Graduate employability has become a highly topical and contested issue in Vietnam. Many employers report that university students are not suitably prepared for work, and universities are often criticised for their poor commitment to developing student employability assets. Much of the criticism identifies the causes to be an outdated higher education curriculum coupled with too much reliance on traditional teaching approaches, and a general poor capacity of universities to support students to develop the skills that the market requires. This study challenges this ‘common sense’ (Gramsci, 1999) criticism that places the responsibility of student transition to the employment market squarely on the shoulders of universities. By analysing qualitative data, that includes the voices of students, recent graduates and employers, on issues related to employability, this study locates the criticisms of the Vietnamese higher education system within the wider social and cultural contexts related to the difficulties of student transition. It adopts Hillage and Pollard’s (1998) employability conceptual framework where the interplay between student employability assets, the ways students translate or deploy their university achievements in employment (Knight & York, 2004) and the internal and external contexts under which students seek work (Beckett & Mulcahy, 2006), interact to contribute a complex picture of employability.
The findings of this study reveal that enhancing graduate employability in Vietnam involves many factors that are often underplayed in the general literature. In the Vietnamese context, both the education system and the economy remain relatively underdeveloped; students are schooled to be passive learners and workers; and corrupt employment practices remain rife. Moreover, Confucian cultural features of face saving, hierarchical order in decision making, and the role of rumour and hearsay in a collectivist culture each play an important part in the different ways university graduates negotiate their transition to employment. The study suggests that universities, students, employers and other related stakeholders (including students’ families, government and educational policy makers) all need to acknowledge the rapid changes taking place in Vietnamese society. [...]
Table of Contents
Chapter 1 Introduction
1.1 Personal impetus
1.2 Context and background
1.3 Vietnamese higher education limited to training purposes
1.4 The problem
1.5 Approaching the problem
1.6 A journey to undertake
1.7 Limitation of the study
1.8 Significance of the study
Chapter 2 Contextualizing the study
2.1. Introduction
2.1 Vietnamese social and economic system from 1986 to present
2.1.1 The development of the Vietnamese economy after Doi Moi
2.1.2 Corruption in employment
2.1.3 Human resource issues in Vietnamese enterprises
2.2 The Vietnamese higher education system
Chapter 3 Literature review: Enhancing Graduate Employability
3.1 Introduction
3.2 The ‘age of contingency’ and the changes in the graduate labour market
3.3 Employability and related terminologies
3.4 Is employability the responsibility of higher education? –Western views
3.5 The Vietnamese HES and the employability issue
3.6 Developing the research framework
Chapter 4 Methodology
4.1 Introduction
4.2 The change in research worldview
4.2.1 The start of a journey
4.2.2 Problematising my research worldview
4.2.3 The change in research worldview
4.3 Silent voices and reduced complexity?
4.4 Research questions
4.5 Research methods
4.5.1 Data collection techniques and research sample
4.5.2 Introducing the participants
4.5.3 Interviews
4.6 Data analysis
4.7 Conclusion
Chapter 5 Findings and interpretations
5.1 Perceptions of employability assets
5.1.1 Important assets
5.1.2 The confusing notion of skills
5.1.3 The underdeveloped capacity of universities to enhance graduates’ employability assets
5.1.4 Student employability assets: university responsibility?
5.2 Employability assets deployment and presentation
5.2.1 Parental guidance
5.2.2 The gaps between employer expectation and student interpretation
5.3 Job searching context
5.3.1 Poor networking, the need to earn money and the desire to stay in Hanoi
5.3.2 Rumours, corruption, money and relationship
5.3.3 Do all students and graduates lack confidence to enter the employment market?
Chapter 6 Conclusion
6.1 Introduction
6.2 Summary of the major findings
6.2.1 Perception of employability assets
6.2.2 Student deployment and presentation of those assets
6.2.3 Socio-cultural factors and individual circumstances:
6.3 Discussion and conclusion
6.3.1 Universities
6.3.2 Students
6.3.3 Parents
6.3.4 Employers
6.3.5 Government and policy makers
6.4 Suggestions for further study
6.4.1 Perspectives of university management and academic staff
6.4.2 Variations in employers’ expectation
6.4.3 Employability elements
6.5 Concluding remarks
Research Objectives & Core Themes
This study investigates the transition of Vietnamese university students from academia to the workforce, aiming to identify the complexities of graduate employability beyond simple skill acquisition. The central research objective is to understand how final-year students and recent graduates perceive their employability assets, how they navigate the job market, and how socio-cultural factors in Vietnam influence their transition, including the influence of family expectations and systemic challenges.
- Analysis of the Vietnamese higher education system and its mission vs. labour market expectations.
- The impact of Confucian cultural values on career decision-making and parental guidance.
- The role of "hidden" market factors, such as networking, corruption, and rumours, in job searching.
- Investigation into the disconnect between university-provided training and employer requirements.
- The shift in research paradigm from a post-positivist (quantitative) to a constructivist (qualitative) approach.
Excerpt from the Book
1.1 Personal impetus
In 2005, when I went to sign a contract to hire camping tents for my university students, the owner asked me to help find a job for a particular girl and pointed to a shy-looking young girl who was sitting at a small table in front of the owner’s shop. This girl had approached the shopkeeper a few months before about the job posted on the shop window. The owner said “I can’t employ you because I don’t need a university graduate. I only need someone who can read and write and I can only pay 500,000 dongs a month” (about 30 USD at that time). The young woman sadly walked away. A month later, she came back and pleaded “Please give me the job or I will die of hunger.” The owner was overcome with pity and employed her, promising at the same time to find a better job for this ‘poor obedient girl’.
Apart from passing her documents to the job matching centre of the Student Association in my university, I could not do much to help this unfortunate young woman, but the image of a shy girl sitting in front of a small table near the road side continues to haunt me.
Two years later, I went into a toyshop where the shop assistant recognised me and struck up a conversation, saying that she knew me from my role of Youth Union Secretary of her university. I was surprised to realise it was the same young woman, and at her polite and easy going manner. I asked her, “Why don’t you find something better to do?” She turned my question back on me asking, “What can I do, Sister? I learned French at the University, but I don’t want to be a tourist guide. My health is not good and I don’t think I can do anything else.” When I left the shop, the image of the lonely and forgotten girl sitting in front of a small table near the roadside came back to me and I was overwhelmed by sadness.
Summary of Chapters
Chapter 1 Introduction: Discusses the personal motivation for the study, providing the social and historical context of Vietnamese higher education and defining the core research problem.
Chapter 2 Contextualizing the study: Examines the socio-economic transition of Vietnam since 1986, focusing on the development of the economy and the expansion of the higher education system.
Chapter 3 Literature review: Enhancing Graduate Employability: Critiques international and local literature on employability, arguing that it is a complex, context-dependent issue rather than just a lack of skills.
Chapter 4 Methodology: Outlines the shift to a constructivist research approach and justifies the use of focus group and semi-structured interviews to capture the voices of participants.
Chapter 5 Findings and interpretations: Presents the primary results regarding student, graduate, and employer perceptions, highlighting the mismatch between academic expectations and market realities.
Chapter 6 Conclusion: Summarizes the key findings and offers recommendations for universities, students, parents, employers, and policymakers to improve the transition from university to work.
Keywords
Graduate employability, higher education, Vietnam, labour market, constructivism, university transition, student perspectives, employer expectations, soft skills, Confucian culture, human resource management, socio-economic context, career guidance, skill development, qualitative research.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the primary focus of this research?
The research focuses on the transition process of university students in Vietnam as they move from higher education into the labour market, specifically exploring their challenges and perspectives.
What are the main thematic areas covered?
Key areas include the role of universities in skill development, the influence of Confucian cultural values on career paths, the impact of corruption and nepotism in the job market, and the critical importance of work experience.
What is the core research question of the thesis?
The thesis explores what Vietnamese students, graduates, and employers perceive about employability assets, how these assets are deployed, and which socio-cultural factors affect the job-seeking process.
What methodology does the author use?
The author adopts a constructivist, qualitative approach, utilizing focus group interviews with students and semi-structured, individual interviews with recent graduates and employers.
What subjects are addressed in the main body?
The study covers the historical context of Vietnam's economy, critiques of the higher education curriculum, the "confusing" nature of generic skills, and the pressure of family expectations on career choice.
Which keywords characterize this work?
Key terms include graduate employability, Vietnam higher education, labour market transition, qualitative research, and socio-cultural factors.
How does Vietnamese culture specifically influence graduate employability?
Cultural features like "face-saving," hierarchical decision-making, and the collectivist reliance on family networks significantly impact how graduates search for jobs and interact with potential employers.
Why do students in Vietnam often blame universities for their unemployment?
Students perceive their education as outdated, theoretical, and lacking in practical application, leading them to believe that the university is solely responsible for equipping them with necessary market skills.
What is the "parking ticket" metaphor mentioned in the text?
The metaphor refers to the fact that in Vietnam, a university degree is often seen merely as a basic entry requirement (a "parking ticket") rather than a guarantee of relevant professional competence.
- Arbeit zitieren
- June Tran (Autor:in), 2013, Enhancing Graduate employability: The perspectives of Vietnamese university students and graduates, München, GRIN Verlag, https://www.grin.com/document/269615
