Business students’ perspectives on employability skills post internship experience

Abstract

Purpose Employability skills of university graduates remain an ongoing topic for discussion and debate. Numerous studies highlight the expressed concerns of governments and industries about higher education’s ability to develop workforce ready graduates. An often cited solution is the use of internships to equip students with necessary employability skills. The purpose of this paper is to assess the status of employability skills from the perspective of students within a United Arab Emirates (UAE) institution based on their completion of a half-semester-long work placement experience. Design/methodology/approach Using a largely qualitative instrument, students reflected on their internship experience to report the essential skills needed in the workplace, classroom activities that most prepared them to use such skills in the workplace and the various challenges they encountered as interns. Findings Overall, students attributed a degree of importance to all skills addressed in the study with the greatest importance being attached to communication, teamwork and time management. Students indicated that most skills were addressed in the classroom; however, there appears to be a lack of awareness in the areas of critical thinking, self-management, intercultural skills and taking initiative. Research limitations/implications The present study only addressed the perceptions of business students at one all-female UAE-based institution of higher learning. Therefore, the data collected may not be representative of students enrolled in other degree programs or institutions. However, the understanding of these participants’ experiences adds to the body of literature featuring business undergraduate work experiences – particularly for the UAE and Gulf region. Practical implications Implications for academic and professional practitioners are discussed. Findings and recommendations are informative for curriculum development as well as economic and workforce development agencies. Originality/value The literature is well documented with studies from the perspectives of multiple entities including employers and university faculty, mostly in the western world. Fewer studies examine the perception of students, and even fewer studies are based on students in the UAE and other Gulf countries.

Future economic professionals: development of practical skills and competencies in higher education from the point of view of international employers

“…Here, the correlation with the opinions of practitioners is also obvious, where it was proven that the more the practical preparation of students is strengthened, the more companies are satisfied with the graduates. However, it has to be noted that the majority of the students agree to the fact that a practical component is missing in the professional training in accounting and corporate financial management, which is in line with the views of the practitioners who respond that practical experience is the most commonly lacking competence of students and gra duates (Griffin & Coelhoso, 2019;Ilnitskaya & Lucci, 2018) [6; 10]. We were also interested in whether the group of students who were already actively engaged in practice considered practical preparation during the study as a necessary educational aspect.…”

“…To develop entrepreneurship education, the authors consi der it necessary to integrate elements of experiential learning, multidisciplinary, multicultural, and interactive student-centred learning approaches for the development of business models of behaviour, key and variable competencies, and «soft» skills. In their study, Griffin and Coelhoso (2019) [6] describe that students find the greatest importance in communication, teamwork and time management. Siriwardane, Kin Hoi Hu, & Low (2014) [13] focus on the level of competence of accountants and auditors in the area of information technology development in the environment of small-and medium-sized enterpri ses.…”

Mentoring and skill development in e-Internships

“…In an analysis of 26 studies on traditional internships, Feldman (2016) found that these internships contribute to personal, professional, and social skills. Other studies note improvements in cross-cultural and language skills (Bilsland et al, 2019), critical thinking, communication, and problem solving (Griffin and Coelhoso, 2019). Traditional internships likewise help interns to get insights into different career paths, assess career-fit and engage in career building (Attri and Kushwaha, 2018;Bilsland et al, 2019;Nghia and My Duyen, 2018).…”

Generic Skills Development in the Gulf Cooperation Council Countries and Graduate Outcomes: A Systematic Review of the Literature

“…2012) study, generic skills development through pre-placement activities and real industry projects at the university improved students' workplace performance. In addition, Griffin and Coelhoso (2019) found that these skills led to quick integration into private sector cultures as students were earlier exposed to working conditions and have participated in it, which resulted in long-term workplace performance. Shorfuzzaman and Alhussein's (2016) study was the only study that reported the impact of digital literacy skills in improving both a learner's performance in the education setting and a learner's productivity in the workplace.…”

“…Alshare and Sewailem (2018) also found that employers emphasized on generic skills, such as work ethics, communication/flexibility, and adaptability, in their recruitment process and believed that they were fundamental skills for the 21 st -century workforce. Al-Ajmi (2003),Belwal et al (2016),Griffin and Coelhoso (2019), andIqbal and Zenchenkov (2014) found that students valued employability skills in their transition to employment, based on perceptions of labor market expectations and demands for generic skills, andIqbal and Zenchenkov (2014) concluded that this led to better industry performance, in turn making the country more competitive in the global market Swailes et al (2012). found that a lack of generic skills led to poor experience to operate in private-sector cultures and misalignment with work expectations that led to poor workplace outcomes.…”