Business Management Programme as a Driver of Graduate Employability: A Critical Analysis of Perceptions of Students at a Selected University

Abstract

The main purpose of this study was to establish and critically analyse the perceptions of final year students on the extent to which the business management programme enhances graduate employability in Botswana. Extant literature alludes to the fact that ensuring employability connotes a situation where a graduate of a curriculum is not only able to gain employment but also to maintain that employment. The study used the CareerEDGE model to explain the anatomy of employability as well as to articulate the extent of preparedness for employment that is required for a Business Management student to be able to meet the requirements of the labour market. Using a selected university, a simple random sampling strategy was used to select 92 students to participate in the study. A descriptive research strategy that employed a structured questionnaire for data collection was used. Results of the study showed that studied most of the final year Business Management degree students were of the view that the curriculum enabled them to be employed in two main sectors namely; private sector and public sector specifically in teaching jobs rather than in other sectors such as mining, commerce and agriculture. These results therefore showed that the business management programme is effective as a driver of employability in relevant business sectors, meaning that a relook at the curriculum may be needed for purposes of enhancing it.

Keywords: Business management, graduate employability, driver, business sectors, student