Title: University graduates' skills-and-employability evaluation in Poland - a case study of a faculty of management in Warsaw

Authors: Małgorzata Cieciora; Piotr Pietrzak; Piotr Gago

Addresses: Faculty of Information Management, Polish-Japanese Academy on Information Technology (PJAIT), Koszykowa 86 Street, 02-008 Warsaw, Poland ' Management Institute, Warsaw University of Life Sciences (WULS), Nowoursynowska 166 Street, 02-787 Warsaw, Poland ' Faculty of Computer Science, Polish-Japanese Academy on Information Technology (PJAIT), Koszykowa 86 Street, 02-008 Warsaw, Poland

Abstract: The purpose of this paper was to present an attempt to build an innovative and comprehensive system of gathering and analysing reliable, accurate and up-to-date feedback on employability of academic graduates in Poland. After a literature review on the nature of the mismatch between the labour market requirements and the knowledge and skills of higher education graduates, as well as challenges connected with obtaining feedback from graduates, a case study devoted to collecting and analysing labour market stakeholders' feedback undertaken by a small faculty of a non-public academy in Warsaw, Poland is presented. A sample of 31 opinions of the faculty's graduates was gathered and analysed, in the form of an arithmetic mean, minimum and maximum values and cross-plot charts. The main conclusion of both the literature review and the case study is that the labour market highly values technical, especially IT skills and business-related soft skills, such as team-working. The two main challenges for the academic decision-makers are to develop curricula that would foster the development of the desired knowledge and skills and to build effective communication channels with all their stakeholders. A further, more comprehensive research into the matter will be worth conducting.

Keywords: graduates' employability; labour market; university stakeholders; competency gap; innovation; Poland.

DOI: 10.1504/IJIL.2021.116565

International Journal of Innovation and Learning, 2021 Vol.30 No.1, pp.1 - 18

Received: 19 Apr 2020
Accepted: 08 Jul 2020
Published online: 28 Jul 2021 *

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