How Scientifically Designed Assessments Can Boost Employability Of Students?

Anoop Kudva Mar 21, 2020

The term 'employability' has gained widened perception lately. Recent trends refer to the onset of more critical and beneficial methodologies of evaluating the intricate notches of employability. The biggest ordeal standing in the way of graduates is their obligation to gain expertise in adaptability and acquire certain skill sets necessary to administer the impending risks, ambiguities and instabilities in the domains of competitive job. Rising viewpoints on employability showcase changes that include areas such as career self-management (individual commonly gathers information and prepares for career problem solving and decision making); professional identity (generated by the experiences, values, beliefs of one’s professional field); students perception of employability, networking, global citizenship (motivating young people build knowledge and skills they need to communicate with the world) and scholarship among other notions. To be truly competent, such experiences should be encapsulated in the curriculum to widen learning opportunities.

Importance of promoting employability through curriculum design

Despite the growing body of evidence that says scientifically designed assessments in educational institutions can boost the employability of students and make them job-ready, there is very little awareness on the 'industry required skills' at the ground-level. There is a dire need to promote employability through curriculum design in educational institutions. The activities to promote employability must be productive, significant, relevant, and combined and affiliated to the university curriculum. Furthermore, the education sector needs to understand the importance of instilling employability assessments.

Significance of scientifically designed assessments in college

Assessment is an integral component of procuring the right industry skills. The process aid students in determining the realms that they are lagging in terms of learning and aptitude. The process, in turn, motivates them to narrow down the existing skill gap which qualifies as indispensable for the prepping routine. Attempts should be made to carry out continuous assessments in a structured manner. Diagnostic assessments in the first year of college help to analyse a candidate’s strengths and weaknesses, draw their interests, strategize their career and receive guidance for improvement. A review assessment in the second year puts the spotlight on their progress, recommending the areas of growth and benchmarks against industry employability standards to make sure students are on the correct track. Finally, employability assessments in the third year give a better idea of the student’s nature, identity, personality, focusses on their areas of strengths and provide an employability report. Incorporating periodic employability assessment helps to fathom the skill gaps of students and indicate if they have good cognitive abilities as well as if they are good problem solvers and communicators. Employability is a quality acquired over a while and cannot be built overnight.

The need to measure the impact of assessment

A wide range of assessments is needed to apprehend the comprehensive nature of learning. Measuring the impact of assessment in the form of industry reports is quite the need as it not only shapes student’s morale and determination in professional areas but also helps students to achieve a greater acknowledgement of the significance of employability skills. Its chief objective is to monitor the enhancement of abilities in graduates including that of professional judgement, proficiency when working with the team, critical and analytical thinking and transparent communication. It further upgrades the student’s industry-readiness and set them for change in the workplace.

It is imperative to contemplate a curriculum overhaul. Integrating employability into the curriculum and conducting a periodic assessment of the skills will enable a student to analyse and link their learning to an attractive graduate competency. Change in curriculum and practising assessment strategies will support the entire education ecosystem by considering the student’s earlier understanding and experiences and providing them with the correct proportion of challenges and assistance on pertinent and engaging learning tasks. Given the issue of skill gap, this is the best bet we can have right now which is fundamental to successfully set them up for a deep-routed profession in their chosen field.