A Framework for Embedding Graduate Employability: Attributes of Higher Education Curriculum in Africa

In many developed nations, the issue of graduate employability remains a top policy concern for higher education policymakers. In the current climate of the call for higher education to respond to the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), these concerns have resurfaced. Policymakers continue to emphasise the need for “employability skills” so that graduates are properly prepared to tackle the challenges of an increasingly flexible labour market to make a meaningful contribution to the attainment of SDGs. Particularly, in the developing world, enhancing graduate employability is critical to higher education institutions’ capacity to produce human capital capable of functioning competitively in today’s labour market. Therefore, higher education institutions in Africa should develop strategies to enhance graduate employability attributes to effectively respond to the growing employer concerns about the lack of graduate preparedness for the world of work. Using the USEM (Understanding, Skilful practices, Efficacy beliefs, and Metacognition) Model as a conceptual framework proposed by Knight and Yorke (Assessment, learning and employability. SRHE and Open University Press, 2003), this chapter proposes a framework for incorporating graduate employability attributes into higher education curricula in Africa in such a manner that would make a meaningful contribution to the attainment of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). The proposed framework was based on management sciences degree programmes but may be applied to any discipline.