What Have You Learned? Matching Academic Content to Employability Skills in an Economics Undergraduate Programme

Sousounis, Panagiotis

Abstract

In economics and social sciences in general, it is often difficult for students to connect theory with
practice and identify how material that is being taught, develops discipline-specific skills, and
importantly, in this context, employability (or, so called, soft) skills. This is particularly pronounced for
mathematical and, generally, quantitative courses of the standard economics undergraduate
curriculum. The abstract nature and broadness of both the subject-specific and generic employability
skills to be gained during an economics programme, is adding to the complexity of the task. Not
bridging theory with practice leads to disengagement, absenteeism, poor performance, and eventually
low student satisfaction. Higher education has become almost synonymous to vocational education,
and students expect to gain specific employment trajectories from their programmes of study.
Universities nowadays routinely report labour market indicators (e.g., graduates in employment within
certain times since graduation, average salaries of graduates etc.) and metrics for each programme of
study.
At the same time, employers seek graduates who possess, together with discipline specific
knowledge, a broad range of skills and aptitudes ranging from good communication skills to critical,
and innovative thinking, and hence universities are expected to develop students’ transferable skills,
competencies, and generic attributes or capabilities (Jenkins and Lane, 2019). Clearly demonstrating
how and what skills students gain through studying for an economics degree, and a university degree
in general, and the practical implications of the material taught, is important.

Citation

Sousounis, P. (2023). What Have You Learned? Matching Academic Content to Employability Skills in an Economics Undergraduate Programme. The Journal of Academic Development and Education, https://doi.org/10.21252/83ee-8043

• Journal Article Type: Article
• Acceptance Date: Dec 1, 2023
• Publication Date: 2023-12
• Deposit Date: Jan 29, 2024
• Publicly Available Date: Jan 29, 2024
• Journal: Journal of Academic Development and Education
• Print ISSN: 2051-3593
• Peer Reviewed: Peer Reviewed
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.21252/83ee-8043
• Keywords: academic content; employability skills; economics undergraduate
• Publisher URL: https://doi.org/10.21252/83ee-8043