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This study responds to identified challenges of poor work-readiness of many graduates and the inadequate relation between education and work. Through students' perspectives, the study examines the extent to which selected South African universities are supporting their students in developing employability skills and the influence of such employability support on students' enhanced employability.

Through purposive sampling, information was obtained from a sample of 402 final year students at two universities in South Africa. After an exploratory factor analysis, 34 of the 35 items on the questionnaire successfully loaded for further analysis under seven components.

South African universities that were analysed are adequately engaging their students with two of the six employability development opportunities (EDOs), while students' engagement with the other four is only to a fair extent. EDOs are found to jointly influence students' employability. The curriculum has the highest influence, followed by personal development planning, career development learning and work experience. Real-world activities and extracurricular activities were not found to influence students' self-perceived employability.

Beyond identifying skills that graduates are expected to possess, which dominate the discussion and debate on graduate employability, this study elucidates the role of universities in providing support structures – EDOs – that enable students to establish an appropriate connection between theory and practice. It provides insight into the employability potential of South African universities and increases the universities' awareness of what they can do to ensure the production of work-ready graduates.

As a response to technological changes, globalization, sector reforms and changes in output demand, there is an increased demand for generic skills in the workplace. The purpose of this paper is to investigate through perceptions of graduate employees and their employers on the extent to which university education in Nigeria is responding to the increased skills requirements of employers.

Data were collected by the use of two sets of questionnaires and purposive sampling technique was adopted for sample selection. Past surveys of employers on skills requirements in Nigeria were used as a reference in the selection of the 11 generic skills used in the instrument. Data were analysed using simple percentages, descriptive statistics and χ².

All the listed generic skills are regarded as important by graduate employers. The employed university graduates believed that in terms of generic skills, they were not adequately prepared to meet the requirements of their jobs. Moreover, employers believed that their graduate employees would require further training to a large extent to perform satisfactorily in their jobs.

Taking a divergent view, the study has established the perceptions of employed university graduates themselves on the extent to which university education has prepared them in meeting the skills requirements of their jobs. Furthermore, apart from confirming the extent of further training required, the study empirically affirms the relative training needs of graduates from different fields of study.

To a prospective employee, self-perception is a vital component of employability; to better understand employability, an exploration of this essential component and its determinants is required. Besides investigating students’ perceptions of their likelihood of success in the graduate labour market, the purpose of this paper is to examine the main influence of gender and field of study and the interaction effects of these two independent variables on students’ self-perceived employability (SPE).

Data for the study were collected from a sample of 402 final-year students, at two universities in South Africa using an adapted questionnaire. The 402 students comprised of 203 from University A and 199 from University B. In total, 166 were males and 236 females while 104 were from Management Studies, 102 from Education, 72 from Law and 124 from Science and Agriculture. The three stated hypotheses for the study were analysed using factorial ANOVA (2×4) and the Bonferroni post hoc multiple comparison test.

The main effects of gender and field of study on SPE are both significant, but the interactions between them are not. Male students were found to demonstrate a higher level of SPE. For field of study, Education students demonstrated the highest level of SPE.

The study shows that students, particularly those in their final year, may perceive themselves to be more employable, due to increased awareness of their improved human capital. In addition, both gender and field of study are important attributes affecting students’ SPE. The variations in SPE are indicative of students’ understanding and awareness of labour market realities, offering several implications for universities and all stakeholders of graduate employability.

Empirical studies in relation to employability development opportunities (EDOs) and university students’ enhanced employability are few, especially in Nigeria. The purpose of this paper is to assess the extent of university students’ engagement with EDOs and to empirically establish the extent of the relationship between these EDOs and students’ enhanced employability.

Data were collected from 600 final-year university students in Nigeria with the use of an adapted questionnaire. The 29 items on the questionnaire were subjected to an exploratory factor analysis in which 28 loaded under six factors which were used for further analysis.

Results indicate that at Nigerian universities students are engaging with all the EDOs to a moderately sufficient extent. Findings also show that there is a significant positive relationship between EDOs and students’ enhanced employability. Besides, considering the relative contribution of each of the EDOs to students’ enhanced employability, real-world activities make the highest contribution. Extracurricular activities were found to have no significant relationship with students’ enhanced employability.

Not all the EDOs are measured in the study.

Apart from empirically confirming the significant positive relationship between EDOs and university students’ enhanced employability, the study has established the relative contribution of each of these EDOs, which is a major contribution to the limited existing body of knowledge on university students’ employability.