Employability of Economics Graduates – Bridging the gap!

1. DEE Conference 2011 Employability of Economics Graduates – Bridging the gap! G. S. Panikar, SatheeshMenon, Jose Augustine, RajamRajagopalan The Economics Club, Mumbai

2. The Road Ahead… • Background • Research objectives • Research Methodology • Survey of Employers • Academicians’ perspective • Survey of Recent Economics Graduates • Bridging the gap

3. Background… • Indian economy • high growth rates • managed to survive the global slowdown • increasingly favourable investment climate • Huge domestic demand fuelled by a growing middle class • Need for economists who can: • analyse both the domestic market as well as global trends and predict opportunities

4. Background… • India has one of the world’s youngest population • Unprecedented opportunity to accelerate growth • Equipping the youth with the right set of skills critical to acquire a competitive edge and maintain its engine of growth [The World Development Report 2007] • Increasing employment opportunities available • Yet organisations are facing a shortage of skilled and competent manpower!

5. Employability – a key concern • Do employers feel that economics graduates have the requisite skills and competencies? • If there is a skill gap, how can it be filled? • What steps should institutes teaching economics take to develop inadequate skills? • How can students be taught to apply their skills in the real world? • How do we make economics graduates “employable” in the true sense of the word?

6. Objectives of the study

7. Objectives • To elicit responses with respect to the skills and attributes that enhances employability for economics graduates • To understand the attitude of potential employers towards economics graduates • To identify skill gaps vis-a-vis the needs of employers • To come up with measures to fill these gaps by • Elaborating the role of educational institutions and academics • Identifying areas of industry-academia partnership

8. RESEARCH METHODOLOGY

9. METHODOLOGY: Mix of Qualitative & Quantitative Research • RESEARCH TOOLS: Interviews and Focus group discussion • MARKET: Mumbai • RESPONDENTS: • Employers • Academicians • Recent economics graduates who are employed

10. SAMPLE SPREAD • Interviews: • 14 interviews with Employers • 6 interviews with Academicians • 20 interviews with recent economics graduates • One Focus Group Discussion with Employers

11. OBSERVATIONS FROM THE EMPLOYER SURVEY

13. Key tasks performed by economics graduates

14. REQUIRED COMPETENCIES

15. OBSERVED COMPETENCIES

16. The GAP…

17. The GAP

18. Employer Speak… • “Syllabus is too theoretical with no practical relevance. Quantitative techniques are essential; the faculty too needs training in quantitative skills.” - Dr. Patil, Joint Director, Securities & Exchange Board of India • “There is a scarcity in human resource. There is a need for market orientation as against the traditional production orientation when it comes to education.” - Mr. MinooShroff, President, Forum of Free Enterprise

19. Employer Speak… • “There are inadequacies in the system, curriculum and assessment. There are rigidities or inflexibilities in going beyond the syllabus. The need is to translate knowledge to practical relevance.” - Mr. S.S. Bhandare, Former Chief Economist, Tata Group • “Academic institutions do not provide problem solving assignments. Without quantitative skills students are at a disadvantage. Students do not read original texts. Many a times teachers are not motivated enough.” - Dr. RupaRegeNitsure, Chief Economist, Bank of Baroda

20. Attitude towards economics graduates

21. Attitude towards economics graduates

22. Attitude towards economics graduates

23. Attitude towards economics graduates

24. Academicians’ perspective

25. Teacher Speak… • “Statistics with computer orientation should be compulsory.” • “ ‘Add on’ courses on current affairs should be introduced (can be organised by the Economics Club of Mumbai or/and a cluster of colleges).” • “There is lack of problem solving mode or tutorials for core courses... problem solving internalises the knowledge.” • “There is a need for English language training, you cannot write well unless you read well. Presentations should be a part of evaluation.”

26. Teacher Speak… • “The system in itself is defective. You cannot have the current system and still talk about employability.” • “The existing outdated reference books must be replaced with good international reference books used by leading institutions across the world at the earliest...” • “Economics education should not be tailored to market demand; value of the programme should be social scientific.”

27. OBSERVATIONS FROM SURVEY OF RECENT ECONOMICS GRADUATES

28. RELEVANCE OF ECONOMICS LEARNING TO REQUIRED COMPETENCIES

29. Relevance of economics learning to required competencies

30. BRIDGING THE GAP

33. Bridging the Gap • There exists a significant competency / skill gap • Could very well be applicable to the rest of the country • Investment in higher education to improve the overall quality of education delivery is critical. • Educational institutions have to train students to think like economists! • Industry-academia partnership needs to be forged.

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