Employment Skills of Public Health Students and Graduates in a Public University: A Study from South India
Abstract
Background: Public Health has a demanding job market and the number of institutions offering Master of Public Health programmes (MPH) is on the rise. This paper investigates the perceived employability skills required for public health students and graduates to secure and sustain a job.
Method: A survey was conducted among 41 students and graduates of the MPH programme (12 beginners, 18 mid-termers, and 11 graduates) offered at a public university in South India. Importance-performance analysis (IPA) of employability skills was done using a tool adopted from the Generic Skills Questionnaire from Tuning Educational Structure. Non-parametric tests (Mann-Whitney test, Kruskal Wallis test, and Spearman Rank correlation test) were used to test the hypotheses on the association of achievement of employability skills with various predictors.
Results: The median of overall importance and achievement of skills was three each. The most important employability skills were ‘decision-making’ and ‘planning and time management’. The least important ones were the ‘ability to work autonomously’ and the ‘innovative and entrepreneurial spirit’. The level of achievement was high for the skills, namely ‘will to succeed’ and ‘concern for quality’. It was low for skills – ‘capacity for analysis and synthesis’, and ‘initiative and entrepreneurial spirit’. Job experiences/ internship opportunities were found negatively correlated with the achievement of employability skills, reflecting the limitation of the MPH curriculum (p value: 0.030). Graduates had higher levels of achievement compared to beginners and mid-termers, indicating the contribution of the MPH curriculum in skill development.
Conclusion: It is important to design the MPH curriculum to ensure students’ achievement of essential employability skills to enhance their job prospects upon graduation.
How to cite this article:
Jayalakshmi R, Kadali P B, Amaladevi CS, Sibasis H. Employment Skills of Public Health Students and Graduates in a Public University: A Study from South India. Chettinad Health City Med J. 2024;13(4):75-84.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.24321/2278.2044.202462
References
International Labour Organization. Increasing the employability of disadvantaged youth [Internet]. Geneva: Skills and Employability Department; 2011 [cited 2018 Apr 26]. p. 1-7. (Skills for Employment.). Available from: https://www.ilo.org/sites/default/files/wcmsp5/groups/public/%40ed_emp/documents/genericdocument/wcms_166496.pdf
Hanapi Z, Nordin MS. Unemployment among Malaysia graduates: graduates’ attributes, lecturers’ competency and quality of education. Procedia Soc Behav Sci. 2014;112:1056-63. [Google Scholar]
Masoka J, Selesho J. Employability skills required amongst unemployed youth: a case at Beverly Hills in the Sedibeng District, Southern Gauteng. Mediterr J Soc Sci. 2014 Mar 1;5(3):132-7. [Google Scholar]
Forrier A, Sels L. The concept employability: a complex mosaic. Int J Hum Res Dev Manag. 2003;3(2):102. [Google Scholar]
Harvey L. Defining and measuring employability. Qual High Educ. 2001 Jul;7(2):97-109. [Google Scholar]
Tiwari R, Negandhi H, Zodpey S. Current status of master of public health programmes in India: a scoping review. WHO South East Asia J Public Health. 2018;7(1):29. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
Sharma K, Zodpey S. Public health education in India: need and demand paradox. Indian J Community Med. 2011;36(3):178. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
Negandhi H, Sharma K, Zodpey SP. History and evolution of public health education in India. Indian J Public Health. 2012;56(1):12. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
Sharma A, Zodpey SP. Transforming public health education in India through networking and collaborations: opportunities and challenges. Indian J Public Health. 2013;57(3):155. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
Buunaaisie C, Manyara AM, Annett H, Bird EL, Bray I, Ige J, Jones M, Orme J, Pilkington P, Evans D. Employability and career experiences of international graduates of MSc Public Health: a mixed methods study. Public Health. 2018 Jul;160:62-9. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
Sisodia S, Agarwal N. Employability skills essential for healthcare industry. Procedia Comput Sci. 2017;122:431-8. [Google Scholar]
Narain JP. Public health challenges in India: seizing the opportunities. Indian J Community Med. 2016;41(2):85-8. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
Desiraju K. Issues in public health in India - keynote address by Keshav Desiraju, Former Secretary of Health and Family Welfare to the Government of India. J Public Health. 2021 Oct 8;43(Supplement_2):ii3-9. [Google Scholar]
Qomariyah N, Savitri T, Hadianto T, Claramita M. Formulating employability skills for graduates of Public Health Study Program. Int J Eval Res Educ. 2016;5(1):22. [Google Scholar]
Messum D, Wilkes L, Jackson D. Employability skills: essential requirements in health manager vacancy advertisements. Asia Pac J Health Manag. 2011;6(2):23-8. [Google Scholar]
Sisodia S, Agarwal N. Employability skills essential for healthcare industry. Procedia Comput Sci. 2017 Jan 1;122:431–8.
Gowsalya G, Kumar MA. Perceptions on employability skills necessary to enhance Arts and Science students in Namakkal District. Int J Pure Appl Math. 2017;116(22):9-18. [Google Scholar]
Harry T, Chinyamurindi WT, Mjoli T. Perceptions of factors that affect employability amongst a sample of final-year students at a rural South African university. SA J Ind Psychol. 2018 Jul 30;44(1):10. [Google Scholar]
George PS, Chattopadhyay S. Population and land use in Kerala. In: National Academy of Sciences. Growing populations, changing landscapes: studies from India, China, and the United States [Internet]. Washington, D.C: National Academy Press; 2001 [cited 2023 Dec 28]. p. 79-106. Available from: https://www.nap.edu/read/10144/chapter/10 [Google Scholar]
Blaskó Z. Access to what: analysis of factors determining graduate employability : a report to the HEFCE by the Centre for Higher Education Research and Information (CHERI) [Internet]. London, England: HEFCE; 2002 [cited 2023 Nov 13]. Available from: https://www.semanticscholar.org/paper/Access-to-what-%3Aanalysis-of-factors-determining-%3A-Blasco/7c2823eeefa820e1641b3a7ef242c543a4ba2f3f [Google Scholar]
