What factors determine the development of employability skills in Nigerian higher education?

ABSTRACT

Employability is a set of skills, knowledge and personal attributes that make an individual adapt to changes in the labour market. This study applies ‘Human Capital Theory’ (HCT) and the ‘theory of Interrole Learning Transfer’ (ILT) to examine factors which affect the attitudes, motivations and actions of learners towards their future employability. A qualitative approach enabled in-depth interviews with 36 participants drawn from academics, students, company managers and policymakers. Our findings reveal that there is a disconnect between the teaching of theoretical knowledge and employability skills. Higher education (HE) is presented to Nigerians as if young people must achieve a degree certificate to have a chance to succeed in life. Also, it appears that students have a notion that the certificate is enough to evidence ability. The findings lead to the development of ‘employability model’ which proposes that individual orientation and institutional factors determine the enactment of employability skills.

KEYWORDS:

• Graduate employability
• employability skills
• employability behaviours
• Nigerian higher education

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest has been reported by the authors.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Paul Agu Igwe

Dr Paul Agu Igwe is a Senior Lecturer in Strategy and Enterprise at Lincoln International Business School, University of Lincoln. He received his PhD in Business with Management in 2013 from the University of Plymouth. Paul has more than 10 year’s teaching experience in Entrepreneurship, Business Strategy and International Business. His faculty responsibilities include: Programme Leader BA (Hons) Business and Enterprise Development; International Academic Lead West/East Africa; and member of UNESCO Chair on Responsible Foresight for Sustainable Development at LIBS. His recent publications include articles in Studies in Higher Education, Politics and Policy, Thunderbird International Business Review, and International Journal of Entrepreneurship and Innovation, and International Journal of Entrepreneurial Behavior & Research.

Deborah Lock

Deborah Lock is a Professor of Inclusivity & Innovation in Teaching & Deputy Head of College at Lincoln International Business School, University of Lincoln. She is an academic leader with more than twenty years of strategic-level experience in higher education. Her previous roles include being an Executive Director of Enterprise, Bid and Programme Manager, Head of Business Development and Change Director for a Business School. She is responsible for the internationalisation of the curriculum, online and flexible employer-led provision and student employability. She has been a Visiting Professor at HeilongJiang International University since 2019, and frequently delivers teaching sessions in China on Cross-Cultural Management, Global Citizenship and Training the Trainers.

David Gamariel Rugara

David Gamariel Rugara is Associate Professor and Head of International Partnerships at Lincoln International Business School (LIBS), University of Lincoln. He is responsible for the LIBS internationalisation strategy, Transnational Education and global partnership development. His teaching and research interests are in Leadership, Knowledge Economy, Organisational Behaviour, Philosophy of Management, Global Sustainability and Sociology of Development Economics.