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

Abstract

Generic skills are essential because today’s jobs and the future of work require flexibility, initiative, and the ability to undertake many different tasks. While higher education graduates in the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) countries recognize the contribution of these skills in their academics and workplace performance, generic skills development is not a consistent part of their education, which has led to socioeconomic challenges. If higher education placed a great emphasis on developing generic skills, students would expect to have pragmatic benefits, such as academic success, boosting workplace performance, positive interpersonal relationships, and better health and overall well-being. To the best of our knowledge, no systematic review has been conducted to examine generic skills development outcomes in the GCC. Hence, this systematic review aims to identify, evaluate, and summarize findings from peer-reviewed and policy-related studies that have documented generic skills development outcomes in the GCC countries, including identifying broad definitions used and areas for future research. The findings demonstrated conclusive evidence regarding the effectiveness of generic skills development at the higher education level in enhancing graduate outcomes in employability promotion skills, enhancing stakeholder engagement in curriculum and instruction, academic or workplace performance, influences on health, and effects on social dimensions.

Conceptualizing Graduates Attributes (GAs) in English Language Teacher Education Programs in Oman During the COVID-19 Pandemic

“…The need to strengthen HEIs' roles in promoting the development of skills that are relevant to today's labor market and social situations to meet the labor market expectations is a consistent theme in GCC higher education literature (Al Hinai et al, 2020;Al-Mahrooqi & Denman, 2018;Belwal et al, 2017;El-Saharty et al, 2020;Matu & Paik, 2021). Although the GCC region has experienced significant growth in higher education, particularly in terms of providing the labor market with competent and work-ready graduates, employers' concerns about the quality and readiness of higher education graduates to enter the workforce is still a key issue in the region (Belwal et al, 2017;Gupta et al, 2020;Matu & Paik, 2021). As a result, the GCC countries have prioritized the establishment of GAs on their agenda to ensure the development of basic technical, interpersonal, intrapersonal, and other work-related skills.…”

“…The Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC), which consists of six member countries, namely Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, and the United Arab Emirates (UAE), has made significant progress in shifting its economy away from oil and gas dependence toward an environment that promotes the growth of a knowledge-based economy based on investments of human capital. As a result of this transition, the GCC has entrusted higher education with the mission of providing employable citizens for the workplace (Gross & Ghafar, 2019; Matu & Paik, 2021). Due to this shift and the increasing demand from employers for highly-skilled labor, the GCC countries have prioritized training and education.…”

“…This development has given rise to several issues concerning the conceptualization, teaching, and assessment of GAs, for instance, questions about the efficiency of GAs to accommodate global changes. It has also transpired that HEIs have at times been rather “casual” about GAs, not only in Oman, where the current study took place, but also elsewhere as if GAs were a mere administrative matter rather than an academic one potentially bearing upon the very design, implementation and evaluation of the curriculum, the resources allocated to it, and the needs of the pertinent stakeholders (Matu & Paik, 2021; Scott & Willison, 2021).…”

“…The focus on education policies and curriculum studies has shifted from the content of education to its outcome; as a result, the students have become a college’s product (El-Saharty et al, 2020; Mansingh & Reddy, 2021; Matu & Paik, 2021; Scott & Willison, 2021). Consequently, institutions are now practically mandated by quality assurance authorities to fine-tune their processes and operations (the means) in light of their desired output (the end), which is none other than their graduates (Scott & Willison, 2021).…”

“…Belwal et al (2017), in their study about graduate attributes, reported that according to students’ perceptions of employers’ selection criteria, the five most important employability skills in Oman are computing abilities, the capacity to work in groups, English language competency, prior training, and the graduate’s identity. However, research has shown that there is a mismatch between the competencies that graduates develop and achieve throughout their academic study and the capabilities that the labor market expects and demands in Oman and the Gulf regional states (Al Hinai et al, 2020; Belwal et al, 2017; Matu & Paik, 2021; Rizwan et al, 2021). Universities and colleges across the Sultanate have been accused of failing to provide students with the adequate English language proficiency, communication, and other skills required by employers (see Al-Mahrooqi, 2012a, 2012b; Al-Mahrooqi & Denman, 2018).…”