Job survey shows need for debate on graduate quality

A new survey of potential graduate employers has recommended that Zimbabwe's institutions of higher learning shift focus from the quantity of graduates they produce to quality – a matter that requires national debate to ensure a paradigm shift.

The survey, conducted by a local research consultancy Industrial Psychology Consultants (Pvt) Ltd, was tasked with gauging the perceptions of employers with regard to the quality of graduates coming out of local universities and state-run universities ahead of private or church-run institutions of higher learning.

The survey follows a 2013 study which found that graduates were taking an average of seven years to find employment.

The survey found that graduates from state universities were rated higher than other universities. For commerce graduates, the University of Zimbabwe (UZ) came out highest followed by the National University of Science and Technology (NUST) and Midlands State University (MSU).

For science, technology, engineering and mathematics subjects, the National University of Science and Technology topped the ratings, followed by UZ and the Harare Institute of Technology (HIT).

In the social sciences, UZ came first, followed by MSU and Africa University. For work ethics, NUST topped the list followed by UZ and MSU, the survey said.

The survey noted that graduates from the Great Zimbabwe University in Masvingo and Bindura State University scored the lowest in a test of verbal reasoning, which is the ability to understand and logically work through concepts and problems expressed in words.

Verbal reasoning tests tell employers how well a candidate can extract and work with meaning, information and implications from text. This implies that graduates scoring low on verbal reasoning may find it difficult to express themselves verbally, which is also likely to affect the quality of written reports they produce.

The survey said the results show that universities need to pay attention to the quality of graduates they are producing to enable the graduates to be absorbed by industry, as employer perceptions matter in recruitment.

Researchers asked in the report whether universities could be persuaded to focus on quality of graduates instead of quantity. “This is something that needs national debate to guide higher education development,” the survey said.

“Employers are more concerned with getting quality graduates who have potential to be moulded into senior managers in the future. This seems not to be in line with universities now that seem to focus more on quantity versus quality. Universities must be measured based on the number of their graduates who are absorbed into industry and employed within one year of graduation. This is a proxy measure for the quality of graduates produced,” the report said.

“In 2013, in a study to gauge how long graduates were taking to find formal employment, we found that they were going for an average of seven years without taking any formal employment. That is a sad development for Zimbabwe,” the report said

On the other hand, the survey found Zimbabwe needed more polytechnics than universities as polytechnics produce hands-on employees who can fix things.

It added that while local universities are focusing on producing managers, the trend in the past few years has seen the country producing “too many managers to manage other managers”.