RELATIONSHIPS BETWEEN GRADUATE EMPLOYABILITY CAPITALS, EMPLOYMENT OUTCOME AND JOB QUALITY IN KAZAKHSTAN

Abstract

Graduate employment deserves considerable attention in Kazakhstan from the President, Ministries and other policymakers. In this regard, a method of rating universities based on their graduate employment and other indicators was created by the National Chamber of Entrepreneurs of the Republic of Kazakhstan “Atameken.” This has put pressure on universities to report the number of employed graduates, average monthly salary and time taken to find an employment. As a result, there is now an urgency on part of the universities to ensure that its graduates are employable and are being employed. This study aimed at exploring the relationship among graduate employability capitals (human, social, сultural, identity and psychological), job quality indicators (vertical match, horizontal match, job satisfaction and pay), employment status and job search duration. A quantitative survey-based approach was employed in this study to reveal if any relationships exist among graduate capitals, job quality indicators, employment status and job search duration. The total population sampling method was used to choose the group of graduates that completed their bachelor degree in the period of 2019-2021. The rationale for this specific sample was because they have 1-3 years of work experience, but are still considered fresh graduates. The findings of the study provided insights on how human, social, cultural, identity and psychological capital relate to employment status, job quality indicators, and job search duration. The results revealed the following: there is a relationship between social capital and employment status, and identity capital and employment status; additionally, all five capitals relate positively to job satisfaction; and there is also a positive relationship between each of the three capitals (human, social, and cultural) and monthly earnings. The study concludes viii by offering recommendations for policy makers and university administration on how to improve graduate employability by using and understanding graduate capitals