Employers' Expectations and Perceptions of Business and Economics College Graduate's Competencies in Ethiopia

The Practitioners of every business fields are claiming that graduates have little practical knowledge while the academic institutions will defend their right by setting educational objectives. The aim of the study is to find out the employers' perceptions and expectations of the graduates' competency. The research study employed a descriptive research design with a quantitative research approach. The target population of the study was all the general managers and HR managers of all organizations in South Wollo and Oromiya Zone in Ethiopia. The study sample size was 327 by using a purposive sampling technique. The study revealed that there is a big gap between employers' expectations and the graduates' competency of business and economic college in Ethiopia. The results showed that the respondents said there is a lack of skills, knowledge, and abilities among graduates. Furthermore, the analysis has shown that there is a good and significant relationship between the knowledge, skills, and abilities of the graduates. In addition to that, the study has shown that there is no matching between the university curriculum and market demand. Improving and updating the university curriculum to match the market demand and to fill the gap as well as to provide practical training to the graduates are recommended.