How do business graduates fare in job market? Or, more importantly, what are the skills and the culture that business schools instill up on degree holders?
Given the high graduation rates, and yet, owing to disappointingly low employment rates, the percentage of unemployment rate has also been disturbing. Since naturally every graduate wants to enter a job or start his/her own businesses, how do they correlate what is actually taught at business schools to what they want? Are they in line with the ever-changing demands of the corporate industry? Does the hard work at institutions and investment by guardians in business graduates pay off?
Salman Rashid is one amongst thousands of Bangladeshi graduates. At a city coffee shop, a few weeks back, the 23-year-old fresh graduate was seen swiping on his smartphone, almost endlessly. When asked about the reason for his constant engagement, he simply shrugged and answered that he was browsing through BDJobs.com and searching for a job that suits his sub-specialty. And marketing is it. It’s also quite difficult to be a specialist at his age. When asked ‘why didn’t you try anywhere else’, he replied that other areas such as sales or finance are just not going to develop his career.
But shouldn’t a proper BBA programme have harnessed his skills to get him entry level recruitment at any post?
‘If I know my major in BBA very well, I don’t need anything else? Do I? I’ve tried for more than 25 posts, with no calls for interviews yet,’ said Salman who actually began to ponder his future over this period of anxiety. ‘I can’t prolong my unemployment period.’
With thousands of students taking admission for tertiary level education at both public and private universities, the majority of them are taking up graduation and post-graduation courses in business administration (fondly known as BBA and MBA). It is the most preferred subject for studying of this generation and their immediate seniors.
After the charms of government jobs wore out in view of pay structure or decline in their number, graduates have been more attracted to joining banks and other private institutions. This was due to the private sector boom that has taken place since the 1990s. The process began a bit earlier when the country’s entrepreneurs were trying to develop business entities.
But now, as the population is increasing every year, the number of higher secondary graduates going to universities is also going higher. According to University Grants Commission (UGC), there are over 34 public universities and more than 60 private universities. More are on their way in the future. The number of students is something which even UGC has to update once every few years. So with so many students enrolling and a substantial bulk of that number graduating each year, it is difficult for all to manage jobs right away.
Gaps between textbooks and office desks
If one looks at human history, it would be clear that business has been at the centre of many social activities since the early days of civilization. Some might even say that the continually dynamic exchange of goods is the cornerstone of human development into massive civilizations and the emergence of the modern world. And business shows no signs of fading away. In fact, business stands at the forefront of innovation and progress. Business is the link to the past and the guide to the future.
But if we put aside all fancy words, we have to face the harsh question — Does studying business help in getting a job?
‘Yes, quite a lot,’ says Professor Iqbal Ahmad, Director at Dhaka University’s prestigious Institute of Business Administration (IBA). ‘If you look at IBA’s graduates, they are the ones who get the first priority when applying for any job, which is how we, as faculties of this institution, develop them. But the fact of the matter remains that only the best of the best gets admitted at the IBA, and the rest have to try for different public and private universities, the qualities of which, unfortunately, are not uniform. You can spot an IBA graduate right when you see one, but the same cannot be said for others. I have seen highly talented students getting enrolled in other universities, where, due to the mediocre level of harnessing, they cannot develop their business acumen as much as they could sustain.’
That is why there has been an advent of career services for students who are in their 3rd or final year of studying. Career services helps students to obtain part-time or full-time employment in positions which would help them to develop professionally, as they further their careers hereon. ‘From my understanding, most of the universities have career services office, and usually it’s a ‘one-man-outfit’ or may be a two-man-outfit, and most of them are focused on the last phase of the student, which is centrally when they are outgoing, into the professional world, or becoming a job seeker,’ said Khan AN Murshid, Director of Office of Career Services and Alumni Relations at BRAC University. ‘We, on the other hand, have a different approach – our primary consideration is that career is something which the student has to be aware of, and be concerned about, pretty much from the first or second semester. And this shouldn’t be a last minute rushed preparation for the professional world, because, that will be counterproductive. This is something that has to be built in to the students from the freshman year to right up to their graduation year.’
What does everybody want?
Most jobseekers wish they could unlock the secret formula to winning the hearts and minds of employers. What, they wonder, is that unique combination of skills and values that make employers salivate with excitement?
‘Every employer is looking for a specific set of skills from jobseekers that match the skills necessary to perform a particular job,’ said Minarul Islam, People Performance Manager at Augmedix Bangladesh, a leading outsourcing firm. ‘By far, the one skill mentioned most often by employers is the ability to listen, write, and speak effectively. Successful communication is critical in business. High analytical research skills are also a must. Managing multiple priorities is essential if one is to success in working. While there is some debate about whether leadership is something people are born with, these skills deal with your ability to take charge and manage your co-workers. There is possibly no bigger issue in the workplace than diversity, and jobseekers must demonstrate a sensitivity and awareness to other people and cultures. Because so many jobs involve working in one or more workgroups, you must have the ability to work with others in a professional manner while attempting to achieve a common goal.’
He pointed out that employability skills and personal values are the critical tools and traits you need to succeed in the workplace. ‘And they are all elements that you can learn, cultivate, develop, and maintain over your lifetime. Once you have identified the sought-after skills and values and assessed the degree to which you possess, then remember to document them and market them (in your resume, cover letter, and interview answers) for job-search success,’ he added.
But with so many graduates applying everywhere, it is hard to consider people from all the universities. Safwan Ahsan, former Talent Manager at British American Tobacco Bangladesh, regrets. BATB is generally perceived to be hiring graduates from a specific number of universities. When asked about this, Safwan said that given the fact that resources are limited and in order to focus their efforts, it has been possible to visit only a limited number of universities and make them source. ‘Since Bangladesh has quite a substantial number of universities, both public and private, we tend to focus on a few that would be most relevant to our organisation. One of the primary considerations is generally the quality of talent that we get from some universities and how many of them are currently working for us. Having said that, it must be mentioned that we do not dismiss talented candidates from other institutes at all; after all, diversity is one of our guiding principles. Over a period of 15 years BATB has hired people from over 120 institutes from all over the world, which is a significant number in itself.’
Blissful knowledge
Prof. Iqbal Ahmad has given a list what should be the basic education at business schools. They are as follows:
First, a business degree programme will teach you critical thinking and problem solving skills. Ranging from balancing a budget to weighing marketing mishaps, your mind will be sharpened and quickened to deal with tough situations and find the smoothest way out.
Second, you will learn the finer points of data analysis. On the surface, business may just look like exchanging material goods, but any good businessperson knows that underneath it all are but numbers. Knowledge of statistics, patterns, and economic formulas help businesses make the most out of their production.
Third, business degree programmes teach communication skills. No business can operate with one person alone and no business can succeed if it doesn’t have clients and consumers. Thus, people skills, negotiation skills, and even hospitality skills are essential for the smooth operation of modern business.
Fourth, you will definitely learn how to engage in in-depth research. A successful business takes in all of its surroundings, both physically and economically, in order to maximise its production and its profit. Without knowing what the world needs, how can you help to make it?
Fifth, top tier business degree programmes will even encourage the development of creativity. What is the better way for international students to succeed in the global marketplace than to create a truly novel product, idea, or model?
So, what is taught at business schools in Bangladesh?
‘Usually Bachelors in Business Administration starts off with basics required to comprehend quantitative analysis, business communications, etc,’ said Prof. Imran Rahman, Vice Chancellor at University of Liberal Arts Bangladesh (ULAB). ‘Once they progress in their journey, the students are introduced to core business concepts such as marketing and finance. Further sub-specialised areas such as Human Resources also open up as they move further ahead. The objective of the business schools is to make sure that the students can learn the basic abilities so that, for example, when they will be handed a business case, they can study and analyse the merits and challenges of that particular case.’
‘Here at ULAB we provide the opportunity for students to take courses outside their designated subjects, thanks to the liberal arts philosophy that we instill in our institution. In public universities, a business student will never be taught courses outside their curriculum, but here they can,’ he told ICE Business Times.
Persisting graduate unemployment rates
A British Council-sponsored report on graduate unemployment in South Asia, published last year and prepared by the Economist Intelligence Unit (EIU), shows that nearly 5 out of every 10 graduates in Bangladesh are unemployed (against 3 out of 10 in India and Pakistan). The report partly attributes graduate unemployment problem to the region’s fast expanding but poor quality private education sector and use of outdated curriculum in public universities.
‘Graduate unemployment is not unique to countries like Bangladesh,’ said Prof. M Niaz Asadullah, Professor of Development Economics at Malaya University, Kuala Lumpur, and a Fellow of the Royal Society of Arts (RSA), ‘Japan has for many years suffered from rising graduate unemployment. In South Korea, a country with very high university enrolment rate, the number of economically inactive graduates is over 3 million. In Singapore, graduate unemployment rate was reported to be 3.6% in 2013 against the average unemployment rate of around 2%. However, the EIU-BC estimate of 47% against Bangladesh’s overall unemployment rate of 5% (official estimate) is extremely worrying. As a matter of fact, a bleak graduate unemployment figure nearly 10 times our overall unemployment rate puts the credibility of all Bangladeshi universities on the line.’
The EIU-BC report does not add any caveat on the accuracy of the country estimates reported though it does warn the reader against country comparison. A footnote clarifies that ‘inconsistency in definitions across national sources means figures between countries may not be directly comparable.’ However, this warning is not helpful when the actual definition of unemployment and data sources used is not disclosed for Bangladesh and other South Asian countries.
The figures for Bangladesh are puzzling for several reasons. First, the overall reported unemployment rate in Bangladesh is lower (5%) than that for India and Pakistan (8.5% and 6%). How likely is it that graduates have disproportionately high unemployment rate compared to their peers who seek jobs in economies with higher overall unemployment rates? Second, given that the overall macroeconomic conditions and GDP growth rate in Bangladesh have been favourable relative to India and Pakistan in recent years (particularly 2012 onwards); the estimated graduate unemployment rate appears questionable. Third, compared to a decade ago, the labour market and overall economic conditions of Bangladesh have been relatively more favourable to job seeking graduates. This again makes it hard to conceive that every 1 out of every 2 Bangladeshi graduates remains unemployed.
Prof. Asadullah surmises a lot of reasons for this. ‘In case of Bangladesh, only 35% females of working-age population participate in the labour market. Among those who decide to work, many do without pay under informal arrangements. In other words, female graduates are disproportionately out of the labour market and don’t enter the calculation of unemployment rate. Any approximation that counts out-of-the-labour-force females as unemployed will hugely overestimate the graduate unemployment rate. Second, high graduate unemployment is a problem if instead of a temporary blip it reflects a chronic oversupply of graduates. The decade of 2000-2010 has seen tertiary enrolment rate in Bangladesh jump from 5% to 13%.’
‘Even then, compared to other countries of similar per capita income, Bangladeshi youths, particularly females, are far behind in terms of university enrolment rate. Therefore, the jury is still out on whether the country is suffering from an excess supply of graduates. Third, measuring graduate unemployment is even harder because many graduates continue in education for a second degree or consider setting up own businesses, which can take time. Even among those who finish higher education, a large proportion may choose to be unemployed to search and accept a job offer if and only if it satisfies their expectations. This sub-population, voluntarily unemployed graduates, is often left out when calculating graduate unemployment rate. Unemployment measure can also vary depending on whether we’re considering a recent cohort of graduates or all graduates in the labour market. For these reasons, the standard practice is to rely on a population of graduates for whom the employment destinations are known. Yet this standard has been comprised by the EIU-BC report.’
Where the gap lies?
‘Half of the courses taught are ideally skill-based training, but then again it can only be attained if there is a love for learning the trade, not merely for getting a job,’ Prof. Imran Rahman said. ‘In Bangladesh this is a big problem. Classroom lectures are not everything, and that is where we are lagging behind. The severe shortage of skills in business graduates is one of the major reasons why there is a high unemployment rate among business majors. But we must remain optimistic, if we can address these problems, then we can pick up the pace.’
He added that ULAB is currently undertaking a research survey on what employers actually want from graduates when recruiting. ‘As far as we know, we develop the students to the extent that they can communicate effectively, meet deadlines, knowing how to adjust, etc. Lack of effective English skills also puts us far behind. Native English speakers can express their thoughts freely, whereas our students cannot. English proficiency is taken as a benchmark for high communication skills by employers, had the students been taught both English and Bangla properly in primary level education, then this should not have been the case.’
The mushrooming of business graduates are not going hand in hand with employment generation. This is due to lack of job creation in the market. ‘This is not good for society,’ he surmises, ‘70% of the undergraduate students study BBA. It is also a global problem, as there is a pre-conceived notion that business graduates will get preference than students with other majors, and the business graduates are guaranteed jobs. This is a contemporary problem though. Had this occurred 100-200 years back, we would not have been blessed with Tagore or other distinguished individuals. We need more entrepreneurs, as job creation does not seem to rise anytime soon. Students should not just wait for opportunities, but rather grab when they find one.’
Challenges for Employers &Academic Institutes
When asked about whether business schools are on the right track of delivery quality education to students, Prof. Rahman said that a lot more can be done. ‘The cut-paste curriculum that most universities have adopted need to be phased out and the respective management needs to find out what actually should be taught. Sadly, this is also why there is no actual integration between the business curriculum and employers.’
‘Our universities should have more accreditations and set more benchmarks to make themselves more credible in society’s eyes. But lack of good faculties, lack of research grants/funds and questionable quality of education in schools and colleges are hindrances to our development. Students and parents should not expect that universities will teach language skills, quantitative analysis and self-learning motivation, these should start from a very early point of their education.’ East Asian countries such as Japan, Korea and China are making serious investments so that they can build up on an effective and quality workforce in the near future. ‘We do not get investments like those here,’ he lamented.
As far as corporations are concerned, the need to assess the graduate market and seek for customised recruits is essential. ‘Recruiting using social media is a growing trend in today’s world,’ Minarul Islam said. ‘In 2010, for example, 6% of all companies used social media to attract talent. In 2014, so far that number is 94%. Millennials and recruiters are changing the recruiting industry together. LinkedIn is definitely the front runner in social media for recruiting talent – 94% of employers use LinkedIn to recruit, versus 65% for Facebook and 55% for Twitter. Being that the main purpose of LinkedIn is to be a business tool, this makes perfect sense. Professionals – one of whom could be your ideal candidate – are joining LinkedIn at a rate of more than two new members per second.’
But he is hopeful that employers’ perspective will change. ‘I really do not see why graduates from other disciplines cannot apply for the same position as their business discipline peers can,’ he said. Some of the most successful professionals do not have any MBA degree, rather they are from International Relations, Bangla, English and even a certified MBBS-passed doctor. ‘If we can foresee changes, I don’t see why others will not in the near future.’
What next?
As there are business graduates abounding, they need jobs, suitable jobs and in cases their jobs should be focused on creation of more jobs for fellow graduates. Academies are not essentially meant for launching business entities but what they need to do, as experts agree, is to offer quality education instilling proper attitude and culture that can help graduates to face challenges of the real world of business.
Of course, there will be no adequate jobs or opportunities unless the national economy and business activities are vibrant. Business schools as the abode of creating future leaders need to ask the students a few questions on not only their own future but also the society where they will serve and bring changes. The beauty of good academy lies in helping the talents of new generations to flourish and face new and unforeseen business challenges of tomorrow.