Employability skills from employers' perspectives in indigenous contexts: empirical evidence
Higher Education, Skills and Work-Based Learning
ISSN: 2042-3896
Article publication date: 13 October 2022
Issue publication date: 25 October 2022
Abstract
Purpose
This paper aims to analyze Northern Manitoba employers' indexes of employability skills that influence the UCN (University College of the North) students' employability in indigenous contexts.
Design/methodology/approach
This study constructs the employability skills into six indexes from employers' perspective: reading comprehension, numeracy, technology, soft skills, job searching skills and indigenous cultural awareness. Mixed methods have been applied to this research: survey data are used for empirical analysis of the six indexes of employability skills; secondary sources of similar studies together with functional theory in education as a framework is adopted to explore the breadth and depth of employability skills requested by employers; indexing analysis is adopted to validate the necessity of developing such skills in indigenous contexts in Northern Manitoba.
Findings
The correlation analyses and mean values show that employers in Northern Manitoba take the six indexes as influential factors of students' employability. As such, the study indicates that Northern Manitoba employers consider employability in indigenous contexts as a combination of basic skills, professional requirements, soft skills and cultural awareness. The employers' attested employability is in line with the concept of the technical-function theory, which requires education to meet the demand for updated job skills due to a technological change. Moreover, Northern Manitoba employers' emphasis on indigenous cultural awareness as employability skills rationalizes the necessity to integrate indigenous cultural contents into programs and curriculums in UCN and post-secondary institutes with similar attributes. It confirms that indigenous cultural awareness is required by employers in Northern Manitoba populated with indigenous communities. The research findings suggest that the functional theory of education might help UCN and similar institutions globally to offer programs that will reduce employment inequality.
Research limitations/implications
This research is conducted among the employers in Northern Manitoba, and the indexes and their factors are designed to evaluate UCN students' employability in general.
Practical implications
The outcomes of this paper can be applied as a parameter for upgrading educational strategies to integrate essential and professional employability skills such as reading comprehension, numeracy, technology, soft skills and job searching skills with indigenous cultural components into UCN curriculums and programs. It can be applied to other post-secondary institutes with similar attributes to enhance their students' employability. Furthermore, the research findings can be used as a guideline for UCN to tailor their programs for the job market locally and as references for post-secondary institutions with similar student compositions globally.
Originality/value
This paper provides empirical evidence from the employers' viewpoint to support the necessity of integrating essential and professional employability skills with indigenous cultural awareness into the curriculums and programs of UCN, a post-secondary institution in indigenous populated Northern Manitoba. Furthermore, it is also attested that employers consider indigenous cultural awareness as an influential factor of students' employability in indigenous contexts.
Keywords
Acknowledgements
The authors would like to express their appreciations to the following individuals and institutions for their special contributions to this research: Krystle Paskaruk, coordinator, career and work-integrated learning, who helped connect the employers in Northern Manitoba; Ishwer Dherdi, research assistant, who followed the research protocols in communicating with the employers and delivered them print or digital questionnaires; the UCN Research Office, which offered data analysis assistance; and the UCN SEED Grant for this study. Without their support, the authors would not have the research done successfully.
Citation
Hossain, A., Kong, Y., Briggs, H. and Laycock, K. (2022), "Employability skills from employers' perspectives in indigenous contexts: empirical evidence", Higher Education, Skills and Work-Based Learning, Vol. 12 No. 6, pp. 1084-1107. https://doi.org/10.1108/HESWBL-05-2022-0102
Publisher
:Emerald Publishing Limited
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