




































             American International Journal of Business and Management Studies  

Vol. 3, No. 1; 2021 

ISSN 2641-4937   E-ISSN 2641-4953 

Published by American Center of Science and Education, USA 

 

34 

THE EFFECTS OF HUMAN CAPITAL ATTRIBUTES ON THE 

EMPLOYABILITY READINESS AMONG ENGINEERING 

GRADUATES IN THE HIGH EDUCATION INSTITUTE’S IN 

OMAN 

 
 

Masoud Rashid Al Hinai 

PhD Research Fellow 

 Faculty of Business and Accountancy  

University of Selangor 

 40000 Shah Alam, Selangor Darul Ehsan, Malaysia 

 E-mail: alhinai6602@gmail.com 
 

Dr. Abul Bashar Bhuiyan 

Associate Professor 

 Faculty of Business and Accountancy 

 University of Selangor 

 40000 Shah Alam, Selangor Darul Ehsan, Malaysia 

 E-mail: bashariuk@gmail.com  
 

Dr. Nor Azilah Husin 

Associate Professor & Deputy Dean 

Faculty of Business and Accountancy 

 University of Selangor 

 40000 Shah Alam, Selangor Darul Ehsan, Malaysia 

E-mail: nor_azilah@unisel.edu.my 

 

Received: October 01, 2021  Accepted: October 30, 2021  Online Published: November 24, 2021  

 

DOI: 10.46545/aijbms.v3i1.222                             URL: https://doi.org/10.46545/aijbms.v3i1.222 

 

 

ABSTRACT 

The aim of this study is to investigate the effects of human capital attributes on the employability 

readiness of the engineering graduates of the High Education Institutes in Oman. The study 

adopted self-directed structured questionnaire distributed to a sample of engineering students and 

graduates from a number of colleges and universities. The study used the structural equation 

modelling (SEM) for analysing the collected data. The findings of the statistical analysis of the 

study showed that Omani graduates signify professional ethics and morality, teamwork including 

respecting others, cooperating, negotiating, persuading, and contributing to discussions, 

Communication skills including listening and questioning, Capacity for lifelong learning including 

openness to new ideas, Creative thinking of the ability to develop and apply appropriate solutions, 

and Problem solving skills of the ability to analyse facts and situations as the top required skills 

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of Readiness for Employability. Specifically, study findings showed Human capital attributes 

factor has high influence on the Readiness for Employability of the graduates in Oman. Finally, 

the study’s implementations and recommendations could be transferred to the Gulf and Arab or 

other countries’ contexts having similar settings of HE systems and similar issues of skills gap and 

employability concern of their graduates.    

 

Keywords: Human Capital Attributes, Employability Readiness, Engineering Graduates, High 

Education Institutes, Oman. 

 

INTRODUCTION 

The Omani HEIs graduates are considered to have low readiness for employability skills (Lim, 

Lee, Yap, & Ling, 2016; Yang, Cheung, & Fang, 2015). The skills gap of the graduates of the 

HEIs are affecting the new graduates’ employability and career outcomes at workplaces (Al-Azri, 

2016). Also, many researches revealed that unemployment rate for Omani nationals under the age 

of 30 have magnitude values because of the skills Gap of the fresh HEIs graduates (Barnett, 

Malcolm, & Toledo, 2015; Belwal, Priyadarshi, & Al Fazari, 2017; Forstenlechner & Rutledge, 

2010; Silatech & Bank, 2010). As a result, the principle link between HEIs graduates and the 

industry lies on the level of graduates’ readiness for employability skills that the graduates 

acquired to match the employer’s requirements (Al-Harthi, 2011; Allen & De Weert, 2007). This 

link is considered as a principle factor for graduate readiness for employability connecting 

graduate attributes factors and graduates’ attainment of employability skills, attitude, 

competencies, and knowledge (Clarke, 2018). Also, in an important study of graduates attributes 

factors affecting the Engineers graduates’ attainment of the required Readiness for Employability 

skills, five attributes factors were believed to have the most influential matters on the acquirement 

of required employability skills including Human capital attributes, Social capital attributes, 

Individual attributes, Institution-Related attributes, and Active learning attributes (Al Hinai, 

Bhuiyan, & Husin, 2020a, 2020b, 2020c; Rahman & Bhuiyan, 2019).  

Therefore, this study aims to determine the effect of Human Capital attributes factors on 

the graduates’ readiness for employability to improve the quality of engineering education which 

consequently, will enable the engineering colleges to produce graduates suitable for employment. 

More specifically, this study aims to answer the following questions. 

 

LITERATURE REVIEW 

Graduate readiness for employability definitions 

The definition of graduate readiness for employability and its concept affect the individuals and 

their communities in general. Employability or graduate readiness for employability has been the 

focus of many researches. Some of the newly conducted studies reveal that the concept of 

employability still has major considerations by researchers, academia, and the industries (Finch, 

Hamilton, Baldwin, & Zehner, 2013; Smith, Ferns, & Russell, 2014; Sumanasiri, Yajid, & Khatibi, 

2015). A new description of graduates’ employability which combines the weight of generic soft 

skills and graduate attributes reveals the usefulness of industrial and work skills attainment 

(Jackson, 2016). “A set of generic softer skills, in particular, personal attributes that can be 

summed up as a positive attitude are critical to being employable. A positive attitude encapsulates 

characteristics such as a willingness to take part and openness to new activities and ideas. It 

underpins and links together the other key capabilities”  (Jackson, 2016). Therefore, the definition 

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of Graduate employability or Graduate Readiness for Employability can be understood to indicate 

the readiness of HEIs graduates to be employed. It signifies the graduates’ possession of the 

required employable skills, knowledge, graduate attributes, attitudes, and workplace tasks 

requirements to assess them achieving the workplace objectives (Mason, Williams, & Cranmer, 

2009). 

 

Literature review on graduate readiness for employability required skills 

Many types of research were conducted to examine the key soft skills required for the graduates’ 

readiness for employability. For example, in Malaysia, one study revealed students’ ethics and 

their professionalism scored the highest of 19%. While the second soft skills of analytical thinking 

and problem solving scored 17%. Other important soft skills founded were the abilities of working 

in a team, leadership and communications. These abilities scored 14% to 15%. The lowest in 

importance skills were information management & lifelong learning and entrepreneurship. These 

skills got a low score of 10% each. The study also recommended that it would be effective to 

recognize the suitable practice and evaluation criteria to guarantee that HEIs students have the 

required soft skills  (Adnan, Daud, Alias, & Razali, 2017).  

Also, in an exploration of global employability skills with the aim to identify the most 

essential global readiness for employability skills where 43 researches from 17 countries were 

studied. The findings revealed that they were 10 major skill sets considered as key employability 

skills. These skill sets were categorised as interpersonal and collaborative skills in which 

communication skill found to be the most important skills in the category, relationship 

management skills (team work, flexibility and adaptability), cognitive and problem solving skills 

(problem solving, analytical/conceptual thinking, and critical thinking), productive self-

management skills (organisation, planning, and self-discipline), creative and innovative skills 

(work independently, entrepreneurship, self-motivated, and innovative thinking), new technology 

adaptation skills (information computer technology skills and use of modern tools, equipment and 

technologies), personal attributes and individual differences (ethical conduct, positive attitude, and 

responsibility), lifelong learning skills, leadership skills, and finally global citizenship skills 

(Knowledge of another Language and awareness of global issues) (Sarfraz, Rajendran, Hewege, 

& Mohan, 2018). 

Additionally, a study conducted on the Employability of Undergraduate Students in a 

Malaysian Higher Educational Institution aiming to explore the employability readiness of 

Malaysian undergraduates. The study examined few employability attributes including academic, 

conscientiousness, leadership, critical thinking, teamwork, human and social capital, work and 

career resilience attributes. it implemented quantitative research approach involving 425 final year 

undergraduates from Management and Computing and Informatics faculties. The findings of the 

study illustrated that teamwork, career resilience, and conscientiousness attributes had the highest 

score. Also, academic, leadership, human, and social capital attributes had lower respondents’ 

rates. Besides, the study revealed that employability among students depends on the academic 

achievement and study areas. It recommended that curriculum review is essential to consist the 

required employability attributes (Wong, Samsilah, Siaw, Sulaiman, & Ab Jalil, 2018). Also, in a 

study titled as the Critical Analysis on Employment of Graduates in Oman. The study analysed 

three objectives consisting of the problems confronted by graduates in getting work placement, the 

problems facing the employers with the outcomes of the current HE system, and the methods to 

be endorsed to improve the graduates of the HE system to increase job attainment for Omanis. The 

findings of the study revealed that graduates lacked the technical abilities including design, testing, 

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and configuration management, personal skills such as communication and teamwork, and 

professional qualities. Also, the study illustrated that problems facing the students getting work 

placement were due to their English language proficiency, communication skills, weakness of 

understanding basic concepts, and the skills gap between education and employability 

requirements. The study recommended improving the alignment between the academic curricula 

and the essential required employability skills, enriching the students’ projects to be essential parts 

of the learning mechanism, and enhancing the virtual training (Edwin & Sabura, 2019). 

There is a recent study titled as “employability under the fourth industrial revolution 

(UAE)”. The study stressed that future labour will depend highly on students’ employability skills 

which are considered as the key factors for sustaining employment.  The aim of the study was to 

determine the employability skills as seen by the HE students’ side compared with the labour 

market employers’ requests. A quantitative study utilising a simple random sampling consisting 

of 216 participants was conducted with questionnaires via the online platform. The findings of the 

study showed that students lack the understanding of the sets of the employability skills of the 

fourth industrial revolution indicating a gap of employability skills provided by the HEIs and the 

labour market demands. The study recommended that the HE subject matter experts to review the 

programmes of the HEIs and enhance the programmes’ learning outcomes to deliver the required 

future employability skills such as communication, IT skills, foreign languages, and team-work to 

prepare the students to compete in the future job market (Pauceanu, Rabie, & Moustafa, 2020). 

Moreover. In an interesting study connected to the employability of graduates in Asia. The 

sets of employability skills required for graduates to be entitled to enter the labour market were 

analysed. This study was based on studies conducted on graduate employability from Indonesia, 

Malaysia and the Philippines. The findings of the study revealed that employability depends on a 

number of attributes and competencies that helps the graduates to get and sustain employment such 

as: individual attributes (basic social skills, competencies (motivation, confidence), transferable 

skills (literacy, numeracy, problem-solving, communication, adaptability, team working skills), 

qualifications, and educational attainment. Besides, individual’s social and household 

circumstances (family and caring responsibilities, access to resources). Additionally, on external 

factors related to the labour demand situations. The study recommended that students must be 

equipped with certain employability skills such as motivation, creative thinking, problem solving, 

communication skills, and the ability to work independently or as part of a team. The study is also 

found that it is important for graduates to gain the adaptability skills to continuously allow them 

to update their skill, and learn new technologies. As a result, the study recommended the students 

to be responsible to continuously enhance the attainment of the required knowledge and skills to 

meet the demands of the workplace (Tran, 2019). 

Also, a research paper on graduate attributes and employability skills investigated the 

foremost prevalent graduate attributes as they apply to graduates’ employability in Oman. The 

aims of the paper were to survey the key graduate attributes or employability aptitudes from the 

point of view of business in Oman in specific and the GCC nations in general, to know and 

acknowledge students' recognitions of the foremost common abilities that managers in Oman give 

esteem for admitting the entry level employments, and to analyze and contextualize graduate 

qualities and employability aptitudes from all-encompassing point of view, including Higher 

Educational Institutions (HEIs), employers, and the students. The research conducted by surveys 

and interviews with Omani graduates using the principles of ‘hypothetic-deductive logic’ and 

inferential analysis using a combination of focus group and survey approach. The findings of the 

research paper indicated that the domain of higher educational institutes in Oman is basically 

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confined to the essential nonspecific abilities in creating the graduate properties. Students’ 

viewpoints on employers’ determination criteria uncover that computing abilities, the capacity to 

work in groups, proficiency of English language, earlier training, and the graduate’s identity are 

the five most critical employability skills in Oman. The study also concluded that at present, there 

are few interactions among higher educational institutions (HEIs), alumni, and industry in Oman 

for enhancing the employability of students. It recommended that All the partners in Oman to be 

compelled to come together to characterize employability skills judiciously by extending the 

domain beyond generic skills and abilities (Belwal et al., 2017). 

Finally, a study on English language proficiency and communicative competence in Oman. 

The study intended to evaluate their implications for employability and sustainable development. 

This study raised a major concern about the tremendous collections of human and financial assets 

the government commit into supporting English language instruction. Nevertheless, this venture 

has clearly failed to convey the anticipated outcomes with both secondary- and tertiary-level 

graduates regularly characterized as being weak in the English and as having communication 

abilities that are insufficient for the workforce. This paper considered number of issues related to 

the ways in which English language proficiency and communicative competence were created in 

Omani schools and colleges, with a focus on the challenges that exist inside the government 

education system. The suggestions of these challenges for graduate employability and feasible 

advancement were investigated. The study recommended methods of aligning the gap between 

students’ English language abilities and the requests of the industry in Oman (Al-Mahrooqi & 

Denman, 2018).  

 

Literature Review in Human Capital attributes affecting Graduates Readiness for 

Employability  
Human capital Attributes, acknowledged as essential elements for graduates’ readiness for 

employability. A number of researchers have argued the magnitude to which generic skills, soft 

and technical, considered to be interchangeable from HEIs  to the industries, or among employers 

(Hinchliffe & Jolly, 2011; Kalfa & Taksa, 2015). However, skill learning is an essential part of 

higher education. General required competencies, including problem-solving, critical thinking or 

team skills, represent a higher order thinking type of skills that are expected to be acquired by HE 

graduates. They are considered to be the essential part of graduates’ identity. Those skills are 

linked strongly with career expertise especially for entering highly sophisticated professions such 

as engineering or medicine. Therefore, Human capital attributes are essential part of graduate 

employability (Clarke, 2018; Heijde & Van Der Heijden, 2006).  

Since the last two decades of the 20th, governments and employer’s groups have put high 

pressure at HEIs to provide evidence of the effectiveness of their higher educational programmes 

in providing ready to work graduates. From academic perspective, there is a concern about the 

effectiveness of HEIs used strategies in developing transferable employability skills into their 

students. Holmes (2013) analysed the ways universities deliver graduate employability required 

skills and their methods of embedded them into their programme curricula. He also analysed three 

influencing factors which affects graduate employability. Those factors are the human capital 

factors, the social capital factors and the individual behaviour factors. He proposed an 

employability frame work consisting of the above factors as main independent variables and 

contains for the human capitals; skills, competencies and work experience, for social capital; 

network, social class and university ranking and for the individual behaviour; career self-

management and career building skills (Holmes, 2013). 

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Finally, a new approach to employability was considered by developing a framework that 

incorporates six key dimensions which included human capital, social capital, individual attributes, 

individual behaviours, perceived employability, and labour market factors. The study was based 

on UK and Australian data. The study model contributed to our understanding of the individual, 

institutional and contextual variables that impact employability and career results among 

graduates. Moreover, the model also identified zones of individual obligation (for students and 

graduates) and zones for potential collaboration between colleges, work providers and industry 

sections. At last, this model advertised a multidisciplinary point of view in this manner laying the 

establishment for future investigations and collaborations between higher education specialists, 

career analysts and researchers from related areas, such as administration and psychology. The 

paper suggested to be expanded to incorporate labour market factor (Clarke, 2018). 

The initial theoretical framework representing the relationship among the study variables 

is presented in figure 1 below. This portion of the framework is obtained from a wider study of 

factors affecting the Readiness for employability among Engineering graduates of the HEIs in 

Oman (Al Hinai et al., 2020b).   

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Figure 1. The influence of Human Capital Attributes on Graduates’ Readiness for Employability 

among Engineering graduates of the HEIs in Oman  

 

H1: There is a significant relationship between human capital attributes and graduate’s 

readiness for employability among Engineering graduates of the HEIs in Oman. 

  

METHODOLOGY 

The simple random characteristic strategy of the sampling technique was utilised by collecting 

data from an intended sample consisting from 340 random sample of engineering students obtained 

from different HEIs in Oman. To ensure the validity and clarity of the questionnaires, a panel of 

experts were consulted consisting of two academic engineering experts and two language experts. 

The findings of this study are accomplished utilizing the quantitative statistical methodology 

approach. This approach implements a numerical analysis using survey questionnaires as the base 

to collect data from students, and graduates (Creswell & Creswell, 2017; Dörnyei, 2007). Also, 

Human Capital Theory were utilised as the underpinning theory of the study since it examines the 

financial benefits resulting from the investments in people’ skills and resources. Such investment 

DV 

Graduates’ 

Readiness for 

Employability 

IV 

Human 

Capital 

Attribute 

H1 Adaptation Skill 
Leadership Skill 
Motivational mindset 
Ethical and Moral 
issues 
Team works 
orientation  
Communication 
Skills  

Soft Skills 
Critical, analytical thinking 

and problem solving skills 

Communication skills  
lifelong learning and 

information literacy 

Team-working skills  
Professional ethics and 

morality 
Entrepreneurship skills  

Leadership skills 

Technical Skills 

English Proficiency 

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will result to have highly-skilled labors placed in highly-skilled careers, which could improve the 

nation’s economy and prosperity (Becker, 1962; Leslie & Brinkman, 1988; McMahon, 2009; 

Schultz, 1963; Slaughter, Taylor, & Rosinger, 2015).  

Two statistical programs are used for data analysis. The first one is the use of the Statistical 

Package for the Social Studies (SPSS) version 26.0 to administer the preliminary data analysis. 

The second statistical program utilised for this study was the Partial Least Square Structural 

Equation Modelling (PLS-SEM) software. This program is used for the evaluation of the reflective 

measurement model, structural model, path analysis, and hypotheses testing (Hair Jr, Sarstedt, 

Ringle, & Gudergan, 2017). 

 

DISCUSSION OF RESEARCH QUESTIONS AND FINDINGS 

By conducting a meta-analysis of the literature review on the Readiness for Employability as part 

of the human capital attributes, thirteen skills were identified and analysed to determine their levels 

of importance among the Engineering graduates of the HEIs in Oman. The identified Readiness 

for Employability skills are listed as: 

 Analytical thinking or critical thinking 

 Problem solving skills (The ability to analyze facts and situations) 

 Creative thinking (The ability to develop and apply appropriate solutions) 

 Communication skills including listening and questioning 

 Capacity for lifelong learning including readiness to contribute to new ideas 

 Capacity for lifelong learning including openness to new ideas 

 Teamwork including respecting others, cooperating, negotiating / persuading, and 

contributing to discussions 

 Professional ethics and morality 

 Entrepreneurial skills 

 Leadership skills 

 Proficiency in written and oral English 

 Specialization and industrial required technical skills 

 Capacity for applying knowledge in practice 

 

Using SPSS version 26, the results obtained from the Engineering student’s survey of the 

study, as indicated by Table 1, has illustrated the following level of importance of the graduates’ 

Readiness for Employability   

Table 1.    Level of importance of the Readiness for Employability 

Readiness for Employability Mean 

Level of 

Importance 

Proportion 

of High 

Proportion 

of Low 

Professional ethics and morality 6.3059 1 95% 2.6% 

Teamwork including respecting others, 

cooperating, negotiating / persuading, and 

contributing to discussions 

6.2765 2 94% 3% 

Communication skills including listening and 

questioning 

6.0206 3 92% 3.8% 

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Capacity for lifelong learning including 

openness to new ideas 

5.8441 4 89% 3% 

Creative thinking (The ability to develop and 

apply appropriate solutions) 

5.8265 5 86% 4% 

Problem solving skills (The ability to analyse 

facts and situations) 

5.8118 6 88% 5% 

Capacity for lifelong learning including 

readiness to contribute to new ideas 

5.6618 7 85.6% 4.4% 

Capacity for applying knowledge in practice 5.6324 8 87% 6% 

Leadership skills 5.5794 9 82% 6.8% 

Proficiency in written and oral English 5.5353 10 92% 4.7% 

Specialization and industrial required technical 

skills 

5.3941 11 79% 8.5% 

Analytical thinking or critical thinking 5.3000 12 73% 7% 

Entrepreneurial skills 4.9824 13 64% 13% 

 

The results of the study clearly illustrate the importance of Professional ethics and morality, 

Teamwork including respecting others, cooperating, negotiating / persuading, and contributing to 

discussions, Communication skills including listening and questioning, Capacity for lifelong 

learning including openness to new ideas, Creative thinking (The ability to develop and apply 

appropriate solutions), and Problem-solving skills (The ability to analyze facts and situations). 

These six Readiness for Employability skills are considered by the Omani Engineering graduates 

as the most important skills. Such findings support the findings of Adnan et al., (2017) where he 

found that ethics & professionalism had ranked the highest in importance followed by teamwork, 

and communications were also among the highest important skills required for employability. 

Also, the study findings support the importance of teamwork skills among Omani graduates that 

found by Belwal et al., (2017) where he found that computing skills, teamwork, proficiency of 

English language, placement training, and the personality of the graduates were the five most 

required employability skills in Oman. Besides, the study finding are even supported when 

communication, teamwork, and professional qualities were found as the most essential skills 

required for Omani graduates (Edwin & Sabura, 2019). While critical thinking and problem 

solving skills had been also found as important Readiness for Employability skills (Mtawa, 

Fongwa, & Wilson-Strydom, 2019). 

Though the findings, illustrated in Table 1 shows that the Proficiency in written and oral 

English is ranking at level 10 of importance, yet its proportion of high is 92% and knowing that 

the mean of communication of Engineering in Oman is English, therefore, it can be considered to 

have a high level of importance and can be justified with the Communication skills. The English 

communication skill among engineering students consisting of both written and oral 

communication is one of the key barriers that face graduates to engage effectively in the interviews 

(Al-Mahrooqi & Denman, 2016). This view is consistent with other studies, who mentioned that 

developing learners’ communicative capability is one of the challenges of Oman’s HE system as 

it falls short to produce fluent English proficient graduates. As a result, the critical value of English 

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proficiency is recognised as an essential skill to gaining knowledge and pursuing employment’s 

opportunities (Al-Mahrooqi & Denman, 2016). 

 

Table 2.  Summary of measurement model findings   

 Constructs 

(Latent 

Variable) 

Measureme

nt items 

(Indicators) 

Convergen

t 

Validity 

(Loading) 

Internal 

Consistenc

y 

Reliability 

 

 

AVE 

Discrimin

ant 

Analysis 

   CA CR   

       

Human 

Capital 

Attributes 

HCA1 

0.806 0.906 

0.928 

0.683 

Yes 

 HCA2 0.801     

 HCA3 0.862     

 HCA4 0.734     

 HCA5 0.890     

 HCA6 0.857     

       

Readiness 

for 

Employabili

ty skills 

RES1 0.568 

0.920 

0.931 

0.513 

Yes 

 RES2 0.834     

 RES3 0.747     

 RES4 0.761     

 RES5 0.751     

 RES6 0.739     

 RES7 0.737     

 RES8 0.699     

 RES9 0.601     

 RES10 0.723     

 RES11 0.654     

 RES12 0.711     

 RES13 0.749     

 

Table 2 highlights a brief summary of the results obtained for the measurement model 

assessment.  

The measurement model assessment illustrates that all the requirements of reliability and 

validity of the measurement model assessment are met. 

Hypotheses Testing 

To conduct the hypotheses testing connected to the structural model of the study, PLS-SEM 

Version 3.0 is used (Hair Jr et al., 2017). There are several elements are required to be considered. 

The first element, for a hypothesis to be valid, the value of the path coefficient of 0.1 or higher is 

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required to account for a certain impact within the model (Hair, Ringle, & Sarstedt, 2011). 

Secondly, the acceptable t-value and p-value must be greater than 1.96 and less than 0.05 

respectively (Ramayah, Cheah, Chuah, Ting, & Memon, 2018). The hypothesis testing result of 

the impact of Human Capital Attributes on the Readiness for Employability is illustrated on table 

3.  

 

Table 3. The hypothesis testing result of the impact of Human Capital Attributes on the Readiness 

for Employability 

 

Hypothesis H1 Path 

Coefficient 

β  

T 

Statistics  

P 

Values 

5% 

BCI 

LL 

95% 

BCI 

UL 

Decision 

 (p < 

0.05)        

Human Capital Attributes -

> Readiness for 

Employability 

0.472 6.159 0.000 0.338 0.585 Accepted 

 

The findings of the study showed significant relationship between the Readiness for 

Employability and Human Capital attributes (H1). This finding illustrates that, there is a big 

influence of the Human Capital attributes on the Readiness for Employability of the Engineering 

graduates of the HEIs in Oman. This finding enhances the study conducted by Holmes (2013), 

when he determined that Human Capital attributes played a major role in delivering the graduate 

employability required skills when HEIs utilised suitable methods of embedded the required 

Knowledge, Skills, and Attitudes of the graduates into their programme curricula. Also, the study 

findings support the finding of Clark (2018), who stressed that most work providers, HEIs, and 

governments had concentrated on graduate Readiness for Employability from a human capital 

perspective. The underlying belief is that the acquirement of some specific skills and abilities that 

are considered as human capital attributes such as problem-solving, critical thinking, team work, 

and adaptability or openness to new challenges will result in enhanced graduate Readiness for 

employability (Clarke, 2018; Kalfa & Taksa, 2015). 

 

CONCLUSION AND POLICY RECOMMENDATION 

The current study remarked the determination of the set of the graduates’ Readiness for 

employability skills and their level of importance as seen from HEIs/ students and graduates. Since 

students and graduates believe that HEIs/Engineering departments are responsible for preparing 

them for a highly competitive labor market through improving their skills attainment, academic 

achievement, and professional abilities, therefore, the finding of this study should be used as guide 

lines for Ministry of Higher Education, HEIs’ Engineering departments, course designers, and 

policy makers to improve the quality of the students and eliminate the skills gap of the graduates 

thus enhancing graduates employability and achievement throughout their career life cycle. 

One important recommendation is for the Ministry of Higher Education, HEIs’ 

Engineering departments, course designers, and policy makers to utilize the set of studied 

graduates’ Readiness for Employability skills to develop adequate engineering programmes 

having suitable employability-related curriculum and outcomes in accordance with the needs and 

requirement of the labor market. More skills-oriented activities and practices should be embedded 

in the core curriculum and delivered to students in the classrooms, workshops, and industrial visits. 

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Such practice will contribute effectively to the engagement with the desired learning goals, and 

skills requirement so achieving practical outcome and improving students Readiness for 

Employability. Besides, the requirements of the Readiness for Employability skills must be 

updated regularly. One suggestion is to create a sub department in each HEI to work as a link 

between the HEIs and the most popular industrial organizations so as, detecting new skills required 

as well as new techniques and or new technologies introduced, and advised the HEIs to update 

their curricula, syllabi, specializations and programmes offered to improve quality and 

employability of the graduates.  

In conclusion, this paper has analyzed the objective of measuring the levels of importance 

of the Readiness for Employability skills among the engineering graduates of the HEIs in Oman. 

By conducting a meta-analysis process of literature reviews of the recent published papers, thirteen 

skills were identified and analysed to determine their levels of importance among the Engineering 

graduates of the HEIs in Oman. The identified Readiness for Employability skills are listed as: 

Analytical thinking or critical thinking, Problem solving skills (The ability to analyze facts and 

situations), Creative thinking (The ability to develop and apply appropriate solutions), 

Communication skills including listening and questioning, Capacity for lifelong learning including 

readiness to contribute to new ideas, Capacity for lifelong learning including openness to new 

ideas, Teamwork including respecting others, cooperating, negotiating / persuading, and 

contributing to discussions, Professional ethics and morality, Entrepreneurial skills, Leadership 

skills, Proficiency in written and oral English, Specialization and industrial required technical 

skills, and Capacity for applying knowledge in practice. The results of the study clearly illustrate 

the importance of Professional ethics and morality, Teamwork including respecting others, 

cooperating, negotiating / persuading, and contributing to discussions, Communication skills 

including listening and questioning, Capacity for lifelong learning including openness to new 

ideas, Creative thinking (The ability to develop and apply appropriate solutions), and Problem 

solving skills (The ability to analyze facts and situations) as the six most important Readiness for 

Employability skills considered by the Omani engineering graduates. Therefore, the finding of this 

study should be used as guide lines for Ministry of Higher Education, HEIs’ Engineering 

departments, course designers, and policy makers to improve the quality of the students and 

eliminate the skills gap of the graduates thus enhancing graduates employability and achievement 

throughout their career life cycle by developing adequate engineering programmes having suitable 

employability-related curriculum and outcomes in accordance with the needs and requirement of 

the labor market. More skills-oriented activities and practices should be embedded in the core 

curriculum and delivered to students in the classrooms, workshops, and industrial visits. Such 

practice will contribute effectively to the engagement with the desired learning goals, and skills 

requirement so achieving practical outcome and improving students Readiness for Employability. 

 

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