Page 11 - Graduate Recruitment Handbook 2024

digitalised. Participants came from three private while those from other institutions are overlooked.
institutions – elite and non-elite – and had been
in the workplace for between one and five years. I Equipped for the real world
found that four things counted for employability: Deeper analysis of graduates’ employment status
the reputation of the institution; networks and showed patterns of employment were divided along
connections; experience; and type of work. lines of race, socio-economic status, educational
background and institution. These findings are
A qualification doesn’t equate to a job. Within five similar to those of studies on the employability of
years of graduating, 84% of the graduates were graduates from public universities. They call into
working. Yet some – mostly from disadvantaged question the value of investing in private higher
backgrounds – remained unemployed. And it education, and whether private institutions provide
seemed their opportunities were diminishing. equitable opportunities for all graduates.

Having a job doesn’t equate to earning a decent The findings confirm that skills, knowledge and a
livelihood. Many graduates were underemployed. qualification don’t ensure successful employment
Some had taken jobs in factories, retail or outcomes for graduates. Higher education cannot
administration, merely to earn some income. overcome structural constraints such as a saturated
One-third of the employed graduates earned less labour market, weak economy and entrenched
than R10,000 ($700) a month, and 11% of those social inequality. More of the same from institutions,
earned below R5,000 a month. That isn’t far off the irrespective of the quality of the education, will likely
minimum wage. There was a pattern: most of the low continue to reproduce unequal outcomes.
wage earners were black graduates from non-elite
institutions. The need for private institutions in South Africa
to take note of this reality is even more important
Experience is essential. Employers recruit from in the context of COVID-19 and the recent social
their industry network. Eighty percent of the study unrest, and the implications of these macro issues on
participants had participated in some form of graduates’ livelihoods and lives.
internship to build a base of working experience. Policies should recognise that some individuals
But the monthly stipend ranged from R2,000 to require different strategies, resources and ways of
R4,000 (between $130 and $270), which barely teaching to achieve the same outcomes as others.
covered transport costs. This means that graduates Students need to be guided and supported in
who can be financially supported by family take on their choices from the outset, learning how to
internships. Those from poor families are less likely to build networks, gaining real work experience, and
be able to afford the benefit of these employment- preparing for various types of work in a range of
enhancing opportunities and go in search of any job. contexts.
Hence their disadvantage persists. Graduate preparation must move beyond employers
and employment. Institutions ought to focus on
An institution’s reputation counts. Employers enhancing graduates’ abilities to navigate their way
partner with higher education institutions. They in society, to respond to opportunities to work and
contribute industry-relevant input to the curriculum earn, and to be adaptable so they can thrive in an
and teaching, and then recruit directly from the uncertain world. DM/ML
institution’s pool of graduates. Employers admitted
Source: https://www.dailymaverick.co.za/article/2021-08-08-four-
that they favour graduates from particular institutions things-that-count-when-a-south-african-graduate-looks-for-work/

2024/2025 Graduate Recruitment Handbook 11