Undergraduate employability training and employment: a UAE study
Higher Education, Skills and Work-Based Learning
ISSN: 2042-3896
Article publication date: 8 February 2016
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to investigate the link between female undergraduate student participation in a university-sponsored employment skills development program and employment post-graduation.
Design/methodology/approach
From historical institutional data a random sample was analyzed using the logistic regression model. The main variable investigated was participation in the World of Work (WOW) program during undergraduate study. It was hypothesized that participation would contribute positively to the probability of employment after graduation.
Findings
Grade point average at the time of graduation was also expected to have a positive relationship with employability. The study found that those who participated in the WOW program while undergraduates were more 6.7 times more likely to find post-graduate employment than non-participants.
Research limitations/implications
Data were collected at a single institution as such findings may not be generalizable.
Practical implications
This study provides support for the inclusion of employability training at the tertiary level and provides evidence to support resourcing such initiatives.
Social implications
The study supports the development of work-ready, nationals and to supplying the UAE economy with needed human capital, in particular the goal of Emiratization.
Originality/value
This study is of one of very few in the Arabian Gulf region to examine employability factors of university graduates.
Keywords
Citation
El-Temtamy, O., O'Neill, K.K. and Midraj, S. (2016), "Undergraduate employability training and employment: a UAE study", Higher Education, Skills and Work-Based Learning, Vol. 6 No. 1, pp. 100-115. https://doi.org/10.1108/HESWBL-02-2015-0006
Publisher
:Emerald Group Publishing Limited
Copyright © 2016, Emerald Group Publishing Limited