Guàrdia, L., Mancini, F., Jacobetty, P., & Maina, M. (2021). Graduates’ employability skills in East Africa. Journal of Teaching and Learning
for Graduate Employability, 12(2), 169–184. 169

The Journal of Teaching and Learning for Graduate Employability

ISSN: 1838-3815 (online) Journal Homepage: https://ojs.deakin.edu.au/index.php/jtlge/

Graduates’ employability skills in East Africa

Lourdes Guàrdia1, Federica Mancini1, Pedro Jacobetty1 and Marcelo Maina1

Corresponding author: Federica Mancini (fmancini0@uoc.edu )
1Psychology and Educational Sciences Department, Universitat Oberta de Catalunya

Abstract

This paper reports a study about the perceptions of the academic community, employers and
civil servants regarding graduates’ employability skills in East Africa. Specifically, it focuses on
the mismatch between skills acquired in Higher Education (HE) and those in demand by
employers, and explores factors influencing the situation. A mixed method approach was
implemented including a survey and a set of focus groups. The questionnaire on employability
skills was distributed among regional stakeholders attending the Open Day events organised
by three East African HE Institutions. A Principal Components Analysis was applied for the
categorisation of the most in-demand skills and the identification of four major workplace skill
sets. To gain further insights into the stakeholders’ perceptions of the graduate employability
skills gap, 11 focus groups were organised at the same universities. The general results showed
that employability skills were mostly perceived as insufficiently developed during the students’
progress in their programs. The final results enabled a better understanding of the nuanced
relationship between labour market valuation and graduates’ acquisition of each skill set. It
also allowed us to identify problems and barriers, and suggest possible solutions to overcome
the shortcomings experienced by the sub-Saharan HE system.

Keywords:

East Africa,
higher
education, skills
gap,
employability,
employability
skills,
competences,
labour market,
graduates

Introduction

In 2015, world leaders and intergovernmental, philanthropic, human rights and private organisations
partnered to draft the Sustainable Development Goals (UN General Assembly, 2015). Among these
goals, sustainable development is related to the creation of jobs that pay reasonable wages and
promote the development of new skills (E4D/SOGA, 2020; Wild & Omingo, 2020). In this scenario,
the debate on graduates’ readiness to contribute to the economy through work has become
increasingly prominent leading the HE agenda to set graduate employability as one of its priorities
(Tomlinson, 2017).

Despite the global compromise to improve the quality of the skills of the workforce and align them
to market demands, unemployment and informality in the labour market are major problems for the
developing countries of Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) (International Labour Organization [ILO], 2020a).
The unemployment rate grew from 18 million in 2010 to more than 26 million in 2020 according to
the estimations of the ILO WESO Data Finder¹, while informal employment referring to the economic
activities by workers and economic units that are - in law or in practice - not covered or insufficiently

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Guàrdia, L., Mancini, F., Jacobetty, P., & Maina, M. (2021). Graduates’ employability skills in East Africa. Journal of Teaching and Learning
for Graduate Employability, 12(2), 169–184. 170

covered by formal arrangements' (ILO, n.d. para. 4) is essentially the norm, affecting 89.2% of
workers in the Sub-Saharan region.

The extant literature reveals concerns on the missing link between graduates’ skills and employers’
requirements at the workplace (Arias, Evans, &Santos, 2019; Hayward & Ncayiyana, 2014) in the SSA
region. Improving young people’s employability skills is critical, as noted by Betcherman and Khan
(2015), given the region’s large youth bulge and the potential development spillovers that go along
with a productive and engaged youth cohort (p.1).

In this paper, we explore the skills gap among graduates in the SSA region by capturing the
perspective of local stakeholders involved in the EPICA₂ (Strategic Partnership for the Co-Design of an
Innovative and Scalable ePortfolio) project. The term skills gap has been used in this study to
indicate the mismatch between the skills in demand by employers in the labour market and those of
the workforce, while the term employability is used to refer to the possession of relevant knowledge,
skills and other attributes that facilitate the gaining and maintaining of worthwhile employment
(McCowan, 2014, p.4). Employability is distinct from but related to employment (Holmes, 2017)
which refers to the number of graduates employed and the types of jobs they do. Finally, the notion
of employability skills is used in this study to designate the attributes that graduate students possess
and which are valued by employers, i.e. attributes which make graduates worth employing.

The next section of this paper presents a literature review on the graduates’ skills gap in the African
continent and more specifically in SSA. The section summarises relevant aspects related to the skills
demand and supply as well as the main factors impacting the graduates’ skills gap. The methods
section discusses the methodological approach and the procedures used for data collection and
analysis, including the description of the sample involved in quantitative and qualitative data
gathering. The results section is divided into three parts: the first part presents the perception of
local stakeholders on the SSA graduates’ readiness for work gathered through a questionnaire, the
second part focuses on the outcomes of a principal component analysis on employability skills and
presents the resulting dimensions, and the third part provides a detailed analysis of stakeholders’
perceptions of the employability skills gap by dimension including the results obtained from a set of
focus groups. We conclude by providing some recommendations for HE institutions and
policymakers as well as for further research on this topic.

Literature review

Sub-Saharan graduates face the challenge of finding qualified work whilst employers report
dissatisfaction with their skills and competencies (Crossman & Clarke, 2010; ILO, 2020b). The ILO
(2020a) also reveals that despite formal qualifications, young workers lack the actual skills
demanded by employers while in some cases they are even over-skilled for their current jobs.

In the Inter-University Council for East Africa (IUCEA) meeting held in 2015 it was emphasized that
the challenges of graduates in meeting current labour market expectations are due to the lack of
important skills such as communication, decision making and problem-solving skills (Kalufya &
Mwakajinga, 2016). Moreover, corporations operating in the African continent also point out the
challenge of finding appropriately trained graduates with complex skills and cognitive flexibility
(Leopold, Ratcheva, & Zahidi, 2017).

Fenta et al. (2019) underline that graduates’ transition from higher education to the workplace is a
multidimensional phenomenon that is subjected to several parameters. One of them envisages the
level of development of generic skills (interpersonal skills, communication skills, time management
skills, teamwork ability, and internship engagement). According to Choi, Dutz and Usman (2020),
generic skills and high-end skills are increasingly gaining importance in the Sub-Saharan region also
to maintain a momentum of innovation. However, the low level of human capital is hindering this
goal. STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics) skills, for example, are crucial in the
region to pursue innovation and creating conditions for job creation and expansion. Data analysis,
computer science and engineering skills are growing in demand in Africa (Leopold et al., 2017) but

Guàrdia, L., Mancini, F., Jacobetty, P., & Maina, M. (2021). Graduates’ employability skills in East Africa. Journal of Teaching and Learning
for Graduate Employability, 12(2), 169–184. 171

only about 19% of students in Sub-Saharan Africa are enrolled in STEM-related programs (Choi et al.,
2020). In this scenario, companies have very little interest in hiring fresh graduates and prefer to
retain workers with sufficient training and experience in the company (Jiboku, 2018).

On the other side, industries currently lack highly skilled positions for graduates and a recent
employment analysis reveals that only 12.3% of workers are employed in occupations that are
classified as high-skilled following the ISCO-08 classification (ILO, 2020a). In this context, young
workers more than others face deeply ingrained work deficits. The level of optimism about future
graduate opportunities also varies based on their field of study: the majority of those who acquire a
highly qualified job studied business or information technology, leaving other degrees lacking in
work aspirations (Leopold et al., 2017). The scarce quality of jobs is also determined by the
difficulties for governments to attract investments that could offer highly skilled positions even if
regional governance stability has been steadily improving in the last years (World Economic Forum,
2017).

The challenge of youth unemployment is also raised by the growth of the working-age population in
Africa. According to the African Development Bank (AfDB, 2019), the continent’s youth population is
projected to increase by 105 million people by 2030 with 94 million living in the sub-Saharan region
(ILO, 2017). As such, the large number of young workers who enter the African labour market every
year makes the need to create employment opportunities even more pressing. Numerous
publications highlight the importance of finding ways to benefit from this rapid working-age
population growth instead of perceiving this trend as an employability problem (Africa-America
Institute [AAI], 2015; Leopold et al., 2017).

Among various solutions discussed, education plays the most significant role, as data from different
sources (Awad, 2020; ILO, 2020b; Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development [OECD],
2011) highlight the positive relationships among educational attainment level and employment rate
and status in work. Higher and better levels of education, therefore, can facilitate entry into better
jobs.

Good quality youth employment, however, is not only related to the level of preparation, but also to
the appropriateness of the competences developed (ILO, 2020b). In fact, it is often reported that the
lack of employability skills is one of the major constraints to expanding employment (Fox & Gandhi,
2021). In addition, the African Development Bank (2019) commented as follows:

Other developing countries show a fairly competitive labour market structure, Africa has a
more segmented labour market. Segmented labour markets tend to improve with economic
policies that facilitate labour mobility, a competitive environment for private sector
operations, and better skill development programmes (p. 17).

Likewise, the World Economic Forum white paper (2019) advocates that an effective employability
strategy for the new economy must consider the integration of a skills approach to learning and in
the workforce ecosystem, together with providing an enabling environment through alignment
between different stakeholder groups (p.2). On the supply side of the labour market, therefore, skills
and education mismatches are among the most pressing policy concerns suggesting that skills
development needs to become a central strand of national policy-making (ILO, 2020a). As such, after
decades of neglect, HE is finally on the development agenda of African policymakers (Manji et al.,
2015).

Nevertheless, despite the recognition of the importance of a skills approach to learning, Sub-Saharan
Africa has not sufficiently invested in tertiary education as government spending is severely limited.
For this reason, the demand for HE caused by a growing population and increased rates of secondary
school completion is much higher than the existing offer of quality HE courses. In fact, this pressure
has been perceived to lower the quality of tertiary education (McCowan, 2014) and it is no wonder
that the provision of quality HE is being outstripped by the growth in demand (Manji et al., 2015). In
this context, overcrowding in lecture halls at some African universities is becoming all too common
(AAI, 2015), while curriculum and teaching methods fail to integrate non-cognitive skills and

Guàrdia, L., Mancini, F., Jacobetty, P., & Maina, M. (2021). Graduates’ employability skills in East Africa. Journal of Teaching and Learning
for Graduate Employability, 12(2), 169–184. 172

employability knowledge (Fox & Gandhi, 2021). Therefore, while the offer of HE programmes is
growing in the African continent, these do not always translate into new curricula targeting the
development of employability skills.

The literature also identifies shortcomings in HE when it comes to the practical application of skills as
one of the main causes behind graduates’ gap in employability skills. Universities tend to provide
theoretical rather than practical skills in most fields (McCowan, 2015), a worrying fact since practical
experience is another important factor for employability (Bhorat, Naidoo, & Ewinyu, 2017). Many
lecturers lack the proper qualifications and training, and as a consequence resort to relying on rote-
learning methodologies based on memorisation. The result is limited analytical and transferable
skills development at the HE level (Leopold et al., 2017) and no long-term sustainable innovation is
possible without correcting this course (Choi et al., 2020).

This view is confirmed by Sparreboom and Staneva (2014), who point out that a significant number
of young people in low-income countries such as Tanzania are not yet benefiting fully from the
education system and are therefore unable to move towards the development of important
employability skills and better labour market outcomes. According to Mgaiwa (2021), this gap is
partly due to the fact that Tanzania’s universities and their degree programs have been nonreactive
to the changing priorities of the country’s development plans. Likewise, Ngoma and Dithan Ntale
(2016) claim that skills inadequacy in Uganda is mostly due to the failure of universities to convey
appropriate employability skills through students' career training, poor social networking
orientation, and insufficient preparation of graduates to face challenges.

Kalei (2016), who analysed the situation in Kenya, also claimed that young people do not possess the
knowledge and skills required by employers as the local education system is mainly focused on
achieving good grades in examinations rather than in taking into account the broader needs of the
country over time. In this regard, Kalei (2016) also highlights the pressure for students to pass exams
in order to receive a certificate and argues that the Kenyan education system is so focused on
learners obtaining good marks that it denies the opportunity to acquire the desired skills for the job
market.

Fenta et al. (2019) reveal that marks or academic grades are one of the factors affecting entry-level
employment, especially when the number of job-seekers is usually much higher than the number of
vacancies. Nevertheless, field-specific skills and soft skills are crucial for a successful transition from
education to work (Siraye et al., 2018). Similarly, the Inter-University Council for East Africa (IUCEA)
and the East Africa Business Council (EABC) highlighted the gaps in skills training in universities, the
low quality of university careers services and the urgency for academic institutions to improve the
monitoring of graduates for labour market outcomes as core aspects to improve (Kerre, Kitima, &
Mwawaza, 2014).

Students in Kenya also cited an irrelevant curriculum as one of the main reasons behind
shortcomings in graduates’ employability skills (Njeg’ere Kabita & Ji, 2017). In terms of ICT, for
example, even if graduates acquire technical knowledge in ICT, the skills they are taught are often
out of date or irrelevant, and not on a par with the latest technologies (McCowan et al., 2016). To
cope with this evidence, Kalufya and Mwakajinga (2016) stress the need to link the curriculum with
the demand-side sector and to place employability strategies at the core of teaching and learning to
ensure students take a consistent range of employability skills on board.

Additionally, the findings of a study carried out in Tanzania on the perspective of final year students
and employers in relation to their employability skills proficiency and preparedness for employment
emphasized the relevance of internships, work placements and work-based learning as an effective
opportunity for equipping graduates with employment-relevant skills, knowledge and awareness of
employer culture (Kalufya & Mwakajinga, 2016). A list of reports from Ghana, Kenya, Nigeria and
South Africa also claimed that internships and even volunteering have a positive impact on students’
employability prospects (Walker, 2015). As such, work-integrated learning (WIL) which refers to
educational activities integrating academic learning of a discipline with its practical application in the

Guàrdia, L., Mancini, F., Jacobetty, P., & Maina, M. (2021). Graduates’ employability skills in East Africa. Journal of Teaching and Learning
for Graduate Employability, 12(2), 169–184. 173

workplace, responds at least in part to the dilemma of designing a contemporary curriculum aligned
with current industry practice and to prepare students to work (Whelan, 2017).

The issue related to the employability skills that graduates are currently acquiring through HE tuition
and their relevance for the workplace, therefore, cannot be solely addressed using a business
approach, but requires innovation in teaching and learning, reaching youth in and out of educational
institutions and involving different stakeholders. According to Kalei (2016), links between
universities and business/industry can be enormously helpful in facilitating graduate employability.
The involvement of stakeholders in an active social dialogue at the national, sectorial and local level
is key to aligning supply-driven skills development with the demand of the job market (Guardia,
Maina, & Mancini, 2021; ILO, 2020b). With this goal in mind, Fenta et al. (2019) recommend as a
further study the analysis of the mismatch between the skills acquired by graduates while at
university and the skills demanded by the industries as it is one of the key factors responsible for the
difficulty in finding employment.

Methods

This empirical study applied a mixed methods approach following the Mixed Methods Appraisal Tool
(MMAT) recommendations (Hong et al., 2019). Said approach is typically employed to address
multidimensional research questions by selecting and integrating the most appropriate techniques
(Teddlie & Tashakkori, 2010). A survey was used to explore whether or not graduates were equipped
with the right skills and which employability skills showed a more marked gap. A set of focus groups
were also implemented to identify nuances and deeper meanings on the reasons behind the
perceived skills gap.

A questionnaire was designed to answer the following research questions:

● How do stakeholders perceive the employability of graduates?

● What does the skills gap identified by stakeholders in graduate students consist of?

The quantitative data was gathered through paper-based questionnaire forms based on a
convenience sample during Open Day events held in three East-African universities: the Open
University of Tanzania, Makerere University in Uganda, and Maseno University in Kenya. The
intention of these events was to engage in a dialogue with local stakeholders on the purpose of the
project. Stakeholders were invited to participate by the local partners on the basis of their role,
experience and interest in the project’s goals.

The questionnaire explored whether graduates were equipped with the right skills for employment.
Respondents were given a list of skills and asked to rate them using a four-point Likert scale
according to how valuable they believed they were for the labour market. Finally, respondents were
asked to rate the same skills according to how much they felt they had been developed throughout
HE, using a similar scale. The list of employability skills provided in the questionnaire is based on the
taxonomy elaborated by the ‘Skill up project - Good practices in connecting workplace and learning
in higher education’ (Ornellas, Falkner, & Edman Stålbrandt, 2019). This taxonomy focuses on key
skills for success in the workplace that should be developed mainly through HE courses —basic skills
and those acquired throughout professional life remain excluded. The exploratory quantitative
approach provides a baseline for identifying patterns and trends, as well as for organising our main
arguments. These findings were then synergised with the results obtained in the focus groups,
where nuances emerged and deeper meanings could be identified.

Guàrdia, L., Mancini, F., Jacobetty, P., & Maina, M. (2021). Graduates’ employability skills in East Africa. Journal of Teaching and Learning
for Graduate Employability, 12(2), 169–184. 174

higher education (Ornellas et al., 2019). This taxonomy focuses on key skills for success in the
workplace that should be developed mainly through HE courses —basic skills and those acquired
throughout professional life remain excluded. The exploratory quantitative approach provides a
baseline for identifying patterns and trends, as well as for organising our main arguments. These
findings were then synergised with the results obtained in the focus groups, where nuances
emerged and deeper meanings could be identified. A total of 89 respondents participated in the
survey: 18 from Kenya, 44 from Tanzania, 25 from Uganda and two additional respondents who
withheld their origin. Although the participation of three universities from different countries
assures diversity and strengthens our interpretations, academics represent a more significant
number. Despite this limitation, the study contribution lies in an exploratory mapping and an in-
depth exploration of the skill gap in a context where sources of information are scarce. Our research
is exploratory and does not seek to thoroughly quantify the studied phenomena.

Table 1: Profile of the Respondents to the Survey

Role N Percentage

Academic staff 52 58

Business community 9 10

Public sector 13 15

Students 5 6

No answer 10 11

Total 89 100

With the purpose of enriching and further clarifying the findings from the questionnaire, 11 focus
groups were organised during the Open Days events. Hence, two additional research questions were
formulated:

● What are the reasons behind the perceived skills gap among the region’s graduates?

● What local initiatives are already in place to address graduates’ skills gap?

The participants of the focus groups were selected from the scientific and educational community
(including students), the business community, and the public sector, ensuring a balanced
participation of stakeholders (see Table 2). Four focus groups were set up in Makerere University in
Uganda, three in Maseno University in Kenya, and four in the Open University of Tanzania, involving
over 20 people per institution.

The duration of each session was one hour. The discussion focused on the skills required or valued
by employers in today’s and the future African labour market, personal perceptions of recent
graduates’ readiness for entering the labour market, and new graduates’ skill shortages. The
qualitative analysis was conducted using Atlas.ti, Computer Aided Qualitative Data Analysis Software
(CAQDAS). A first, more general level of categorisation (primary codes) for the qualitative analysis
emerged from the main concerns of the research (e.g. skills valued in the labour market, skills
developed in HE, skills gap explanatory factors). The second level of categorisation (sub-codes)
involved second-order tags related to the elements that had emerged during the qualitative data
analysis, which helped complete the analytical framework with the participants' contributions. Sub-
codes were assigned after a primary code to provide greater detail and level of specificity for
categorisation and analysis (Gibbs, 2018; Miles & Huberman, 1994). This paper presents the
concepts and ideas that were most significant and relevant for the stakeholders that participated in
the focus groups.

Guàrdia, L., Mancini, F., Jacobetty, P., & Maina, M. (2021). Graduates’ employability skills in East Africa. Journal of Teaching and Learning
for Graduate Employability, 12(2), 169–184. 175

Table 2: Profile of the Participants in the Focus Groups

University Nº Focus Groups Nº Participants Profile

Maseno 3

- students (7),
- academics (8),
- business community (5)
- public sector (2)

Makarere 4 30 - academics (7)
- students (5)
- business community (8)
- public sector (10)

OUT 4 27 - academics (11)
- students (9)
- business community (3)
- public sector (5)

Results

Graduates’ readiness for work

According to our survey data, there is a generalised perception of a partial skills gap among
graduates. The vast majority (80%) of respondents considered graduates to be equipped with
employability skills to some degree (Table 2). Only 10% of respondents identified graduates to be
ready for employment, whereas an equal proportion of respondents said they were not.

Table 3: Employability Skills

Partial insufficiencies at the level of employability skills were also confirmed by the qualitative
analysis. The majority of focus group participants from the three Sub-Saharan countries agreed that
there was a skills gap, or at least that the skills graduates acquired in HE are not exactly those
required by employers.

In the focus groups, the most mentioned factor behind the present skills gap was the emphasis HE
programmes place on theory at the expense of practical skills development. Participants claimed
graduates acquire theoretical knowledge which cannot be easily applied to professional practices.
They also mentioned that the HE system trains graduates to handle common professional general
activities but not to efficiently solve those corresponding to specific contexts.

Participants indicated that outdated programmes and unqualified teaching staff were also
accountable for the skills gap. Curricula are not frequently reviewed, they claimed, whereas the
labour market is dynamic. Participants from Kenya stated that teachers do not find support to
further develop, and there were no opportunities for them to connect with industries for continuous
professional development.

No
To some
degree Yes Total

Graduates equipped with adequate skills for
employment 11% 80% 10% 100%

n (employment) = 84

Guàrdia, L., Mancini, F., Jacobetty, P., & Maina, M. (2021). Graduates’ employability skills in East Africa. Journal of Teaching and Learning
for Graduate Employability, 12(2), 169–184. 176

A small number of groups in Kenya and Tanzania highlighted the lack of standards in universities,
indicating that it is difficult to establish whether universities are issuing certifications correctly. In
addition, our interlocutors in Kenya stated that curriculum design is left to the teacher alone,
without any support to assist them on whether or not international standards are met.

Another reason for the skills mismatch identified by focus group participants was related to the
shortage of services and programmes connecting students and employers. Participating universities
do not have robust alumni services, job boards, industry liaison offices or technology transfer offices.
In addition, there are few initiatives to foster entrepreneurship, mobility and internationalisation.
Participants in Tanzania argued that industry associations do not take an active role in connecting
employers, HE institutions and training organisations. They also mentioned the lack of governmental
support.

Lastly, a group of participants from Kenya stated that the massification of HE had resulted in
overloaded facilities and equipment, preventing graduates from developing their skills. They also
claimed massification negatively impacted the connections between students and employers:
despite government efforts to facilitate connections, finance internships and job placement services,
it is not possible to meet student demand.

Employability skills in graduates

The quantitative analysis sought to understand if there were any identifiable patterns in terms of
labour market skills valuation by regional stakeholders. We performed a dimension reduction
technique called principal component analysis (PCA), which combines several variables into a smaller
number of components that represent the most important original information. The objective of
PCA is to reduce redundancy in variables and meaningless noise in the dataset. PCA was employed
on the skill taxonomy created by the ‘Skill Up’ project, comprising 16 skills (Ornellas et al., 2018, pp.
21-22). Participants were asked to rank the labour market valuation of each skill in a four-point
Likert scale. The goal of conducting the PCA in our study is to identify patterns in how respondents
valued those skills. It allowed us to group variables together, thus summarizing skill valuation data
and supporting the creation of the skill typology we employed in our analysis.

The PCA was performed in the R programming language (version 3.4.0) using the principal
component analysis (‘principal’) function of the Procedures for Psychological, Psychometric, and
Personality Research (‘psych’) package (version 1.8.4). The adequacy of using PCA in our sample was
confirmed using the Kaiser-Meyer-Olkin (KMO) test with an overall value of 0.81 and the same
measure for each variable with a minimum value of 0.72 (the minimum acceptability threshold is
0.6). We performed PCA using the varimax orthogonal rotation method, which helps clarify PCA
results, and retained four components representing the original 16 skills. Using Cronbach’s alpha (α),
we tested the internal consistency of our approach for grouping skills. All identified skill groups
presented acceptable reliability (α ranged between 0.65 and 0.84), following Hair et al. (2014) where
0.60 is acceptable in exploratory research.

Guàrdia, L., Mancini, F., Jacobetty, P., & Maina, M. (2021). Graduates’ employability skills in East Africa. Journal of Teaching and Learning
for Graduate Employability, 12(2), 169–184. 177

Table 4: Rotated Component Loadings

Skills
Knowledge
economy

Uncertainty
management

Leadership
skills

Cognitive
performance

Results-oriented performance 0.791 0.186

Digital skills 0.750 0.318

Foreign language 0.730 0.163 -0.118 0.273

Cross-cultural and diversity
competence 0.669 0.241 0.112 -0.114

Teamwork 0.626 0.271 -0.248

The set of subject-specific
skills required to successfully
perform a specific occupation 0.600 0.345

Analytical thinking 0.475 0.305 0.650

Learning to learn 0.389 0.415 0.104 0.463

Self-management 0.372 0.719 0.162

Ability to cope with change 0.265 0.645 0.164 0.228

Communication and
interpersonal skills 0.206 0.794

Stress management 0.851 0.239

Conflict management 0.842 0.269

Problem-solving 0.451 0.674 0.345

Creative thinking 0.282 0.344 0.753

Decision making 0.270 0.808 0.229

The naming of the component results from the interpretation of the associated variables (see
variable loadings for each principal component in Table 4). The first component is associated with
Results-oriented performance, Digital skills, Foreign language, Cross-cultural and diversity
competence, Teamwork, and The set of subject-specific skills required to successfully perform a
specific occupation. This component was named ‘Knowledge economy’ to illustrate how these skills
are related to proactivity, technological knowledge, and competencies needed to work in a culturally
and linguistically diverse context. The second component is associated with Stress management,
Conflict management, Self-management and Ability to cope with change. The connection between
these skills is the ability to maintain performance under personal and environmental uncertainty,
which would explain the naming of this component as ‘Uncertainty management’. The third
component is mostly associated with Decision making, Communication and interpersonal skills, and
Problem solving. These skills were interpreted as being aspects of ‘Leadership’. Finally, the last
component is associated with Creative thinking, Analytical Thinking, and Learning to learn, which we
considered to be elements of ‘Cognitive performance’.

This analysis refers to the second research question: which skills do stakeholders mostly consider to
be missing. Overall, we observe that (1) the skill gap is less prominent in the skills related to
leadership, (2) there’s a moderate gap in cognitive performance skills, and (3) the gap is most
marked for uncertainty management skills. The gap in knowledge economy skills seems to vary

Guàrdia, L., Mancini, F., Jacobetty, P., & Maina, M. (2021). Graduates’ employability skills in East Africa. Journal of Teaching and Learning
for Graduate Employability, 12(2), 169–184. 178

significantly between the associated individual skills. The next section presents this analysis in
further detail, connecting the results from our survey with the analysis of focus groups.

Employability skills gap by dimension

The following analysis shows the percentage of respondents who considered the skills in the survey
to be valuable for the labour market in spite of not being explicitly taught in HE, thus proving that
there is a skills gap between labour market demand and HE provision. It is clear that most
respondents considered all skills to be significant.

Knowledge economy skills

Table 5: Knowledge Economy skills

i [Percentages of respondents who seemed to indicate a skills gap —i.e. who considered the associated skill to
be important for the labour market (“Moderately Important” or “Very important” for employers) and not
taught in higher education (who either “Disagree ” or “Strongly disagree” graduates are currently developing
the associated skill in higher education).]

iii [Percentages of respondents who considered the associated skill either “Moderately Important” or “Very
important” for employers in the present and future African labour market.]

iii [Percentages of respondents who either “Disagree” or “Strongly disagree” with a statement claiming
graduates are currently developing the associated skill in higher education.]

For the knowledge economy skill set (Table 5), gaps are found particularly in the Foreign language
and Cross-cultural and diversity skills (around 45% of participants). These skills, however, are among
the least valued for the labour market. Despite being significantly perceived as the locus of
important gaps, the skills related to dealing with linguistic and cultural diversity are an aspect of the
knowledge economy that is less valued in the workplace. The set of subject-specific skills required to
successfully perform a specific occupation and Results-oriented performance are averagely valued in
the labour market although a gap was identified by a considerable number of participants. Such
findings replicate a major concern of the focus groups: practical and experiential skills are
considered by some participants to be most relevant for the labour market. An emphasis on theory
before practice in HE programmes was regarded by a high number of participants, mainly from
Tanzania and Uganda, to be one of the main causes behind the skills gap in the region. In many
cases, graduates are expected to bridge the skills gap by themselves when they start to work,
adapting their own skills to the workplace. This is considered to be a waste of time for employers.
Focus group results also revealed that HE focuses more on exams and qualifications than on
developing useful skills. In Kenya it was stated that, from an early age, students learn to focus on

Skills gapi
Valuable in the
Labour Marketii

Not acquired in
Higher Educationiii

Foreign language 45% 85% 57%

Cross-cultural and diversity
competence

43% 87% 51%

The set of subject-specific skills
required to successfully perform a
specific occupation

35% 93% 37%

Results-oriented performance 29% 95% 31%

Digital skills 24% 97% 26%

Teamwork 24% 100% 24%

Guàrdia, L., Mancini, F., Jacobetty, P., & Maina, M. (2021). Graduates’ employability skills in East Africa. Journal of Teaching and Learning
for Graduate Employability, 12(2), 169–184. 179

grades and course results rather than on developing the necessary skills to be competitive in the
labour market.

Finally, Digital skills and Teamwork are the most valuable skill sets in this dimension for survey
respondents, and are also those which are less associated with a skills gap. According to the focus
group interlocutors from the three Sub-Saharan countries, ICT skills are highly valued in the African
labour market. As one participant from Kenya stated: “one of the key competences is ICT skills
because they are becoming the core mode of delivering services within organisations in Kenya”.
According to a smaller number of participants from the three countries, ICT skills are acquired in HE
but students may be missing a critical view on the use of technology. In terms of teamwork, focus
group participants tend to agree that this skill is highly valued by employers.

Uncertainty management skills

Table 6: Uncertainty Management Skills

Skills gap
Valuable in the
Labour Market

Not acquired in
Higher Education

Stress management 55% 89% 64%

Conflict management 38% 87% 49%

Ability to cope with
change

35% 97% 38%

Self-management 33% 94% 34%

Uncertainty management skills are those in which the skills gap is larger (Table 6). For each of these
skills, a gap is identified by at least one third of respondents. Over half of the respondents recognise
a gap with Stress management, the only skills gap that is identified by such a large proportion of the
sample.

Conflict management is identified as a valuable skill in the labour market by an equivalent
percentage of survey respondents, but a considerably smaller proportion of our sample signals that
it is not acquired in HE. Nevertheless, it still ranks high in terms of constituting a skills gap. In
Uganda, focus group participants mentioned emotional intelligence as an important skill for conflict
resolution: dealing with crisis and colleagues in a way that supports communication, thus avoiding
the intervention of superiors, is pointed out as a skill graduates tend to lack. The Ability to cope with
change and Self-management appear to be highly valued in the labour market but a considerable
number of participants acknowledge they also pertain to the skills gap. One of the most salient skills
related to self-management is how graduates manage their time. As one focus group participant in
Kenya stated, employers value people that are ready to meet deadlines.

Leadership skills

Table 7: Leadership Skills

Skills gap
Valuable in the
Labour Market

Not acquired in
Higher Education

Problem-solving 30% 99% 31%

Communication and
interpersonal skills

25% 100% 25%

Decision making 23% 97% 25%

Guàrdia, L., Mancini, F., Jacobetty, P., & Maina, M. (2021). Graduates’ employability skills in East Africa. Journal of Teaching and Learning
for Graduate Employability, 12(2), 169–184. 180

There seems to be near consensus about the value of all the identified Leadership skills valued in the
labour market. In addition, this skill set exhibits the lowest percentage of respondents who indicate
there is a skills gap (30% or less). Problem solving appears to be the most problematic skill. In several
focus groups it was considered one of the most valued skills for employers. Only 31% of participants,
however, seemed to indicate that it is not acquired in HE.

In a focus group from Kenya, the example of banking was provided as one of the particular fields
that are highly reliant on numeracy and ICT skills, requiring data analysis and finding solutions to
problems. The ability to code and translate business ideas into product development is also
mentioned as another example of problem solving. Nevertheless, in groups from Uganda and in one
from Kenya, participants stated graduates do not sufficiently acquire this skill in HE.

Communication and interpersonal skills are considered of value for the labour market by 100% of
respondents, and only 25% of participants considered them not to be acquired in HE and to actually
constitute a skills gap. The importance of communication skills for companies, namely in PR and
social media marketing, was emphasised by a focus group in Kenya. The same group indicated how a
lack of communication skills may prevent skilled workers from being able to express their knowledge
in an interview situation, for instance, stressing its fundamental value for employability. Despite a
relative satisfaction with HE in this regard, focus group participants in Uganda mentioned an issue
that may suggest ways forward: graduates often seem unable to demonstrate their communicative
skills during presentations due to fear, a matter which could be addressed by increasing
presentation practice in HE. Interpersonal skills were also highlighted in Kenyan focus groups as an
important aspect of business operations: offering satisfying customer service.

Decision making is one of the key skills for the labour market which is least considered to be the
locus of a skills gap. However, this skill was identified in one Tanzanian focus group as one of the
graduates’ skills where there are shortages.

Cognitive performance skills

Table 8: Cognitive Performance Skills

Skills gap
Valuable in the
Labour Market

Not acquired in
Higher Education

Creative thinking 35% 99% 35%

Analytical Thinking 31% 95% 32%

Learning to learn 28% 94% 32%

Finally, a large proportion of survey respondents seemed to indicate that there is a gap in the skill
set related to cognitive performance. In this skill set, Creative thinking is both the most valued skill
and the skill most associated with a skills gap (35% of respondents). In Tanzania and Uganda, focus
group participants indicated that graduates should be better skilled in terms of innovation and
creativity.

Analytical thinking and Learning to learn are also associated with a skills gap by a considerably
smaller proportion of survey respondents (around 30%). According to participants in the three
Ugandan focus groups, analytical and critical thinking are among the skills required by employers in
the region. In particular, analytical thinking was said to be required to ‘see’ and ‘remember’ what is
relevant, enabling employees to make better sense of their operations. Another important
component of this type of thinking, mentioned in a Kenyan focus group, is the ability to perform
data analysis. Finally, the idea that employees need to improve their own learning abilities was also
mentioned in Kenya, particularly in the field of IT where innovation is sustained and fast-paced.

Guàrdia, L., Mancini, F., Jacobetty, P., & Maina, M. (2021). Graduates’ employability skills in East Africa. Journal of Teaching and Learning
for Graduate Employability, 12(2), 169–184. 181

Discussion

According to our findings, there is a marked perception among regional stakeholders of
shortcomings related to the employability skills of graduates. This perceived lack is only partial,
however, and may be the result of graduates’ inability to demonstrate their acquired skills or to put
them into practice. Our results corroborate what the existing literature highlights as potential causes
behind the graduates’ skills gap: an emphasis of university programmes on the development of
theoretical knowledge before practical skills (Bhorat et al., 2017; Leopold et al., 2017; McCowan,
2015), unqualified teaching staff, outdated curricula in HE (Fox & Gandhi, 2021; Njeg’ere Kabita & Ji,
2017), and overloaded facilities (AAI, 2015; Manji et al., 2015; McCowan, 2014). In addition, our
focus group analysis also indicates that HE tends to offer management-oriented training instead of
occupational skills, does not meet international standards, and lacks connections with employers.

Through a more detailed analysis, we found that stakeholders in the region tend to value skills along
four main axes or dimensions, which we named knowledge economy skills, uncertainty management
skills, leadership skills and cognitive performance skills. In terms of knowledge economy skills, gaps
are mostly related with foreign language and cross-cultural/diversity competence. As we have
discussed, this is an obstacle to participation in global value chains of knowledge intensive economic
production, which the literature relates to greater prosperity. The gap for the operative, occupation-
specific skills is pointed out by a smaller but still significant number of survey respondents. The main
causes are teaching staff disconnected from today’s knowledge and practices at industry level, and
highly theoretical HE programmes that lack practical focus. On the other hand, stakeholders seem to
agree that graduates possess valuable skills from the knowledge economy skill set, namely results-
oriented performance, digital skills and teamwork. However, they also mentioned that a critical
perspective on ICT is missing, despite not considering this a serious skills gap. Thus, this particular
aspect of ICT should be improved in HE courses. Most skills linked to uncertainty management are
associated with gaps by a high percentage of survey respondents. This result highlights the lack of
soft skills such as those related to keeping a positive attitude and the ability to deal with conflict,
change and uncertainty.

Lastly, leadership and cognitive performance skills are less associated with a skills gap, indicating the
ability of HE to train good managers with interpersonal and decision-making skills, foster analytical
thinking and autonomous learning, and provide theoretical knowledge to approach problems in
professional contexts.

Conclusion

Our research sought to understand how university staff, employers and public civil servants in East
Africa, perceive the relationship between the skills graduates acquire throughout their studies and
those valued by the labour market. Our study shows that there is a marked skills gap in the region,
albeit a partial one, mostly felt in some of the general knowledge economy employability skills and
uncertainty management skills, but less so in leadership and cognitive performance skills. As a final
note, we highlight the importance of critical engagement with the definition of graduate skills and
competencies. This process provides HE institutions with the opportunity of becoming agents of
social transformation by identifying problems and educating for positive impact. The findings of this
study also point to the active involvement of all stakeholders working together towards the same
purpose of employability. Particularly, findings support the need for universities to develop and
enhance graduate skills in their programmes of study.

Endnotes

¹ https://bit.ly/3gfaREC
₂ [EPICA (Strategic Partnership for the Co-Design of an Innovative and Scalable ePortfolio) project website:
https://www.epica-initiative.com/]

https://bit.ly/3gfaREC
https://www.epica-initiative.com/

Guàrdia, L., Mancini, F., Jacobetty, P., & Maina, M. (2021). Graduates’ employability skills in East Africa. Journal of Teaching and Learning
for Graduate Employability, 12(2), 169–184. 182

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