Are Business Graduates’ Employability Skills and Learning/Teaching Techniques Universal? Exploring the Role of Culture: A Comparative Study among Australia, China, Pakistan, and Saudi Arabia

Abstract

The purpose of this study is to explore the employability skills required in different countries/cultures and to further explore how cultural differences influence teaching/learning techniques required to equip students with required employability skills. Data were collected from 158 human resource managers working in different organizations and 169 faculty members who were engaged in teaching business graduates in four culturally different countries: Australia, China, Saudi Arabia, and Pakistan. SPSS version 20 was used to calculate the average and compute the values. Results of this study indicated that employability skills for business graduates vary among different counties/cultures but the five employability skills are common regardless of cultural differences: entry-level digital skills, problem-solving skills, organizational skills, decision making, and goal-oriented skills. In addition, the findings of this study also indicated that teaching/learning techniques such as case studies, conventional lectures, and simulations, etc., are not completely culture-sensitive and could be used in almost every country/culture. The findings of this study will be helpful for higher educational institutions, vocational training centers, and other stakeholders to use in determining the most effective teaching/learning techniques to equip the students with the employability skills required in their country/culture including common employability skills and make their graduates more employable.