According to the 2017 Joint Graduate Employment Survey that was released last month, graduates from the Singapore Institute of Technology (SIT) were more likely to find employment within the first six months of completing their final examinations, compared to their counterparts from other universities.

Furthermore, the overall employment rate of SIT graduates was 92.3 per cent in 2017, up 3.3 per cent from 2016.

This is significantly higher than the overall employment figure for graduates from the National University of Singapore (NUS), Nanyang Technological University (NTU) and Singapore Management University (SMU), which stood at 88.9 per cent, a slight dip from 2016’s 89.5 per cent.

Similarly, the Singapore University of Technology and Design outperformed NUS, NTU and SMU, reporting an overall employment rated reported of 91.4 per cent, up 0.4 per cent from 2016.

While the Singapore University of Social Sciences (SUSS) has yet to complete its graduate employment survey of its pioneer batch of 168 full-time degree graduates, anecdotal data has shown that SUSS graduates receive good job offers and high salaries as well.

Despite being relatively new to Singapore’s higher education scene, SUSS, SIT and SUTD have exhibited a strong ability to produce graduates who are highly attractive to potential employers. These figures also raise several important questions.

How have the three newer universities achieved this level of success in such a short span of time? And are NUS, NTU and SMU losing their shine as higher education institutions?

At the heart of SIT's and SUSS’ success in graduate employability is the two universities’ strong commitment to an industry-centric and practice-oriented education.

Indeed, the two universities were established to provide students with an applied-degree pathway that aims to integrate theoretical knowledge with real-life application.

Furthermore, both universities feature longer-than-usual work attachments for their students, with those from SIT typically spending eight to 12 months in such stints under the university’s Integrated Work Study Programme (IWSP).

Due to their extensive work experience, SIT graduates are seen as more capable of adapting to their new work environments and jumping right into their new roles and responsibilities.

More importantly, these work attachments are grounded in the university’s practice-oriented curriculum as well its efforts to ensure the availability of internship opportunities. For instance, the content and schedule of IWSP are customised according to industry needs.

Indeed, I know of personal contacts within the SIT faculty who have spent an extensive amount of time carrying out industry scanning and networking with industry partners.

This helps the faculty members to obtain a deeper understanding of what employers expect from a university graduate, which in turn helps inform the university’s curriculum and pedagogy.

In contrast, the three older and more established universities tend to take a more traditional and academic approach to designing their pedagogy and curricula.

Indeed, there is a strong emphasis on theoretical knowledge in NUS and NTU, as well as a ‘chalk-and-talk’ approach among many of its lecturers.

Certainly, there is nothing inherently wrong with this approach. Having spent much of my academic career in these two universities, I appreciate the strong theoretical grounding that an NUS or NTU education provides for its graduates.

However, an increasingly complex economy that is rife with change and disruption may necessitate closer linkages between universities and industries.

In order to ensure greater employability among our graduates, there is a need to first ensure that degree programmes are attuned to the real-world needs of firms and industries.

This may require reducing an emphasis on theory and introducing more applied learning to our curricula.

It should also be noted that NUS, NTU and SMU have established themselves as leading research institutions. But an over-emphasis on research can have detrimental effects on educational outcomes.

More extensive and structured industry attachments will certainly help our students attain much-needed work experience before they graduate.

While SIT and SUSS have been earmarked by the Education Ministry to provide applied degree programmes, other universities such as NUS and NTU can also foster greater linkages with industries.

This will help ensure that degree programmes and curricula remain relevant and attuned to the needs of industry and employers.

Such efforts cannot be left to administrative staff; university faculty members will need to play a bigger role.

For instance, faculty members may need to spend much more time networking with their industry partners, in order to understand the skills and competencies that will be required of their students upon graduation.

Indeed, professors who are not actively engaged with industry and society run the risk of becoming ‘out of touch’ with Singapore’s overall socio-economic milieu.

This will in turn hamper their ability to provide a comprehensive and relevant education for their students. One can even argue that such engagement with industry and society can make our professors better teachers.

Furthermore, such efforts should not end with graduation. As Singapore’s universities are increasingly called upon to participate in the Ministry of Education’s efforts to encourage lifelong learning, there is also a need to ensure that university alumni remain employable for the rest of their careers.

To this end, all six universities have established schools or colleges for adult education and lifelong learning, such as NTU’s College of Professional and Continuing Education.

The ultimate aim of a university is to ensure that our students are well-educated and capable of securing meaningful employment.

While other activities, such as research, can also contribute to knowledge creation and help foster innovation, these should not come at the expense of the university’s fundamental role as an institution of higher education.

As the needs of Singapore’s economy continue to shift and change, universities will need to reorient their curriculum and pedagogy accordingly.

The success of newer universities such as SIT and SUSS in ensuring graduate employability can present useful learning points for all universities and educators alike.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR:

Woo Jun Jie is an Assistant Professor in the Public Policy & Global Affairs Programme, Nanyang Technological University.