates participated as the sample of the current study was (169). The same questionnaire was conducted on a quota sample selected from the EFL graduates' employers with a number of (33) from different labor markets including educational and non-educational sectors. The researcher analyzed the data by SPSS Program Version 21. The qualitative approach was used with two qualitative tools which were focused group discussion and in-depth interviews. The focused group discussion was conducted on eight EFL graduates from the English departments stated above. The in-depth interview was conducted on two EFL graduates' employers; one from the educational sector and the other from the non-educational sector. The study results show that the EFL graduates at Sana'a University perceived their competence level of the employability skills as high. However, the EFL employers perceived the competence level of the EFL graduates for the employability skills as medium. The results also show that there are statistically significant differences at the level (0.05) between the perceptions of the EFL graduates and their employers in the competence level of the EFL graduates in the employability skills in favor of the EFL graduates' perceptions. The results also show that both the EFL graduates and their employers perceived the whole employability skills with very high importance for the graduates to find jobs. The study results indicate that there are no statistically significant differences at the level (0.05) between the responses of the EFL graduates and their employers in the importance of the employability skills for those graduates to find jobs. The researcher introduced several recommendations, one most important of which was that employability skills should be embedded in the specifications, outcomes, teaching strategies, evaluation methods the EFL courses and programs at Sana'a University. Another recommendation was to embed the employability skills studied in this dissertation in the evaluation forms to be evaluated by the EFL graduates employers every year.