IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/gam/jscscx/v11y2022i10p438-d924883.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Which Skills Are the Most Absent among University Graduates in the Labour Market? Evidence from Slovakia

Author

Listed:
  • Jarmila Lazíková

    (Institute of Law, Slovak University of Agriculture in Nitra, 94976 Nitra, Slovakia)

  • Ivan Takáč

    (Institute of European Policies and Public Administration, Slovak University of Agriculture in Nitra, 94976 Nitra, Slovakia)

  • Ľubica Rumanovská

    (Institute of European Policies and Public Administration, Slovak University of Agriculture in Nitra, 94976 Nitra, Slovakia)

  • Tomáš Michalička

    (Institute of Economic Policy and Finance, Slovak University of Agriculture in Nitra, 94976 Nitra, Slovakia)

  • Michal Palko

    (Institute of European Policies and Public Administration, Slovak University of Agriculture in Nitra, 94976 Nitra, Slovakia)

Abstract

The most important purposes of Slovakian universities are research and education. The main goal of university education is to prepare highly skilled graduates to be employed in the labour market either at home or abroad. To achieve this goal, universities need to receive feedback from their graduates as to whether they are satisfied with their education and whether their employers are satisfied with their skills. The results obtained in this study show that, except for graduates from technical sciences, most graduates of Slovakian universities are not satisfied with the study programmes they chose. There are various factors affecting the satisfaction of graduates with their study programme; however, the most important ones were related to their employability and their employment in their field of study. Moreover, potential employers have greater expectations in relation to soft skills than graduates have acquired. The greatest differences between the required and acquired skills were seen in soft skills, such as the ability to take responsibility, to communicate with people, to negotiate, and to adapt to change, regardless of the field of study. Other than foreign language skills, the level of required hard skills was only slightly higher than the level acquired. According to these results, we make recommendations for universities, politicians, and potential employers; however, only reasonable cooperation among them can lead to graduates being satisfied with their chosen study programme.

Suggested Citation

  • Jarmila Lazíková & Ivan Takáč & Ľubica Rumanovská & Tomáš Michalička & Michal Palko, 2022. "Which Skills Are the Most Absent among University Graduates in the Labour Market? Evidence from Slovakia," Social Sciences, MDPI, vol. 11(10), pages 1-17, September.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jscscx:v:11:y:2022:i:10:p:438-:d:924883
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/2076-0760/11/10/438/pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/2076-0760/11/10/438/
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Yet Mee Lim & Tat Huei Cham & Teck Heang Lee & Tharunika @ Chithra Latha Ramalingam, 2019. "Employer-Employee Perceptual Differences in Job Competency: A Study of Generic Skills, Knowledge Required, and Personal Qualities for Accounting-Related Entry-Level Job Positions," International Journal of Academic Research in Accounting, Finance and Management Sciences, Human Resource Management Academic Research Society, International Journal of Academic Research in Accounting, Finance and Management Sciences, vol. 9(4), pages 73-83, October.
    2. Romina Cachia & Anusca Ferrari, 2010. "Creativity in Schools: A Survey of Teachers in Europe," JRC Research Reports JRC59232, Joint Research Centre.
    3. Cervantes, Carla Varona & Cooper, Russell, 2022. "Labor market implications of education mismatch," European Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 148(C).
    4. Riccardo Leoni, 2014. "Graduate employability and the development of competencies. The incomplete reform of the “Bologna Process”," International Journal of Manpower, Emerald Group Publishing Limited, vol. 35(4), pages 448-469, July.
    5. Daniel Lovin & Monica Raducan & Alexandru Capatina & Nicoleta Cristache, 2021. "Sustainable Knowledge Transfer from Business Simulations to Working Environments: Correlational vs. Configurational Approach," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(4), pages 1-16, February.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Jingyuan Fu & Meng Sun & Minhong Wang, 2022. "Simulation-Assisted Learning about a Complex Economic System: Impact on Low- and High-Achieving Students," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(10), pages 1-17, May.
    2. Violeta-Andreea ANDREIANA & Georgiana STOICA & Dorin IANCU & Irina Antoaneta TANASESCU, 2021. "Comparative Analysis of Advertisements - Catena Pharmacy Vs. Sensiblu Pharmacy," Economics and Applied Informatics, "Dunarea de Jos" University of Galati, Faculty of Economics and Business Administration, issue 3, pages 168-173.
    3. MORARU Gina-Maria, 2021. "The Creativity Of Future Engineers, An Insufficiently Exploited Resource In Romanian Organizations," Management of Sustainable Development, Lucian Blaga University of Sibiu, Faculty of Economic Sciences, vol. 13(1), pages 21-25, June.
    4. Christine Redecker, 2013. "The Use of ICT for the Assessment of Key Competences," JRC Research Reports JRC76971, Joint Research Centre.
    5. Nowreyah A. Al-Nouh & Muneera M. Abdul-Kareem & Hanan A. Taqi, 2014. "Primary School EFL Teachers’ Attitudes towards Creativity and Their Perceptions of Practice," English Language Teaching, Canadian Center of Science and Education, vol. 7(9), pages 1-74, September.
    6. Lavinia-Andreea GRUIA & Alexandru ROJA & Nicolae BIBU & Marian NASTASE, 2021. "Education as the Main Entry Point in a Digitally Transformed Future of Work," Economics and Applied Informatics, "Dunarea de Jos" University of Galati, Faculty of Economics and Business Administration, issue 3, pages 155-167.
    7. Anna Mróz & Iwona Ocetkiewicz, 2021. "Creativity for Sustainability: How Do Polish Teachers Develop Students’ Creativity Competence? Analysis of Research Results," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(2), pages 1-20, January.
    8. Maria-Cristina STEFAN & Violeta-Andreea ANDREIANA & Irina Antoaneta TANASESCU & Georgiana STOICA, 2021. "Impact of Television Advertising on the Impulse to Purchase Over-the-Counter Medicine," Economics and Applied Informatics, "Dunarea de Jos" University of Galati, Faculty of Economics and Business Administration, issue 3, pages 149-154.
    9. Ivana Komarkova & Dimitri Gagliardi & Johannes Conrads & Antonio Collado, 2015. "Entrepreneurship Competence: An Overview of Existing Concepts, Policies and Initiatives – Final report," JRC Research Reports JRC96531, Joint Research Centre.
    10. Tina Beranič & Marjan Heričko, 2022. "The Impact of Serious Games in Economic and Business Education: A Case of ERP Business Simulation," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(2), pages 1-17, January.
    11. Sara Isabel Marin-Zapata & Juan Pablo Román-Calderón & Cristina Robledo-Ardila & Maria Alejandra Jaramillo-Serna, 2022. "Soft skills, do we know what we are talking about?," Review of Managerial Science, Springer, vol. 16(4), pages 969-1000, May.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:gam:jscscx:v:11:y:2022:i:10:p:438-:d:924883. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: MDPI Indexing Manager (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://www.mdpi.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.