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The purpose of this paper, systematic literature review, is twofold: to identify the factors influencing graduate job choice and to propose a theoretical model that can be useful for future research.

Thematic analysis of the literature available till June 2020 has been reviewed using electronic databases such as ABI/INFORM Complete, EBSCO, Emerald Insight, ProQuest, SAGE Journals, Science Direct (Elsevier), Scopus, Springer Link, Taylor and Francis Online, Wiley Online Library.

Out of more than 5,000 studies, 14 studies were found addressing the issue of career choice among graduating students. The thematic analysis result explored five themes such as internal factors, external factors, interpersonal factors, institutional factors and socio-demographic factors that can be considered critical for graduates’ career choice decision. Details of the subthemes are also identified.

Implications for practitioners have been suggested from the internal factors, external factors, interpersonal factors, institutional factors and socio-demographic factors’ perspectives. The study result can be useful for conducting future research using quantitative data on graduate job choice.

This is the first attempt to present a comprehensive picture of past studies on graduate job choice and exploring the factors influencing graduate job choice.

In an ever-interconnected world dominated by discourses on the internationalization and marketization of higher education, concerns related to language and employability have been the focus of recent debates. There is, however, a dearth of research investigating how these dimensions relate to one another in recent comparative and international higher education research. By focusing on how issues related to language and employability have been presented in recent higher education research worldwide, this chapter aims to contribute to our understanding of this concern. To achieve this goal, we conducted a scoping literature review using the Web of Science, Scopus, and the Education Resources Information Center (ERIC) databases, considering the years 2011–2020. The findings, perhaps not surprisingly, suggested that language skills are perceived to be valued by both graduates and employers though the discussions predominantly focused on one language, English. The research focus on English for employability in Anglophone contexts is understandable. However, the fact that the trend is observed in contexts where the language is not the primary or official language seems to indicate the influence of internationalization of higher education and global labor markets primarily dominated by English. The literature also suggested that (English) language training in higher education programs needs to move from solely linguistic and qualification-related content areas to a broader sphere of English for communication purposes that cover both specialized disciplinary content and broader generic employability skills. Considering this finding, we suggest that higher education systems and institutions incorporate recent developments in English for occupational purposes in their curriculum. We also recommend that there needs to be a shift from the overwhelmingly English language-dominated discussions to more inclusive research that assesses the impact of other dominant languages on employability-related concerns.

The purpose of this paper is to identify how undergraduate engineering students differ in their perception about software services companies in India based on variables like gender, locations of the college and branches of engineering.

Data obtained from 560 undergraduate engineering students who had the opportunity to have multiple job offers from four major Indian software services companies through campus recruitment drives were analyzed. Chi‐square test, cross tabulation and multi‐nominal regressions were performed to test hypotheses.

Decisions of engineering students with respect to their first‐career choice are mostly influenced by intrinsic reasons than extrinsic or interpersonal reasons. While male students are greatly influenced by intrinsic reasons, female students are more influenced by extrinsic reasons. Students belonging to different locations and different branches of engineering have varying reasons for accepting a job offer.

Findings of this paper cannot be generalized as it involves students from only three engineering colleges in south India. A survey involving students from different strata across India would enable scholars to capture more insight into the perceptions of engineering students towards the Indian software services industry.

Knowledge about the perceptions of engineering graduates towards software services companies in India based on gender, location of the college and the branch of engineering to which students belong, can help human resource managers, entrepreneurs in software services industry and career counselors to strategize human resource practices.

Many studies have been conducted to identify what employers expect from engineering graduates whereas there is a dearth of articles that investigate perceptions of engineering students with respect to their first‐career choice. This study conducts this bottom‐up approach wherein different expectations of prospective employees are analysed.

The purpose of this paper is to examine the relationships of service marketing mix (SMM) as service input and service output in terms of students’ performance, satisfaction and referral act in context to higher and technical education (HTE) through the application of structural equation modeling.

A quantitative research, conducted through a self-administered survey composed by a closed-ended structured questionnaire, was incorporated for the students who were enrolled in the technical educational institutions situated in the Khandesh region of India.

The findings of this study revealed that traditional SMM is statistically linked with the performance of students in terms of skill and knowledge enhancement, satisfaction and referral act of students, which are perceptible new emerging SMM; performance, pleasure and pointing out in terms of service output.

Integrating SMM as service input and service output are productive for HTE in enhancing growth (quantitatively) by the inclusivity of diversified students and development (qualitatively) by enhancing their performance for global standing, making them satisfied and motivating them for recommending their institution to others. This integration can be utilized as a yardstick by the institutions for staying ahead in students’ market with a distinctive competitive advantage.

Growth and development of HTE will raise a society’s quality of life and thereby increase a country’s socio-economic status.

The study has exhibited SMM as input and output of a service system that is useful for the growth and development of HTE. The measurement tool presented is effective in (re)framing policies on SMM as service input based on desired service output.

An increasing number of students delay graduation or graduate without a job, because they are not ready to make a career decision. In addition, the growing number of young adults who are not in education, employment or training (NEET) has become a social concern in South Korea. To facilitate career decision-making of undergraduates, this study examined the effects of work value orientation and academic major orientation on career decision-making self-efficacy (CDMSE). The purpose of this paper is to examine the relationships among South Korean undergraduates’ intrinsic work value orientation, extrinsic work value orientation, academic major satisfaction and CDMSE.

Based on the literature review, this study tested a research model using structural equation modeling with survey results of 217 undergraduates.

The research results indicated that intrinsic work value orientation influenced academic major satisfaction and CDMSE. However, extrinsic work value orientation turned out to influence neither academic major satisfaction nor CDMSE. Academic major satisfaction also seemed to affect the CDMSE of the students in this study.

This study contributes to the field of career development by explaining the significance of undergraduates’ intrinsic work value orientation and academic major satisfaction on career decision-making. Whereas most research has focused on the effects of CDMSE, this study investigated the factors that influence undergraduates’ CDMSE.

The purpose of this paper is to examine whether satisfaction of employers with skill competencies of fresh engineering graduates (EGs) in India is impacted by their expectations and perceptions. Applying Expectation Confirmation Theory (ECT), the authors have also proposed and tested whether such effects on employers’ satisfaction are mediated by (dis)confirmation.

Data were collected through a survey of employers’ representatives using a structured questionnaire. The proposed mediation model has been tested on a sample of 284 with Confirmatory Factor Analysis by applying structural equation modelling in AMOS.

The structural model has been constructed with six latent constructs in accordance with extant literature. Excluding some observed variables, the structural model was found to have a good model fit. The measurement model is in accordance with ECT. Three of the four independent variables (two related to employers’ expectations and one to employers’ perception) exert significant influence on employers’ satisfaction, with (dis)confirmation as a mediator.

Industry–academia partnerships need to be an integral feature of any curriculum to bridge the gap between course curricula on one hand and employers’ expectations and perceptions on the other.

Past research on employability of EGs has mostly explored a direct association between employers’ perception and satisfaction. The authors study contributes to literature by examining the role of employers’ expectations in addition to their perception as precursors of their satisfaction, using the framework of ECT. Outcomes reported are of relevance to multiple stakeholders in technical education.

The purpose of this paper is to present a qualitative analysis of the significant factors that influence graduate employability in information technology (IT) sector. This is imperative, given the rising “employability gap” confronted by this sector, especially in context of India. The key factors that influence graduate employability have been drawn from the literature. This research paper aims to conduct a preliminary validation of these predictors of employability and analyse the contextual relationship between them through Total Interpretive Structural Modelling (TISM) technique (Nasim, 2011; Sushil, 2012). This technique is an innovative version of Interpretive Structural Modelling proposed by Warfield (1973).

The antecedents of graduate employability have been identified through qualitative analysis of available literature. Further, TISM has been used to derive a structural model and analyse the contextual relationship among these identified antecedents. The structural model has been derived through in-depth interviews with experts that include senior middle management professionals from reputed IT companies in India. The developed TISM model has been further validated through assessment surveys with a larger set of domain experts to enhance the credibility of the obtained results.

Based on the data collected from the domain experts, eight elements including employability and its seven antecedents were hierarchically modelled into four levels. While all the seven identified factors were endorsed by the industry experts as the drivers of employability, some of the key factors affecting employability emerged to be technical specialties knowledge, technology management skills and communication skills. Furthermore, the developed model has been subsequently validated and accepted based on the results of the assessment surveys conducted with a larger set of domain experts.

The findings are expected to help the graduates seeking jobs in IT and allied sectors and the higher education institutions (HEIs) offering academic programmes in this domain. These findings would enable the graduates to understand the significance of the different knowledge/skill areas that influence their employability and increase the chances of securing job. Also, the HEIs can comprehend the developed model to understand the demands of the employers, the rationale behind it and further align their course curriculum/teaching methodologies in sync with their expectations. The developed model should be put to empirical validation for greater reliability.

The qualitative analysis of the antecedents of graduate employability using TISM technique is an original methodological contribution to the field. Though the TISM technique has been used in research studies across different sectors like e-government (Nasim, 2011), higher education (Prasad and Suri, 2011) and flexible manufacturing systems (Dubey and Ali, 2014), the application of this technique to employability in IT sector in India is a novel contribution.

The purpose of this paper is to compare the desired employability skills of business graduates in Syria from the perspective of both higher education policymakers and employers in the private sector.

Interviews were conducted with 12 higher education policymakers and managers from the business sector. Content analysis was utilized to analyse the content of the interviews and the strategic priorities of the higher education sector in Syria.

Results revealed that although higher education policymakers focus more on societal, public and thinking skills for business graduates, the business sector focusses more on individual, private and practical skills. Accordingly, a comparative tool that aligns the two perspectives was developed in the study. The tool, based on the contradicting employability skills, identified four types of business graduates: leader, collective, technical and trainee.

The study is limited by data collected before the current political instability in Syria in 2012. The data were collected only from official documents and interviews with policymakers and employers. Students were not part of the study.

The managerial tool developed at the end of the study will help both policymakers and the private sector to statistically allocate business graduates for better planning. The study provides recommendations to the different stakeholders in the higher education sector in Syria.

Although the majority of the previous literature raises the voices of the business sector, this study is one of the first studies that aligns the discrepant perspectives of the higher education and business sectors. The managerial tool developed in the study is original and usable by policymakers and the business sector, and it is subject to further development.

Self-initiated expatriates (SIEs) literature is characterized by a narrow definition of SIEs and a lack of distinction between SIEs and other groups of international workers. This situation leads to a lack of a clear definition of SIEs. To improve understanding of SIEs, a systematic literature review (SLR) was carried out to identify criteria that are used in SIE literature to define SIEs.

SIEs literature is characterized by a narrow definition of SIEs and a lack of distinction between SIEs and other travelers. This situation leads to a lack of a clear definition of SIEs. To improve understanding of SIEs, a SLR was carried out to identify criteria that are used in SIE literature to define SIEs.

This SLR identified 13 criteria that can be used to define SIEs, but further analysis showed initiative, push factors, possession of skills, motivation, employment terms, period of stay, mobility and legal employment status are the important criteria that can be used to define SIEs and differentiate them from other groups of international workers.

The findings of this SLR need to be interpreted in consideration of limitations. Some studies did not report home or host, while other studies grouped countries into regions. In other studies that used mixed samples of SIEs and other types of expatriates, the home or host countries of SIEs could not be distinguished. Although this SLR and previous works have attempted to clarify the concept of SIEs, there is a need for SLRs to clarify other groups of internationally mobile workers. There have been efforts aimed at bridging this gap, but there is a need for the use of SLR methodology and updating previous efforts.

This SLR has exhaustively reviewed existing literature on SIEs to identify essential criteria that can be used to differentiate and define SIEs. The review has demonstrated that existing criteria used to differentiate international mobile workers either exclude important criteria or include criteria that are not important. These limitations are overcome by developing criteria that differentiate various groups. These criteria are then used to develop a definition of SIEs, which the author believes adequately differentiates them from other groups of international workers.

With changing employment conditions, technological advancement, frequent manpower reduction and global competition, the relevance of the protean and boundaryless career concepts is increasing. With this, the country’s culture plays a pivotal role in career choice. The purpose of this paper is to develop and validate protean and boundaryless career scales for college passing out students and in the Indian context. The protean career scale was measured by self-directed and values-driven dimensions, while the boundaryless career scale was measured by boundaryless mindset and organizational mobility preference.

The first step involved defining construct and determining face validity. The data collected via questionnaire from India’s final year engineering students were subjected to exploratory factor analysis and confirmatory factor analysis in the second and third steps, respectively. Finally, the nomological validity was tested by establishing the relationship between factors influencing career choice and newly developed protean and boundaryless career.

The result suggested using a two-factor model with a protean career (combining self-directed and values-driven items) and a boundaryless career as a separate construct for college passing out students.

The developed scale has nine items that can be used to conduct surveys at the time of campus hiring by academic scholars, HR managers, and practitioners who are working on the identification, development and management of human talent as a part of any human resource management system.

To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this is the first approach to developing the protean and boundaryless career scale for college passing out students and in the Indian context which can be replicable for South Asian countries.