Aligning University Quality Assurance and Graduate Employability

Quite often modules such as entrepreneurship, project management and soft skills required for an immediacy of productive employment in industry are often not taught in universities, or when this is done they are usually very minimal, hence the employment expectation divide experienced by graduates and employers. A questionnaire based survey carried out in Sierra Leone, involving employers, lecturers and graduate employees, showed that 57.15% of employers ranked the problem solving skills of their graduate employees as reasonable, i.e. a grade of 2 on a 6 point scale where the sixth point was Don't know. While over 60 % of employers assigned a High to Very Good value to the degree awarded to their employees, 35.71% felt their research and analytical skills were poor or low. Among the 13 skills sets listed as being desirable of their employees, Oral communications, Loyalty and integrity, learning abilities, Field specific knowledge and initiative were ranked the highest by 78% of employers that correctly responded. The author discusses this topic within the context of the University of Sierra Leone and makes references to the wider international situation.