Massification of higher education and its impact on graduate employablity in emerging economies : A case study of business graduates’ employablity in the Kenyan labour market context

Abstract

Massification of higher education institutions over the years and the resultant impact it has had on the quality of higher education has become a key area of concern in academic and policy circles. Quality decline associated with this rapid expansion in many emerging economies, it is believed is perpetuating a skills gap in labour markets by churning out ill- equipped graduates. The level of resourcing [inadequate staffing & physical infrastructure], governance [weak organizational structures and low stakeholder participation] and pedagogical factors [social hierarchies and outdated approaches to learning, curriculum design/teaching and assessment] in Kenya’s higher education institutions are key factors stemming from massification that are responsible for quality degradation in higher education. This research sought to quantitatively establish which among these factors including graduates’ responsibility and perceived employability, significantly affect employability of business graduates in Kenya’s labour market. The research develops and utilises an analytical framework that not only depicts the relationship between these factors and higher education quality In Kenya but also incorporates the central tenet of human capital and job signalling theories, which is that a positive corelation exists between higher education quality and labour market productivity.This research utilizes a quantitative approach with a survey as the primary data collection instrument, as it is guided by the basic ontological premise that knowledge about the phenomenon under investigation already exists out there objectively. The findings show that the level of resourcing [inadequate staffing & physical infrastructure],and pedagogical culture [curriculum relevance] are the two main factors that significantly negatively affect graduate employability. This research concludes by emphasizing the importance of getting graduates' feedback on their employability after graduation. Even with its flaws, Kenya’s higher education institutions might use this graduate perspective as one of many inputs when formulating institutional policies on graduate employability.