Development of skills in pre-professional practices and the labor insertion of university graduates in Ecuador

Abstract

Companies demand personnel with key skills to work, but the evidence that exists is that universities develop skills at a lower level than that required by companies. This research aims to examine the relationship between job skills developed through pre-professional internships and the job placement of college business students. The design is quantitative, non-experimental and cross-sectional, the questionnaire and a convenience sample of 318 students from a total of 1,600 of the business careers of universities in Ecuador are used as a tool. The results indicate that the skills developed through pre-professional practices: interdisciplinary vision, creativity and innovation, use of technologies and teamwork are positively related to job placement. This work has theoretical implications because it increases the empirical evidence that preprofessional internships contribute to developing job skills for job placement and has practical implications because university managers can use pre-professional practices to develop job skills in students. The general conclusion of the study is that pre-professional practices using the constructivist approach contribute to developing skills for job placement