The role of transferable skills in the educational mismatch of employed graduates

Absztrakt

Amidst the labour shortage, higher education institutions are trying to adapt as best as possible to the needs of the world of work. However, some students leaving higher education find themselves in jobs that do not match their level of education and/or their field of specialization. In the former case, it is a vertical mismatch/incongruence, in the latter, it is a horizontal mismatch/incongruence. The sector of tourism and catering is one of the fields where the rate of educational mismatch among graduates is higher than average, therefore, in addition to job-specific skills, transferable skills are also needed. Based on the questionnaire survey made in this research, employed graduates from the field of tourism and catering were able to utilize their transferable skills very well not only in incongruent but also in congruent employment. In addition, a statistically significant relationship can be demonstrated between the use of certain educational methods, such as problem-based, inquiry-based and project-based learning, and transferable skills elements. Consequently, increasing the proportion of transferable skills in higher education is beneficial for both congruent and incongruent graduates, and also contributes to improving their employability.