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This paper analyses teachers' perceptions of how teaching-learning approaches affect the development of higher education (HE) graduates' learning outcomes based on competencies development. The authors focus the analysis on Belarus, a post-Soviet country which transitioned from a centrally planned to a market economy and needs reforms to the HE sector there. In particular, Belarus requires HE graduates equipped with competencies that match the needs of a market economy.

The authors use Fostering Competencies Development in Belarusian Higher Education (FOSTERC) data to study how teachers contribute to the development of HE graduates' competencies, employing factor analysis to categorize 24 competencies and group the graduates into two groups: entrepreneurial or transversal. The authors also consider variables such as teachers' educational background and experience, predominant teaching field of study and university location – using regional dummies.

The results point to a lack of attention to entrepreneurial and transversal competencies and suggest a disconnect between HE and society needs in Belarus.

Although Belarus has introduced some changes to the HE system following the adoption of the Bologna process, Belarus, especially Belarus' national HE system are still influenced by the country's Soviet past, where universities prepare the students for participation on one job and one career, instead of offering more attractive and constructive curricula that would allow future graduates to operate in a changing world.

This study addresses the specific topic of transition between higher education and the world of work, taking differences naturally inherent to the individual and to the surrounding micro and macro contexts. With a holistic approach, this paper aimed to provide a deeper understanding about the university-to-work transition process in a period of turbulence and continuous changes in the labour market.

The three research questions that guide this qualitative study are as follows: (1) What are the factors that facilitate the transition to the labour market? (2) What are the factors that constrain the transition to the labour market? (3) What are graduates' perceptions of their employability? To answer these questions, eleven graduates were interviewed about facilitators and barriers of the transition process and perceptions of employability. Data collected from the interviews were then related to categories previously defined from the literature review. Version 12.0 of the NVivo software was used to support the process of data analysis.

Overall, participants' discourse refer to a multidimensional and dynamic perspective of factors related with work transition and employability. The obtained results indicate that the lack of career agency during graduation and professional experiences, together with late career exploration processes, represent possible barriers of transition, especially in study fields with targeted job offers. Likewise, experiences promoting the development of competencies through supportive practice from teachers, mentors and colleagues are referred as facilitators of transition.

One of the most consistent outcomes of the interviews conducted concerns the importance of a stronger focus on developing practical experiences during higher education studies. This empirical study demonstrated how this type of experience can mitigate the impact of the transition from university to the labour market.

This empirical study demonstrated how work being integrated into learning in curricula can mitigate the impact of the transition from university to the labour market. It offers important insights about possible strategies that could be adopted to promote graduates' employability from a perspective of shared responsibility.

The purpose of this paper is to explore the influence of work experience and gender on graduates’ perception of competencies, preparation and expectations of success in labour market (LM) transition. The research questions that guide this study are: How do graduates evaluate the competencies acquired during their masters’ degree? How do graduates evaluate their preparation for transition to the LM and their expectations of success?

Within the framework of employability models, the authors explore the perception of competencies developed during higher education (HE). Given previous reported effects of gender and work experience on the process of work transition, these two variables are also considered. A questionnaire was administered to 411 students in their final masters’ degree year. Descriptive and inferential statistics, namely, univariate analysis of variance (F-anova 2×3) with post-hoc multiple comparison test (post-hoc HSD of Tukey), are developed to analyse the data and address the research questions.

The main results show that there are no significant group differences concerning perception of the development of competencies; the effect of work experience on perceptions related to preparation for transition to the LM depends on gender; and expectations of successful transition to the LM are related to gender, with no significant influence of prior work experience.

These data suggest that, in developing their programmes, it is important for HE institutions to consider self-beliefs related to students’ diversity, in order to maximize the development and effective use of competencies and individual resources in work contexts, for all students. Exploration of the effect of gender and work experience on perceptions of competencies and preparation for the LM should help HE institutions define curricular programmes and support graduates in preparing for entry to the LM.