The Impact of COVID-19 Pandemic on Labor Market Perspectives for Management Undergraduates: New Models of Employability Capital Development
Abstract
Introduction. COVID-19 is a worldwide epidemic that impacts all aspects of human life. Social distancing was an essential action to prevent from COVID-19 virus. For this reason, collective activities were prohibited in many countries including Sri Lanka. Education is one of the main collective activities in the world. As such, it is relevant to test the influence of COVID-19 on graduate employability skills. However, it is difficult to find COVID 19 impact on graduate employability skills in the Sri Lankan context.
Aim and tasks. The main objective of this paper was to identify the effect of the COVID-19 pandemic on the graduate employability capital of state universities’ management undergraduates in Sri Lanka and the significant level of that factor.
Results. Based on the literature review, the COVID-19 pandemic affected five factors human capital, identity capital, cultural capital, social capital, and psychological capital identified as graduate employability capital factors or not. The methods of the study were to use the analysis of quantitative data. To achieve this goal, an online survey of 377 university students was conducted. The obtained selective results in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic showed significant positive shifts in the employment processes of university graduates. This positive impact, according to the results of the regression analysis, was provided by the following types of capital: social, human, psychological, cultural, and identity, the values of which ranged from 91.4 percent to 95.8 percent. Among all types of capital, human and psychological capital had the most significant impact on student mobility.
Conclusions. The conducted studies show the importance of the online educational system in the universities of Sri Lanka. The use of available resources can significantly improve the existing infrastructure of online education and help increase the level of competence and professionalism of the teaching staff and university students. The introduction of the proposed online educational programs and courses will not only improve the quality of services provided but will also increase the revenue side of the university budget.
Keywords:
COVID-19, employability capital, graduate employability, labor market.References
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Dovgyi, S., Nebrat, V., Svyrydenko, D., & Babiichuk, S. (2020). Science education in the age of Industry 4.0: challenges to economic development and human capital growth in Ukraine. Naukovyi Visnyk Natsionalnoho Hirnychoho Universytetu, 1, 146-151. https://doi.org/10.33271/nvngu/2020-1/146
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Isti’anah, M., Suhud, U., & Usman, O. (2022). Analyzing Decision-Making Factors for Using Social Media: The Role of Trust and Information Sharing. European Journal of Management Issues, 30(3)
Jackson, D. (2016). Re-conceptualising graduate employability: The importance of pre-professional identity. Higher Education Research & Development, 35(5), 925-939. https://doi.org/10.1080/07294360.2016.1139551
Kamaruddin, M.I.H., Ahmad, A., Husain, M.A., & Abd Hamid, S.N. (2021). Graduate employability post-COVID-19: the case of a Malaysian public university. Higher Education, Skills and Work-Based Learning, 11(3), 710-724. https://doi.org/10.1108/HESWBL-05-2020-0114
Knight, P. T., & Yorke, M. (2002). Employability through the curriculum. Tertiary Education and Management, 8(4), 261-276. http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/13583883.2002.9967084.
Krejcie, R.V., & Morgan, D.W. (1970). Determining Sample Size for Research Activities. Educational and Psychological Measurement, 30, 607-610. https://doi.org/10.1177/001316447003000308
Kuruppuarachchi, J., Sayakkarage, V., & Madurapperuma, B. (2021). Environmental Literacy Level Comparison of Undergraduates in the Conventional and ODLs Universities in Sri Lanka. Sustainability, 13, 1056. https://doi.org/10.3390/su13031056.
Lu, X., & Ma, B. (2021). Analysis of «Dual System» Talent Training Model from the Perspective of Legal Education Reform in the New Era. Ukrainian Policymaker, 9, 29-37. https://doi.org/10.29202/up/9/3
Martin, A. J., Milne-Home, J., Barrett, J., Spalding, E., & Jones, G. (2000). Graduate satisfaction with university and perceived employment preparation. Journal of Education and Work, 13(2), 199–213. https://doi.org/10.1080/713676986
Mia, M.M., Rizwan, S., Zayed, N.M., Nitsenko, V., Miroshnyk, O., Kryshtal, H., & Ostapenko, R. (2022). The Impact of Green Entrepreneurship on Social Change and Factors Influencing AMO Theory. Systems, 10, 132. https://doi.org/10.3390/systems10050132
Moore, T., & Morton, J. (2017). The myth of job readiness? Written communication, employability, and the ‘skills gap in higher education. Studies in Higher Education, 42(3), 591-609. https://doi.org/10.1080/03075079.2015.1067602
Nghia, T. L. H., Singh, J. K. N., Pham, T., & Medica, K. (2020). Employability, employability capital, and career development: A literature review. In: T. L. H. Nghia, T. Pham, M. Tomlinson, K. Medica, & C. D. Thompson (Eds.), Developing and Utilizing Employability Capitals: Graduates’ Strategies across Labour Markets (1st ed., pp. 41-65). Routledge. https://doi.org/10.4324/9781003004660-15
Pool, L. D., & Sewell, P. (2007). The key to employability: developing a practical model of graduate employability. Education + Training, 49, 277-289. https://doi.org/10.1108/00400910710754435
Rothwell, A., & Arnold, J. (2007). Self-perceived employability: Development and validation of a scale. Personnel Review, 36, 23–41. https://doi.org/10.1108/00483480710716704
Rudenko, S., Liashenko, I., Komakha, L., & Hrebonozhko, Y. (2021). Bioeconomy education: implementation of the EU bioeconomy strategy in Ukrainian higher education. Naukovyi Visnyk Natsionalnoho Hirnychoho Universytetu, 5, 165-169. https://doi.org/10.33271/nvngu/2021-5/165
Shahriar, M. S., Islam, K., Zayed, N. M., Hasan, K., & Raisa, T. S. (2021). The impact of COVID-19 on Bangladesh's economy: A focus on graduate employability. The Journal of Asian Finance, Economics, and Business, 8(3), 1395-1403. https://doi.org/10.13106/jafeb.2021.vol8.no3.1395
Smith, C., Ferns, S., & Russell, L. (2014). Conceptualizing and measuring ‘employability’ – lessons from a National OLT Project. Gold Coast, Australian Collaborative Education Network Limited, pp. 139-148. http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11937/58546
Suleman, F. (2016). Employability skills of higher education graduates: Little consensus on a much-discussed subject. Procedia-Social and Behavioral Sciences, 228, 169-174. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.sbspro.2016.07.025
Svyrydenko, D., & Yatsenko, O. (2019). Science education as a way of transforming an anthropological project into human capital. Revista Dilemas Contemporáneos: Educación, Política y Valores, VII(Special Issue), 19. https://doi.org/10.46377/dilemas.v29i1.1930
Tomlinson, M. (2017). Forms of graduate capital and their relationship to graduate employability. Education + Training, 59(4), 438–452. https://doi.org/10.1108/ET-05-2016-0090
Trevor, C. O. (2001). Interactions among actual ease-of-movement determinants and job satisfaction in the prediction of voluntary turnover. Academy of management journal, 44(4), 621-638. https://doi.org/10.5465/3069407
Tytarenko, V. (2021). English as a Medium of Instruction in Ukrainian Higher Educational Practices: Challenges and Suggestions. Future Human Image, 16, 93-101. https://doi.org/10.29202/fhi/16/9
Van der Heijden, B. I., de Lange, A. H., Demerouti, E., & Van der Heijde, C. M. (2009). Age effects on the employability–career success relationship. Journal of vocational behavior, 74(2), 156-164. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jvb.2008.12.009
Zhukova, G., & Bulgakova, T. (2019). University Planetariums and Observatories: The Critical Role of Higher Education in Future Studies. Philosophy and Cosmology, 23, 130-138. https://doi.org/10.29202/phil-cosm/23/12
Amarathunga, B., & Wijethunga, S. (2021). Sri Lankan Management Undergraduates’ Employability Capital towards Work Readiness: Undergraduates’ Perspective. In: Proceedings of International Conference on Business Management, 18. https://doi.org/10.31357/icbm.v18.5811
Amarathunga, P. A. B. H. (2018). Demographic Factors towards Employee Engagement of Lecturers in the State Universities of Sri Lanka. Wayamba Journal of Management, 9(1), 1-11. http://doi.org/10.4038/wjm.v9i1.7499
Arsawan, I., Wirga, I. W., Rajiani, I., & Suryantini, N. P. S. (2020). Harnessing knowledge sharing practice to enhance innovative work behavior: the paradox of social exchange theory. Polish Journal of Management Studies, 21(2), 60-73. https://doi.org/10.17512/pjms.2020.21.2.05.
Bantash, A., Koval, V., Bashynska, M., & Kozlovtseva, V. (2020). Balanced territorial economic development in the conditions of providing stability of human resources management. Economics Ecology Socium, 4(3), 58-66. https://doi.org/10.31520/2616-7107/2020.4.3-6
Bazaluk, O., Fatkhutdinov, V., & Svyrydenko, D. (2018). The Potential of Systematization of the Theories of Education for Solving of Contradictions of Ukrainian Higher Education Development. Studia Warmińskie, 55, 63-79. https://doi.org/10.31648/sw.3062
Becker, G.S. (1993). Human Capital: Theoretical and Empirical Analysis with Special Reference to Education, 3rd ed. University of Chicago Press, Chicago, IL.
Bourdieu, P. (1984). Distinction: A Social Critique of the Judgement of Taste. Harvard, Cambridge, MA.
Bourdieu, P. (1986). The forms of capital. In: Richardson, J., Handbook of Theory and Research for the Sociology of Education. Westport, CT: Greenwood, pp. 241–58.
Crossman, J.E., Clarke, M. (2010). International experience and graduate employability: stakeholder perceptions on the connection. Higher Education, 59(5), 599-613.
Dovgyi, S., Nebrat, V., Svyrydenko, D., & Babiichuk, S. (2020). Science education in the age of Industry 4.0: challenges to economic development and human capital growth in Ukraine. Naukovyi Visnyk Natsionalnoho Hirnychoho Universytetu, 1, 146-151. https://doi.org/10.33271/nvngu/2020-1/146
Fugate, M., Kinicki, A. J., & Ashforth, B. E. (2004). Employability: A psycho-social construct, its dimensions, and applications. Journal of Vocational Behavior, 65(1), 14-38. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jvb.2003.10.005.
Gangahagedara, R., Karunarathna, M., Athukorala, W., Subasinghe, S., & Ekanayake, P. (2021). Emergency Teaching–Learning Methods (ETLM) during COVID-19: Lessons Learned from Sri Lanka. Educ. Sci., 11, 579. https://doi.org/10.3390/educsci11100579.
Hettiarachchi, S., Damayanthi, B., Heenkenda, S., Dissanayake, D., Ranagalage, M., & Ananda, L. (2021). Student Satisfaction with Online Learning during the COVID-19 Pandemic: A Study at State Universities in Sri Lanka. Sustainability, 13, 11749. https://doi.org/10.3390/su132111749
Hillage, J., & Pollard, E. (1998). Employability: Developing a framework for policy analysis. London, England: Department for Education and Employment (DfEE).
Hilorme, T., Perevozova, I., Sakun, A., Reznik, O., & Khaustova, Ye. (2019). Human Capital as a Factor in the Implementation of Energy-Saving Technologies. 34th IBIMA Conference: 13-14 November, Madrid, Spain Vision 2025: Education Excellence and Management of Innovations through Sustainable Economic Competitive Advantage, 9452–9460.
Horban, O., Protsenko, O., Tytarenko, V., Bulvinska, O., & Melnychenko, O. (2022). Cultural economics: the role of higher education institution in shaping the value systems. Naukovyi Visnyk Natsionalnoho Hirnychoho Universytetu, 1, 128-132. https://doi.org/10.33271/nvngu/2022-1/128
Hui, D.S., Azhar, E.I., Madani, T.A., Ntoumi, F., Kock, R., Dar, O., Ippolito, G., Mchugh, T.D., Memish, Z.A., Drosten, C., Zumla, A., & Petersen, E. (2020). The continuing 2019-nCoV epidemic threat of novel coronaviruses to global health—the latest 2019 novel coronavirus outbreak in Wuhan, China. International Journal of Infectious Diseases, 91, 264-266. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijid.2020.01.009
Isti’anah, M., Suhud, U., & Usman, O. (2022). Analyzing Decision-Making Factors for Using Social Media: The Role of Trust and Information Sharing. European Journal of Management Issues, 30(3)
Jackson, D. (2016). Re-conceptualising graduate employability: The importance of pre-professional identity. Higher Education Research & Development, 35(5), 925-939. https://doi.org/10.1080/07294360.2016.1139551
Kamaruddin, M.I.H., Ahmad, A., Husain, M.A., & Abd Hamid, S.N. (2021). Graduate employability post-COVID-19: the case of a Malaysian public university. Higher Education, Skills and Work-Based Learning, 11(3), 710-724. https://doi.org/10.1108/HESWBL-05-2020-0114
Knight, P. T., & Yorke, M. (2002). Employability through the curriculum. Tertiary Education and Management, 8(4), 261-276. http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/13583883.2002.9967084.
Krejcie, R.V., & Morgan, D.W. (1970). Determining Sample Size for Research Activities. Educational and Psychological Measurement, 30, 607-610. https://doi.org/10.1177/001316447003000308
Kuruppuarachchi, J., Sayakkarage, V., & Madurapperuma, B. (2021). Environmental Literacy Level Comparison of Undergraduates in the Conventional and ODLs Universities in Sri Lanka. Sustainability, 13, 1056. https://doi.org/10.3390/su13031056.
Lu, X., & Ma, B. (2021). Analysis of «Dual System» Talent Training Model from the Perspective of Legal Education Reform in the New Era. Ukrainian Policymaker, 9, 29-37. https://doi.org/10.29202/up/9/3
Martin, A. J., Milne-Home, J., Barrett, J., Spalding, E., & Jones, G. (2000). Graduate satisfaction with university and perceived employment preparation. Journal of Education and Work, 13(2), 199–213. https://doi.org/10.1080/713676986
Mia, M.M., Rizwan, S., Zayed, N.M., Nitsenko, V., Miroshnyk, O., Kryshtal, H., & Ostapenko, R. (2022). The Impact of Green Entrepreneurship on Social Change and Factors Influencing AMO Theory. Systems, 10, 132. https://doi.org/10.3390/systems10050132
Moore, T., & Morton, J. (2017). The myth of job readiness? Written communication, employability, and the ‘skills gap in higher education. Studies in Higher Education, 42(3), 591-609. https://doi.org/10.1080/03075079.2015.1067602
Nghia, T. L. H., Singh, J. K. N., Pham, T., & Medica, K. (2020). Employability, employability capital, and career development: A literature review. In: T. L. H. Nghia, T. Pham, M. Tomlinson, K. Medica, & C. D. Thompson (Eds.), Developing and Utilizing Employability Capitals: Graduates’ Strategies across Labour Markets (1st ed., pp. 41-65). Routledge. https://doi.org/10.4324/9781003004660-15
Pool, L. D., & Sewell, P. (2007). The key to employability: developing a practical model of graduate employability. Education + Training, 49, 277-289. https://doi.org/10.1108/00400910710754435
Rothwell, A., & Arnold, J. (2007). Self-perceived employability: Development and validation of a scale. Personnel Review, 36, 23–41. https://doi.org/10.1108/00483480710716704
Rudenko, S., Liashenko, I., Komakha, L., & Hrebonozhko, Y. (2021). Bioeconomy education: implementation of the EU bioeconomy strategy in Ukrainian higher education. Naukovyi Visnyk Natsionalnoho Hirnychoho Universytetu, 5, 165-169. https://doi.org/10.33271/nvngu/2021-5/165
Shahriar, M. S., Islam, K., Zayed, N. M., Hasan, K., & Raisa, T. S. (2021). The impact of COVID-19 on Bangladesh's economy: A focus on graduate employability. The Journal of Asian Finance, Economics, and Business, 8(3), 1395-1403. https://doi.org/10.13106/jafeb.2021.vol8.no3.1395
Smith, C., Ferns, S., & Russell, L. (2014). Conceptualizing and measuring ‘employability’ – lessons from a National OLT Project. Gold Coast, Australian Collaborative Education Network Limited, pp. 139-148. http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11937/58546
Suleman, F. (2016). Employability skills of higher education graduates: Little consensus on a much-discussed subject. Procedia-Social and Behavioral Sciences, 228, 169-174. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.sbspro.2016.07.025
Svyrydenko, D., & Yatsenko, O. (2019). Science education as a way of transforming an anthropological project into human capital. Revista Dilemas Contemporáneos: Educación, Política y Valores, VII(Special Issue), 19. https://doi.org/10.46377/dilemas.v29i1.1930
Tomlinson, M. (2017). Forms of graduate capital and their relationship to graduate employability. Education + Training, 59(4), 438–452. https://doi.org/10.1108/ET-05-2016-0090
Trevor, C. O. (2001). Interactions among actual ease-of-movement determinants and job satisfaction in the prediction of voluntary turnover. Academy of management journal, 44(4), 621-638. https://doi.org/10.5465/3069407
Tytarenko, V. (2021). English as a Medium of Instruction in Ukrainian Higher Educational Practices: Challenges and Suggestions. Future Human Image, 16, 93-101. https://doi.org/10.29202/fhi/16/9
Van der Heijden, B. I., de Lange, A. H., Demerouti, E., & Van der Heijde, C. M. (2009). Age effects on the employability–career success relationship. Journal of vocational behavior, 74(2), 156-164. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jvb.2008.12.009
Zhukova, G., & Bulgakova, T. (2019). University Planetariums and Observatories: The Critical Role of Higher Education in Future Studies. Philosophy and Cosmology, 23, 130-138. https://doi.org/10.29202/phil-cosm/23/12
Published
2023-03-31
How to Cite
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Svyrydenko, D.; Amarathunga, B.; Wijethunga, S.; Riznyk, V. The Impact of COVID-19 Pandemic on Labor Market Perspectives for Management Undergraduates: New Models of Employability Capital Development. Economics Ecology Socium 2023, 7, 35-45.
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