Transversal competences and employability: comparing in-person learning and distance education

Figures & data

Figure 1. Conceptual model.

Table 1. Sample profile

Demographic parameter	Categories	Frequencies (N)	Percentage (%)
Gender	Male	182	39.4
	Female	280	60.6
Age	Below 20 years	32	7.60
	21–25	282	60.37
	26–30	90	19.48
	Above 31 years	58	12.55
Course of the Study	Commerce and Management	278	60.17
	Science and Technology	94	20.35
	Arts and Humanities	66	14.29
	Professional/Career oriented/Any other	24	5.19
Annual Family Income	Less than 2 lakhs	220	47.62
	2 lakhs-5 lakhs	130	28.14
	Above 5 lakhs	112	24.24
Method of Education	In-person learning	350	75.8
	Distance	112	24.2

Table 2. The sample questions for employability skills

No.	Items	5	4	3	2	1
	Working with others
1	Solves problems without getting assistance from others
2	Enjoys the ‘give and take’ policy or working in a group.

Table 3. The sample questions for competences

No.	Items	I did not	I did to some extent	I did
	Learning and Reasoning
1	Reflect on the past to apply learning in the future.
2	Engage in systems thinking.

Table 4. Factor loadings

Items	Sub-constructs of employability skills										Sub-constructs of competencies
	Working effectively with others	Communi-cating effectively	Self-awareness	Thinking critically	Analysing data and using technology	Problem solving	Developing initiative and enterprise	Self-manage-ment	Social responsibility and accountability	Developing profess-ionalism	Learning and reasoning	Self-development	Interpersonal interaction	Group dynamics	Civic responsibility	Communi-cation	Strategic planning	Personal behaviour
WE1	.844
WE2	.835
WE3	.880
WE4	.853
WE5	.783
COMN1		.786
COMN2		.428
COMN3		.854
COMN4		.822
COMN5		.912
COMN6		.766
SA1			.687
SA2			.853
SA3			.887
TC1				.906
TC2				.906
ADT1					.901
ADT2					.911
ADT3					.924
PS1						.792
PS2						.809
PS3						.864
DIE1							.864
DIE2							.859
DIE3							.829
DIE4							.816
SM1								.911
SM2								.874
SM3								.905
SM4								.830
SRA1									−.101
SRA2									.914
SRA3									.914
SRA4									−.013
DP1										.783
DP2										.822
DP3										.844
DP4										.821
DP5										.752
DP6										.802
LR1											.425
LR2											.679
LR3											.581
LR4											.719
LR5											.581
LR6											.714
LR7											.742
LR8											.732
LR9											.542
LR10											.744
SD1												.675
SD2												.680
SD3												.811
SD4												.854
SD5												.779
SD6												.716
IP1													.753
IP2													.657
IP3													.695
IP4													.700
IP5													.730
IP6													.736
IP7													.759
IP8													.822
IP9													.801
IP10													.358
IP11													.502
GD1														.622
GD2														.827
GD3														.741
GD4														.786
CR1															.807
CR2															.800
CR3															.627
CR4															.774
CR5															.747
CR6															.541
PC1																.773
PC2																.803
PC3																.764
PC4																.766
PC5																.714
PC6																.659
PC7																.649
SP1																	.753
SP2																	.688
SP3																	.764
SP4																	.762
SP5																	.787
SP6																	.753
PB1																		−.047
PB2																		.724
PB3																		.546
PB4																		.834
PB5																		.808
PB6																		.707
PB7																		.666
PB8																		.749
PB9																		.850
PB10																		.624
PB11																		.800

Note: Items in red colour denotes lower factor loading (<0.5).

Table 5. Cronbach's alpha and composite reliability

	Cronbach’s alpha	Composite reliability
Analysing Data	0.899	0.935
Civic Responsibility	0.836	0.879
Communication	0.858	0.894
Developing Professionalism	0.804	0.828
Developing initiative and Enterprise	0.863	0.906
Group Dynamics	0.811	0.897
Interaction	0.860	0.891
Interpersonal Interaction	0.887	0.908
Learning and Reasoning	0.846	0.876
Personal Behaviour	0.867	0.911
Problem Solving	0.859	0.861
Self-Awareness	0.839	0.819
Self-Development	0.847	0.887
Self-Management	0.903	0.932
Social Responsibility and Accountability	0.930	0.910
Strategic Planning	0.856	0.890
Thinking Critically	0.881	0.901
Work with Others	0.895	0.921

Table 6. Convergent validity (AVE)

	Average variance extracted (AVE)
Analysing Data	0.828
Civic Responsibility	0.865
Communication	0.689
Developing Professionalism	0.884
Developing initiative and Enterprise	0.706
Group Dynamics	0.757
Interaction	0.903
Interpersonal Interaction	0.608
Learning and Reasoning	0.723
Personal Behaviour	0.548
Problem Solving	0.672
Self-Awareness	0.608
Self-Development	0.578
Self-Management	0.774
Social Responsibility and Accountability	0.689
Strategic Planning	0.576
Thinking Critically	0.828
Work with Others	0.706

Table 7. Discriminant validity—Fornell and Larcker criterion

	Analysing data	Civic respon-sibility	Communication	Developing profess-ionalism	Developing initiative and enterprise	Group dynamics	Interaction	Interpersonal interaction	Learning and reasoning	Personal behaviour	Problem solving	Self-awareness	Self-development	Self-manage-ment	Social responsibility and accountability	Strategic planning	Thinking critically	Work with others
Analysing Data	0.91
Civic Responsibility	0.18	0.93
Communication	0.57	0.31	0.83
Developing Professionalism	0.46	0.33	0.62	0.94
Developing initiative and Enterprise	0.62	0.29	0.80	0.69	0.84
Group Dynamics	0.15	0.64	0.35	0.42	0.40	0.87
Interaction	0.07	0.72	0.14	0.20	0.17	0.49	0.95
Interpersonal Interaction	0.15	0.76	0.25	0.29	0.23	0.62	0.73	0.78
Learning and Reasoning	0.20	0.74	0.37	0.42	0.38	0.71	0.67	0.77	0.85
Personal Behaviour	−0.23	−0.49	−0.24	−0.34	−0.25	−0.39	−0.46	−0.63	−0.50	0.74
Problem Solving	0.80	0.24	0.71	0.58	0.80	0.28	0.13	0.22	0.30	−0.26	0.82
Self-Awareness	0.64	0.19	0.72	0.47	0.65	0.17	0.14	0.24	0.22	−0.27	0.65	0.78
Self-Development	0.05	0.72	0.10	0.21	0.17	0.49	0.85	0.71	0.66	−0.38	0.13	0.10	0.76
Self-Management	0.53	0.34	0.78	0.70	0.85	0.37	0.17	0.26	0.40	−0.27	0.68	0.69	0.17	0.88
Social Responsibility and Accountability	0.40	0.29	0.62	0.50	0.61	0.30	0.06	0.20	0.34	−0.20	0.58	0.46	0.08	0.63	0.83
Strategic Planning	0.14	0.73	0.24	0.28	0.22	0.59	0.80	0.97	0.73	−0.57	0.19	0.21	0.72	0.25	0.20	0.76
Thinking Critically	0.76	0.26	0.76	0.64	0.78	0.29	0.16	0.23	0.31	−0.26	0.78	0.70	0.13	0.69	0.51	0.21	0.91
Work with Others	0.60	0.33	0.79	0.52	0.75	0.35	0.18	0.27	0.37	−0.24	0.67	0.68	0.15	0.75	0.65	0.28	0.67	0.84

Table 8. Higher-order construct reliability and convergent validity

	Cronbach’s alpha	Composite reliability	Average variance extracted (AVE)
Competencies	0.881	0.862	0.512
Employability	0.931	0.975	0.566

Table 9. Fornell and Larcker criterion—higher-order discriminant validity

	Competencies	Employability
Competencies	0.716
Employability	0.231	0.753

Table 10. Normality test result

	Kolmogorov–Smirnov^a			Shapiro–Wilk
	Statistic	df	Sig.	Statistic	df	Sig.
Analysing Data	.263	462	.120	.807	462	.335
Civic Responsibility	.248	462	.321	.845	462	.089
Communication	.246	462	.658	.806	462	.100
Developing Professionalism	.263	462	.078	.800	462	.210
Developing initiative and Enterprise	.223	462	.258	.829	462	.325
Group Dynamics	.290	462	.226	.791	462	.582
Interaction	.239	462	.421	.863	462	.452
Interpersonal Interaction	.243	462	.222	.795	462	.149
Learning and Reasoning	.264	462	.145	.803	462	.258
Personal Behaviour	.294	462	.458	.742	462	.478
Problem Solving	.262	462	.322	.759	462	.365
Self-Awareness	.300	462	.100	.742	462	.562
Self-Development	.278	462	.056	.808	462	.852
Self-Management	.257	462	.089	.801	462	.452
Social Responsibility and Accountability	.292	462	.147	.800	462	.562
Strategic Planning	.236	462	.785	.818	462	.582
Thinking Critically	.247	462	.253	.853	462	.729
Work with Others	.264	462	.192	.843	462	.092

^aLilliefors significance correction.

Table 11. Employability skill level

Employability skill	In-person learning			Distance education			t (Sig.)
	N	Mean score	S. D	N	Mean score	S. D
(A) Working effectively with others
Task collaboration	350	4.07	.880	112	4.07	1.11	.028 (.978)
Team working	350	3.90	.925	112	3.71	1.04	−1.82 (.009)
Social intelligence	350	4.07	1.03	112	4.21	.776	1.38 (.007)
Cultural and diversity awareness	350	4.14	.974	112	3.93	.887	−2.07 (.009)
Influencing others	350	4.13	.867	112	3.93	.802	−2.13 (.004)
		[4.06]			[3.97]		0.982(0.007)
(B) Communicating effectively
Conflict resolution	350	4.17	.802	112	4.00	.759	1.93 (.054)
Verbal communication	350	3.89	.920	112	3.86	.746	0.29 (.765)
Giving and receiving feedback	350	4.18	1.022	112	3.93	.802	2.41 (.016)
Public speaking	350	4.14	1.018	112	3.50	1.245	5.45 (.000)
Meeting participation	350	4.34	.955	112	4.07	.887	2.61 (.009)
Written communication	350	4.23	1.001	112	4.14	.837	0.82 (.413)
		[4.16]			[3.92]		3.11 (.000)
(C) Self-awareness
Meta-cognition	350	4.23	.944	112	4.36	1.047	1.17 (.004)
Lifelong learning	350	3.98	.957	112	4.21	1.017	2.25 (.005)
Career management	350	3.99	1.035	112	4.29	.799	2.73 (.007)
		[4.07]			[4.29]		2.38 (0.03)
(D) Thinking Critically
Conceptualization	350	4.10	.946	112	3.93	.802	−1.76 (.079)
Evaluation	350	4.13	.943	112	3.93	1.037	2.35 (.002)
		[4.12]			[3.93]		2.13 (0.007)
(E) Analysing data and using technology
Numeracy	350	3.99	.918	112	3.79	.944	−1.88 (.061)
Technology	350	3.99	.955	112	3.79	.944	−2.08 (.038)
Information management	350	3.82	1.003	112	3.65	.842	−2.018 (.044)
		[3.93]			[3.74]		3.07 (0.321)
(F) Problem Solving
Reasoning	350	3.95	.865	112	3.71	1.035	0.99 (.323)
Analysing and diagnosing	350	3.97	.942	112	3.71	.963	2.46 (.006)
Decision making	350	4.18	.903	112	3.86	.746	1.17 (.002)
		[4.03]			[3.76]		1.26 (.000)
(G) Developing initiative and enterprise
Entrepreneurship–intrapreneurship	350	4.30	.983	112	4.07	.887	−1.14 (.254)
Lateral thinking–creativity	350	4.22	.998	112	3.93	1.105	−3.35 (.001)
Initiative	350	4.16	.919	112	4.36	.613	1.40 (.162)
Change management	350	4.15	.928	112	3.93	.802	−2.38 (.017)
		[4.21]			[4.07]		1.35 (.000)
(H) Self-management
Self-efficacy	350	4.20	.921	112	4.07	.596	−0.83 (.409)
Stress tolerance	350	4.24	.969	112	4.14	.642	−0.61 (.542)
Work–life balance	350	4.15	.942	112	4.14	.746	−0.97 (.331)
Self-regulation	350	4.07	.990	112	4.21	.560	0.64 (.523)
		[4.165]			[4.14]		0.92 (.256)
(I) Social responsibility and accountability
Social responsibility	350	3.98	.945	112	3.86	.642	−2.12 (0.035)
Accountability	350	4.10	.923	112	4.00	.849	0.23 (.820)
Personal ethics	350	4.11	.923	112	3.99	.885	−1.18 (.237)
Organizational awareness	350	4.09	1.01	112	4.08	.954	−0.19 (.849)
		[4.07]			[3.99]		1.89(.000)
(J) Developing Professionalism
Efficiency	350	4.09	1.023	112	4.00	.977	2.84 (.001)
Multitasking	350	4.11	.989	112	4.16	.822	2.504 (.004)
Autonomy	350	4.13	.928	112	4.04	.871	3.543 (.000)
Time management	350	4.19	.897	112	3.99	.864	2.01 (.000)
Drive	350	4.05	.933	112	3.99	.905	.571 (.568)
Goal and task management	350	4.16	.979	112	4.02	.905	1.25 (.003)
		[4.12]			[4.04]		1.56 (.000)
Overall Employability	350	{4.10}	.598	112	{3.99}	.399	1.79 (.005)

Notes: (1) Mean Score calculated for each item as well as for sub-constructs of employability skill. Mean Score calculated with the range of 1–5 and if Mean Score is less than 2 which means students have very low level of skills in that construct; Mean Score between 2.1 to 3 indicates low level of skills; Mean score between 3.1 to 4 indicates high level of skills and Mean Score above 4 indicates very high level of skills.

(2) The values within the [] shows the overall Mean score of Sub-constructs of Employability Skill and the value within the {} shows the overall Mean Score of Employability Skill.

(3) The value within the () shows the significance value of t statistics resulted from Independent Sample t test.

Table 12. Competence profile

Competencies	In-person learning			Distance education			t (Sig.)
	N	Mean	S. D	N	Mean	S. D
(A) Learning and Reasoning
Research	350	2.23	.724	112	2.36	.613	1.620 (.106)
Other Perspectives	350	2.33	.619	112	2.29	.703	−.658 (.511)
Reflection and Application	350	2.27	.689	112	2.07	.802	−2.603(.010)
Systems Thinking	350	2.54	.584	112	2.36	.613	2.895 (.004)
Analysis	350	2.50	.545	112	2.50	.502	−.049 (.961)
Synthesis	350	2.59	.578	112	2.36	.481	−3.831(.000)
Evaluation	350	2.43	.638	112	2.29	.592	−2.183(.024)
Idea Generation	350	2.40	.596	112	2.57	.625	.012 (.000)
Problem Solving	350	2.35	.604	112	2.29	.703	−.920 (.396)
Decision Making	350	2.46	.622	112	2.43	.625	−.507 (.614)
		[2.41]			[2.35]		1.023(0.159)
(B) Self-Development
Self-Understanding	350	2.61	.684	112	2.21	.776	−5.173(.000)
Personal Values	350	2.39	.650	112	2.29	.592	−1.57 (.101)
Personal Contributions	350	2.47	.622	112	2.29	.592	−2.739(.005)
Scope of Competence	350	2.48	.659	112	2.21	.677	−3.692(.000)
Receiving Feedback	350	2.41	.635	112	2.43	.732	.239 (.824)
Self-Development	350	2.60	.596	112	2.43	.625	−2.617(.012)
		[2.49]			[2.31]		3.29 (0.008)
(C) Interpersonal Interaction
Productive Relationships	350	2.47	.622	112	2.43	.625	−.591 (.556)
Appropriate Interaction	350	2.62	.553	112	2.50	.502	−1.994(.037)
Helping Others	350	2.52	.604	112	2.64	.481	1.962 (.029)
Empathy	350	2.50	.545	112	2.50	.630	−.046 (.966)
Mentoring	350	2.31	.593	112	2.43	.625	1.839 (.075)
Motivation	350	2.47	.585	112	2.57	.497	1.585 (.087)
Others’ Contributions	350	2.50	.623	112	2.43	.625	−1.013(.313)
Empowerment	350	2.54	.622	112	2.57	.497	.531 (.552)
Providing Feedback	350	2.46	.640	112	2.50	.630	.619 (.533)
Supervision	350	2.23	.724	112	3.96	.510	1.620 (.079)
Collaboration	350	2.33	.619	112	2.36	.613	−.658 (.539)
		[2.45]			[2.63]		1.262(0.11)
(D) Group Dynamics
Organizational Behavior	350	2.27	.689	112	2.29	.703	−2.603(.017)
Power Dynamics	350	2.54	.584	112	2.07	.802	−2.895(.005)
Group Development	350	2.50	.545	112	2.36	.613	−.049 (.959)
Creating Change	350	2.59	.578	112	2.50	.502	−3.831 (.000)
		[2.48]			[2.31]		1.488 (0.094)
(E) Civic Responsibility
Diversity	350	2.43	.638	112	2.36	.481	−2.183 (.024)
Others’ Circumstances	350	2.40	.596	112	2.29	.592	2.617 (012)
Inclusion	350	2.3486	.604	112	2.57	.625	−.920 (.396)
Social Justice	350	2.4629	.62	112	2.2857	.703	−.507 (.614)
Social Responsibility	350	2.6114	.683	112	2.4286	.625	−5.173 (.000)
Service	350	2.3943	.650	112	2.2143	.776	−1.571 (.005)
		[2.44]			[2.36]		1.30(0.111)
(F) Personal Communication
Verbal Communication	350	2.4686	.622	112	2.2	.591	−2.739 (.000)
Nonverbal Communication	350	2.4800	.658	112	2.28	.591	−3.692 (.824)
Listening	350	2.41	.635	112	2.21	.676	.239 (.012)
Writing	350	2.60	.596	112	2.43	.732	−2.617 (.556)
Facilitation	350	2.47	.622	112	2.43	.625	−.591 (.037)
Conflict Negotiation	350	2.62	.553	112	2.43	.625	−1.994 (.966)
Advocating for a Point of View	350	2.52	.604	112	2.50	.502	1.962 (.075)
		[2.51]			[2.37]		2.89(0.006)
(G) Strategic Planning
Mission	350	2.52	.604	112	2.64	.481	−.046 (.087)
Vision	350	2.50	.545	112	2.50	.630	1.839 (.313)
Goals	350	2.31	.593	112	2.43	.625	1.585 (.552)
Plan	350	2.47	.584	112	2.57	.497	−1.013 (.533)
Organization	350	2.49	.623	112	2.42	.620	.531 (.000)
Mission	350	2.53	.621	112	2.57	.497	.619 (.000)
		[2.47]			[2.52]		1.812 (0.322)
(H) Personal Behavior
Initiative	350	2.46	.639	112	2.50	.629	.619 (536)
Functioning Independently	350	2.21	.865	112	2.42	.496	3.08(.002)
Follow-Through	350	2.33	.650	112	2.43	.490	2.11 (.035)
Responsibility for Personal Behavior	350	2.29	.697	112	2.2	.560	.871 (.384)
Ethics	350	2.24	.765	112	2.37	.615	2.23 (.026)
Responding to Ambiguity	350	2.43	.808	112	2.36	.481	.418 (.676)
Responding to Change	350	2.49	.69	112	2.56	.498	1.688 (.092)
Resiliency	350	2.47	.732	112	2.57	.497	2.152 (.032)
Positive Attitude	350	2.52	.589	112	2.71	.457	4.19 (.000)
Confidence	350	2.68	.549	112	2.64	.481	.055 (.956)
Excellence	350	2.45	.670	112	2.56	.626	1.63 (.104)
		[2.42]			[2.48]		1.13 (0.135)
Overall Competence	350	{2.41}	.341	112	{2.50}	.629	3.65 (.000)

Notes: 1) Mean Score calculated for each item as well as for sub-constructs of competence level. Mean Score calculated with the range of 1–3 and if Mean Score is less than 2 which means students have low level of mentioned Competence; Mean Score between 2.1 to 3 indicates students have high level of mentioned Competence.

2) The values within the [] shows the overall Mean score of Sub-constructs of Competence and the value within the {} shows the overall Mean Score of Competence.

3) The value within the (.) shows the significance value of t-statistics resulted from Independent Sample t-test.

Table 13. Two-way MANOVA result

Source	Dependent variable	Type III sum of squares	df	Mean square	F	Sig.
Corrected Model	TEM	30.613^a	25	1.225	4.717	.000
	TCM	13.139^b	25	.526	5.229	.000
Intercept	TEM	1690.043	1	1690.043	6509.684	.000
	TCM	543.285	1	543.285	5405.411	.000
Gender	TEM	.115	1	.115	3.444	.005
	TCM	.256	1	.256	2.544	.001
Age	TEM	3.631	3	1.210	4.662	.003
	TCM	1.662	3	.554	5.513	.001
Course of the Study	TEM	2.506	3	.835	3.218	.023
	TCM	2.992	3	.997	9.924	.000
Annual Family Income	TEM	.474	2	.237	.914	.402
	TCM	.387	2	.193	1.924	.147
Gender * Age	TEM	3.370	2	1.685	6.490	.002
	TCM	.204	2	.102	1.017	.362
Gender * Annual Family Income	TEM	.717	2	.358	1.380	.253
	TCM	1.256	2	.628	6.247	.002
Age * Course of the Study	TEM	.749	2	.374	1.442	.238
	TCM	2.945	2	1.472	14.650	.000
Age * Annual Family Income	TEM	1.864	2	.932	3.589	.028
	TCM	.572	2	.286	2.845	.059
Course of the Study * Annual Family Income	TEM	.664	1	.664	2.558	.110
	TCM	.743	1	.743	7.393	.007
Gender * Age * Annual Family Income	TEM	.444	1	.444	1.709	.192
	TCM	.000	1	.000	.002	.969
Error	TEM	113.194	436	.260
	TCM	43.821	436	.101
Total	TEM	7820.496	462
	TCM	2862.550	462
Corrected Total	TEM	143.807	461
	TCM	56.961	461
a. R Squared = .213 (Adjusted R Squared = .168)
b. R Squared = .231 (Adjusted R Squared = .187)

Note: TEM—Total Employability Score, TCM—Total Competence Score.

Table 14. Multi-group correlation coefficient

	Distance education	In-person learning	Total sample
Correlation coefficient between Employability Skill and Competencies (r)	0.505	0.212	0.241
Sig. (2-tailed)	.065	.048	.015
N	112	350	462

Table 15. Explanatory power and model fit indices

Predictor	Outcomes	R^2	F^2	Q^2
Method of Education	Employability Skills	0.566	0.54	0.06
	Competencies	0.512	0.38	0.048
SRMR = 0.056 NFI = 0.971

Table 16. Direct effect/total effect

	Beta coefficients	Standard deviation	T statistics	P values
Method of Education -> Competence	−0.527	0.104	5.082	.000
Method of Education -> Employability	0.446	0.126	3.545	.000