For university graduates, employability is directly linked to the education they have received in specific competencies, because after completing their studies, they must demonstrate acquisition of the abilities, attitudes, values, and skills that will help them compete in the labour market. One of the strategies that universities use to enhance labour market insertion for their graduates is offering up to date education that can generate useful, dynamic knowledge. To do this, they need to understand the demands of the labour market, and studies that track former students after graduation are one of the most useful tools available for this purpose. The aim of the research reported here was to analyse the competencies that best improve graduate employability, using results from the 2021 Labour Market Insertion Study performed by the Agency for Quality in the Galician University System (ACSUG). That study had a quantitative methodological focus and applied a descriptive, non-experimental research design, with a questionnaire used to collect information. Stratified random sampling was applied based on particular degrees and campuses, for a total sample of 842 graduates in the field of Education Sciences. The most notable results include the observation that the most highly valued competencies are Learning abilities, Problem-solving ability, Motivation, and Adaptability, while those with the lowest average scores were Foreign language knowledge, Creativity, and Leadership ability. A discussion is presented comparing the study’s results with the existing perspectives summarised in the first part of the article, and the main conclusions are considered through an analysis of previous research. © 2023 University of Granada. All rights reserved.
Author Keywords
Index Keywords
