Relevance of selected social science degree programs on skills development and graduate employability in Zambia
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Date
2021
Authors
Kapambwe Mwelwa, Lebeloane, Lazarus D.M, Mawela, Ailwei S.
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
The Journal of Teaching and Learning for Graduate Employability
Abstract
A pragmatic approach was used to explore the extent to which four selected social science degree programs were relevant for the skill needs of the job market in Zambia. Both qualitative and quantitative data were collected from 162 participants using interviews and questionnaires. The SPSS version 24 and Atlas. Ti Version 8 were used to analyse and interpret data within the framework of the Capability Approach. The findings reveal that the relevance of each of the four
social science degree programs depend on how key stakeholders in higher education and the labour market perceive them and that graduate employability was affected by factors such as the need and importance of social sciences to the labour market; employer and student perceptions of employability skills in the degree programs; demand for the programs; graduate work readiness, and the availability of graduate job prospects. It could be concluded that although all four social science degree programs were important, their relevance to the needs of Zambia’s labour market varied from program to program.