Proceedings of the HCT International General Education Conference (HCT-IGEC 2023)

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What Skills do Employers Really Want from Graduates?

Authors
Nicole Maisoon Shammas1, 2, *
1Faculty of Higher Colleges of Technology, Dubai Women’s College, P. O. Box 16061, Dubai, UAE
2University of Southern Queensland, Springfield, Australia
*Corresponding author. Email: nshammas@hct.ac.ae
Corresponding Author
Nicole Maisoon Shammas
Available Online 23 November 2023.
DOI
10.2991/978-94-6463-286-6_7How to use a DOI?
Keywords
Job Readiness; Employability; United Arab Emirates
Abstract

For over a decade the United Arab Emirates (UAE) has supported an Emiratization initiative designed to employ UAE nationals in a meaningful manner in both the public and private sectors. Utilizing this skilled Emirati labour pool is key to the country’s development and its prioritization is reflected in government mandates. For example, the ‘Project of the 50’, aims to employ 75,000 UAE Nationals in the private sector between 2021-2025. Underpinning all of these initiatives is the role of the education section which plays an instrumental part in ensuring graduates are work ready and have the skills and knowledge to compete in a global market. This research study explores the growing divide between employment market realities and classroom practices and policy in order to more effectively prepare graduates for employment. It argues that in order to realize the country’s Emiratization aspirations there needs to be tighter collaboration and discussion between Higher Education and the employment market. To equip HCT graduates for the work force, the research design of this study takes the form of interviews with employers and Higher Colleges of Technology working graduates in order to examine more closely employer needs and the potential disconnect with classroom practices.

Copyright
© 2023 The Author(s)
Open Access
Open Access This chapter is licensed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/), which permits any noncommercial use, sharing, adaptation, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, as long as you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons license and indicate if changes were made.

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Volume Title
Proceedings of the HCT International General Education Conference (HCT-IGEC 2023)
Series
Atlantis Highlights in Social Sciences, Education and Humanities
Publication Date
23 November 2023
ISBN
978-94-6463-286-6
ISSN
2667-128X
DOI
10.2991/978-94-6463-286-6_7How to use a DOI?
Copyright
© 2023 The Author(s)
Open Access
Open Access This chapter is licensed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/), which permits any noncommercial use, sharing, adaptation, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, as long as you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons license and indicate if changes were made.

Cite this article

risenwbib
TY  - CONF
AU  - Nicole Maisoon Shammas
PY  - 2023
DA  - 2023/11/23
TI  - What Skills do Employers Really Want from Graduates?
BT  - Proceedings of the HCT International General Education Conference (HCT-IGEC 2023)
PB  - Atlantis Press
SP  - 77
EP  - 88
SN  - 2667-128X
UR  - https://doi.org/10.2991/978-94-6463-286-6_7
DO  - 10.2991/978-94-6463-286-6_7
ID  - Shammas2023
ER  -