Addressing employability challenges: a framework for improving the employability of graduates in Botswana

Abstract

While Botswana has long invested in education, high unemployment rates among the youth, females and university graduates remain a critical challenge for the country. Despite this challenge, research on the issue is scant and solutions to assist the affected groups to enhance their employability remain scarce and inaccessible. This paper employs a qualitative, exploratory and descriptive approach to investigate Botswana university students’ knowledge of employability skills and attributes. It further assesses whether there are differences between the skills and attributes that students perceive as important versus the ones that have been reported as important by the global labour market. The paper also proposes a framework for ensuring the development of employability skills and attributes by different players in the labour market. The proposed framework recognizes employability as a joint responsibility shared by training institutions, employers, incumbent employees and potential employees. Implications for future research are also discussed.