Investigating implementation on the University of Botswana's graduate employability strategy: perspectives of students in the Faculty of Education

Abstract

The emergence of neoliberalism in the 1980s and 1990s has led to a shift in the manner in which universities and other institutions of higher learning have re-designed their academic programmes. This is consistent with governments’ call for higher education institutions to promote entrepreneurial skills required in the world of work. In line with global neoliberal policies, the University of Botswana (UB) has committed itself to academic programmes that prepare learners for the world of work. The policy used to respond to this ideological perspective is the Teaching and Learning Policy, which expresses UB’s commitment to graduate employability. One of the aims of the Graduate Employability Strategy is to produce graduates who have entrepreneurship and employability capability transferable to different situations. Guided by the conceptual framework of employability, this qualitative study aims to explore the extent to which UB students perceive themselves to be adequately prepared for employment; and to examine the extent to which the students feel they have acquired knowledge and skills that provide them with opportunities to get employed. The participants in the study were pre-service and in-service students in the Faculty of Education of the University of Botswana, and the study is based on their responses to semi-structured questionnaire.