Which Skills Are the Most Absent among University Graduates in the Labour Market? Evidence from Slovakia

Jarmila Lazíková (), Ivan Takáč, Ľubica Rumanovská, Tomáš Michalička and Michal Palko
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Jarmila Lazíková: Institute of Law, Slovak University of Agriculture in Nitra, 94976 Nitra, Slovakia
Ivan Takáč: Institute of European Policies and Public Administration, Slovak University of Agriculture in Nitra, 94976 Nitra, Slovakia
Ľubica Rumanovská: Institute of European Policies and Public Administration, Slovak University of Agriculture in Nitra, 94976 Nitra, Slovakia
Tomáš Michalička: Institute of Economic Policy and Finance, Slovak University of Agriculture in Nitra, 94976 Nitra, Slovakia
Michal Palko: Institute of European Policies and Public Administration, Slovak University of Agriculture in Nitra, 94976 Nitra, Slovakia

Social Sciences, 2022, vol. 11, issue 10, 1-17

Abstract: The most important purposes of Slovakian universities are research and education. The main goal of university education is to prepare highly skilled graduates to be employed in the labour market either at home or abroad. To achieve this goal, universities need to receive feedback from their graduates as to whether they are satisfied with their education and whether their employers are satisfied with their skills. The results obtained in this study show that, except for graduates from technical sciences, most graduates of Slovakian universities are not satisfied with the study programmes they chose. There are various factors affecting the satisfaction of graduates with their study programme; however, the most important ones were related to their employability and their employment in their field of study. Moreover, potential employers have greater expectations in relation to soft skills than graduates have acquired. The greatest differences between the required and acquired skills were seen in soft skills, such as the ability to take responsibility, to communicate with people, to negotiate, and to adapt to change, regardless of the field of study. Other than foreign language skills, the level of required hard skills was only slightly higher than the level acquired. According to these results, we make recommendations for universities, politicians, and potential employers; however, only reasonable cooperation among them can lead to graduates being satisfied with their chosen study programme.

Keywords: fields of study; hard skills; labour market; soft skills; university graduates (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: A B N P Y80 Z00 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2022
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