A Study on Employability of Engineering Students Thesis

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A STUDY ON EMPLOYABILITY OF

ENGINEERING STUDENTS IN MUMBAI AND

PUNE REGION

Dissertation Submitted to D. Y. Patil University, Navi Mumbai,

Department of Business Management

In partial fulfillment of the requirements for the award of the

Degree of

MASTER OF PHILOSOPHY

in

BUSINESS MANAGEMENT

Submitted by

KEERTHI MENON

(Enrolment No.: DYP-M.Phil-11002)

Research Guide

Prof. Dr. R. GOPAL

DIRECTOR, DEAN & HEAD OF DEPARTMENT

D.Y. PATIL UNIVERSITY, NAVI MUMBAI,

DEPARTMENT OF BUSINESS MANAGEMENT,

CBD Belapur, Navi Mumbai – 400 614

July 2014



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“A STUDY ON EMPLOYABILITY

OF ENGINEERING STUDENTS IN

MUMBAI AND PUNE REGION”

‘To be employed is to be at risk

To be employable is to be secure’

- Peter Hawkins



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DECLARATION

I hereby declare that the thesis titled “A Study on Employability of Engineering

Students in Mumbai and Pune Region” submitted for the Award of Master of

Philosophy (M. Phil) in Business Management at D. Y. Patil University, Navi

Mumbai, Department of Business Management is my original work and the

dissertation has not formed the basis for the award of any degree, associate ship,

fellowship or any other similar titles.

The material borrowed from other sources and incorporated in the thesis has been

duly acknowledged. I understand that I myself could be held responsible and

accountable for plagiarism, if any, detected later on.

The research papers published based on the research conducted in the course of the

study are also based on the study and not borrowed from other sources.

Date: Signature of the student

Enrollment No: DYP-M.Phil-11002



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CERTIFICATE

This is to certify that the dissertation entitled “A Study on Employability of

Engineering Students in Mumbai and Pune Region” is the bonafide research work

carried out by Ms. Keerthi Menon, student of Master of Philosophy (Business

Management), at D. Y. Patil University, Navi Mumbai, Department of Business

Management during the period, in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the award

of the Degree of Master of Philosophy (Business Management) and that the

dissertation has not formed the basis for the award previously of any degree, diploma,

associateship, fellowship or any other similar title of any University or Institution.

Place: Mumbai _____________Date: Signature of the Guide



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ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

The present work has been completed with active assistance and guidance of various

persons. Many of them have rendered valuable help at various stages. Although it is

not possible to mention all names that rendered their valuable and generous help in

their own way, but it would be ungrateful if I do not acknowledge those without

whose assistance it wouldn’t have been possible to conduct this study.

In the first place, I am indebted to the D.Y. Patil University, Navi Mumbai,

Department of Business Management which has accepted me for M. Phil program

and provided an excellent opportunity to carry out this research project.

It is my profound privilege and immense debt of gratitude to acknowledge the

guidance provided by Prof. Dr. R. Gopal, Director, Dean and Head of the

Department at D.Y. Patil University, Navi Mumbai, Department of Business

Management. It is primarily his encouragement and guidance, which has been a

source of deep and heartfelt inspiration for me.

Also it is a matter of utmost pleasure to express my sincere gratitude to personslike Mr. Anil Deshmukh (Dean, D.Y. Patil, Lohegaon, Pune), Mr. Ajay Saraf (Data

Analyst), who extended their maximum help to supply information for the present

thesis which became available on account of their selfless co-operation.

I would also like to thank my family members, friends and my students for helping

out in some of the aspects of data collection. Being around them made it easier to

solve the problems effectively.

Place: Mumbai ____________

Date: Signature of the Student



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This thesis is dedicated to my parents

(Late) Mr. Muralidharan Menon

and

Mrs. Leela M Menon



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CONTENTS

CHAPTER

No.

TITLE PAGE

No.

PRELIMINARY TITLE 1

DECLARATION 2

CERTIFICATE 3

ACKNOWLEDGEMENT 4

LIST OF TABLES 8

LIST OF FIGURES 9

LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS 10

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY 13

CHAPTER 1

Introduction1.1Overview of India’s Higher Education System 1.2 Recent trends in the Higher Education Sector in

India

23

CHAPTER 2Review of the Literature2.1 Literature Review2.2 Research Gap

34

CHAPTER 3

Objective and Research Methodology3.1 Research Problem3.2 Statement of Research Objective3.3 Hypothesis3.4 Data Description3.5 Research Instruments

3.6 Sample Description3.7 Data Analysis3.8 Limitations of the Research

62

CHAPTER 4

Indian Higher Education5.1 Introduction5.2 The Higher and Technical Education of India5.3 Expansion of Technical Education5.4 The context for change

70



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CHAPTER 5

Engineering and Employability6.1 Overview of Engineering Education6.2 History of engineering education6.3 Globalization of Indian Engineering Education6.4 Challenges Ahead6.5 The New Economy

88

CHAPTER 6 Data Analysis and Findings 106

CHAPTER 7 Conclusion 148

CHAPTER 8 Recommendations and Suggestions 153

CHAPTER 9 Appendix I Bibliography 158

Appendix II Questionnaires 165



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LIST OF TABLES

Sr. No. Table no. Title Page no.

1. Table 1.1 Trend in Growth of Higher Education inIndia 05

2. Table 1.2 Growth of Technical Institutions in India 07

3. Table 2.1 Employability Skills 17

4. Table 2.2 Engineering Attributes Required by EAC

(Malaysia) 20

5. Table 3.1 Tabular Representation of Sample 46

6. Table 4.1Classification of Indian Higher Education

Sector 55

7. Table 4.2 State- wise growth of Universities/Institutes in India 57

8. Table 4.3Enrollment of Students in Higher

Education in India 62

9. Table 5.1 Intake and graduation in IITs 72

10. Table 5.2 Number of engineering colleges and intake 72

11. Table 6.1Consolidated Scores of Variables

96



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LIST OF FIGURES

Sr. No.Figure

no.

Title Page no.

1. Figure 6.1 Respondents according to city

85

2. Figure 6. 2 Employability skills among Engineering

Students of Mumbai and Pune

96

3. Figure 6.3 Academic Respondents 111

4. Figure 6.4 Faculties with Industry Background 112

5. Figure 6.5 Provision for Placement cell 113

6. Figure 6.6Academicians satisfied with engineering

Curriculum

114

7. Figure 6.7 Participation of Academicians in syllabirevision

115

8. Figure 6.8Method adopted by Institutes to contact

Corporate house

116

9. Figure 6.9Placement among Mumbai and Pune

colleges

117

10. Figure 6.10Institutes maintaining contact with

Alumni

118

11 Figure 6.11 Institutes having Internal Assessment119



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LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS

AICTE- All India Council of Technical Education

ALTC- Australian Learning and Teaching Council

BEM- Board of Engineers Malaysia

BHU- Banaras Hindu University

BSR- Basic Scientific Research Programme

BTE- Bureau of Technical Education

CAS- Centre for Advanced Study

CBI- Confederation of British Industry

CPE- Colleges with Potential for Excellence

DEST- Department of Education, Science and Training

DRS- Departmental Research Support

DSA- Department Special Assistance

EAC- Engineering Accreditation Councils (Malaysia)

ECPD- American Engineers' Council for Professional Development

GSA- Generic Student Attributes

HEIs- Higher Educational Institutes

ICT- Information and Communication Technology

IIITs- Indian Institutes of Information Technology

IIM- Indian Institutes of Management

IISERs- Indian Institutes of Science Education and Research

IISCs: Indian Institute of Science

IIT- Indian Institute of Technology

ISM- Indian School of Mines

ITGI- Information Technology Governance Institute



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MHRD- Ministry of Human Resource Development

MOHE- Ministry of Higher Education

MQA- Malaysian Quality Assurance

NAAC- National Assessment and Accreditation Council

NASSCOM- National Association of Software and Services Companies

NBA- National Board of Accreditation

NET- National Eligibility Test

NITs- National Institute of Technology

OECD- Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development

RECs- Regional Engineering Colleges

SAC-PM- Scientific Advisory Committee of the Prime Minister

SAP- Special Assistance Programme

SPA- School of Planning and Architecture

TTTI- Technical Teachers Training Institutes

UGC- University Grants Commission

UNESCO- United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural

Organization

UPE- Universities with Potential for Excellence

WDA- Workforce Development Agency



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EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

Education and training create assets in the form of knowledge and skills which

increase the productive capacity of manpower and this is referred to as human capital.

Education is considered to be a process of skill formation and in this aspect it is

treated at par with the process of capital formation. While on the one side we have the

world’s large stock of scientists, engineers and management graduates, we have been

unable to derive full economic benefit from this talent base because of the mismatch

between industry needs and university output. Skillful management of the intellectual

capital could be the driver for growth and is imperative for Indian economy.

Today’s highly technical and sophisticated jobs demand a highly professional

candidate who can increase productivity and thereby increase the value of an

organization (Busse, 1992).Shift from production oriented engineering jobs to service

oriented engineering jobs demands professionals with both sound technical and

behavioral skills to attain and retain the job (Hillage J, 1999).

Without a quality human capital, a nation will be weak as there is no human factor

that is capable to embark on new initiatives and perspectives. A quality human capital

comes from a quality education process. A carefully designed and well planned

education system is critical to developing such human capital. Thus, institutions of

higher learning play a very important role and the teaching and learning processes.

Institutions of higher learning should provide such knowledge and skills to future

graduates.



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India with more than a billion residents has the third largest education system in the

world after China and USA. Education in India falls under the control of both the

Union Government and the State Governments, with some responsibilities lying with

the Union and the states having autonomy for others. As per the latest (2013) report

issued by the All India Council of Technical Education (AICTE), there are more than

3524 diploma and post-diploma offering institutions in the country with an annual

intake capacity of over 1.2 million.

However this rapid scale in the number of colleges has appeared to impact the quality

of education as a result of which academic standards are not up to par by International

Standards. Today’s diversified student body ranges from first generation learners who

attended publicly funded schools to those from professional and higher income

families who patronized private institutions. Many educational experts feel that the

quality of higher education has declined in an effort to serve the wide variety of

students entering today.

Curriculum content is criticized as outdated, with much reliance on rote teaching

methods. Students complain of too little connection to work related opportunities or

career preparation. Many feel they study for irrelevant degrees and are unprepared for

the world of work as a result. Today graduate unemployment is rising; in fact the

unemployment level of the educated workforce – defined as secondary and above

level of education, is almost six times that of the workforce educated only up to the

primary level. The total number of registered unemployed topped 40 million Indian

residents, with many more unregistered but still interested in finding employment.

When trying to appreciate the potential of higher education to contribute to economic

well-being it is important to distinguish between the formations of subject specific



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understandings and skills and the promotion of other valued skills, qualities and

dispositions. On one side where the world of employment has by and large, been

satisfied with the disciplinary understanding and skills developed by graduates, it has

been less happy with their development of what have been termed ‘generic skills’,

such as communication, teamwork and time-management. The two greatest concerns

of employers today are finding good workers and training them. The difference

between the skills needed on the job and those possessed by applicants, sometimes

called the skills-gap, is of real concern to human resource managers and business

owners looking to hire competent employees. While employers would prefer to hire

people who are trained and ready to go to work, they are usually not willing to

provide the specialized, job-specific training necessary for those lacking such skills.

Today employability is far bigger a challenge than unemployment. Industry leaders

feel that the “skills” and “quality” of the workforce need a lot of improvement.

Plagued with problems like curriculum, lack of qualified faculty, poor quality of

content, and not-so-effective examination system, technical institutions do not provide

signaling value in the job market. And hence a disparity exists in the types of skills

taught at colleges and those that are demanded in industry.

The purpose of this study is to identify the employability skills required by young

Engineering graduates and assess how there can be a value creation through effective

knowledge management in terms of pedagogy, evaluation process and feedback

mechanisms.

The globalization emphasize on the knowledge economy that’s why employability

becomes the central driver of the thinking business. This approach increases the



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attention for universities and they in turn are also focusing on producing employable

graduates through the development of skill and abilities in graduates.

The study is also aimed at identifying the new innovative methods adopted by the

Institutions of Higher Learning as an approach to imbibe employability skills among

the students and make them resourceful for serving the nation at large.

Employability of Engineering Graduates and their ability to deliver to industry

expectation after they are hired has been a matter of concern and engaging the

attention of academics and industry alike. A survey cum test conducted by EC

Council, a global leader in InfoSec certifications and training, highlights an alarming

crisis of talent gap in IT industry. The survey conducted in November 2013 shows

that less than one per cent of Indian IT students are skilled in secure programming,

while only 13 percent of engineering students were found trainable in the InfoSec

domain and around 86 per cent are unskilled even in its basics. As a major of number

of Indian students are unprepared and somehow hence unemployable, the role of

industry and academia becomes all the more challenging.

Such low readiness of fresh hires has resulted in long duration training programs

affecting both productivity and cost of operations in highly competitive industry. On

the other side educational institutes are facing diverse challenges like shortage of

skilled faculty and lack of clarity on what the Industry requires. Inability to make

students more professional team player and better communicator is only adding to the

problem.



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Statement of Research Objective

The present research is an effort-

1. To study the level of employability skills among the Engineering students of

Mumbai and Pune Universities

2. To identify the attributes looked upon by the IT companies in fresh/ amateur

Engineering Graduates

3. To study the level of differences in the skills expected and actual observed

among Engineering students

4. To identify the specific steps taken by the institutes of Mumbai and Pune

region to inculcate employability skills among the students

Research Methodology

The study is the result of information collected from both Primary and Secondary

sources. News journals and various websites on Engineering and AICTE (the

Governing Body of Technical Institutes in India) formed the source of Secondary

Data.

Primary Data emphasized on a 360 degree study covering the final year Engineering

Students, Academicians of Engineering Institutes and IT/ Manufacturing Company

recruiters as the respondents. Using questionnaire as a research instrument,

information was collected from Engineering Students and Corporate recruiters on

employability skills. The questionnaire for Academicians comprised of questions on

quality of Faculty Members, Curriculum, Placement and Assessment pattern of their

respective Institutes.



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The survey was conducted in selected colleges of Mumbai and Pune Universities. The

sample size consisted of 255 final year engineering students comprising of 143 and

112 students each from Mumbai and Pune region respectively. Similarly the sample

size for academicians was 30 and 18 for Mumbai and Pune region respectively. The

respondents for the survey were taken from 8 engineering colleges of Mumbai and 4

colleges of Pune University. The total number of respondents from corporate house

constituted to 15.

The sample size was derived using ‘Judgmental Sampling’ as the sampling method,

keeping in mind the convenience and proximity of the researcher.

The overall data thus obtained through survey was analyzed using SPSS software,

resulting in accurate and precise information. The data collected from engineering

students was analyzed using z-test and ANOVA. The data obtained from corporate

being less than 30, it was analyzed using t-test. Lastly the responses of the

academicians were presented using frequency table and Pie diagram. In order to

determine the association between the initiatives taken by academic institutions of

Mumbai and Pune region, Pearson Chi-square test and ANOVA was used.

Limitations of the Study

The study is confined to selected colleges of Mumbai and Pune Region, which is the

hub of many industrial activities and is also the hub for large number of educational

institutes.

Findings

There is no doubt that the Higher Education sector in India is witnessing exponential

growth both in terms of number of institutions and the rate of enrollment. From just



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30 universities and 700 colleges in 1951, today there are over 600 universities and

33,000 colleges. Similarly, with over 21.4 million enrolments in 2012, India has

become the third largest education system in the world, after China and U.S.A.

However, ensuring quality in higher education is amongst the foremost challenges

being faced in India today with few institutes having achieved global recognition for

excellence. As a result, there is an increase in awareness among the higher

educational institutions to assess and suitably enhance their educational system to

meet the needs of the society.

Also it was found that the company’s perception on the em ployability skills of

industry trained students is relatively positive and this is shown in the analysis and

findings of the study. It was opined that industrial training does not only provide

professional ‘feel’ of the actual engineering profession but also contribute in

developing the Generic Student Attributes (GSA) thereby increasing students’ job

marketability.

The study has also highlighted unawareness among the young engineers regarding the

expectations of the industry resulting in complete mismatch between the knowledge

gained by the students and the practice followed in corporate.

Lastly this study addresses the changing educational scenario and suggested few

operable approaches at all three levels viz., the Universities and higher educational

institutions, the corporate house and students as an individual to enhance employment

opportunities.



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Recommendations

‘Employability’ is a complex and subjective matter and something of a slowly moving

construct. The present research work has made an attempt to address the

employability dearth among the engineering students. Although it would not be

appropriate from this limited study to suggest wholesale changes to higher education

system, particularly one that necessarily recommends more emphasis on employment

skills, especially in competitive job market. Nevertheless in order to capitalize on the

intellect asset of the nation and to control skills- shortage it is essential to gear up the

system through innovative initiatives.

Following are the measures to be taken at Academic, Industry and at Student level in

order to make the human capital an asset to the nation.

At education level, institutes should take initiatives to build employable engineering

talents by:-

Emphasizing on teachers training under ‘train the trainer’ programmes thereby

focusing on teaching methods/pedagogy mandatory for engineering college

and university teachers.

Moving out of the student friendly examination and assessment pattern

Expand the concept of visiting faculty from corporate and familiarity to

technology to get the best minds to share their knowledge with the students

Enhancing the assessment and accreditation system to ensure quality in the

Higher education programmes.



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At industry level corporate house is expected to participate and communicate their

needs to the educational world by:-

Conveying their expectations from the would -be graduating students during

campus recruitment

Join hands with educational institutes and share their expert service with

institutes through seminars and workshops

Provide more opportunities to students in the form of internship and short term

courses

At student level, one is expected to learn fundamentals and develop soft skills on his

own through the situations one encounter and experience he gain out of it. Also it is

expected from the students to be career oriented which can be one of the driving force

to develop employability skills.

Conclusion

In the wake of rapid growth in higher education and increased competition, graduates

are forced to equip themselves with more than just the academic skills traditionally

represented by a subject discipline and a class of degree.

The study conducted in Mumbai and Pune colleges reveals that employability skills

like personal attributes; decision making skills etc are not influenced by the grade or

level of the educational institute. Perhaps these are the skills developed by the student

on his own through the situations one encounter and experience he gain out of it. On

the other hand the study highlights that some skills like technical knowhow and high

order skills are majorly developed by academics towards which the educational

institutes have a major role to play.



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At the institute level the study reveals that most of the academicians in both Mumbai

and Pune region are not satisfied with the engineering curriculum since they believe it

is not at par with the industry needs however they are also of the opinion that

understanding of the fundamentals is more important since without a strong

knowledge foundation the new methodologies of the industry cannot be adopted

easily.

The study has also taken into consideration the industry perspective which has

emphasized on academic- industry alliance. According to the corporate recruiters the

educational institutes while providing knowledge of fundamentals should also focus

on internship and interaction with industry experts since that would help in grooming

the prospect candidates for industry.

Future scope of Research

The present study which is limited to Mumbai and Pune region can be further taken to

PAN India level where the employability of the Indian graduates can be studied on a

larger scale. Also the since the study is limited to engineering course, it can be further

studied for other undergraduate courses as well.



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CHAPTER 1



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INTRODUCTION

Education in its general sense is a form of learning in which the knowledge, skills,

and habits of a group of people are transferred from one generation to the next

through teaching, training, or research. It frequently takes place under the guidance of

others or may also be autodidactic. Any experience that has a formative effect on the

way one thinks, feels, or acts may be considered educational. It is really a means to

discover new things which we don't know about and increase our knowledge.

Education is also regarded as one that contributes to social, political and cultural and

economic transformation of a country. The social sector of a country, namely, health,

rural development, education and employment generation has assumed great

significance in the new economic regime. The prosperity of any nation is intrinsically

linked to its human resources. Human capital is one of the most important assets of a

country and a key determinant of a nation’s economic performance. An increase in the

human development index would lead to high levels of economic growth of the

country. Adam Smith (1776) pointed out that a “man educated at the expense of much

labour and time may be compared to one of those expensive machines” (Smith) and

other classical economists observed that expenditure on education could be regarded

as a form of investments that promised future benefits. The strength of a nation is

dependent on its intellectual and skillful citizens. It can be observed that education is

an essential tool for achieving sustainability. Only a quality future human capital can

envision development of its nation to meet the needs of the present without

compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own need.

A quality human capital comes from a quality education process. A carefully designed

and well planned education system is critical to developing such human capital. Thus,



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institutions of higher learning play a very important role and the teaching and learning

processes in institutions of higher learning should provide such knowledge and skills

to future graduates.

Governments around the world have drawn upon human capital theory (Becker 1975)

in the formulation of policy in respect of higher education. Human capital theory links

economic success to the education of the workforce. The development of

employability in graduates has thus become significant. When considering higher

education’s potential for contributing to the economic well being it is helpful to

distinguish between the formation of subject specific understandings and skills and

the promotion of generic achievements. Where the world of employment has, by and

large been satisfied with the disciplinary understanding and skills developed as a

consequence of participation in higher education, it has been less happy with

graduates’ generic attainments like literacy and numeracy, self efficacy and meta -

cognition.

Also to keep pace with global competition, fresh graduates need to adapt to the new

business environment and workplace demands. The key element to enable graduates

to keep up with those demands seems to be the employability skills and traits that are

imparted during tertiary education. It has also become a common belief in industry

that higher education institutions should equip graduates with the proper skills

necessary to achieve success in the workplace (Robinson & Garton, 2007).

Over the last five and a half decades, the technical and management education system

in the country has grown enormously. The system has built large capacities both in

conventional disciplines as also in many emerging fields. It is technology that lies at

the core of ‘spiraling economic growth.” India with more than a billion residents has



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the second largest education system in the world after China. Education in India falls

under the control of both the Union Government and the State Governments, with

some responsibilities lying with the Union and the states having autonomy for others.

As per the latest (2013) report issued by the All India Council of Technical Education

(AICTE), there are more than 3524 diploma and post-diploma offering institutions in

the country with an annual intake capacity of over 1.2 million.

1.1 India’s Higher Education System

Education is recognized as one of the critical elements of the national

development effort and Higher education, in particular, is of vital importance for

the nation, as it is a powerful tool to build knowledge-based society of the 21 st

century. The Indian education system has conquered a strong position in

international circuit. India is today recognized as a world centre for higher

education amongst foreign students as the country has an unparalleled variety of

academic courses. The present education system in India mainly comprises of

primary education, secondary education, senior secondary education and higher

education. Elementary education consists of eight years of education. Each of

secondary and senior secondary education consists of two years of education.

Higher education in India starts after passing the higher secondary education or

the 12th standard. Depending on the stream of graduation it can take three to five

years. Postgraduate courses are generally of two to three years of duration. After

completing post graduation, scope for doing research in various educational

institutes also remains open.

India possesses a highly developed higher education system which offers facility

of education and training in almost all aspects of human creative and intellectual

endeavors: arts and humanities; natural, mathematical and social sciences,



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engineering; medicine; dentistry; agriculture; education; law; commerce and

management; music and performing arts; national and foreign languages; culture;

communications etc. The institutional framework consists of Universities

established by an Act of Parliament (Central Universities) or of a State Legislature

(State Universities), Deemed Universities (institutions which have been accorded

the status of a university with authority to award their own degrees through central

government notification), Institutes of National Importance (prestigious

institutions awarded the said status by Parliament), Institutions established State

Legislative Act and colleges affiliated to the University (both government-aided

and – unaided). With all these developments the last two decades had witnessed

unprecedented growth in institutes of higher education primarily due to private

sector participation. The private sector is expected to provide useful contribution

in achieving the target of 30% GER by 2020 set by government of India.

Table 1.1: Trend in Growth of Higher Education in India

Source: ‘Higher Education in India’ report by UGC- February 2012



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Currently the activities of Department of Higher Education are focused towards

developing India as a knowledge society. The Department’s constant endeavor is

to improve and expand education in all sectors, with a view to eliminate

disparities in access and lay greater emphasis on the improvement in the quality

and relevance of education at all levels. The role of Department, therefore,

includes policy formulation, programme implementation, coordination with other

stakeholders, knowledge management, research and innovation, creation of

intellectual property, training and capacity building, reaching out to disadvantaged

sections, women and minorities in the higher education sector. The Department

has also established a number of premier institutions which have come to acquire

a reputation for excellence and national importance. Improvement of access along

with equity and excellence, the adoption of state specific strategies, enhancing the

relevance of higher education through curriculum reforms, vocationalisation,

information technology, and quality of research, networking and distance

education are some of the main policy initiatives of the higher education sector.

The other important policy initiatives in higher education include programmes for

general development of universities and colleges; special grants for the

construction of hostels for women; scholarships to students, scheme to provide

interest subsidy on educational loans for professional courses to ensure that

nobody is denied professional education on account of financial wherewithal and

making interventions to attract and retain talent in the teaching profession in the

higher and technical education. Emphasis has been laid on expansion with equity,

use of ICT in education, promotion of research and quality education.



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Growth of Technical Education

The growth of Technical Education before independence in the Country has been

very slow. The number of Engineering Colleges and Polytechnics (including

Pharmacy and Architecture Institutions) in 1947 was 44 and 43 respectively with

an intake capacity of 3200 and 3400 respectively. Due to efforts and initiatives

taken during successive Five Year Plans and particularly due to policy changes in

the eighties to allow participation of Private and Voluntary Organizations in the

setting up of Technical Institutions on self-financing basis, the growth of

Technical Education has been phenomenal.

Table 1.2: Growth of Technical Institutions in India

Year Engg. Mgmt. MCA Pharma Arch HMCT Total Added in

Year

2006-07 1511 1132 1003 665 116 64 4491 171

2007-08 1668 1149 1017 854 116 81 4885 394

2008-09 2388 1523 1095 1021 116 87 6230 1345

2009-10 2972 1940 1169 1081 106 93 7361 1131

2010-11 3222 2262 1198 1114 108 100 8004 643

2011-12 3393 2385 1228 1137 116 102 8361 357

2012-13 3495 2450 1241 1145 126 105 8562 201

Source: All India Council for Technical Education Handbook (2013-14)

1.2 Accreditation and Recognition of Higher Education Institutions

All universities in India come under the jurisdiction of the University Grants

Commission (UGC) and all institutions of technical education (IITs, IIMs, IISCs,



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IISERs, NITs, SPAs) are regulated by All India Council for Technical Education

(AICTE). It is mandatory for all institutions to be recognized by the appropriate

national level statutory bodies established by the Government of India for compliance

to quality standards.

H igher Education: Department of Higher Education of the Ministry of

Human Resource Development is the highest authority in Indian Central

government which is responsible for secondary and tertiary education

system. More than 100 bodies having different functions and

responsibilities fall under Department of Higher Education, for instance -

University Grants Commission and All India Council of Technical

Education, besides Central Universities and reputed Institutions like IITs,

IIMs, IISCs, IISERs, NITs, SPAs.

University Grants Commission (UGC) : The University Grants

Commission is a statutory organization established by an Act of

Parliament in 1956 for the coordination, determination and maintenance of

standards of university education. Apart from providing grants to eligible

universities and colleges, the Commission also advises the Central and

State Governments on the measures which are necessary for the

development of Higher Education. UGC is also responsible for

accreditation and recognition of HE Institutions and for conducting

National Eligibility Test (NET) for determining eligibility for lectureship

at Colleges and Universities).

All I ndia Council f or Technical Education (AICTE): The All India

Council for Technical Education (AICTE) was set up in 1945 as an

advisory body and later on in 1987 given the statutory status by an Act of



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Parliament. The AICTE grants approval for starting new technical

institutions, for introduction of new courses and for variation in intake

capacity in technical institutions.

National Assessment and Accreditation Council (NAAC) : It is an

autonomous body which has been established by the University Grants

Commission in 1994 in pursuance of the recommendations made by the

National Policy of Education, 1986 and the Programme of Action (POA),

1992 which lay special emphasis on evaluating the quality of higher

education in India. The prime mandate of NAAC, as envisaged in its

Memorandum of Association (MoA), is to assess and accredit institutions

of higher learning, universities and colleges or one or more of their units,

i.e., departments, schools, institutions and programmes.

National Board of Accreditation (NBA): Similar to NAAC is NBA,

another important accreditation body. National Board of Accreditation

(NBA) which was set up in 1994 under Section 10(u) of the AICTE Act

awards accreditation status to programmes as accredited for five years,

accredited for three years and Not Accredited (NA). Accreditation is now

based on a 1000 point scale and is an outcome based accreditation system.

1.2 Recent trends in the Higher Education Sector

Over the past few decades, the global economy has shifted from being manufacturing-

centric to a knowledge-driven one and as countries move up the ladder of

development, the contributions of hi-tech manufacturing and high value-added

services to the GDP increases. Success in leveraging knowledge and innovation is

only possible with a sound infrastructure of higher education. A successful education

policy forms the foundation of all fields of national development including political,



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social, economic, technical, scientific, and environmental. Thus, the higher the quality

of university education in a country, the more prosperous and competitive are the

people.

Higher Education in India is decentralized under the DHE with separate

councils (eg. AICTE, MCI etc) responsible for regulation of different streams.

The UGC has allocated a general budget of Rs. 5244 crores for the year 2011-

12 to be distributed under different categories

Private institutions in India are focusing more on professional courses such as

Engineering, Medical and MBA

GER has increased to 15% in 2009-10from 11.5% in 2005-06. GER for the

year 2010-11 was estimated at 16%

Faculty wise the figure of enrollment of higher education for the year 2010-11

has been increased in certain streams which include arts (17.88%), science

(31.68%), commerce/ management(38.98%), medicine (77.82%) and

agriculture (38.33%).

12th F ive Year Plan and scope for Publ ic Private Partnership

The 12th Five Year Plan focuses on Expansion, inclusion and quality to achieve the

national goals in education. In the 12th plan, the Planning Commission’s focus is on

instilling “inclusive growth” in making headway. The plan is expected to be one that

encourages the development of India’s education sector through government

spending.

The emergence of India as a service based, knowledge- driven economy has put the

spot light on human capital. Higher Education is essential to build a workforce

capable of underpinning a modern, competitive economy. The process of broadening



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access, making higher education inclusive and promoting excellence initiated during

the 11th Plan was expanded further during the 12th Plan.

On the whole, with new regulatory arrangements and focused actions in key areas,

particularly expansion and quality improvement, a robust higher education system

must be built such that it would sustain rapid economic growth, promote International

competitiveness, while at the same time meet the rising expectations of the young

enterprising Indians.



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CHAPTER 2



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REVIEW OF LITERATURE

2.1 Literature Review

The term Employability Skills was coined by the Conference Board in 1992 to

describe those skills which provide the basic foundation, the combination of skills,

attitudes and behaviors to get, keep and progress on a job, to work with others on a

job, and to achieve the best results. In ensuing years we have come to realize that

these skills are the skills needed for much more than employability. They are, in fact,

the generic set of skills that are needed throughout all career and life development

activities. They are not limited in their applicability and may be used in all

environments

What is Employability?

1. The Confederation of British Industry (CBI) (2009) defines employability as:

“A set of attributes, skills and knowledge that all labour market participants

should possess to ensure they have the capability of being effective in the

workplace – to the benefit of themselves, their employer and the wider

economy”.

2. Employability refers to a person's capability for gaining and maintaining

employment (Hillage and Pollard, 1998).

3. Manchester Metropolitan University defines Employability as “the

development of skills, abilities and personal attributes that enhance students’

capability to secure rewarding and satisfying outcomes in their economic,

social and community lives”

4. It is the capability to move self-sufficiently within the labor market to realize

potential through sustainable employment.



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5. Employability refers to an individual‘s perception of his or her possibilities of

getting new, equal, or better employment (Berntson, 2008).

6. A basic set of skills necessary for getting, keeping and doing well on a job

(Robinson, 2000).

7. The ability to keep the job one has or to get the job desires (Rothwell and

Arnold, 2007)

8. Employability is about the ability to make plans for the future, and the skills,

knowledge and confidence to progress these plans further. Dr Peter Hawkins

(1999)

9. A constellation of individual differences that predispose individuals to

(pro)active adaptability specific to work and careers (Fugate, 2006)

10. A set of achievements – skills, understandings and personal attributes – that

makes graduates more likely to gain employment and be successful in their

chosen occupation, which benefits themselves, the workforce, the community

and the economy (Yorke 2006).

11. Employability is defined as acquiring creating and fulfilling work through the

use of competencies Heijde and Heijden (2006)

12. Employability in perspective of fresh graduate is viewed as the ability of a

person to get a job according to his /her educational standard

(Wickramasinghe, & Perera, 2010).

The above definition suggests the following key points:

Employability is not the same as finding employment but is more about the

capacity of the graduate to function in a work environment (although the more

employable graduates will probably be quicker to settle into work)



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‘Chosen occupation’ may mean different things to different people: this could

include full or part time work, portfolio careers, or blended lifestyles.

Skills’ and ‘knowledge’ should not be seen in narrow terms, but rather could

be looked at as skilful practices and understandings, or ‘capabilities’

It encompasses both the requirement of higher education to contribute towards

the success of the workforce but also to the personal fulfillment of the

individual.

Employability is therefore mainly focused on a person’s skill, knowledge and attitude.

These are the skills, which develop the attitude and action in the person which enable

him to work along with his fellow workers and supervisors and these skills develop

him so that he can take initiative and make critical decision (Robinson, 2000). It is not

just about vocational training and academic skills. It also depends upon labour market

and institutions, because a person with the same capability has different opportunity

in different market. It is acknowledged that the individual’s ability to find paid work

will be affected by external factors such as the national economy and regional

variations, along with other personal constraints such as geographical mobility etc.

Therefore, employability is about the ability to make plans for the future, and the

skills, knowledge and confidence to progress these plans further. Dr Peter Hawkins

(1999) summed this up: ‘To be employed is to be at risk. To be employable is to besecure.’

Employability is commonly seen as one of the manifestations of the rapid changes

associated with the globalization era of the past two decades (cf. Field 2000). It is

essentially a three-act story. First, the decline of industrial production and the rise of a

services- (even knowledge-) based economy in the OECD countries necessitate a new



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form of preparation for the world-of-work. Second, the dominance of Neo-Liberal

ideology makes even parties formerly of the left embrace education and work as the

ways to end poverty and social exclusion, and abandon the welfare state. Third, the

related notions of lifelong learning and boundary less careers portray this new world

as one of exciting opportunities for those that embrace it. All of these factors are held

to make a focus on an individual's ability to gain initial employment, maintain

employment, move between roles within the same organization, obtain new

employment if required and (ideally) secure suitable and sufficiently fulfilling work,

in other words- their employability, more important than the simple state of being

employed (Hillage and Pollard 1998).

What are Employability Skills?

Skill is an ability to perform a specific task and employability is about having the

capability to gain initial employment, maintain employment and obtain new

employment if required.

1. Employability criteria encompasses knowledge, attitudes, beliefs, skills

(Hillage & Pollard, 1998) and psychology that come from a wider meaning of

the word “education” and qualification with its connotations of synthesis,

evaluation and using the understandings of one scenario to be able to apply it

to another, which might be completely different in the future.

2. Employability skills are “those basic skills necessary for getting, keeping, and

doing well on a job.” Robinson (2000)

3. Employability skills as the skills that can be teachable (Lorraine, 2007) and

transferable (Yorke, 2006).

4. Employability skills are referred to as generic capabilities, transferable skills,

basic skill, essential skills, work skills, soft skill, core skills, core



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competencies and enabling skills or even key skills (DEST 2007; Yorke, 2006;

Knight, P. and Yorke, M., 2002; Hiroyuki, 2004).

5. Employability skills are about ‘defining a theoretically ideal employee from an

employer’s perspective (ALTC Report, 2009).

Employability skills are all about the ability of individuals to exhibit their skills to the

prospective employers and the ability to execute the tasks thereby achieving

organizational goals and objectives. Besides, it also talks about the ability to switch

over to other jobs comfortably. Employability skills refer to specific skills essential

for employment. These are the critical tools and traits required to perform tasks at

workplace. These skills are much sought after these days by employers. The needs of

employability skills differ from country to country and from sector to sector and from

time to time. However, certain qualities such as communication skills, interpersonal

skills, integrity, right attitude, problem solving, decision making and team building

skills can be taken as a few common skills of employability skills. In simple

Employability skills are the 'ready for work' skills vital to do the job!

Table 2.1: Employability Skills

Sr. No. Employability skills

1. Workplace literacy & numeracy

2. Information & communications technology

3. Problem solving & decision making

4. Initiative & enterprise

5. Communication & relationship management

6. Lifelong learning

7. Global mindset

8. Self-management

9. Workplace-related life skills

10. Health & workplace safety

Source: Employability Skills identified by Workforce Development Agency (WDA),

Singapore (2006)



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What is Engineering?

According to Barker (1993), Engineering is, “the art of directing the great source of

power in nature for the use and the convenience of humans. In its modern form

engineering involves people, money, materials, machines and energy. The difference

between a scientist and an engineer is that a scientist discovers and formulates into

acceptable theories, whereby an engineer requires the creative imagination to innovate

useful applications of natural phenomena.”

Engineering is ‘the creative application of scientific principles to design or develop

structures, machines, apparatus, or manufacturing processes, or works utilizing them

singly or in combination; or to construct or operate the same with full cognizance of

their design; or to forecast their behavior under specific operating conditions; all as

respects an intended function, economics of operation or safety to life and property’

(ECPD, 1947).

It is the application of scientific, economic, social, and practical knowledge in order to

design, build, maintain, and improve structures, machines, devices, systems, materials

and processes. The discipline of engineering is extremely broad, and encompasses a

range of more specialized fields of engineering, each with a more specific emphasis

on particular areas of technology and types of application.

In simple words, Engineering is directed to developing, providing and maintaining

infrastructure, goods and services for industry and the community. It is therefore

essential for engineering graduates to have certain skills to help them apply and

practice the knowledge effectively in workplace.



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Employability of Engineering Graduates

Today’s highly technical and sophisticated jobs demand a highly professional

candidate who can increase productivity and thereby increase the value of an

organization (Busse, 1992). Shift from production oriented engineering jobs to service

oriented engineering jobs demands professionals with both sound technical and

behavioral skills to attain and retain the job (Hillage J, 1999). An engineering

graduate with sound technical knowledge, pleasing personality and good

communication skills was the best choice for the organization (Forbes, 2004).

However today, “Employability” doesn’t merely talk about attaining jobs (Atkins,

1999). It focuses on sustainability where the engineering professional can provide

technical solutions to the society through innovation and best practices. Thus

engineering employability skills can be defined as: ‘Ability to perform engineering

related skills, knowledge and personal attributes to gain employment, maintain

employment and succeed in the engineering field.’

In other words, engineering employability skills are highly related to technical and

non-technical skills or abilities.

Employability Skills for Engineering Graduate in Malaysia

Malaysian engineering education is mainly guided by accrediting body, Engineering

Accreditation Councils (EAC) of Malaysia and the Malaysian Quality Assurance

(MQA) Department of the Ministry of Higher Education Malaysia. EAC is the body

appointed by Board of Engineers Malaysia (BEM) for accreditation of engineering

programme in Malaysia. Accreditation policy required engineering graduates to have

the necessary attributes, skills and competencies reflected in the graduate outcomes

specified in EAC Manual.



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The EAC Manual was prepared keeping in mind the criteria followed by developed

countries across the world. The framework of The United State of America (USA),

United Kingdom (UK), Australia (AUS), Japan and European Union (EU) was used

as a reference for framing engineering employability skills in Malaysia

According to study done Malaysian employers agreed that more than 70% of the

attributes for engineers in EAC manual (Table 4) are important.

Table 2.2: Engineering Attributes Required by EAC (Malaysia)

Sr.

No.

ATTRIBUTES

1. Ability to acquire and apply knowledge of science and engineering fundamentals

2.Ability to communicate effectively, not only with engineers but also with thecommunity at large

3. In-depth technical competence in a specific engineering discipline

4. Ability to undertake problem identification, formulation and solution

5. Ability to utilize a systems approach to design and evaluate operational performance

6. Understanding of the principles of sustainable design and development

7. Understanding of professional and ethical responsibilities and commitment to them

8.

Ability to function effectively as an individual and in a group with the capacity to be

a leader or manager as well as an effective team member

9.Understanding of the social, cultural, global and environmental responsibilities of a

professional engineer, and the need for sustainable development

10.Expectation of the need to undertake lifelong learning, and possessing/acquiring thecapacity to do so

Source: EAC Manual 2006



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Employability through curriculum

Governments around the world have drawn upon human capital theory (Becker 1975)

in the formulation of policy in respect of higher education. Human capital theory links

economic success to the education of the workforce. The development of

employability in graduates has thus become significant.

Graduate employability is being the possession of understandings, skills and personal

attributes necessary to perform adequately in a graduate- level job.

When considering higher education’s potential for contributing to the economic well

being it is helpful to distinguish between the formation of subject specific

understandings and skills and the promotion of generic achievements. Where the

world of employment has, by and large been satisfied with the disciplinary

understanding and skills developed as a consequence of participation in higher

education, it has been less happy with graduates’ generic attainments like literacy andnumeracy, self efficacy and meta-cognition.

Improving Undergraduate Learning for Employability Through

International Exposure

Due to the evolution of technology, the world of business is morphing to a “level

playing field” where domestic and international competitors have equal opportunities

to capture customers and business globally. Ten historic “flatteners” are the key

contributors to modern-day globalization, including events like the collapse of the

Berlin Wall and innovations like offshoring and the internet. Adaptation to this

changing market environment is essential for business survival in the increasingly

competitive marketplace (Friedman, 2005).



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Globalization has altered the business world indefinitely, as well as the skills needed

by employees to excel in this new work environment. The global business mindset

drastically increases the likelihood that a business has customers or suppliers abroad

(Crossman & Clarke, 2010). This rise in multinational corporations is directly linked

with U.S. citizens being sent abroad on foreign work assignments. Clearly businesses

are adapting to optimize performance in the era of globalization. However, this leads

to several questions of interest to academia. Is the same adaptation exhibited by

businesses also changing the way future employees are being educated? How are

universities reacting to the changing work environment, specifically in regards to

international exposure to increase the employability of their graduates?

Effects of vocational choice and practical training on students

‘employability

Computers, communication systems have highly modernized industrial processes,

requiring highly trained and multi-skilled manpower (Walakira, 2000). Since the early

1990s the common wisdom has been that mergers, re-engineering, and downsizing in

industries/organizations have led to retention of core staff and sub-contracting most of

the jobs causing job insecurity for employees (Benson, 2006).

According to Moss and Frieze (1993), switching of career paths and fields of study is

natural among young adults as they discover their strengths, weaknesses, and realistic

demands of various careers. Feldman (2003) contributed that switching of career

paths is becoming common among teenagers and young adults. However, Dunegan

(1993) observed that young adults are slow starters in their identification of early-

career goals in the process they build many criteria to maximize in a career, in so

doing no career seems particularly attractive. These young adults rather than



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“satisfies” with an option that at least minimally meets all rele vant criteria (Simon,

1997) instead keep their options open for longer and longer periods (Feldman and

Whitcomb, 2005).

Consequently, employers observe and question the motivation and commitment of

applicants with noticeable delays in college graduation, numerous gaps in their

employment history, and frequent changes in jobs (Feldman, 2002).

Employability Skill among Professionals – Chagrin of HR Executives in

Indian Labor Market

According to the study, students’ employability skills as a whole are at the moderate

level. When it comes to the High Order Thinking skills, ‘Learning’ item has the

lowest mean score, which is truly significant to make consistence performance in ones

job. The study reveals the need for improvement in the employability status of the

respondents. Being good at the one skill cannot facilitate the competency in other. So

today’s scenario is that the applicant who is multi tasking can sustain and gain in the

employment. The base of the entire career and its growth lies on the primary

education and its further hierarchical stages; hence the focus towards the learning

should start from the primary education and then should go further till the end of the

learning.

The redesigning of the university curriculum with more apprenticeship and live

industry projects will facilitate the pre job training which will surely enhance the

employability among graduates. The Indian educational governance is the one which

is in earnest need of reforming. Besides that, instructors should practice employability

skill during teaching and learning session so that it could assist students to understand

ways of applying the skills by themselves.



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Employability in MNCs: Challenge for Graduates

The increasing levels of technological sophistication and the speedy transfer of

information have diminished the competitive advantage that was once available

through the physical and organizational capital. Products are now more readily

copied, and processes replicated differentiation; thus rests with the people who

generate new ideas or with those who deliver the product. There is increasing

recognition, therefore, in the potential of the Human Capital that makes a considerable

and lasting impact on sustainable competitive advantage (Barney and Wright, 1998;

Wright, McMahan and McWilliams, 1994).

According to (Robinson, 2000; Davies, 2000) the major concern for the employer is

to finding the right person for the right job. But the area of concern for employer is

the skill gap which is the difference between skills what an organization wants and

what an applicant possess. According to the concept of resource based view, firms are

trying to carry on and develop their human capital which is the essence of

employability. Multinationals are reluctant in assigning jobs to the individual who is

raw and does not have any experience, on the other hand multinationals are always in

search of young talented people who does have some basic skills (Moy & Lee, 2002).

Evaluation of the effects of vocational choice and practical training on

students ‘employability

According to Psacharopolous and Sanyal (1987), most students get their career

guidance from their relatives, friends and parents and leaving career masters the most.

According to Moss and Frieze (1993), switching of career paths and fields of study is

natural among young adults as they discover their strengths, weaknesses, and realistic

demands of various careers. Feldman (2003) contributed that switching of career

paths is becoming common among teenagers and young adults dissatisfied customers.



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However, Dunegan (1993) observed that young adults are slow starters in their

identification of early-career goals in the process they build many criteria to maximize

in a career, in so doing no career seems particularly attractive. These young adults

rather than “satisfies” with an option that at least minimally meets all relevant criteria

(Simon, 1997) instead keep their options open for longer and longer periods (Feldman

and Whitcomb, 2005).

Consequently, employers observe and question the motivation and commitment of

applicants with noticeable delays in college graduation, numerous gaps in their

employment history, and frequent changes in jobs (Feldman, 2002). Recognizing

these gaps, The UNESCO Educational Policy report (1998) recommended that career

guidance and counseling be significantly strengthened because of its utmost

importance for all clients of the education and training systems. That career guidance

should take into account the needs of industry, the individual and the family and be

sensitive to each learner’s requirements and circumstances. Furthermore that its role

should be extended to prepare students and adults for the real possibility of the

frequent career change, which could include periods of unemployment and

employment both in the formal and informal sector (The UNESCO Educational

Policy report, 1998). In today’s economy, lifetime employment is not guaranteed and

individuals need to be resigned to “involuntary career change” at least once in a career

particularly due to lack of security of employment that puts the onus on the individual

to take control of his/her future employability (O’Donoghue and Maguire,2005).

Employability: Is it Myth or Rhetoric?

Traditional categories of skills determining employability (mirrored by t his paper’s

questionnaires) as examples, emphasize the practicalities and didactic nature of who

should get a chance of employment, typically; Qualifications, Experience, I.Q,



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References, Motivation, Personal Circumstances (Rodgers, 1952; Munro-Fraser,

1954). The writers believe that increasingly the nature of employment and thereby

employability will reflect growing complexity, ambiguity, conflict handling, and an

increasingly paradoxical state of affairs within life and commerce. By way of example

we have already seen a growth in using team approaches by firms with employees

who also need to possess an ability to handle change and cope often without having a

total picture of why. They are likely to be asked to be able to read situations quickly

and stay focused in the midst of even more growing uncertainty this trend may well

accelerate.

Much of the current selection process is reactive and rather like reading the road

ahead from the car’s mirror rather than taking a zero based approach, where we have

to argue our case for the direction or argue what is really important for a potential job

and how it can best be filled and with what kinds of attributes/people. The employer

finds themselves selecting on criteria which is often didactic (Cox & King, 2006)

historicist and full of a need for conformity. Even if job interviewers are not

necessarily very conformist there’s always the concern for what others might think;

customers, co workers even employers about who is to be employed. Most employers

like conformers, but that’s not where creativity and the future lie, most probably.

When it comes to setting someone on for employment in the future in whatever form

that may turn out to be, today the robust methods for selecting candidates on

employability and the selection criteria currently used may not be fit for purpose in

the future.

Employability and Skills of Newly Graduated Engineers in India

In India shortages of skills are among the main constraints to continued growth of the

economy. Studies have shown that the problem is especially acute in industries



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relying on engineers, where employers complain that most newly graduated engineers

lack suitable skills. Many attribute that lack to shortcomings in the education system.

Responding to a surge in demand for engineers, India’s higher education system

massively expanded the enrollment of engineering students — and that expansion is

widely perceived as having led to a decline in the average quality of the students

enrolled, the teaching and, consequently, the graduating engineers.

The study conducted in 2009 of 157 employers across sectors and regions in India,

rated graduates relatively high on lower-order thinking skills (remembering,

understanding) but low on higher-order thinking skills (analyzing, evaluating, and

creating). These higher-order thinking skills are among the most important

professional skills for engineers. Unlike for soft skills, employers’ demands for

professional skills differ across sectors, company sizes, and regions.

Developing Soft Skills for Enhancing Employability of Engineering

Graduates

One of the challenges in engineering education in India today is to improve the soft

skills of the young engineers and prepare them for the workplace. The modern world

expects, along with hard or technical skills and latest knowledge in emerging areas,

cool and competent engineers who can acquit themselves well in the workplace. But

the reality is that in the increasingly globalised world and the internationalized nature

of workplaces, only 25% of the Indian engineering graduates are employable. They

need to improve dramatically in the areas of communication, language skills, team

work, learning new subjects and leadership.

Developing Generic Skills in Classroom Environment

Generic skills are “employability” skills used in the application of knowledge. These

skills are not job specific, but are skills which cut horizontally across all industries



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and vertically across all jobs from entry level to chief executive officer. The degree to

which students develop these skills determines how they solve problems, write

reports, function in teams, self assess and do performance reviews of others, go about

learning new knowledge, and manage stress when they have to cope with change.

Today’s engineering graduates are not lacking in technical competency or in their

understanding of science, math, and physics. These graduates lack competency in the

generic skills that enable them to use their technical skills most effectively. Generic

skills enable them to use their technical abilities as a part of a team, to understand

conflict as a means for discussion instead of an angry confrontation, and to respect

difference as a creative opportunity rather than an obstacle. To achieve success,

today’s engineers must be team members who thrive while working with a variety of

people having differing social, educational, and technical skills.

Graduates lacking of generic skills is a global issue. Employers worldwide found far

too many entry level job applicants deficient in generic skills, and want the public

schools or institutions of higher learning to place more emphasis on developing these

skills. Valuing generic skills-to the point of assigning them an even higher priority

than job-specific technical skills-employers are understandably distressed to find so

many entry-level job applicants lacking these skills.

Charner identified and catalogued the reasons given by employers for not hiring

young people for entry-level jobs, including:

• Low grades and low levels of academic accomplishments

• Poor attitudes, lack of self -confidence

• Lack of goals, poorly motivated

• Lack of enthusiasm, lack of drive, little evidence of leadership potential

• Lack of preparation for the interview



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• Excessive interest in security and benefits, unrealistic salary demands and

expectations

• Inadequate preparation for type of work, inappropriate background

• Lack of extracurricular activities

• Inadequate basic skills (reading, writing, math)

Company perception on the employability skills of industrial training

students

The Ministry of Higher Education (MOHE) has aggressively embarked on a mission

to take in students with soft skills development program in order to produce high

quality human capital, knowledgeable, competitive, has the creative and innovative

features and move in line with industry requirements and social needs of the country.

Soft skills such as human relations skills, communication skills, ethical behavior skills

and cognitive skills are the attributes that being considered by employers when

reviewing job applicants (Hamid, 2009).

Practical training has been viewed as an imperative method of providing possible

career choices for students. It provides the students with a first look at the realistic

working environment and also is the place for them to obtain hands on knowledge and

skills necessary in the industry of their choice. Industrial training does not only

provide professional ‘feel’ of the actual engineering profession but also contribute in

developing Generic Student Attributes (GSA) hence increases students’ job

marketability. As a conclusion Industrial Training is an important phase in students’

academic life and play vital role in preparing engineering students for their future

career.



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Formative Assessment in Higher Education

Research shows that formative assessment can exert a powerful effect on student

learning, yet the complexity of formative assessment is not well understood and some

curricular structures and practices do not fully exploit its potential. According to the

studies the curriculum needs to be sufficiently flexible to accommodate the differing

developmental needs of students. There is a close relationship between employability

and good learning. Put another way, the incorporation of employability into curricula

need not be inimical to the traditional values of academics regarding student

development. However, the implications of the USEM account for pedagogic practice

are considerable.

Academics do not need to develop personal expertise in all of these areas, but they do

need to have some appreciation of the main ideas and how they might bear on the

practice of assessment.

Institutional units charged with educational development (however this might be

labeled) have a particular opportunity to support the enhancement of pedagogic

approaches.

Measurement of excellence in higher Education

Dr. R. Gopal, in his article titled ‘Towards an educated India: Measurement of

excellence in Higher education’ published in FPJ has thrown light on various factors

influencing the higher education system. He has emphasized on achieving excellence

among institutions by focusing on certain parameters. According to him higher

education is the driver of personal and professional lives of various individuals. In

India the Gross Enrollment Ratio is quite low. However the fact nevertheless, remains

that the higher education system in India has grown in a significant way to become

one of the largest systems of its kind in the world. In addition to this India ’s rise as



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one of the economic superpowers has increased the demand for quality management

education which will help to bring out managers who can effectively supervise,

manage and increase the growing business of India.

The changing drivers that influence the Higher Education System includes-

Changing student demographics

New enrollment pattern

Information

Growth in the for profit higher education institutions

Changing nature of the workplace (from job security to job insecurity)

Formation of the Global village concept

In order to excel, institutions need to benchmark themselves with the best in the

industry. There is an urgent need to create a stimulating and challenging environment

of the equivalents of the Harvards and Stanfords in India.

Employability of engineering graduates alarming: Survey by PurpleLeap

Only one out of ten students graduating from tier 2, 3 and 4 engineering colleges is

readily employable, pointing to the yawning gap between education and

employability of the much-in-demand graduate pool, according to a latest survey.

An even more alarming fact is that one third of this group is unfit for employment,

even with external intervention in the form of training. And these findings are about

students who have done well academically; with at least 60% marks, said the

PurpleLeap IRIX (Industry Readiness Index) survey. The findings of the study have

posed a big challenge for small and medium sized companies that straddle the need to

increase capacity with the training imperative. The study looks into the reasons why

most organizations usually have to spend 3 to 4 months on technical training to make

these students workplace ready. It revealed that 62% of the students do not meet the



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requirements on the problem solving /analytical skills, challenging the popular notion

that engineering students are naturally good at these things. It also tried to intervene in

the quality of education in tier 1 institutes and perhaps the only silver lining in the

current situation is that the share of readily deployable talent in tier 2/3/4 colleges is

equal to the total talent pool in tier 1 engineering colleges. The study however

concluded with a need for systematic intervention to prevent the possible failure of

the technical education system in the country.

‘Many engineering students lack employable skills’

Lack of ‘skills’ forcing students to settle for non-technical jobs after engineering 36

per cent of all surveyed have no chance of an ‘engineering job’.

The study ‘Employability Skill Index’ was done by PurpleLeap, a talent management

institute, among 9,000 students across 95 colleges in the country, including 600

students from 15 engineering colleges in Andhra Pradesh. It tested three key

employability skills - communication, problem solving and technical skills.

The study found that more than 80 per cent of the students do not meet the

requirements on the problem solving skills. The average score of State students was

less than 25 per cent against national average of 35 per cent. “There are more than 50

per cent of the students who have scored less than 25 per cent in problem solving,

making them fall in the ‘hard-to-train’ segment.

Need to Focus on Developing Employability Skills in our Engineering

Graduates

The industry requires new graduates who understand the part they play in building

their organizations, and have the practical skills to work effectively in their roles. It

means engaging with the organization and its goals, understanding the dynamics of



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the workplace, and taking up a job role with an informed knowledge of all of its

requirements. These are the skills, attitudes and actions that enable workers to get

along with their fellow workers and supervisors and to make sound, critical decisions.

Unlike occupational or technical skills, employability skills are generic in nature

rather than job specific and cut across all industry types, business sizes, and job levels

from the entry-level worker to the senior-most position.

If colleges want to improve the employability of their graduates, they have to focus on

reducing these important skill gaps through improvements in curriculum and teaching

methods. The Universities are required to play a significant role for the same so that

graduates have to be able to formulate, analyze, and solve a real life problem using

standard engineering techniques

Clueless engineers: National Employability Report reveals how

unemployable fresh engineering graduates are?

The National Employability Report on Engineering Graduates, released by Aspiring

Minds, an employability solutions company, shows that out of the five lakh engineers

who graduate from various engineering colleges across the country every year, only

17 per cent are fit for the IT services sector. The report was based on a sample of

more than 55,000 engineering students from 250 colleges chosen from the length and

breadth of the country. The challenge for an employer lies in shifting through all the

five lakh job applications before identifying the candidates with the right kind of skill

set.It is not just the technical and theoretical knowledge that the engineering graduates

lack but also the soft skills on which companies place more emphasis.



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Transforming the Unemployable MBA into an Employable MBA

In the article published in FPJ, titled ‘Transforming the Unemployable MBA into an

Employable MBA’, Dr. R. Gopal has made an attempt to get into the insight of the

MBA curriculum and integrate the learning aspects with practical applications. The

article covers a recent research on education on Business Administration which

reveals only 21 per cent of the MBAs produced in this country are employable. The

rest of the 79 per cent are unemployable. . A discussion with the industry personnel

indicated that while recruiting 75 per cent weightage is given to the soft skills, while

25 per cent weightage is given for the hard skills. With respect to hard skills it was

envisaged that today's MBA should be more like a 'generalist', a Jack of all trades.

They are expected to have an integrated knowledge in all areas of management.

The study also throws light on the changes to be brought in the MBA program which

emphasizes on analyzing the syllabus of various MBA programs of different

Universities. The study conducted indicates that that the course curriculum does meet

more or less the requirements of the industry. Moreover the applications of the

various concepts used were found to be missing.

Need of specialist faculty to teach specific subjects and assignment of live projects to

students can help in learning the working of organization in real sense. However it is

also argued that while it is possible that the B-school would do all of this and much

more, there must be a genuine desire in the MBA student to improve himself and an

urge to reach higher heights, failing which all efforts would go waste.



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Academia- Industry Partnership

Dr. R. Gopal’s view on a strategic alliance between higher educational institutes and

the industry has been discussed in his article titled, ‘Towards an Educated India:

Academia-Industry Partnership’. The article emphasized on the change in the outlook

of industry recruiters seen off late and the subsequent changes to be brought in the

academics. Traditionally, business schools looked for placements and internships for

their students and the industry for fresh recruits who are well trained and equipped

with the right knowledge, skills and attitude to be able to contribute to the

organization's growth. However, today the contour of relationship is expanding much

beyond that. Extremely dynamic business world and the rapidly developing

knowledge based service economy have put in an increased demand for professionals

to manage the businesses effectively. As the result the need for Management

education has been rising over the years.

Academia-industry interface could be defined as a collaborative arrangement between

academic institutions and business corporations towards achievement of certain

mutually inclusive goals and objectives. This partnership involves three major

players: Business Schools, Students and Industry.

The realization that business schools and employers should work closely with each

other is the result of increasing complexity and continuous changing needs of the

industry. The increasing criticality of human competence, growing competition for

student placements are the other reasons that have added up the interdependence

between academia and industry. Also the contribution made by industry towards this

has helped them by way of revisiting the fundamentals of business management with

the latest theories, motivating their employees and thus help in reducing the attrition



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rate, getting ready- to- use students resulting in improvement in productivity, joint

working with business schools in areas of training & consultancy thus being able to

carry out applied / fundamental research at a lower cost.

Thus, though the collaboration between the two is dynamic and complex. A

synergistic relationship has to be carved between the business schools and the

industry so that both can benefit and contribute to enhancing the entire teaching-

learning process. The growth of some major economies like Germany and USA is

built on the edifice of a strong corporate academia relationship. Hence it is high time

that Indian business schools do the same and build and sustain similar long-term and

mutually fruitful relationships

Analysis of factors determining graduate employability

Despite some progress in extending access to higher education to various

disadvantaged groups (e.g. ethnic minorities, lower socio-economic groups) and a big

political as well as academic interest in this process, little is known about how these

‘non-traditional’ students will fare in the graduate labor market. Some empirical

findings (usually carried out for other purposes) and also anecdotal evidence suggest

that graduates from such groups do relatively poorly on entry to the labor market. The

project utilized the results of existing studies carried out by the research team to

address. The findings of the report were success in the labor market for graduates is to

some extent associated with the background characteristics of graduates. Socio-

economic background, ethnic background and age all have indirect effects upon

employment through their association with factors such as institutional type, subject

of study, entry qualifications and degree classification. But they also appear to have

direct effects.



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Factors contribution towards employability

Personal Flexibil ity : Personal flexibility is the capacity of adaptability of an

employee to changes in internal and external labour market, which may not

relate to one’s current job domain.

Occupational Expertise: This relates to the expertise that requires in

performing a job adequately. It also assesses the requirements of the job, and

climate of the organization.

Anticipation and optimization: Attempt to achieve the best result for

organization, and prepare for and adapt future changes in personal and creative

manner.

Corporate sense: It is the contribution and performance in different work

groups. It includes organizations, teams, occupational communities and other

networks, characterized by sharing of responsibilities, knowledge,

experiences, feelings, failures, goals, etc.

Balance: It is a compromise between opposing employers’ interests and one’s

own, opposing work, career, and private interests (employee), and between

employers’ and employees’ interests (Heijden et al, 2009).

Teacher ski ll : The skills which a teacher must possess to guide graduates in

problem solving and good communication skills, and must have the awareness

of practices used in industry.

Employer participation: An employer can affect employability of graduate if

he plays its role in academic programs. He offers mentors and gives feedback

according to market conditions.

The globalization emphasize on the knowledge economy that’s why employability

becomes the central driver of the thinking business. This approach increases the



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attention for universities and universities in turn are also focusing on producing

employable graduates through the development of skill and abilities in graduates

(Gracia, 2009). To manage this entire scenario the role of higher education is also get

importance and governments are now more focusing on higher education to make the

graduate employable (Mason et al., 2009; Gracia, 2009).

Despite of the fact that education is growing enormously and quick changes are taking

place around the world in every field at the same time the stakeholders are not

satisfied with the curriculum and teaching staff and student’s skills and abilities. They

have the reservation regarding outdated curricula, lack of staff and neglecting the

student’s skills. Students are also complaining about the system which is sort of a

teacher centered and exam oriented due to which their chances to acquire the job are

less because they don’t have practical knowledge (Zhiwen, Beatrice, & Heijden,

2008). Employers are very much concerned with the performance of the graduate and

also not satisfied with it and criticize the system that graduate can get the good scores

in the exam but they are not performing well on the job because of they don’t have

transferable skills and their ability is low (Zhang, & Liu, 2006).

Improved education systems have resulted in motivation of developing young people

for labour market. The interest for education in working age (15-64 years) has

increased. The share for tertiary education has increased to 3.6% and for at most

secondary education; it is down by 5.3% (Employability, n.d). Higher education is

gaining interest of policy makers in many countries, in ‘education-to-work’ transition

of graduates and the extent to which they are employable. Universities are offering

lots of courses to attract the viable number of students, but due to complex academic

structure it is difficult to involve employer in course validation and design process.

Due to which the gap create between demand of an employer and the graduates come



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into the market (Rae, 2007). The other thing is that the number of students entering

into the market after passing their degree increase massively and job opportunities are

less.

Understanding of the world of work which means how organization works, how an

employee does his job, and what are organization objectives (Coopers & Lybrand,

1998). To fulfill those requirements universities have to make modifications in course

content introduce new courses and teaching methods and expand opportunities for

work experience. All these procedures should be adopted to enhance the development

of employability skills and lifelong learning. Some universities try to embed these

skills within the course, and other offer ‘stand-alone’ skill courses (Coopers &

Lybrand, 1998).

2.1Research Gap

There exist differences in the expectation of the Company executives from the

undergraduates pertaining to corporate skills and what is been imbibed in them at

educational level.

Employers and Academicians jointly agree that there is need to develop highly skilled

professionals who are ready to take the challenges of Global competition. However on

the real grounds fewer efforts have been taken by the educational Institutes in this

arena.

Moreover there are no studies available which looks specifically into the

employability of Engineering Students especially in the area of Mumbai and Pune.



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CHAPTER 3



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OBJECTIVES & RESEARCH METHODOLOGY

3.1 Research Problem

The role of higher education in the growth and progress of a nation has been well

recognized for centuries. Thankfully for India the input, in terms of the number of

people entering the system has never been an issue. Instead, the urgent need has been

to address the shortcomings of the entire process of converting youth into educated

and well groomed citizens. With about 50% of the Indian population below the age of

25 years, and an estimated 150 million people in the age group of 18-23 years, India is

a “young nation with high aspirations”. Having realized the importance of the

education sector, the Government has increased its focus to introduce a number of

reforms to iron out some key irritants

In the last six decades, the higher education sector in India has witnessed exponential

growth, both in terms of the number of institutions and the rate of enrolment. From

just 30 universities and 700 colleges in 1951, today there are over 600 universities and


become the third largest education system in the world, after China and the U.S. Also

between 2010 and 2015, the market size of the higher education sector is expected to

register a compounded annual growth of 25%, thus making it worth $57 billion by

2015. Indian students have been one of the top spending groups when it comes to

pursuing higher education overseas, with a collective spend of over $14 billion, as

recorded in the year 2010.



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H igher Education M arket

Although the sector has been largely dominated by government institutions, the role

of the private sector has witnessed a substantial increase in the last decade. The

private sector’s share of student enrolment has grown from 33% in 2001 to 59% in

2012. This growth can be attributed mainly to the inability of the government to meet

the large demand-supply gaps, poor quality infrastructure in existing institutions,

demand for quality world-class education and rising disposable income of the Indian

middle class.

In order to address concerns around the quality of education, the University Grants

Commission (UGC), the apex body that regulates the universities and colleges in

India, has introduced regulations that make accreditation mandatory for all non-

technical institutions. This is a positive step to increase transparency and improve the

quality of higher education in India.

There is no doubt that the Higher Education sector in India is witnessing exponential

growth both in terms of number of institutions and the rate of enrollment. From just

30 universities and 700 colleges in 1951, today there are over 600 universities and


become the third largest education system in the world, after China and U.S.A.,

however ensuring quality in higher education is amongst the foremost challenges

being faced in India today, with few institutes having achieved global recognition for

excellence.



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3.2 Statement of Research Objective

1. To study the level of employability skills among the Engineering students of

Mumbai and Pune Universities

2. To identify the attributes looked upon by the IT companies in fresh/ amateur

Engineering Graduates

3. To study the level of differences in the skills expected and actual observed

among Engineering students

4. To identify the specific steps taken by the institutes of Mumbai and Pune to

inculcate employability skills among the students

3.3 Hypothesis

a) H01: There is no significant difference between mean scores of various

employability skills for Mumbai and Pune.

H11: There is significant difference between mean scores of various


b) H02: There is no significant difference between expected and actual levels of

employability skills perceived among Engineering students

H12: There is significant difference between expected and actual levels of

employability skills perceived among engineering students

c) H03: There is no association between City and the initiatives taken by

institutes to enhance the employability of students

H13: There is association between City and the initiatives taken by institutes to

enhance the employability of students



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RESEARCH METHODOLOGY

The study concentrated on information collected from both Primary and Secondary

sources.

3.4 Data Description

Secondary Data: Secondary data was collected from different news journals in order

to understand the views of corporate recruiters on the quality of Engineers being

graduated.

Also information on Engineering Syllabi, the curriculum pattern and AICTE (the

Governing Body of Technical Institutes in India) policy pertaining to Engineering

studies was collected from their respect ive websites. A detailed literature review was

conducted from all the available material.

Primary Data: After the identification of gaps and finalization of research objectives

a questionnaire was prepared and a 360 degree study was conducted as part of the

Primary Data collection. It included the final year Engineering Students,

Academicians of Engineering Institutes and IT/ Manufacturing Company recruiters as

the respondents.

The survey of Engineering Students and Academicians was done from selected

colleges of Mumbai and Pune Univeristies.

The method of conducting survey was through-

Structured Questionnaire

Informal Interviews



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3.5 Research Instruments

For the Primary Data Collection, three different questionnaires were designed for

Engineering Students, Academicians and Corporate Recruiters.

The questionnaire for Engineering Students and Corporate Recruiters comprised of 20

statements on employability skills to be measured on 5 point Likert Scale.

The questionnaire for Academicians comprised of questions on Faculty Members,

Curriculum, Placement and Assessment pattern of their respective Institutes.

All three questionnaires had a separate section on sharing the views of the

respondents with regards to the quality of educational course, their relevance to the

industry needs and the scope of improvement.

3.6 Sample Description

The survey sample consisted of final year engineering students from selected colleges

of Mumbai and Pune Universities.

The Heads of the Department of different faculties of engineering stream from

selected colleges of Mumbai and Pune Universities constituted the Academic

Participants in the study.

Senior Managers and Human Resource Managers of various Information Technology

(IT) and Manufacturing firms contributed in the study as samples from the Industry



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Table 3.1: Tabular Representation of Sample

REGION ENGINEERING

STUDENTS

ACADEMICIANS CORPORATE

Mumbai 143 30

15Pune 112 18

Total 255 48

Total Sample Size 318

3.7 Sampling Method

The sample size was determined using ‘Judgmental Sampling’ as a method, keeping

in mind the convenience and proximity of the researcher.

3.8 Data Analysis

The data was classified and tabulated on the basis of demographic factor (Mumbai

and Pune). Also the different employability skills mentioned in the questionnaire were

grouped into broad categories.

After the proper tabulation of data, various statistical tools were used for the analysis

purpose. SPSS software was used for the overall analysis of the data which resulted in

accurate and precise information.

The data collected from engineering students was analyzed using z- test. The data

obtained from corporate was less than 30 and hence it was analyzed using T-test.

Lastly the responses of the academicians were presented using frequency table and

Pie diagrams.

The initiatives taken by the academic institutes were analyzed using Pearson Chi-

square test in order to determine association between them.



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Through the findings arrived after analysis and with the help of comparative

derivations from the available secondary data, an appropriate conclusion was drawn

and suitable recommendations were suggested.

3.8 Limitations of the Research

The study is confined to selected colleges of Mumbai and Pune Region, which is the

hub of many industrial activities and is also the hub for large number of educational

institutes.

3.9 Future scope of the study

The present study which is limited to Mumbai and Pune region can be further taken to

PAN India level where the employability of the Indian graduates can be studied on a

larger scale. Also the since the study is limited to engineering course, it can be further

studied for other undergraduate courses as well.



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CHAPTER 4



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INDIAN HIGHER EDUCATION

4.1 Introduction

India, today, is considered as a talent pool of the world, having qualified and educated

human resources in abundance. This has been one of the primary reasons for

transformation of India into one of the fastest growing economies in the world since

liberalization in the 1990s. As the economist Clark Kerr observed, “On a global scale,

wealth and prosperity have become more dependent on the access to knowledge than

the access to natural resources.” The importance of education in India was recognized

by the founding fathers of the country and the subsequent governments, and as a

result considerable importance has been given to literacy, school enrolment,

institutions of higher education and technical education, over the decades ever since

independence. India’s aspirations to establish a knowledge society in the context of

increasing globalization, is based on the assumption that higher and technical

education essentially empowers people with the requisite competitive skills and

knowledge. It has been realized that it is the quality of education that prepares one for

all pursuits of life and in the absence of an acceptable level of quality, higher

education becomes a mere formalism devoid of any purpose or substance. As a result,

from around the turn of the century, increasing attention has also been paid to quality

and excellence in higher education.

Post-independence India has witnessed an above average growth in the number of

higher educational institutions vis-à-vis its population. While there were just about 20

Universities and 500 Colleges at the time of independence, today these numbers have

grown exponentially.



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India has a total of 610 universities. 43 central universities, 299 state

universities, 140 private Universities, 128 deemed universities and 5

institutions established through state legislation, 30 Institutions of National

Importance

There are 45 technical institutes, 13 management institutes, 4 information

technology institutes, 6 science and research institutes and 3 planning and

architecture institutes

Currently, the Government spends around 3.8% of its GDP on education

Less than 1% of the $38 bn of the Government spend on education was

towards Capex (2008-09)

According to the 2011 census, the total literacy rate in India is 74.04%

compared to the world average of 83.4% (2008)

The female literacy rate is 65.46 % and male literacy rate is 82.14 %

FDI inflows in the education sector during May 2012 stood at $31.22 mn

Industry Growth & Size

The Indian Education sector is characterized by a unique set of attributes:-

• Huge market size both in terms of number of students and annual revenues

• A potential growth rate of 16% is expected over the next 5 years

• Significant activity in terms of new foreign entrants and participation is expected to

be witnessed in the years ahead

• Accreditation is still not mandatory; however, reforms are in the pipeline to address

this issue



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The Indian education space is evolving, which has led to the emergence of new niche

sectors like vocational training, finishing schools, child-skill enhancement and e-

learning among others. Growth is driven by the increasing propensity of the middle

class to spend on education and more aggressive initiatives by private entrepreneurs.

4.2 The Higher and Technical Education of India

India possesses a highly developed higher education system, which offers the facility

of education and training in almost all aspects of human creativity and intellectual

endeavors like: arts and humanities; natural, mathematical and social sciences;

engineering; medicine; dentistry; agriculture; education; law; commerce and

management; music and performing arts; national and foreign languages; culture;

communications etc.

Education is a concurrent subject under the purview of the Central Government as

well as the State Government. In addition, statutory bodies like (AICTE) and the

University Grants Commission (UGC) have their empowerment by the Acts of

Parliament to regulate Higher Education. Professional bodies like Council of

Architecture, Pharmacy Council of India and the Institution of Engineers (India) have

their roles, some of which are well defined and some others not so. The Universities

and deemed-to-be Universities exercise various controls arising out of their statutes.

The Bureau of Technical Education (BTE) in the Ministry of Human Resource

Development provides grants to centrally funded institutions such as the Indian

Institutes of Technology (IITs), Indian Institutes of Management (IIMs), School of

Planning and Architecture (SPA), New Delhi, Technical Teachers Training Institutes

(TTTIs), Indian School of Mines (ISM), Dhanbad, and Indian Institutes of

Information Technology (IIITs). BTE processes the programmes of these centrally



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funded institutions, monitors and evaluates them. AICTE was originally constituted as

an advisory body in 1945 for all matters relating to technical education. Although

AICTE had no statutory power, it played an important role in the development of

technical education in India.

There are three principal levels of qualification within the higher education system in

the country:

Graduation level

Post-graduation level

Doctoral degree.

Besides these three, there is another qualification called a Diploma. It is available at

the undergraduate and postgraduate level. At the undergraduate level, the duration of

the course varies between one to three years; postgraduate diplomas are normally

awarded after one year course, though some diplomas are awarded after two years of

study.

Higher education in India has recorded impressive growth since Independence.

University Grants Commission (UGC), by designing programmes and implementing

various schemes through academic, administrative and financial support, has

contributed in no small measure to the growth and development of Indian higher

education. This has been done in keeping with constant commitment of both the

Central and State governments towards the establishment of institutions fostering a

competent human resource required for the social, economic and ethical development

of the nation.



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In discharge of its cardinal function of coordinating and maintaining standards of

higher education, over the years, the UGC has evolved a wide variety of programmes

for realization of the goals of higher education.

4.3 All India Council for Technical Education

The aim of any country’s higher education system is sustainable development and

achieving higher growth rates. It is enabled through creation, transmission and

dissemination of knowledge. The All India Council for Technical Education (AICTE)

has been in existence since November 1945 as a national level Apex Advisory Body

with its mission of developing and promoting quality technical education in the

country in a coordinated and integrated manner. The Council’s constant endeavor is to

encourage a meaningful association between the technical education system and

research and development activities in a concerted effort aimed at nation-building.

Functions of AICTE

The All India Council for Technical Education (AICTE) was set up in 1945 as an

advisory body and later in 1987 given the statutory status by an Act of Parliament.

The AICTE grants approval for starting new technical institutions, for introduction of

new courses and for variation in intake capacity in technical institutions. The AICTE

has delegated to the concerned state governments powers to process and grant

approval of new institutions, starting new courses and variations in the intake capacity

for diploma level technical institutions. It also lays down norms and standards for

such institutions. It also ensures quality development of technical education through

accreditation of technical institutions or programmes. In additional to its regulatory

role, the AICTE also has a promotional role which it implements through schemes for

promoting technical education for women, handicapped and weaker section of the



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society promoting innovations, faculty, research and development, giving grants to

technical institutions.

All India Council for Technical Education (AICTE) was set-up to conduct survey on

the facilities on technical education and to promote development in the country in a

coordinated and integrated manner. And to ensure the same, as stipulated in, the

National Policy of Education (1986), AICTE be vested with statutory authority for

planning, formulation and maintenance of norms and standards, quality assurance

through accreditation, funding in priority areas, monitoring and evaluation,

maintaining parity of certification and awards and ensuring coordinated and integrated

development and management of technical education in the country.

The purview of AICTE (the Council) covers programmes of technical education

including training and research in Engineering, Technology, Architecture, Town

Planning, Management, Pharmacy, Applied Arts and Crafts, Hotel Management and

Catering Technology etc. at different levels.

Structure of Indian H igher Education Sector

Technical education at all levels in the country is witnessing a consistent growth

pattern marked by the setting up of new Institutions and the improvement of the

existing ones in tune with the quality assurance norms set by the accreditation

agencies. The Council believes in providing a proper impetus to Institutions in

generating competent engineers, pharmacists, managers, architects and scientists and

encourages them to think beyond the curriculum while imparting training for the

advancement of knowledge.



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In our view, the higher education sector can be divided into 4 broad categories as

listed below:-

Table 4.1: Classification of Indian Higher Education Sector

Formal

Education

Technical &

Professional

Education

Skill

Development

Vocational

Training

Composition Institutes ofnationalimportanceUniversities

CollegesPolytechnics

EngineeringcollegesManagementSchools

Law, Medical,Pharmacyetc.

ITCsPrivate SkillDevelopmentCenters

Finishing

schools

English training

Airhostessacademies

Key Regulators UGCStateGovernmentIGNOU

AICTEBar Council ofIndiaMedical Councilof IndiaICAI

DGET incase of

ITIs/ITCs

Unregulated for

others

No regulator

Accreditation

bodies

NAAC NBA None None

Key Players IITs/IIMs/IIScAmityUniversitySRCC

MDI GurgaonK.J. SomaiyaCollege ofEngineering

ITIs/ITCsPrivate centers

VETAFrankfinn

Sources: UGC; UNESCO Global Education Digest 2010

Size of I ndian H igher Education Sector

The population of India has begun to appreciate the value of education in a global

economy and has demonstrated an increased willingness to pay for quality education

and more students are now opting for higher education after school. India has the third

largest higher education system in the world in terms of enrolments, after China and

the US. The number of students enrolled in the universities and colleges (formal



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system) has been reported to be 16 mn in academic year 2010-11*. This does not

include enrolment in higher education offered through ODL. India is acknowledged to

have the largest higher education systems in the world in terms of number of

institutes. The university and higher education system comprises 610 universities and

in addition, there are 33,023 colleges. An estimated $13bn is spent outside the

country. Higher education is the second largest opportunity in the Indian education

sector.

There has been phenomenal growth of higher education in India since Independence.

There were only 20 universities and 500 colleges at the time of independence. These

numbers have increased by 26 times in the case of Universities and 66 times in the

case of colleges. Some of the other factors acting as growth drivers to the Higher

education sector are:-

A booming economy and growing middle class

Low GER in higher education (15%) – the target GER of 30% by 2020 would

mean 24mn new enrollments

Increasing share of the services sector further emphasizes the role of education

in developing manpower to global standards

Several reforms by the government including the Education Bill are on the

anvil to give a push to the education sector

Foreign investment likely to come in with the passing of the Education

Reforms Bill



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Table 4.2: State- wise growth of Universities/ Institutes in India

Source: MHRD/ UGC- February 2012

Management and Governance

The regulatory environment governing higher education in India has been the subject

of much debate. In particular, the envisioned role of the private sector needs to be

clearly defined, especially in wake of the need for more financial resources in higher

education. The higher education system also suffers from an over-centralized

structure.

Regulatory environment: The regulatory environment governing higher education in

India is characterized by uncertainty and conflicts between multiple regulatory

authorities. The role of the private sector in higher education is essential, particularly

in the context of a shortage of financial resources for this segment. However, as noted

by the Working Group for Higher Education in the 12th Five-Year Plan (2012-17),

“while almost all major committees and policy documents have accepted the need f or

increased involvement of private sector in higher education, there is also lack of

clarity on funding pattern, incentives, and regulatory oversight”.



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Quality

There are various dimensions of quality in education, including content, mode of

delivery, infrastructure and facilities, employability, etc. Ensuring quality in higher

education is amongst the foremost challenges being faced in India today, with few

institutes having achieved global recognition for excellence.

Curriculum and Pedagogy: A key concern cited by higher education institutes

is the lack of autonomy with respect to framing course curriculum resulting in

a course structure that is often outdated. The curriculum is often not oriented

to encourage entrepreneurship and innovation among students. Additionally,

the adoption of new modes of delivery, such as technology-enabled learning,

has not yet become widespread • Infrastructure: Higher education institutes

run by the public sector suffer from poor physical facilities and infrastructure.

The higher education system also suffers from misalignment of supply in the

sense that while there are courses in which the demand is in excess of the

available number of seats, there is excess capacity in others

Faculty: Faculty shortages and the inability of the state educational system to

attract and retain well-qualified teachers have been posing challenges to

quality education for many years. The quality of teaching is also often poor

and there are constraints faced in training the faculty • Accreditation: As per

the data provided by the NAAC, as of June 2010, “not even 25% of the total

higher education institutions in the country were accredited. And among those

accredited, only 30% of the universities and 45% of the colleges were found to

be of quality to be ranked at 'A' level”



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Industry Linkages: There are insufficient levels of meaningful industry

participation in aspects like curriculum development, research and faculty

exchange programmes. Placement services in many universities are very

limited resulting in a lack of co-ordination between employment seeking

graduates and prospective employers who are looking for suitably qualified

candidates

Employability: The Indian education system on the whole is not aligned to the

skill and manpower needs of the market. Skills shortage across sectors is

accompanied by high levels of graduate unemployment, highlighting the need

to include employment-linked modules in courses. In addition to job-related

skills, graduates are often reported to be lacking adequate soft-skills such as

communication and inter-personal skills.

Research and Innovation: There is inadequate focus on research in higher

education institutes. The causes include insufficient resources and facilities, as

well as, limited numbers of quality faculty to advice students. According to the

data from 2009, enrolment for Ph.D. / M.Phil. constitutes only 0.48% of

enrolment in higher education in India.

4.3 Expansion of Technical Education

When India attained Independence in 1947, there were only 38 degree-level and 52

diploma-level engineering/ technical institutions with a total intake of 2,500 and 3,670

students, respectively. To carry out developmental plans, the country required

expansion of the system of Technical Education, especially to provide human power

for industries and technical services. The Central and State Governments provided

funds to increase the technical education facilities in the 1950s and early 1960s which



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resulted in the establishment of a large number of Government and Government-aided

private institutions in the country.

Regional Engineeri ng Colleges:

A large number of industrial projects were contemplated in the Second Five Year Plan

(1965-61). To ensure the supply of trained personnel for these projects, an assessment

of demand and supply was made. It was estimated that a shortage of engineers and

diploma holders would occur. Therefore, a scheme was formulated for the growth of

the existing engineering colleges and polytechnics. The scheme was reviewed for

capacity expansion. As a part of this initiative, eight Regional Engineering Colleges

(RECs) were established in the first phase. It was decided to have one REC in each of

the major states, thus adding up to a total of 17. REC’s have a national character and

each college is a joint and cooperative enterprise of the Central Government and the

State Government concerned.

Private In iti atives:

Technical education has always been and continues to be one of the more preferred

areas of study with expectations for better career opportunities. During the last two

decades, the growing demand for expansion of technical education and the inability of

the Government (which traditionally has been establishing and running technical

institutions), to meet the social aspirations, has resulted in private initiative to provide

the alternatives. In recent years, private registered societies and trusts have established

a phenomenally large number of technical institutions.



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4.4 The context for change

In size and diversity, India has the third largest higher education system in the world,

next only to China and the United States. Before Independence, access to higher

education was very limited and elitist, with enrolment of less than a million students

in 500 colleges and 20 universities. Since independence, the growth has been very

impressive; the number of universities (as on31st March 2006) has increased by 18-

times, the number of colleges by 35 times and enrolment more than 10 times (Annual

Report, MHRD 2006-07). The system is now more mass-based and democratized

with one third to 40% of enrolments coming from lower socio-economic strata, and

women comprising of some 35%of the total enrolments (Tilak 2004). It is little more

than half a century ever since the government initiated a planned development of

higher education in the country particularly with the establishment of University

Grants Commission in 1953. Thus early 1950’s is an important reference points from

which we could look back at our progress of higher education.

The Indian higher education system is facing an unprecedented transformation in the

coming decade. This transformation is being driven by economic and demographic

change: by 2020, India will be the world’s third largest economy, with a

correspondingly rapid growth in the size of its middle classes. Currently, over 50% of

India’s population is under 25 years old; by 2020 India will outpace China as thecountry with the largest tertiary-age population. As a result the demand for higher

education and the magnitude of planned reforms over the next ten years in India will

provide the largest opportunity in the world for international higher education

institutions and education businesses.

The XII Five Year Plan approach thus would mainly comprise of two broad

components, i.e. demand side interventions and supply side initiatives. An appropriate



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mix of these two components would be followed in order to attain optimum results.

While the existing interventions would be consolidated, a few new ones, especially in

the area of demand side interventions are proposed to be launched. Focus would be

also on the non-financial reforms, in the shape of institutional re-structuring,

imperative in order to keep the Indian higher education in sync with rest of the world.

Institutional reforms at the highest level, including regulatory structures at the apex

level are essential if India has to occupy a position of leadership in the comity of

nations and transform into a real ‘knowledge society’.

Table 4.3: Enrollment of Students in Higher Education in India

Source: ‘Higher Education in India’ report by UGC- February 2012

I nnovative Programmes

Higher education in India has recorded impressive growth since Independence.

University Grants Commission (UGC), by designing programmes and implementing

various schemes through academic, administrative and financial support, has

contributed in no small measure to the growth and development of Indian higher

education. This has been done in keeping with constant commitment of both the



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Central and State governments towards the establishment of institutions fostering a

competent human resource required for the social, economic and ethical development

of the nation.

In discharge of its cardinal function of coordinating and maintaining standards of

higher education, over the years, the UGC has evolved a wide variety of programmes

for realization of the goals of higher education. Some of the programmes under UGC

have assumed 'Flag-Ship' status as they not only focus on individual students,

teachers, researchers, socially vulnerable groups, thematic priorities in teaching and

research and institutions of higher learning ranging from Departments and Colleges to

Universities. Several compensatory interventions for marginalized sections of the

society for enhancing their participation in higher education have been a special

concern of these initiatives with a view to promoting social equity. Establishment of

Inter-University Centres provided a fillip to making high-end research facilities and

support to the Indian higher education system.

Following are some of the programmes through which the Commission has supported

a large number of students, teachers and institutions of higher learning with a view to

achieving excellence in variegated domains of knowledge.

Special Assistance Programme (SAP)

The programme aims at promoting research in all domains of knowledge. The

institutions of higher learning under the scheme, are supported at three different levels

namely Department Special Assistance (DSA),

Departmental Research Support (DRS) and Centre for Advanced Study

(CAS). The UGC is supporting as many as 943 departments of them, 712 are being

supported at the level of DRS, 89 at the level of DSA and 142 at the level of CAS.



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Universities with Potential for Excellence (UPE)

The UGC assists selected Universities with a vision to achieve excellence in teaching

and research by conferring on them the status of 'Universities with Potential for

Excellence (UPE)'. Such institutions are eligible for enhanced funding to augment

their academic and research infrastructure and also to evolve innovative approaches

towards the teaching-learning process. The UGC has, so far, conferred the status of

Universities with Potential for Excellence to as many as 15 Universities. Each

University is supported with an additional grant of ` 100 crore spanning over two

phases.

Basic Scientific Research Programme (BSR)

The Basic Scientific Research Programme (BSR) was launched on the

recommendation of the Scientific Advisory Committee of the Prime Minister (SAC-

PM) pursuant to that the MHRD had established a Task Force for implementation of

the SAC PM's recommendation. The objective of the Programme has to give a big

boost to scientific research. The Scheme provides for:

Improvement

Support to Colleges (Upgradation of Science laboratories in Colleges)

Doctoral Fellowship

Post-Doctoral Fellowships

Developing Networking Centers, and

Faculty Recharge



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Colleges with Potential for Excellence (CPE)

The UGC has launched this scheme to foster excellence in teaching and research in

colleges. The scheme provides financial support to help improve the colleges, their

academic and physical infrastructure, introduce innovative teaching methodologies

and implement modern learning and evaluation methods. The UGC has so far

identified 284 Colleges with Potential for Excellence and supported them with

financial assistance of ` 220.35 crore.



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CHAPTER 5



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ENGINEERING AND EMPLOYABILITY

5.1 Overview of Engineering Education

The profession of engineering in some of its branches is one of the oldest recorded in

history. Until about 100 years ago industry was still relatively in an undeveloped

condition, largely on account of the absence of any great prime-mover. The effect of

industrial growth and concentration was an increasing specialization in the duties of

the directing minds. This is turn resulted in the development of opportunities for

trained engineers.

Engineering is a profession directed towards the skilled application of a distinctive

body of knowledge based on mathematics, science and technology, integrated with

business and management, which is acquired through education and professional

formation in a particular engineering discipline Bianca K. & Peter F. (2004).

Engineering is directed to developing, providing and maintaining infrastructure,

goods and services for industry and the community.

Engineering education spans a wide spectrum from doctoral to first degree to diploma

and to craftsman levels to meet the industrial and societal needs. Each level has its

role. In the early years, engineering education did a good job of transmitting

knowledge to engineering students, and it might be argued that it facilitated the

development of skills and promoted values in ways appropriate for the time. Until

about 30 years ago, most engineering professors had either worked in industry or

consulted extensively, and the facts and methods that constituted the knowledge base

of the engineering curriculum were by and large those that the students would need in

their careers. The tasks most engineers were called upon to perform involved mostly

routine and repetitive calculations.



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Engineering students developed and sharpened the requisite skills by working through

numerous laboratory exercises and industry-designed case studies and by participating

in cooperative industrial work-study programs and practice schools. The primary

values of engineering practice at the time were functionality and profit. A good

process was one that did what it was supposed to do in as profitable a manner as

possible. Both the engineering curriculum and the faculty reinforced these values.

The circumstances facing practicing engineers today are considerably different from

those of the past, and the circumstances of the future will be even more different.

Significant changes in engineering education will be required if we are to meet the

needs of our graduates in preparing them for the challenges of the coming century.

Let us consider in somewhat greater detail the knowledge, skills, and values that will

be necessary for engineers to deal successfully with these challenges.

Knowledge

The volume of information that engineers are collectively called upon to know is

increasing far more rapidly than the ability of engineering curricula to “cover it.”

Until the early 1980’s, for example, most chemical engineering graduates went to

work in the chemical or petroleum industry. Now they are increasingly finding

employment in such nontraditional (in engineering) fields as biotechnology, computer

engineering, environmental science, health and safety engineering, semiconductor

fabrication technology, and business and finance. To be effective across this broad

spectrum of employment possibilities, our graduates should understand concepts in

biology, physics, toxicology, fiscal policy and computer and software engineering that

are well beyond the range of the traditional chemical engineering curriculum. Many

who work in companies that have international markets will also need to be



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conversant with foreign languages, which have been phased out of both undergraduate

and graduate engineering curricula in recent decades. At the same time, the work done

by any one engineer tends to occupy a relatively narrow band in the total spectrum of

engineering knowledge. Unlike their counterparts of several decades ago, today's

engineering students may never be called upon to work with basic elements of the

traditional curriculum such as phase equilibrium, thermodynamics, separations,

reactions and process design.

For these reasons, structuring a four-year or even a five-year engineering curriculum

that meets the needs of most engineering students appears to be an increasingly

elusive goal. One solution is to abandon the traditional one-size-fits-all curriculum

model and instead to institute multiple tracks for different areas of specialization,

relegating some traditionally required courses to the elective category. Designing such

tracks and keeping them relevant is a challenging task, but it can be and is being done

at many institutions. No matter how many parallel tracks and elective courses are

offered, however, it will never be possible to teach engineering students everything

they will be required to know when they go to work. A better solution may be to shift

our emphasis away from providing training in an ever-increasing number of specialty

areas to providing a core set of science and engineering fundamentals, helping

students integrate knowledge across courses and disciplines, and equipping them with

lifelong learning skills. In other words, the focus in engineering education must shift

away from the simple presentation of knowledge and toward the integration of

knowledge and the development of critical skills needed to make appropriate use of it.



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Skills

The skills required to address the challenges to future engineers raised in the first

section may be divided into seven categories:

Independent, interdependent and lifetime learning skills;

Problem solving, critical thinking, and creative thinking skills;

Interpersonal and teamwork skills;

Communication skills;

Self-assessment skills;

Integrative and global thinking skills, and

Change management skills.

From another perspective, ABET Engineering Criteria 2000 requires that future

graduates of accredited programs should possess

An ability to apply knowledge of mathematics, science, and engineering;

An ability to design and conduct experiments, as well as analyze and interpret

data;

An ability to design a system, component, or process to meet desired needs;

An ability to function on multidisciplinary teams;

An ability to identify, formulate, and solve engineering problems;

An understanding of professional and ethical responsibility;

An ability to communicate effectively;

The broad education necessary to understand the impact of engineering

solutions in a global/societal context;

recognition of the need for and an ability to engage in life-long learning;



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A knowledge of contemporary issues;

An ability to use the techniques, skills, and modern engineering tools

necessary for engineering practice.

5.2 History of engineering education in India

Pre-independence period

The British rulers set up four engineering colleges in the four corners of India –

Roorkee (1847), Sibpur (1856), Guindy (1794) and Poona (1854) to train the

engineers needed for the civil and other engineering activities of the day. These four

engineering colleges had a total enrolment of 608 students during 1884 – 85. Each had

a glorious record, having produced some of the outstanding engineers of India. Two

other prominent institutions were set up nearly 100 years ago – Indian Institute of

Science by the House of Tatas (1908) and Banaras Hindu University (BHU) by Pandit

Madan Mohan Malaviya (1916) – which again grew to become important institutions.

At the time of independence, there were only 24 engineering degree colleges with a

total intake capacity of 2570 students. Another major step taken in the pre-

independence era was the creation of the N. R. Sarkar Committee in 1945, which

submitted a preliminary report recommending the setting up of four higher technical

institutions with broad based education, patterned after the Massachusetts Institute of

Technology, USA in the four regions of the country.

Post-independence period

Implementing the Sarkar Committee recommendations, five IITs were established at

Kharagpur (1951), Bombay (1958), Madras (1959), Kanpur (1960) and Delhi (1961)

as institutions of national importance by an Act of Parliament. After a gap of over

three decades, the sixth IIT was established at Guwahati (1995) and the Engineering



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College at Roorkee was first made a University and then as the seventh IIT (2001). In

2008, four more IITs were established at Patna, Jodhpur, Hyderabad and Gandhinagar

followed in 2009 by four more at Ropar, Bhubaneswar, Mandi and Indore, making a

total of 15 IITs. The older IITs are mentoring the newer ones. The intake of students

at different levels into the IITs in 2010 – 11 is given in Table 3. The degrees awarded

(in brackets) and faculty strength in 2009 – 10 is also indicated in Table 3. The recent

eight IITs have limited UG enrolments (about 100 each) and only nominal admissions

at the Master’s and Ph D level at present. In the next few years, when they grow to

their full size, the 15 IITs will admit about 15,000 UG, 10,000 Master’s and at least

8,000 Ph.D. students per year. The Institute of Technology at BHU has been elevated

as an IIT; thus there are 16 IITs now. Clearly, IITs contribute a small fraction of

engineering graduates in India.

Table 5.1. Intake and graduation in IITs

Undergraduate Master’s Ph D Faculty Strength

7 Older IITs 6681 7082 (3930) 1660 (959) 2943

15 IITs 7678 7152 1799 3138

Source: Current Science, vol. 104, No. 1, 10 January 2013

Table 5.2. Number of engineering colleges and intake

1977 – 78 2008 – 09

Colleges 562 2,388

Intake 134,894 820,000

Source: Current Science, vol. 104, No. 1, 10 January 2013



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In the next tier institutions, there are 20 RECs which were recently renamed National

Institutes of Technology (NITs) with Central Government funding and greater

autonomy. It is proposed that 10 more NITs will be set up shortly, making a total of

30 NITs. The 20 NITs admitted 9297 UG and 4569 postgraduate (mostly for a

master’s degree) students in 2007 – 08. Then, there are a large number of State

Government Engineering Colleges, often affiliated to a University and having a

limited or no autonomy about curriculum, examinations, degree granting, etc. The

great demand for engineering and technical education has led to the mushrooming of

the large number of private engineering colleges, many started by politicians or as

money-making ventures (Table 4).This phenomenal growth has led to a steep

decrease in quality, though some of them are accredited by the All India Council of

Technical Education (AICTE) or other bodies but lack autonomy in most matters and

do not have adequate number of qualified teachers and infrastructure. According to

the National Association of Software and Services Companies (NASSCOM), only

15 – 20% of the graduate engineers are employable. Recently, the India Government

has taken fresh initiatives to increase the number of Indian Institutes of Information

Technology (IIITs), Indian Institutes of Science Education and Research (IISERs) and

enable government departments such as Defence Research and Development

Organization, Department of Atomic Energy, Indian Space Research Organization

and Council of Scientific and Industrial Research to train people at the postgraduate

level and award their own degrees.

During the last two decades Indian engineering education has undergone exponential

growth in terms of number of students admitted. At present there are more than 2400

engineering colleges with total intake capacity of about 8.5 lakhs students. This

quantitative growth has occurred primarily due to inland and global requirements of



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technical manpower. By 2015, India is expected to have about 14 lakhs engineering

students.

5.3 Globalization of Indian Engineering Education

In past, the industrial and economic growth was limited to USA and other Western

Countries only while other countries were reeling under poverty. With emergence of

Japan as a growing economic power in 1980s, a new concept of economic growth

known as “Globalization” was established. Since then the economic focus started

shifting to Asian Countries. In 1990s with liberalization and opening of the Indian

economy, a new chapter in the history of globalization began.

From the beginning of 21st Century, India occupied a place of prominence in the

comity of nations especially in terms of the world trade. The last decade has

witnessed an era of joint ventures, mergers and acquisitions of international

companies by Indian industrialists. Even at the time of global economic recession

during 2008-09, India stood strong with its stable economy. It became the world

leader in IT and Software industry primarily due to inherent mental capabilities on

one hand and the theoretical and analytical education training imparted to its youth on

the other.

During the last two decades Indian engineering education has undergone exponential

growth in terms of number of students admitted. At present there are more than 2400

engineering colleges with total intake capacity of about 8.5 lakhs students. This

quantitative growth has occurred primarily due to inland and global requirements of

technical manpower. By 2015, India is expected to have about 14 lakh engineering

students. Though this number seems to be large in absolute terms, the production of

engineers and technologists per million persons will still remain behind that of world



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average. At present the production of technologist per million per year in USA, China

and India are 700,500 and 200 respectively.

Attri butes for Global Engineers:

For facing the challenges of the future, the engineers working globally will need to

acquire the following attributes:

Sound knowledge of fundamentals.

Strong analytical skills.

3. Creativity, Innovativeness, professionalism and leadership.

Communication and strong interpersonal skills.

Ability to integrate the solutions and work processes with environmental and

human factors.

Well informed decision making

Ethically grounded team working.

Tenacity for accommodating transborder, multicultural, socio-political

environment.

The world today needs good engineering talent to find solutions to global challenges

facing humanity such as energy, environment, health and socio-economic well being.

Partnership of the signatory countries through the Washington Accord has amazing

potential. India‘s role in this context becomes more vulnerable due to its young large

population of graduate engineers.

Existing Scenari o of Engineeri ng Education in I ndia

As mentioned above India possesses huge potential of the youth power which is now

being engaged in higher education including engineering. However, the resulting



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quality of the engineering graduates does not fully satisfy the requirements of the

global market. Self financing private engineering colleges are churning out about 87%

of the engineering graduates in the country. The poor quality of the graduation is due

to the following reasons:

Shortage of faculty.

Inadequate physical infrastructure.

3. Rigid and outdated curriculum.

Poor learner quality

Absence of R & D activities.

Poor quality of training

Ineffective linkage with industry.

There is a complete mismatch between the knowledge gained by the students in

engineering colleges and current practice in the field. Industry often finds engineering

graduate’s weak in professional practice thus necessitating long duration on the job

training for making them professionally useful. Emphasis has shifted from learning

and acquiring skills to passing the examination. This has resulted in an overemphasis

on theory at the cost of practice. A study has revealed that 75% of the engineering

graduates are unemployable. This is because of the poor performance of most of the

self financed private engineering colleges.

Though most of these engineering colleges are producing graduates since more than

two years, only a fraction of them have so far got the courses accredited from NBA.

They do not seem to be serious about subjecting themselves to the accreditation

process. This situation calls for some remedial action. Out of about 2400 private

engineering colleges already existing since last few years and churning out more than



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two batches of pass out, only 718 colleges have attained accreditation for one or more

course running there.

Obstacles to change

In the traditional approach to teaching, the professor lectures and assigns readings and

well-defined convergent single-discipline problems, and the students listen, take

notes, and solve problems individually. Alternative pedagogical techniques have

repeatedly been shown to be more effective and much more likely to achieve the

objectives set forth in the preceding section. Among these techniques are cooperative

(team based) learning, inductive (discovery) learning, the assignment of open-ended

questions, multidisciplinary problems and problem formulation exercises, the routine

use of in-class problem-solving, brainstorming, and trouble-shooting exercises, and

other methods designed to address the spectrum of learning styles to be found among

students in every class. The superiority of the alternative methods at achieving desired

both cognitive and affective educational outcomes has been demonstrated in

thousands of empirical research studies, and is heavily supported by modern cognitive

science. Nevertheless, straight lecturing and convergent problems continue to

predominate in engineering courses at most institutions. A substantial number of

engineering professors are still unaware of alternative educational methods, and many

who are aware of them choose not to incorporate them into their approach to teaching.

There are several likely reasons for this inertia, aside from the inevitable human

resistance to change.

Modern universities have, with few exceptions, become totally dependent on research

funds to support most of their functions, including educational and administrative

functions only marginally related to research. This circumstance has dictated the

establishment of research achievement as the primary criterion for advancement up



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the faculty ladder, and the potential for research achievement as the primary criterion

for faculty hiring. In consequence, many young faculty members either have little

interest in doing high quality teaching or would like to do it but feel that they cannot

afford to invest the necessary time.

Individuals in both categories tend to put minimal effort into teaching so that they can

concentrate on research, which they view (generally correctly) as the key to their

career success. Moreover, most professors begin teaching without so much as five

minutes of training on how to do it. Even those who are genuinely concerned about

their students and would like to be effective teachers automatically fall back on

straight lecturing, which is the only instructional strategy most of them have ever

seen.

Another obstacle to change is the fear of loss of control. Lecture classes in which

student involvement is essentially limited to passive observation (perhaps broken by

occasional questioning) and out-of-class problem solving is safe: the professor is in

almost complete control of what happens in class.

On the other hand, it is hard to predict what might happen in a student-centered class.

Digressions may occur, making it difficult to stay with the syllabus, and the

discussion may wander into areas in which the professor is not all that comfortable.

Perhaps worst of all, the students may simply not buy into the program, remaining

indifferent, uncooperative, or perhaps sullen in their refusal to get involved in the

planned activities. Like any other skill, directing student-centered classes is an ability

that can be learned and improves with practice. Unless some training is provided and

feedback given on initial efforts, however, professors courageous enough to try the

new teaching methods are likely to become discouraged, give up, and revert to

straight lecturing. In short, no matter how effective they may be, the new approaches



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to teaching will not automatically replace the old approach. The university

administration must take steps to establish a suitable climate for change before any

significant change can take place.

5.4 Challenges Ahead

Pressure on delivering quality transferable skills or generic skills to prospective

engineering graduates has been a debate since long time. Employers expect and

demand good quality engineering graduates from Higher Educational Institutes

(HEIs). Therefore these institutes, within their constraints try to fulfill the high

requirements of employers. According to Skills Dialogues (2000), a range of new and

specific technical skills is required to meet the demands of technology and of

business. Also of importance is the greater emphasis employers put on personal and

generic skills in all areas of work.

The engineering curriculum has been criticized (Skills Dialogues, 2000) for not

developing personal and transferable skills sufficiently amongst graduates. As a result

engineering graduates opt for alternative jobs in non related areas leading to failure of

industry to use their acquired skills and knowledge and also a failure to further

develop their engineering skills. Employers have also reported other shortages in

generic and interpersonal skills. For technicians, IT and software skills are frequently

mentioned, whilst among managers there appear to be difficulties finding people with

good management skills (Skills Dialogues, 2000; National Employers Survey 2003)

Quality:

The rapid expansion of engineering institutions has led to a steep deterioration in the

quality of education due to acute shortage of numbers and qualification of the faculty,

poor laboratory and library facilities and other infrastructure as well as limited or



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absence of autonomy. These problems may be severe enough in the case of IITs, but

are major road blocks for the other institutions. Though an accreditation by the All

India Council of Technical Education and other bodies exists, it has proved totally

inadequate and is reported or suspected to harbor malpractices.

Skill Gaps in Engineers

The skills gap or skills deficiencies are problems in filling vacancies due to shortage

of people with the relevant skills and experience (Skills Dialogue, 2000). There is

evidence from engineering employees that they have difficulty in filling the vacancies

with related skills and there are also areas of skills deficiency within the existing

engineering workforce.

Employers commonly have hard – to- fill vacancies in the engineering area such as

craft, technicians, professional and managerial occupations. It is understood, that two-

thirds of all vacancies at craft and skilled operative level are hard-to-fill ones. The

National Employers Skills Survey, (2003) reported 2,70,000 unfilled vacancies that

were described as hard to fill by respondents. Over half of all vacancies at engineering

professional level came from design and electrical engineers as well as craft and

technical field.

A survey conducted by the Information Technology Governance Institute (ITGI)

focusing on IT employees reported that 700 Chief Executive and Chief Information

Officer at companies in 23 countries including UK found that 38% reported problems

relating to inadequate skills in the workforce (Ashford, 2008).

It is reported by Engineering Employers that it is more difficult to recruit people with

technical and practical skills than other skills. These technical skills are often used in



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generic terms such as electrical and design. One in four engineering employers

considers there is a gap between the skills of their current workforce and those

needed to meet their business objectives. These skill gaps place difficulty for those

involved in recruitment. They have to emphasize practical and technical skills and

also have to take into consideration the generic and personal skills.

Employability:

The increasing emphasis on employability skills of potential engineers has

caused a significant increase in the unemployment among engineering

graduates. As a result the institutions of higher learning around the world

also are very much concerned on their graduate employment. Employability

upon graduation is a major priority for most of engineering students.

According to Mohammad (2004), new and fresh engineering graduates these

days confront with more “challenges and competitions” in getting employed

compared to previous graduates. He points out that the excellent academic

degrees alone are inadequate as employers require potential engineers for

“competencies and capabilities” in generic skill since globalization demands

the companies to be more competitive in their management system.

Because of the mushroom growth of engineering colleges the quantity of out coming

engineering graduates is raised. But the quality is questionable. Graduates have

educational eligibility but lack in capability and suitability to execute job related

activities despite being the availability of employment opportunities. According to

McKinsey Global Institute survey results, “India produces 360,000 engineering

graduates, 600,000 graduates in arts/science/commerce.” And only 25% of

engineering graduates and 10% of other graduates are employable.



104 | P a g e

In view of the continuously increasing demand of the technical manpower all over the

world, expansion of the technical education institutions and facilities is needed.

However, this should not lead to deterioration of quality otherwise such growth will

become in sustainable. Therefore, the need of the hour is to build quality into the

technical education systems so as to produce the technical manpower which will

handle not only the task of nation building efficiently, but will also be able to perform

successfully at the international level. The global understanding is that accreditation

of educational programme is a successful and viable means of ensuring adequacy of

the professional towards job performance. Washington Accord therefore is a right step

in the right direction. It is a great opportunity for technically qualified youth of India

to showcase their competencies for fetching the jobs across the national boundaries.

In this respect the responsibilities of engineering education provides greatly increase

to impart the quality education as per the principles and practice of TQM.

Perhaps the Corporate agencies can play a proactive role in changing the present

scenario of Indian Engineering education characterized by unemployable product in

the market to that technologically updated; soft skilled and goal oriented empowered

engineering graduates to assume the leading role in emancipating the World

Economy.

5.5 The New Economy

Setting Priori ties

New models of cooperation between industry, government and educators will be

needed to transform the politics of production because the prerequisite for this

economic refocus is a radical transformation of our national skills base. Over years,

much commendable, and in certain areas fruitful, focus, effort and investment have

been expended on the drive to create a stronger skills base in science, technology,



105 | P a g e

engineering and mathematics, all of which are clearly key to a successful technology-

based future. However, this must now go much further. However if the nation needs

to compete in the global high technology economy, we must be prepared to prioritize

those skills that can “power the new industries and jobs for the future”. At a time of

financial constraint, we need to be prepared to make hard decisions about what higher

education choices we can – and cannot – afford to fund.

Engineeri ng ski ll s

The engineering skills base is one of the priority elements needed to bring about this

economic transformation. If we are to compete in the new global economy, we will

require an adequate supply of high-quality, flexible engineering skills at all levels,

developed through a range of routes including the 14-19 diploma, apprenticeships,

foundation degrees, undergraduate degrees and postgraduate qualifications.

Engineering degrees aim to provide a firm grounding in the principles of engineering

science and technology, while inculcating an engineering method and approach that

enable graduates to enter the world of work and tackle “real world” problems with

creative yet practical results. The best engineering degrees achieve the right balance

between scientific and technical understanding and their practical application to

problem-solving. This synthesis calls for such skills as communication and

negotiation; teamwork and inter-disciplinary working; and planning, costing and other

key business process skills. Graduates with these skills are highly attractive to

industry, having the “relevant, quality skills with real market value” that government

is seeking to promote.



106 | P a g e

CHAPTER 6



107 | P a g e

DATA ANALYSIS AND MAJOR FINDINGS

6.1] DATA ANALYSIS OF ENGINEERING STUDENTS:

a) City: For the purpose Primary Data two cities of Maharashtra viz., Mumbai

and Pune were taken as the Sample Frame.

These two cities were taken keeping in mind number of Engineering Institutes

established, the quality of education and assessment pattern followed therein.

City

City Frequency

Percent ValidPercent

CumulativePercent

Mumbai 143 56.1 56.1 56.1

Pune 112 43.9 43.9 100.0

Total 255 100.0 100.0

Above table indicate that out of total 255 respondents 143 are from Mumbai and

remaining 112 are from Pune. This information is presented using pie diagram as

shown below.

Figure 6.1 Respondents according to city

The diagram indicates that of the total respondents 56% of them belonged to Mumbai

city and the remaining 44% belonged to Pune.

56%

44%

Respondents according to City

Mumbai

Pune



108 | P a g e

b) Study of Variables:

a) Personal Attr ibu tes: Personal attributes are simply the properties that

describe a person as to how they are. It includes the quality of self

discipline, being organized, taking initiative and responsibility etc.

Qst.

No.

Question details Strongly

Disagree

Somewhat

disagree

Neither agree

nor disagree

Somewhat

Agree

Strongly

Agree

1 Engineering Programs

help to develop self

discipline and orderly

skills

35 42 58 81 39


help to develop the skill

of being flexible with

plans

12 23 38 90 92


help to develop the

skills of taking initiative

and responsibility

5 12 67 111 60


help to develop

planning and organizing

skills

4 18 26 91 116

Ratings

Strongly Disagree = 1

Somewhat disagree = 2

Neither agree nor disagree = 3

Somewhat Agree = 4

Strongly Agree = 5



109 | P a g e

Descriptive Statistics

N Minimum Maximu

m

Mean Std.

Deviation

Personal attributescore

255 20.00 100.00 75.2941 15.69304

Above table indicate that mean score for Personal attributes is 75.29 and standard

deviation is 15.69. All 255 respondents are classified into three groups according to

level of possessing Personal attributes.

Respondents of score below 59.60 are classified as ‘Low level’

Respondents of scores between 59.60 and 90.99 are classified as ‘Medium

level’

Respondents of scores above 90.99 are classified as ‘High level’.

Table of classified information is presented as given below.

Frequency Percent Valid Percent

High 22 8.6 8.6

Medium 201 78.8 78.8

Low 32 12.5 12.5

Total 255 100.0 100.0

Source: Researcher’s Analysis



110 | P a g e

b) I nterpersonal Ski ll s: Interpersonal Skills are the social skills that facilitate

interaction and communication with others. It includes basic

communication skills, active listening and overall behavior within a group.

Qst.

No.


Disagree

Somewhat

disagree

Neither agree

nor disagree

Somewhat

Agree

Strongly

Agree


help to develop the

ability to communicate

effectively within the

team and at large

5 17 48 83 102


help to develop the

ability to function

effectively in the

capacity of a leader or

manager

7 16 57 76 99


help to develop the

ability to function with

multidisciplinary teams

8 43 56 82 66


help to develop the

ability to resolve

conflicts within team

41 9 55 97 53

Ratings




Somewhat Agree = 4

Strongly Agree = 5



111 | P a g e


N Minimum Maximu

m

Mean Std.

DeviationInterpersonal Skills score 255 20.00 100.00 75.1176 18.41093

Above table indicate that mean score for Interpersonal Skills is 75.11 and standard


level of possessing Interpersonal Skills.



level’





High

Medium

45

162

17.6

63.5

17.6

63.5

Low 48 18.8 18.8

Total 255 100.0 100.0



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c) Techni cal knowhow: Technical knowhow indicates one’s competency

in completing the task successfully. It also covers one’s knowledge in

terms of technical data, formulae, standards, technical information etc.

Qst.

No.


Disagree

Somewhat

disagree

Neither

agree nor

disagree

Somewhat

Agree

Strongly

Agree

9Engineering Programs

help to develop the ability

to design a system,

component, or process to

meet desired needs

15 14 53 86 87



to identify, formulate, and

solve engineering

problems

21 20 45 71 98



to apply knowledge of

mathematics, science and

engineering practically

31 25 50 47 102


help to develop in-depth

technical competence in a

specific engineering

discipline

12 29 60 97 57

Ratings




Somewhat Agree = 4

Strongly Agree = 5



113 | P a g e


N Minimu

m

Maximu

m

Mean Std.

Deviation

Technical Know How

Scores255 20.00 100.00 74.5686 19.86693

255







level’





High

Medium

68

149

26.7

58.4

26.7

58.4

Low 38 14.9 14.9

Total 255 100.0 100.0



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d) H igh order thinking skil l: Higher order thinking skills include critical,

logical, reflective, metacognitive, and creative thinking ability of

individuals.

Qst.

No.


Disagree

Somewhat

disagree

Neither agree

nor disagree

Somewhat

Agree

Strongly

Agree


help to develop the

capacity for creativity

and innovation

4 29 46 69 105


help to develop

Strategic Thinking skills

2 12 56 60 125


help to develop the

ability to understand

Professional and Ethical

responsibilities, and

commitment towards

them

7 33 47 73 95


help to develop the

ability to understand

social, cultural, global

and environmentalresponsibilities

14 11 61 65 104

Ratings




Somewhat Agree = 4

Strongly Agree = 5



115 | P a g e


N Minimum Maximum Mean Std.

Deviation

High Order thinking

Skills Scores255 25.00 100.00 79.2549 17.50798







level’




High

Medium

55

158

21.6

62.0

21.6

62.0

Low 42 16.5 16.5

Total 255 100.0 100.0




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d) Problem Solving Ski ll s : Problem solving skills involves both analytical and

creative skills. It consists of using generic or ad hoc methods, in an orderly

manner, for finding solutions to problems and decision making.

Qst.

No.


Disagree

Somewhat

disagree

Neither agree

nor disagree

Somewhat

Agree

Strongly

Agree


help to develop the

ability to manage

information and

documentation

13 7 39 80 116


help to develop the

ability to undertake

problem identification,

formulation and

solution

4 6 36 142 67


help to develop risk

taking ability

3 18 24 107 103


help to develop the

ability to pick up new

skills and adapt to newsituations

3 12 50 95 95

Ratings




Somewhat Agree = 4

Strongly Agree = 5



117 | P a g e



Deviation

Problem Solving/decision making Skills

Scores

255 20.00 100.00 81.5098 13.41255







level’





High

Medium

38

179

14.9

70.2

14.9

70.2

Low 38 14.9 14.9

Total 255 100.0 100.0



118 | P a g e

The below table gives a consolidated view of the various employability skills

observed among the Engineering students of Mumbai and Pune College.

Table 6.1 Consolidated Scores of Variables

City Personal

Attribute score

Interpersonal

skill score

Technical

Know How

Scores

High Order

thinking

Skills Scores

Problem

Solving/

Decision

making

Skills Scores

Mumbai 75.8392 78.7762 74.5804 81.3287 82.1678

Pune 74.5982 70.4464 74.5536 76.6071 80.6696

Total 75.2941 75.1176 74.5686 79.2549 81.5098


The details of the report is presented using bar graph as shown below

Figure 6.2 Employability skills among Engineering Students of Mumbai and Pune

75.84

78.78

74.58

81.33 82.17

74.60

70.45

74.5576.61

80.67

64.0066.0068.0070.0072.0074.0076.0078.0080.0082.0084.00

P e r s o n a l a t t r i

b u t e

I n t e r p e r s o n a

l s k i l l

T e c h n i c a l_ K n o w

H o w

H i g h O r d e r t h i n k i n g_ S k i l l s

P r o b l e m_

S o

l v i n g

A x i s T i t l e

Axis Title

Employability Skills among Engineering

Students of Mumbai and Pune

Mumbai

Pune



119 | P a g e

6.2] TESTING 0F HYPOTHESES

To test whether demographic factors affect the employability skills by using z-test and

ANOVA

Hypothesis 1 with Sub Hypothesis 1.1, 1.2, 1.3, 1.4, 1.5

1. Hypothesis 1:

H01: There is no significant difference between mean scores of various


H11

: There is significant difference between mean scores of various


Sub hypothesis 1.1 Personal Attributes

H01.1: There is no significant difference between mean scores of Personal

Attributes for Mumbai and Pune.

H11.1: There is significant difference between mean scores of Personal


To test above hypothesis z-test is applied.

z-test for Personal Attributes

CityNumber of

Respondents

Mean SD

SE of

diff of

Mean

Difference

of Mean

Calculated

z-value

Table

z-

value

Null

Hypothesis

Mumbai 14375.83 15.25

2.01 1.24 0.62 1.96 AcceptedPune 112

74.59 16.27




120 | P a g e

Above table indicate that calculated value (0.l62) is less than table value (1.96).

Therefore z-test is accepted and hence null hypothesis is accepted.

Conclusion: There is no significant difference between mean scores of Personal


To test the hypothesis ANOVA was applied


Above table indicate that p-value (0.532) is greater than standard value 0.05.

Therefore F-test is accepted. Therefore null hypothesis is accepted.

Conclusion: There is no significant difference in mean personal attribute score of

Mumbai and Pune respondents.

Sub hypothesis 1.2 Interpersonal Skills

H01.2: There is no significant difference between mean scores of Interpersonal

Skills for Mumbai and Pune.

H11.2: There is significant difference between mean scores of Interpersonal


ANOVA

Personal Attribute Score

Sum of

Squares

Df Mean Square F-cal p-value

Between Groups 96.721 1 96.721 0.392 .532

Within Groups 62456.220 253 246.863

Total 62552.941 254



121 | P a g e

To test above hypothesis z-test is applied


Above table indicate that calculated value (3.69) is greater than table value (1.96).

Therefore z-test is rejected and hence null hypothesis is rejected and alternate

hypothesis is accepted.

Conclusion: There is significant difference between mean scores of Interpersonal



ANOVA

Interpersonal Skill Score

Sum of Squares Df Mean Square F-cal p-value

Between Groups 4357.953 1 4357.953 13.489 .000

Within Groups 81738.518 253 323.077

Total 86096.471 254Source: Researcher’s Analysis

Above table indicate that p-value (0.00) is less than standard value 0.05. Therefore F-

test is rejected. Therefore null hypothesis is rejected.

Conclusion: There is significant difference in mean Interpersonal skills score of

Mumbai and Pune respondents.

z-test for Inter Personal Skills

CityNumber of

RespondentsMean SD

SE ofdiff of

Mean

Differenceof Mean

CalculatedT-value

TableT-

value

NullHypothesis

Mumbai 14378.77 18.47

2.26 8.33 3.69 1.96 RejectedPune 112

70.44 17.31



122 | P a g e

Sub hypothesis 1.3Technical Know How

H01.3: There is no significant difference between mean scores of Technical

knowledge for Mumbai and Pune.

H11.3: There is significant difference between mean scores of Technical

Knowledge for Mumbai and Pune



Above table indicate that calculated value (0.01) is less than table value (1.96).


Conclusion: There is no significant difference between mean scores of Technical

knowledge for Mumbai and Pune.


ANOVA

Technical Know How Scores


Between Groups .045 1 .045 .000 .991

Within Groups 100252.504 253 396.255

Total 100252.549 254




Conclusion: There is no significant difference in mean Technical know-how score of

Mumbai and Pune respondents

z-test for Technical Know How

CityNumber of

RespondentsMean SD

SE ofdiff of

Mean

Difference

of Mean

Calculated

T-value

TableT-

value

Null

Hypothesis

Mumbai 143 74.58 21.8

2.45 0.03 0.01 1.96 AcceptedPune 112 74.55 17.17



123 | P a g e

Sub hypothesis 1.4 High Order Thinking Skills

H01.4: There is no significant difference between mean scores of High Order

Thinking Skills for Mumbai and Pune.

H11.4: There is significant difference between mean scores of High Order



z-test for High Order thinking Skills

City Number ofRespondents

Mean SD

SE of

diff ofMean

Differenceof Mean

CalculatedT-value

TableT-value

NullHypothesis

Mumbai 143 81.32 16.83

2.22 4.72 2.13 1.96 RejectedPune 112 76.6 18.06


Above table indicate that calculated value (2.13) is greater than table value (1.96).

Therefore z-test is rejected and hence null hypothesis is rejected.

Conclusion: There is significant difference between mean scores of High Order



ANOVA

High Order thinking Skills Scores


Between Groups 1400.165 1 1400.165 4.633 .032

Within Groups 76458.267 253 302.207

Total 77858.431 254


Above table indicate that p-value (0.32) is less than standard value 0.05. Therefore F-

test is rejected. Therefore null hypothesis is rejected.

Conclusion: There is significant difference in mean High Order thinking skills score

of Mumbai and Pune respondents.



124 | P a g e

Sub hypothesis 1.5 Problem Solving/ Decision Making Skills

H01.5: There is no significant difference between mean scores of Problem

solving/ decision making for Mumbai and Pune.

H11.5: There is significant difference between mean scores of Problem solving/

decision making for Mumbai and Pune.


z-test for Problem Solving/ Decision making Skills

CityNumber of

Respondents

Mean SD

SE of

diff of

Mean

Difference

of Mean

Calculated

T-value

Table

T-

value

Null

Hypothesis

Mumbai 143 82.16 13.46

1.70 1.5 0.88 1.96 AcceptedPune 112 80.66 13.36


Above table indicate that calculated value (0.88) is less than table value (1.96).


Conclusion: There is no significant difference between mean scores of Problem

solving/ decision making for Mumbai and Pune.


ANOVA

Problem Solving/ Decision making Skills Scores

Sum of Squares df Mean Square F-cal p-value

Between Groups 140.977 1 140.977 .783 .377

Within Groups 45552.749 253 180.050

Total 45693.725 254




Conclusion: There is no significant difference in mean Problem solving/ Decision

making score of Mumbai and Pune respondents



125 | P a g e

6.3] DATA ANALYSIS OF CORPORATES:

For the purpose Primary Data a survey was done in the Information Technology (IT)

and Manufacturing Company. The Senior Managers and Human Resource Managers

of various IT/ Manufacturing firms were the respondents of the survey.

To study the expected skills levels for employability among new Engineering recruits

information is collected for all five variables. Mean scores and standard deviation

about expected skills are given in the following table.


Above table indicate that:

a) Personal Attr ibu tes -

Expected Mean score is 82.

Minimum is 45

Maximum is 100.



Deviation

Expected Personal Attributes Scores 15 45.00 100.00 82.00 17.29988

Expected Interpersonal skills scores 15 45.00 100.00 81.66 17.99471

Expected Technical Know How

Scores15 35.00 90.00 70.00 17.32051

Expected High Order thinking Skills

Scores15 35.00 100.00 76.00 22.13594

Expected Problem Solving/ Decision

Making Skills Scores15 35.00 100.00 79.66 19.03631



126 | P a g e

b) I nterpersonal Skil ls -

Expected Mean score is 81.66

Minimum is 45

Maximum is 100.

c) Technical Know How -

Expected Mean score is 70

Minimum is 35

Maximum is 90

d) H igh Order Thi nking Skill s -

Expected Mean score is 76

Minimum is 35

Maximum is 100

e) Problem Solving Ski ll s -

Expected Mean score is 79.66

Minimum is 35

Maximum is 100

Information is also collected about actual employability skills observed. Details

information for all five skills is as given below.



N Minimum Maximum Mean Std. Deviation

Actual Personal Attributes

Scores

15 40.00 80.00 65.33 14.45024

Actual Interpersonal skills scores 15 35.00 80.00 62.00 14.85646

Actual Technical Know How

Scores15 30.00 100.00 73.00 19.98213

Actual High Order thinking

Skills Scores15 30.00 80.00 65.33 14.07463

Actual Problem Solving/

Decision Making Skills Scores15 25.00 95.00 71.00 18.43909



127 | P a g e

Above table indicate that:

a) Personal Attr ibu tes -

Actual Mean score is 65.33

Minimum is 40

Maximum is 80

b) I nterpersonal Ski ll s -


Minimum is 35

Maximum is 80

c) Technical Know How -

Actual Mean score is 73

Minimum is 30

Maximum is 100

d) H igh Order Thi nking Skill s -


Minimum is 30

Maximum is 80

e) Problem Solving Ski ll s -

Actual Mean score is 71

Minimum is 25

Maximum is 95

To test whether the difference between expected level and actual levels are significant

or not T-test is applied for all five skills.



128 | P a g e

Hypothesis 2 with sub Hypothesis 2.1, 2.2, 2.3, 2.4, 2.5

2. Hypothesis 2:

H02: There is no significant difference between expected and actual levels of

employability skills perceived among Engineering students

H12: There is significant difference between expected and actual levels of

employability skills perceived among engineering students

Sub hypothesis 2.1 Personal Attributes

H02.1: There is no significant difference between expected and actual levels of

Personal Attributes

H12.1: There is significant difference between expected and actual levels of

Personal Attributes.

Sub hypothesis 2.2 Interpersonal Skills


Interpersonal Skills


Interpersonal Skills.

Sub hypothesis 2.3Technical Knowhow


Technical Knowhow


Technical Knowhow.

Sub hypothesis 2.4 High Order thinking Skills


High Order thinking Skills



129 | P a g e


High Order thinking Skills.

Sub hypothesis 2.5 P roblem Solving / Decision making Skills


Problem Solving/ Decision making Skills


Problem Solving/ Decision making Skills

Following table indicate Mean and standard deviations for each pair of hypothesis.

Paired Samples Statistics

Mean N Std.

Deviation

Std. Error

Mean

Pair 1

Expected Personal Attributes Scores 82.00 15 17.29 4.46

Actual Personal Attributes Scores 65.33 15 14.45 3.73

Pair 2Expected Interpersonal skill score 81.66 15 17.99 4.64

Actual Interpersonal skills score 62.00 15 14.85 3.83

Pair 3

Expected Technical Know How

Scores70.00 15 17.32 4.47

Actual Technical Know How Scores 73.00 15 19.98 5.15

Pair 4

Expected High Order thinking Skills

Scores76.00 15 22.13 5.71

Actual High Order thinking SkillsScores

65.33 15 14.07 3.63

Pair 5

Expected Problem Solving/ Decision

making Skills Scores79.66 15 19.03 4.91

Actual Problem Solving/ Decision

making Skills Scores71.00 15 18.43 4.76



130 | P a g e

Results of t-test are as follows:

If p-value is less than 0.05 then T-test is rejected and conclusion is there is significant

difference.

Resul ts of pair -1:

Mean scores of ‘Personal attributes’ are tested. P-value is 0.008 which is less

than standard value 0.05. Therefore T-test is rejected. Therefore null

hypothesis is rejected. Alternate hypothesis is accepted.

Paired Samples Test

Paired Differences T Df p-

value

Result

Mean Std.

Deviation

Std. Error

Mean

Pair

1

Expected Personal

Attributes Scores -

Actual Personal

Attributes Scores

16.66 20.84 5.38 3.09 14 .008 Significant

Pair

2

Expected Interpersonal

skills scores – Actual Interpersonal

skills scores

19.66 17.47 4.51 4.36 14 .001 Significant

Pair

3

Expected Technical

Know How Scores – Actual Technical Know

How Scores

-3.00 19.34 4.99 -.60 14 .558 Not

Significant

Pair

4

Expected High Order

thinking Skills Scores – Actual High Order

thinking Skills Scores

10.66 19.16 4.94 2.15 14 .049 Significant

Pair

5

Expected Problem

Solving/ Decision

making Skills Scores – Actual Problem

Solving/ Decision

making Skills Scores

8.66 18.27 4.71 1.83 14 .088 Non

Significant



131 | P a g e

Findings of test: Expected mean ‘Personal Attribute score is (82.00) which is

significantly higher than actual score (65.33).

Conclusion: In order to be employable the young Engineers need to improve

their Personal attributes level.


Mean scores of ‘Inter Personal Skills’ are tested. P-value is 0.01 which is less

than standard value 0.05. Therefore T-test is rejected. Therefore null


Findings of test: Expected mean ‘Inter Personal Skills’ score is (81.66) which

is significantly higher than actual score (62.00).


their Inter Personal Skills.


Mean scores of ‘Technical Knowhow’ are tested. P-value is .558 which is

more than standard value 0.05. Therefore T-test is accepted. Therefore null

hypothesis is accepted. Alternate hypothesis is rejected.

Findings of test: Expected mean ‘Technical Knowhow’ score is (70) which is

lower than actual score (73).

Conclusion: It is clear that the young Engineers are strong in their Technical

knowledge which is developed through their curriculum and hence should be

continued the same way.



132 | P a g e

Resul ts of pair 4:

Mean scores of ‘High Order thinking Skills’ are tested. P-value is .049 which

is less than standard value 0.05. Therefore T-test is rejected. Therefore null


Findings of test: Expected mean ‘High Order thinking Skills’ score is (76)

which is significantly higher than actual score (65.33).


their High Order thinking Skills.


Mean scores of ‘Problem Solving/ Decision Making Skills’ are tested. P-value

is .088 which is more than standard value 0.05. Therefore T-test is accepted.

Therefore null hypothesis is accepted. Alternate hypothesis is rejected.

Findings of test: Expected mean ‘Problem Solving/ Decision Making Skills’

score is (79.66) which is significantly higher than actual score (71.00).

Conclusion: It is evident that the young Engineers are better in analytical

aspects and can take sound decisions using generic or ad hoc methods.



133 | P a g e

III] DATA ANALYSIS OF ACADEMICIANS:

The Heads of the Department of different faculties of engineering stream from

selected colleges of Mumbai and Pune Universities constituted the Academic

Participants in the study.

a) Respondents form M umbai and Pune Region

City

Frequency Percent Valid

Percent

Cumulative

Percent

Mumbai 30 62.5 62.5 62.5

Pune 18 37.5 37.5 100.0

Total 48 100.0 100.0


Above table indicate that out of total 48 respondents 30 are from Mumbai and

remaining 18 are from Pune. This information is presented using pie diagram as

shown below.

Figure 6.3 Academic Respondents

62%

38%

Academic Respondents

Mumbai

Pune



134 | P a g e

b) Facul ties with I ndustry Background


Fewer than 25%

25-50%

23

17

47.9

35.4

47.9

35.4

None 8 16.7 16.7

Total 48 100.0 100.0


Above table indicate that out of total 48 respondents 17 Institutes/ departments have

more number of faculties with industry background , 23 Institutes/ departments have

less than 25% of their faculties from Industry and 8 Institutes/ departments do nothave faculties from industry. This information is presented using pie diagram as

shown below.

Figure 6.4 Faculties with Industry Background

35%

48%

17%

Proportion of Faculties with

Industry Background

25-50%

Fewer than 25%

None



135 | P a g e

c) Provision of Placement cell with in the Institute


Above table indicate that out of total 48 respondents all the departments/ Institutes

have a placement cell within the institute to cater to the placements needs of the

students. This information is presented using pie diagram as shown below.

Figure 6.5 Provision for Placement cell

100%

Provision of Placement cell withinthe Institute

Frequency

Response Frequency Percent Valid Percent

YES 48 100.0 100.0



136 | P a g e

d) Satisfaction of Curr iculum


Above table indicate that out of total 48 respondents 15 are satisfied with the

curriculum of Engineering course thus prescribed by their respective Universities and

33 are not satisfied with the curriculum being taught in Engineering class. This

information is presented using pie diagram as shown below.

Figure 6.6 Academicians satisfied with engineering Curriculum

69%

31%

Satisfaction of Curriculum

NO YES

Frequency Percent Valid Percent NO 33 68.8 68.8

YES 15 31.3 31.3

Total 48 100.0 100.0



137 | P a g e

e) Participation in revision of Syllabi


Above table indicate that out of total 48 respondents every institute/ department

participates in the revision of Syllabi. This information is presented using pie diagram

as shown below.

Figure 6.7 Participation of Academicians in syllabi revision

100%

Participation in Revision of syllabi

Frequency

Participation in Revision of syllabi


Percent

Cumulative

Percent

YES 48 100.0 100.0 100.0



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f ) Methods adopted to contact Corporate House (for placement)

Frequency Percent Valid PercentContact through Alumni 16 33.3 33.3

Direct contact with HR

manager32 66.7 66.7

Total 48 100.0 100.0


Above table indicate that out of total 48 respondents 16 institute/ department contact

Industry through the Alumnus and 32 makes direct contact with the HR Manager.

This information is presented using pie diagram as shown below.

Figure 6.8 Method adopted by Institutes to contact Corporate house

33%

67%

Methods adopted to contactCorporate House

Contact throughAlumni

Direct contact with HRmanager



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g) Percentage of Placement


None

Fewer than 25%

25-50%

6

2

8

12.5

4.2

16.7

12.5

4.2

16.7

51-75% 24 50.0 50.0

Greater than 75% 8 16.7 16.7

Total 48 100.0 100.0


Above table indicate that out of total 48 respondents 8 institute/ department have a

good placement record of more than 75%, 24 institutes/ department have a placement

record of 51-75% and 8 institute/ departments have a weak placement record of 25-

50%. This information is presented using pie diagram as shown below.

Figure 6.9 Placement among Mumbai and Pune colleges

17%

50%

4%

17%

12%

Percentage of Placement

25-50%

51-75%

Fewer than 25%

Greater than 75%

None



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h) Contact with Alumn i

Contact with Alumni


Percent

Cumulative

Percent

NO 10 20.8 20.8 20.8

YES 38 79.2 79.2 100.0

Total 48 100.0 100.0


Above table indicate that out of total 48 respondents 38 institutes/ department keep

contact with their Alumnus and 10 institutes/ department do not keep any contact with

their Alumnus. This information is presented using pie diagram as shown below.

Figure 6.10 Institutes maintaining contact with Alumni

21%

79%

Contact with Alumni

NO YES



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i ) I nstitutional Internal Assessment

Institutional Internal Assessment


Percent

Cumulative

Percent

Every 1-3 Yrs 44 91.7 91.7 91.7

Never 4 8.3 8.3 100.0

Total 48 100.0 100.0


Above table indicate that out of total 48 respondents 44 institutes/ department have

Internal Institutional Assessment every 1-3 yrs and 4 institutes/ department do not

have Internal Institutional Assessment. This information is presented using pie

diagram as shown below.

Figure 6.11 Institutes having Internal Assessment

To test whether there is association between City (Mumbai and Pune) with that of

other variables Pearson chi-square test and ANOVA was applied.

92%

8%

Internal Institutional Assessment

Every 1-3 Yrs

Never



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Hypothesis 3 with sub Hypothesis 3.1, 3.2, 3.3, 3.4, 3.5

3. Hypothesis 3:

H03: There is no association between City and the initiatives taken by

institutes to enhance the employability of students

H13: There is association between City and the initiatives taken by institutes to

enhance the employability of students

Sub hypothesis 3.1 Faculties with Industry Background

H03.1: There is no association between City and Proportion of faculties from

industry.

H13.1: There is association between City and Proportion of faculties from

industry.


Above table indicate that out of 48 respondents 30 are from Mumbai and remaining

18 are from Pune.

Crosstab

City Proportion of Faculties with

Industry Background

Total

25-50% Fewer than

25%

None

Mumbai

Count 8 14 8 30

Expected

Count10.6 14.4 5.0 30.0

Pune

Count 9 9 0 18

Expected

Count6.4 8.6 3.0 18.0

Total

Count 17 23 8 48

Expected

Count17.0 23.0 8.0 48.0



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Results of chi-square test are as follows:

Above table indicate that p-value is 0.038 which is less than standard value 0.05.

Therefore Chi-square test is rejected. Hence Null hypothesis is rejected and alternate


Conclusion: There is association between City and Proportion of faculties from

industry Background.


ANOVA

Industry Faculty availability score

Sum of

Squares

Df Mean Square F p- value

Between Groups 2.813 1 2.813 6.311 .016

Within Groups 20.500 46 .446

Total 23.313 47


Above table indicate that p-value (0.016) is less than standard value 0.05. Therefore

F-test is rejected. Therefore null hypothesis is rejected.

Conclusion: There is significant difference between City and Proportion of faculties

from industry Background.

Chi-Square Tests

Value df P-value

Pearson Chi-Square 6.555a 2 .038




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Sub hypothesis 3.2Satisfaction of Curriculum

H03.2: There is no association between City and Satisfaction of Curriculum

among faculties

H13.2: There is association between City and Satisfaction of Curriculum among

faculties



Above table indicate that p-value is 0.296 which is more than standard value 0.05.

Therefore Chi-square test is accepted. Hence Null hypothesis is accepted and alternate

hypothesis is rejected.

Conclusion: There is no association between City and Satisfaction of Curriculum

among faculties.

Crosstab

Satisfaction of

curriculum

Total

NO YES

City

MumbaiCount 19 11 30

Expected Count 20.6 9.4 30.0

PuneCount 14 4 18


TotalCount 33 15 48


Value df p-value




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ANOVA

Curriculum satisfaction score

Sum of Squares df Mean Square F p-value

Between Groups .235 1 .235 1.071 .306

Within Groups 10.078 46 .219

Total 10.312 47




Conclusion: There is no significant difference between City and Satisfaction of

Curriculum among faculties.

Sub hypothesis 3.3Up gradation of Curriculum

H03.3: There is no association between City and Up gradation of Curriculum

H13.3: There is association between City and Up gradation of Curriculum


Crosstab

Up gradation of

curriculum

Total

NO YES

City

MumbaiCount 10 20 30


PuneCount 10 8 18


TotalCount 20 28 48




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Above table indicate that p-value is 0.131 which is more than standard value 0.05.



Conclusion: There is no association between City and Up gradation of Curriculum



Value df P-value


Sub hypothesis 3.4 Placement

H03.4: There is no association between City and Percentage of Placement

H13.4: There is association between City and Percentage of Placement

Crosstab

Percentage of Placement_ Total

25-50% 51-75% Fewerthan

25%

Greaterthan

75%

None

MumbaiCount 8 16 2 4 0 30

Expected Count 5.0 15.0 1.3 5.0 3.8 30.0

PuneCount 0 8 0 4 6 18

Expected Count 3.0 9.0 .8 3.0 2.3 18.0

TotalCount 8 24 2 8 6 48

Expected Count 8.0 24.0 2.0 8.0 6.0 48.0

Chi-Square Tests

Value df p- value




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Above table indicate that p-value is .002 which is less than standard value 0.05.

Therefore Chi-square test is rejected. Hence Null hypothesis is rejected and alternate


Conclusion: There is association between City and Percentage of Placement

Sub hypothesis 3.5Contact with Alumni

H03.5: There is no association between City and contact with Alumni

H13.5: There is association between City and contact with Alumni

Crosstab

Source: researcher’s Analysis

Source: researcher’s Analysis

Above table indicate that p-value is .099 which is more than standard value 0.05.



Conclusion: There is no association between City and contact with Alumni

Contact of Alumni Total

NO YES

City

MumbaiCount 4 26 30


PuneCount 6 12 18


TotalCount 10 38 48


Value df p- value




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CHAPTER 7



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CONCLUSION

Human resources, in terms of quality and quantity, are India’s biggest assets. A

favorable demographic structure (with about 50 percent of the population below 25

years of age) adds to this advantage. However, to capitalize fully on this opportunity

and not face the possibility of a skills-shortage, it is essential to gear up the education


The two greatest concerns of employers today are finding good workers and training

them. The difference between the skills needed on the job and those possessed by

applicants, sometimes called the skills-gap, is of real concern to human resource

managers and business owners looking to hire competent employees. While

employers would prefer to hire people who are trained and ready to go to work, they

are usually not willing to provide the specialized, job-specific training necessary for

those lacking such skills. Finding workers who have employability or job readiness

skills that help them fit into and remain in the work environment is a real problem.

The term employability “signals a connection to the world of work that is dynamic

and long-term in nature”

The present research work has made an attempt to address the employability dearth

among the engineering students. The study conducted in Mumbai and Pune colleges

reveals that employability skills like personal attributes; decision making skills etc are

not influenced by the grade or level of the educational institute. Perhaps these are the

skills developed by the student on his own through the situations one encounter and

experience he gain out of it. On the other hand the study highlights that some skills

like technical knowhow and high order skills are majorly developed through

academics towards which the educational institutes have a major role to play.



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At the institute level the study reveals that most of the academicians in both Mumbai

and Pune region are not satisfied with the engineering curriculum since they believe it

is not at par with the industry needs. However they are also of the opinion that

understanding of the fundamentals is more important since without a strong

knowledge foundation the new methodologies of the industry cannot be adopted

easily.

In the wake of rapid growth in higher education and increased competition, graduates

are forced to equip themselves with more than just the academic skills traditionally

represented by a subject discipline and a class of degree. According to a survey, 64%

of employers are only somewhat satisfied with the quality of fresh engineering

graduate's skills. It is clear that the booming problem in front of Indian youth is not

unemployment but employability. India possesses huge potential of the youth power

which is now being engaged in higher education including engineering. However, the

resulting quality of the engineering graduates does not fully satisfy the requirements

of the global market. Self financing private engineering colleges are churning out

about 87% of the engineering graduates in the country. The number of students

enrolled in engineering education increased to 800% from 1998 to 2008 (MHRD

2009). Because of the mushroom growth of engineering colleges the quantity of out

coming engineering graduates is raised. But the quality is questionable. Graduates

have educational eligibility but lack in capability and suitability to execute job related

activities despite the availability of employment opportunities.

There is a complete mismatch between the knowledge gained by the students in

engineering colleges and current practice in the field. Industry often finds engineering

graduates’ weak in professional practice thus necessitating long duration on the job

training for making them professionally useful. Emphasis has shifted from learning



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and acquiring skills to passing the examination. This has resulted in an overemphasis

on theory at the cost of practice.

The study has also taken into consideration the industry perspective which has

emphasized on academic- industry alliance. According to the corporate recruiters the

educational institutes while providing knowledge of fundamentals should also focus

on internship and interaction with industry experts since that would help in grooming

the prospect candidates for industry.

In other words there is considerable interest in the notion of employability in

contemporary Higher Education Institutions (HEIs). This can be seen as the outcome

of a complex historical process of interaction and debate between the state and HEIs

on their role and purpose, and a current view that HEIs have much to contribute to the

economic development of (particularly advanced) nations through the fostering of

intellectual property and human capital formation, gives room for improvement in this

context. Though most of these engineering colleges are producing graduates since

more than two decades, only a fraction of them have so far got the courses accredited

from NBA. They do not seem to be serious about subjecting themselves to the

accreditation process. Out of about 2400 private engineering colleges already existing

and churning out graduates every year, only 718 colleges have attained accreditation

for one or more course running there.

Research shows that formative assessment can exert a powerful effect on student

learning, yet the complexity of formative assessment is not well understood and some

curriculum structures and practices do not fully exploit its potential.

Engineering graduates are expected to be employable and ready for the workplace

when they complete their studies. It is generally expected that graduates should be



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equipped with a balance of technical knowledge in addition to the relevant soft skills

required in the workplace. This balance is what gives one graduate competitive edge

over another. Engineering students are often equipped with technical knowledge, but

lack of soft skills leave them not prepared for the contemporary requirements of

workplace.

Studies indicate that the base of the entire career and its growth lies on the primary

education and its further hierarchical stages; hence the focus towards the learning

should start from the primary education and then should go further till the end of the

learning. And learning is continuous; not actually gets over by completion of the

curriculum. Hence to this regard individual centric approach is needed. The

redesigning of the university curriculum with more apprenticeship and live industry

projects will facilitate the pre job training which will surely enhance the employability

among graduates. The Indian educational governance is the one which is in earnest

need of reforming.



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CHAPTER 8



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RECOMMENDATIONS AND SUGGESTIONS

‘Employability’ is a complex and subjective matter and something of a slowly moving

construct. The short term instrumental view about interview/job skills is an ongoing

debate and has to be balanced with the longer term broader needs of individuals and a

quickly, potentially, and dramatically changing society at large particularly

technology wise. It would not be appropriate from this limited study to suggest

wholesale changes to higher education, particularly one that necessarily recommends

more emphasis on today’s employment skills, especially in today’s competitive jobmarket.

Human resources, in terms of quality and quantity, are India’s biggest assets. A

favorable demographic structure (with about 50 percent of the population below 25

years of age) adds to this advantage. However, to capitalize fully on this opportunity

and not face the possibility of a skills-shortage, it is essential to gear up the education


Following are the measures to be taken at Academic, Industry and at Student level in

order to make the human capital an asset to the nation.

At educational institute level

Universities shall have to manage student expectations better, if a degree is worth

anything; it is now almost at the level of being a minimum expectation on the part of

some employers. Higher education institutes should not necessarily rush in to

providing and or changing their curriculum for the short term advantages of giving

students some so called employability skills in the interim. That may be at the

expense of long term evaluative skills needed for an unknown future and it also may



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lead universities to the same charges as those cast at schools, i.e. their curriculums

have changed too broadly in order to accommodate so many requirements, they have

given a back seat to the fundamentals.

Curriculum mapping is a tool to make explicit that how employability skills and

graduate attributes addressed in the content of a given course or program. Curriculum

mapping is a foundation stone for employability skills, which needs to be supported

by quality delivery and assessment strategies. It ensures that students develop an

understanding of employer expectations and skills to meet those expectations.

Developing the student’s employability skills requires teaching staff with suitable

skills, resources and awareness of current industry practice. Student’s employability

skills will also be strengthened where students have access to relevant work

experience through quality work-integrated learning programs, cooperative learning

or mentoring programs. Graduate must also be provided the opportunity of career

counseling. Career counseling is a technique which should be considered at the

university level, because it makes them well-informed and help a lot for graduates in

deciding their career. Some other initiatives that can lead to building of employable

engineering talents are:

Improve the quality of Math, Science and Language teachers in schools.

Having a six-months/one-year teacher training course on adolescent behavior,

teaching methods/pedagogy mandatory for engineering college and university

teachers.

Moving out of the student friendly examination and assessment pattern

Training and updating the teachers with industry needs



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Expand the concept of visiting faculty from corporate and familiarity to

technology to get the best minds to share their knowledge with the students.

Re-employing retired professors/ experts in course advisory committee

Maintaining the exclusivity of traditional IITs in terms of admission process

and grading pattern

Enhancing the assessment and accreditation system to ensure quality in the

Higher education programmes.

At Industry Level

Employability is far bigger a challenge than unemployment. Industry leaders feel that

the “skills” and “quality” of the workforce need a lot of improvement. Plagued with

problems like curriculum, lack of qualified faculty, poor quality of content, and not-

so-effective examination system, technical institutions do not provide signaling value

in the job market. A disparity exists in the types of skills taught at colleges and those

that are demanded in industry.

Campus Recruitment is commonly viewed as an element in the socialization process

prior to organizational entry. During this stage, employers should attempt to convey

their expectations from the would -be graduating students rather than trying to attract

the type of employee who is most likely to be successful in the organization.

Employability of graduates can be enhanced, if industry works in connection with

Universities. The corporate house is therefore expected to participate and

communicate their needs to the educational world than simply passing on the blame

onto academicians regarding failure in the development of employability skills.



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At Student Level

Every child is born unique. However there is a failure on the part of the child to

understand that the skills expected from him at the workplace are perhaps common.

There is lack of knowledge among the young graduates regarding the expectation of

the industry. It is not mere a graduation certificate from Tier 1 college that can fetch a

job for him. Today a graduation certificate is of no value if it cannot imbibe the basic

soft skills among the employees. Academic studies can take the student to the

fundamentals of the subject but developing the soft skills is more or less with the

student to take it to the next level.



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CHAPTER 9



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Dr R Gopal. (2010), “Towards an educated India: Academia- Industry

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WEBLIOGRAPHY

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/All_India_Council_for_Technical_Education

http://mhrd.gov.in/

http://web.anglia.ac.uk/anet/student_services/careers/whatisemployability.pht

ml

http://www.aicte-india.org/

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http://www.worc.ac.uk/adpu/1115.htm

www.dtemaharashtra.gov.in/


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http://web.anglia.ac.uk/anet/student_services/careers/whatisemployability.phtml









http://www.dtemaharashtra.gov.in/

http://www.dtemaharashtra.gov.in/







http://mhrd.gov.in/




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Questionnaire for Engineering Students

A study on Employability of Engineering Students

Kindly give the following information about yourself and rate the key skills using

Likert Scale

1. Name of the Respondent: ____________________

2. Gender: Male Female

3. Name of the Institution/ College ______________

4. Institute Address: ______________________

5. Course enrolled for: _________________

6. Area of Specialization (If any): _______________________

7. Email Id: ____________________________

Respond to the following questions using a scale of 1 (Strongly Disagree) to 5

(Strongly Agree)

(Put √ on the appropriate box)

1= Strongly Disagree

2= Somewhat Disagree

3= Neutral

4= Somewhat Agree

5= Strongly Agree

I, Ms. Keerthi Menon, am the student of Padmashree Dr. D. Y. Patil Institute (Department of Business

Management, Mumbai). This survey is part of the research work being carried under MPhil. Course.The aim of this research is to study the ‘Employability of Engineering Students’.

The research intends to abide by all commonly acknowledged ethical codes. All data and measurements

obtained from this research study will be stored confidentially.

Your participation should take approximately 20 minutes of your valuable time. I request you to fill it

out with as much accuracy as possible.



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Personal Attributes

Skill- 1: Self Discipline

Engineering Programs help to develop self discipline and orderly skills

Skill- 2: Flexibility

Engineering Programs help to develop the skill of being flexible with plans

Skill- 3: Initiative & Responsibility

Engineering Programs help to develop the skills of taking initiative and responsibility

Skill- 4: Plan and Organize

Engineering Programs help to develop planning and organizing skills

Interpersonal Skills

Skill- 5: Effective communication

Engineering Programs help to develop the ability to communicate effectively within

the team and at large.

Skill- 6: Leadership

Engineering Programs help to develop the ability to function effectively in the

capacity of a leader or manager

Skill- 7: Teamwork

Engineering Programs help to develop the ability to function with multidisciplinary

teams

_______



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Skill- 8: Conflict Resolution

Engineering Programs help to develop the ability to resolve conflicts within team

Technical Know how

Skill- 9: System/ Process designing

Engineering Programs help to develop the ability to design a system, component, or

process to meet desired needs

Skill- 10: Solving Engineering Problems

Engineering Programs help to develop the ability to identify, formulate, and solve

engineering problems

Skill- 11: Application of Knowledge

Engineering Programs help to develop the ability to apply knowledge of mathematics,

science and engineering practically

Skill- 12: Development of Technical Competence

Engineering Programs help to develop in-depth technical competence in a specific

engineering discipline

Higher – order thinking Skills

Skill- 13: Creativity and Innovation

Engineering Programs help to develop the capacity for creativity and innovation

Skill- 14: Strategic Thinking

Engineering Programs help to develop Strategic Thinking skills.



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Skill- 15: Professional and Ethical responsibilities

Engineering Programs help to develop the ability to understand Professional and

Ethical responsibilities, and commitment towards them

Skill- 16: Social, cultural, global and environmental responsibilities

Engineering Programs help to develop the ability to understand social, cultural, global

and environmental responsibilities

Problem Solving/ Decision Making Skills

Skill- 17: Information Management

Engineering Programs help to develop the ability to manage information and

documentation.

Skill- 18: Problem identification and solution

Engineering Programs help to develop the ability to undertake problem identification,

formulation and solution

Skill- 19: Risk taking

Engineering Programs help to develop risk taking ability

Skill- 20: Adoption of new skills

Engineering Programs help to develop the ability to pick up new skills and adapt to

new situations



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1.In your opinion is your course grooming you as a Valued Engineer? Kindly

justify your answer.

_______________________________________________________________

_______________________________________________________________

_______________________________________________________________ _______________________________________________________________

_______________________________________________________________

_______________

Thank You for your Participation



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Questionnaire for Corporate Participants


Corporate Skills Survey

Kindly provide the following information about yourself and your organization

1. Name of the Respondent ____________________

2. Name of the Organization ______________

3. Business Address: ______________________

4. Primary Business of Organization: _____________

5. Designation (Mention Department) _______________

6. Total Work Experience (Present Organization) _______________

7. No. of Employees Worldwide:

Under 500________ 500-2000_________ 2000-5000_________

5000-10000_________ 10000-50000_________

8. Email Id: ________________________________

Respond to the following questions using a scale of 1 (Strongly Disagree) to 5

(Strongly Agree) (Put √ on the appropriate box)

1= Strongly Disagree

2= Somewhat Disagree

3= Neither Disagree nor Agree

4= Somewhat Agree

5= Strongly Agree


Management, Mumbai). This survey is part of the research work being carried under MPhil. Course. The

aim of this research is to study the ‘Employability of Engineering Students’.



Your participation should take approximately 20 minutes of your valuable time. I request you to fill it out

with as much accuracy as possible.



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As a Corporate Recruiter how would you rate the parameters mentioned below as anessential Skill/ Attribute to be possessed by an Employee (Entry level Engineers).

Skills/ Attributes 1 2 3 4 5

Being disciplined and orderly are essential skills

Being flexible with plans is important

Taking initiative and responsibility are important skills

Planning and organizing are important skills

The ability to communicate effectively within the team and at large isimportant

The ability to function effectively in the capacity of a leader ormanager is an important skill

The ability to function with multidisciplinary teams is important

The ability to resolve conflicts within team is an important skill

The ability to design a system, component, or process to meet desiredneeds is an important skill

The ability to identify, formulate, and solve engineering problems isan important skill

The ability to apply knowledge of mathematics, science and

engineering practically is an important skill

Having in-depth technical competence in a specific engineeringdiscipline is important

The capacity for creativity and innovation is an important skill

Strategic Thinking is an important skill

Understanding Professional and Ethical responsibilities, and gettingcommitted towards them is important

Understanding of social, cultural, global and environmental

responsibilities are important

Managing information and documentation is an important skill

Problem identification, formulation and solution is an important skill

Willingness to take risk is an important skill

The ability to pick up new skills and adapt to new situations is animportant skill



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As a Corporate Recruiter how would you rate the contribution of Engineering

Programs (Curriculum adopted by Colleges and Universities) towards ‘Skill

Development’ among Amateur/ Fresh Engineering Students joining Industry?

Skills/ Attributes 1 2 3 4 5

Engineering Programs help to develop discipline and orderly skills

Engineering Programs help to develop the skill of being flexible with plans

Engineering Programs help to develop the skills of taking initiative andresponsibility

Engineering Programs help to develop planning and organizing skills

Engineering Programs help to develop the ability to communicateeffectively within the team and at large

Engineering Programs help to develop the ability to function effectively inthe capacity of a leader or manager

Engineering Programs help to develop the ability to function withmultidisciplinary teams

Engineering Programs help to develop the ability to resolve conflictswithin team

Engineering Programs help to develop the ability to design a system,component, or process to meet desired needs

Engineering Programs help to develop the ability to identify, formulate,and solve engineering problems

Engineering Programs help to develop the ability to apply knowledge ofmathematics, science and engineering practically

Engineering Programs help to develop in-depth technical competence in aspecific engineering discipline

Engineering Programs effectively develop the capacity for creativity andinnovation

Engineering Programs help to develop Strategic Thinking skills.

Engineering Programs help to develop an understanding of Professionaland Ethical responsibilities and commitment towards them

Engineering Programs help to develop understanding of social, cultural,global and environmental responsibilities

Engineering Programs help to develop the ability to manage informationand documentation.

Engineering Programs help to develop the ability to problem identification,formulation and solution

Engineering Programs help to develop a risk taking ability

Engineering Programs help to develop the ability to pick up new skills andadapt to new situations



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1. In your opinion what are the challenges faced by amateur/ fresh Engineering

recruits in the corporate world?

_______________________________________________________________

_______________________________________________________________

_______________________________________________________________ _______________________________________________________________

_______________________________________________________________

2. Do you think academic education suffices the need to meet these challenges?

Kindly justify your answer.

_______________________________________________________________

_______________________________________________________________

_______________________________________________________________

_______________________________________________________________

_______________________________________________________________

3. In what ways, if at all, do you feel that Industry can contribute towardsimprovement of quality of Engineering Programs?

_______________________________________________________________ _______________________________________________________________ _______________________________________________________________ _______________________________________________________________

_______________________________________________________________

Thank you for your Participation



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Questionnaire for Academic Participants


Kindly provide the following information about yourself and your organization

1. Name of the Respondent: ____________________

2. Gender: Male Female

3. Name of the Institution/ College ___________________

4. Institute Address: ______________________

5. Designation __________________

6. Email Id: __________________________

7. Total no. of Students enrolled for Engineering Course (Full time

Programs)___________

FACULTY MEMBERS

8. Total no. of Faculty who teach in Engineering Course __________

9. Tenure: Fulltime faculty___________ Adjunct Faculty_________10. Based on your response to Question 09, approximately how many of your full

time faculty are Business Practitioners/ from Industry Backgrounds?

None 51-75%

Fewer than 25% Greater than 75%

25-50%


Management, Mumbai). This survey is part of the research work being carried under MPhil. course. Theaim of this research is to study the ‘Employability of Engineering Students’.



Your participation should take approximately 20 minutes of your valuable time. I request you to fill it

out with as much accuracy as possible.



175 | P a g e

CURRICULUM

11. In your opinion is the Engineering curriculum satisfactory enough to secure

education based employment?

Yes No

12. Has the curriculum been updated in the last 3 years?

Yes No

13. Does your Institute participate in the revision of Syllabi conducted after

regular intervals?

Yes No

PLACEMENT

14. Does your Institute have Placement cell to provide the students with

placement assistance?

Yes No

15. If your Institute has a placement cell, what are the methods adopted to contact

Corporate Houses?

Direct contact with HR manager

Contact through Alumni

Making corporate presentations Others (Please specify)

16. What is the percentage of final year students securing placement (Last 3yrs)?

None 51-75%

Fewer than 25% Greater than 75%

25-50%

17. Do you keep track of your students working with organizations?

Yes No



ASSESSMENT

18. How often does your Institute conduct an in-depth assessment of Engineering

Program with regard to how well the course addresses the employer’s needs?

Never 7-10 Yrs

Every 1-3 Yrs More than 10yrs

4-6 Yrs

19. If your Institute does conduct an in-depth assessment of your course programs,

then who all are included in the process?

Administrators Alumni

Faculty Members Employers

Students Others (Please Specify)

20. Does your institution have an Accreditation? If yes, which type of

Accreditation does your institute have? (Please mention the Grade)

Very Good Satisfactory

Good Not Accredited

Documents

A Study on Employability of Engineering Students Thesis