Hiring recent graduates: identifying mismatches

The new competency-based learning model requires modern and meaningful learning tools that allow graduates to develop skills and become active builders of knowledge, rather than just passive recipients.

This topic is what the scientific article published by Maria Pujol Jover, member of the Management and e-Learning (MeL) research group, together with Lola C. Duque and Maria Carme Riera Prunera, talks about.

The article titled “The recruit requirements of recent graduates: Approaching the existing mismatch” was published in the journal Total Quality Management in 2022.

Objective and Methodology

Based on the SERVQUAL research model, the authors propose a four-gap model to compare the perceptions of employers and graduates on the competencies required by the labor market and the level of skills achieved after graduation, examining the existence of discrepancies between them.

In this research, a quantitative methodology was applied through two parallel surveys carried out over six months among recent graduates and their employers. The objective was to assess the perception of university graduates and employers on various core competencies.

Results and conclusions

The results indicate that the general evaluation of competencies by employers is close to 4.1 points (on a Likert scale from 1 to 6). However, graduates evaluate them around 3.5.

The differences between the perceptions of employers and graduates indicate that the latter often lack certain knowledge apparently useful for successful integration into the labor market upon leaving university.

In this sense, employers seem to demand a greater effort to strengthen both individual and collective skills, as well as more practice-oriented learning, which prioritizes skills such as planning and problem solving or initiative.

However, although companies consider that graduates should acquire a higher level of skills at university, they positively evaluate the current level of skills that graduates display at work.

The results offer a vision that confirms the problems pointed out by most companies in recent years. Graduates seem to be aware of this, since they consider that the curriculum did not allow them to acquire most of the skills they need at an adequate level.

To conclude, the study highlights the need to develop more effective teaching and assessment methods to achieve specific student learning outcomes. The recommendations focus on finding and implementing the best procedures and strategies to close the main gaps.

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