Employability Status and Employer Satisfaction of Faculty of Fisheries and Marine Sciences & Technology (FoFMST) Graduates

Abstract

The concept of employability has become one of the key concepts in higher education sector worldwide. Graduate employability is used to measure the success of the mission of the Faculty of Fisheries and Marine Sciences & Technology (FoFMST), University of Ruhuna. The present study was undertaken to explore the present employability rates, employability by gender, employability by sectors and to identify the higher education status of the graduates of FoFMST who graduated between 2011 and 2022. A closed ended questionnaire prepared using Google form was circulated among the graduates in July 2022 to obtain the information. Out of 441 graduates, 396 (89.79%) responded to the survey. Further, an employer satisfaction survey on FMST graduates using eleven employers from both government and private sectors was also incorporated into this study to identify the gap between the quality of graduates produced and the industry requirements. The survey revealed that 60% of the employed graduates are females and 40% are males. The engagement of the graduates in higher education is observed with a similar proportion irrespective of gender (male 49.95% and female 50.05%). Considering the batch-wise data, the employment status of the FoFMST graduates showed that there is a clear trend of increasing the number of students associated with the private sector and the self-employment compared to the government sector over time. The results revealed that the employers are highly satisfied (100%) with the performance of graduates of FoFMST with respect to adaptability, application of subject knowledge, punctuality, use of new technology, and teamwork. Additionally, it can be observed that 84% of the employers are satisfied with the resource management ability of the graduates of FoFMST. Further, it is obvious that most of the graduates of FoFMST are employed in the institutes (such as aquatic environmental related authorities, educational sector, fish processing factories and farms, waste management and water treatment facilities etc.) which are directly related to their academic disciplines.