Perception of Employers on Quality Assurance in University Education in Sri Lanka

Abstract

The worldwide growing attention on quality assurance in higher education induces universities to restructure their institutional objectives and programs to cater to the demands of the stakeholders. Employers are keen on the quality of higher education to recruit good quality graduates. However, it seems that the incompatibility in the employers’ expectations and the quality of graduates, the graduate unemployment has become a severe problem in Sri Lanka during the last few decades. Therefore, the objective of the present study is to identify the employers’ expectations on knowledge, attitudes, and skills of graduates while examining the employers' perception in developing a quality assurance system in higher education in Sri Lanka. A Google form-based questionnaire was prepared to collect primary data. The pre-tested questionnaire was sent to the employers who are recruiting (n=30) as well as not recruiting (n=30) graduates from the Faculty of Agriculture, University of Ruhuna, using the snowball sampling technique. Descriptive statistical tools and the Wilcoxon Signed-Rank test occupied as the main statistical tools for the data analysis. Concerning the performance and skills of hired graduates, 52% of the employers were satisfied with the job related knowledge that graduates possess. Moreover, 30% were strongly satisfied with the skills of the graduates employed in their respective companies while 26% were satisfied with the skills of the graduates. However, regarding performance level, only 33% of employers were satisfied with the existing performance level while 40% were satisfied with the accuracy/precision of the work. Wilcoxon Sign Rank Test results revealed that employers are dissatisfied regarding the current quality assurance system giving insights of improving an effective improved quality assurance system (Test value=1.795; P =0.0173). Based on the responses of the companies not employing graduates attached to the faculty, lack of practical experience (27%), lack of interview facing skills (17%) and better performance of graduates from other universities (13%) were the main reasons highlighted by the respondents. Among all respondents (n=30), the majority (60%) mentioned the quality of higher education as developing innovative and independent thinkers, having a knowledgeable and up to date staff, good links to industry, good university facilities, library, career guidance, and maintaining quality teaching materials and methods of teaching. The findings of this study will be of great significance for policymakers in higher education to uplift the quality of the Sri Lankan higher education system to produce quality graduates.