The Transition from Graduation to Work: Challenges and Strategies in the Twenty-First Century Asia Pacific and Beyond

266 Pages·2019·3.982 MB·English

by  Subas Dhakal, Verma Prikshat, Alan Nankervis, John Burgess

Work, Organization, and Employment
Series Editors:
Tony Dundon · Adrian Wilkinson
Subas Dhakal
Verma Prikshat
Alan Nankervis
Editors
John Burgess
The Transition
from Graduation
to Work
Challenges and Strategies in the
Twenty-First Century Asia Pacific
and Beyond
Work, Organization, and Employment
Series editors
Tony Dundon, The University of Manchester, Manchester, UK
Adrian Wilkinson, Business School, Griffith University, Brisbane, QLD, Australia
The series publishes high-quality research in the related subject areas of work, employment
relations,organizationalstudiesandanalysis,andhumanresourcemanagement.Theseriestakes
an overarching pluralist approach, debating and discussing topics via related theoretical lenses
includingpoliticaleconomy,ethics,andsystemsofgovernance.
Akeyfocusoftheseriesishowtheimperativesforefficiency,qualityandhighperformance
canbeconfiguredsothatequality,inclusion,goodpay,dignity,well-beingandsocialjusticeare
alsoachievedinincreasinglyglobalisedworkregimes.
Theseriesinvestigatestheconnectionsbetweentheworldofworkandthepoliticaleconomy
and public policy that shape regulations, organizational and business environments, work
experiences,andwell-beingwithinanewglobalisedmodelofconsumerism.
Editorial Board
Maike Andresen, University of Bamberg, Germany
Maurizio Atzeni, Centre for Labour Relations, CEIL/CONICET, Argentina
Donna Baines, University of Sydney, Australia
Debashish Bhattacherjee, Indian Institute of Management Calcutta, India
Fang Lee Cooke, Monash University, Australia
Ian Cunningham, University of Strathclyde, UK
Jenny Chan, Hong Kong Polytechnic University, and SACOM, Hong Kong
Julie Cogin, University of New South Wales, Australia
Christian de Cock, University of Essex, UK
Maria Alejandra Gonzalez-Perez, Universidad EAFIT, Colombia
Gail Hebson, Manchester Business School, UK
Donald Hislop, Loughborough University, UK
Wei Huang, Renmin University of China
Douglas Kruse, Rutgers University, USA
John Logan, San Francisco State University, USA
David Lewin, UCLA Anderson School of Management, USA
Paula McDonald, QUT, Australia
Miguel Martinez-Lucio, Manchester Business School, UK
Pun Ngai, Hong Kong Polytechnic University, Hong Kong
Werner Nienhueser, University of Duisburg-Essen, Germany
Dionne Pohler, University of Toronto, Canada
Ed Snape, Hong Kong Baptist University, Hong Kong
Scott Snell, Darden School of Business, University of Virginia, USA
Lucy Taksa, Macquarie University, Australia
Andrew Timming, University of Western Australia, Australia
Melissa Tyler, University of Essex, UK
Diane van den Broek, University of Sydney, Australia
Geoff Wood, University of Essex, UK
Stefan Zagelmeyer, Manchester Business School, UK
More information about this series at http://www.springer.com/series/14359
Subas Dhakal Verma Prikshat
(cid:129)
Alan Nankervis John Burgess
(cid:129)
Editors
The Transition
from Graduation to Work
Challenges and Strategies in the Twenty-First
fi
Century Asia Paci c and Beyond
123
Editors
SubasDhakal AlanNankervis
Schoolof Management Schoolof Management
Curtin University RMIT University
Perth, WA,Australia Melbourne, VIC,Australia
Verma Prikshat JohnBurgess
Australian Institute ofBusiness Schoolof Management
Adelaide, SA,Australia RMIT University
Melbourne, VIC,Australia
ISSN 2520-8837 ISSN 2520-8845 (electronic)
Work, Organization, andEmployment
ISBN978-981-13-0973-1 ISBN978-981-13-0974-8 (eBook)
https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-13-0974-8
LibraryofCongressControlNumber:2018945452
©SpringerNatureSingaporePteLtd.2019
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Singapore
Preface
A smooth transitioning from education to employment remains a major labour
market challenge globally. Investing in education and completing accredited pro-
grammes that satisfy job entry criteria isa standard pathway towards employment,
income generation, familyformation and career development. However, for many,
the transition to work is not direct, not smooth and not a short-term process.
Educationmayprovidecertainskillsandcertification,butitdoesnotprovidework
experience or those skills (especially soft skills) that complement formal qualifi-
cationsor organisational or industry knowledge that may be a pre-requisite for job
entry. The evidence suggests long delays between completing education and
obtaining a full-time and regular job in the career that matches the formal quali-
fications, and a transitional process characterised by underemployment including
insecure and irregular employment, often in an industry or an occupation outside
of the ones in which formal qualifications were obtained. This book explores the
transitional challenges from graduation to employment in the Asia (South and
South East) and Pacific context. This book builds upon prior research on graduate
work-readiness (GWR) and brings in the views and suggestions of stakeholders as
to how to address GWR. Specifically, the purpose is to identify and evaluate
innovativeprogrammesthatcaninforminstitutionalandpublicpolicyresponsesto
GWR challenges. The conclusion of the book draws on comparative analysis of
GWR across the region and considers a number of potential ways in which GWR
can be strengthened.
(cid:129) Subas Dhakal is a Lecturer at Curtin Business School in Curtin University,
Perth,Australia.Heisamanagementacademicwithexpertiseinthetheoryand
practice of sustainable development.
(cid:129) Verma Prikshat is a Lecturer in Management at the Australian Institute of
Business, Adelaide, Australia, and his major areas of research interest are in
human resource competencies and graduate work-readiness challenges in the
Asia Pacific region.
v
vi Preface
(cid:129) AlanNankervisisanAdjunctProfessorofHRMatRMITUniversity,Australia.
HisresearchinterestsincludecomparativeAsianHRM/management,HRMand
organisational effectiveness, artificial intelligence and the future of work in the
Asia Pacific.
(cid:129) John Burgess is Professor of Management at RMIT University, Melbourne,
Australia. His research interests include HRM practices of multinational enter-
prises, the relationship between working time and health and work in care
sectors.
Perth, Australia Subas Dhakal
Adelaide, Australia Verma Prikshat
Melbourne, Australia Alan Nankervis
Melbourne, Australia John Burgess
Contents
Part I The Issues and the Challenges
1 An Introduction to the Transition from Graduation to Work:
Challenges and Strategies in the Asia Pacific and Beyond . . . . . . . 3
Subas Dhakal, Verma Prikshat, Alan Nankervis and John Burgess
2 Conceptualising Graduate Work-Readiness: Theories, Concepts
and Implications for Practice and Research . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15
Verma Prikshat, Alan Nankervis, John Burgess and Subas Dhakal
3 Mapping Stakeholders of Graduate Work-Readiness (GWR). . . . . 31
Alan Nankervis, Verma Prikshat and Subas Dhakal
4 European, American and Japanese Perspectives
on Work-Readiness: Implications for the Asia-Pacific Region. . . . . 43
Jonathan Winterton
Part II Country Studies
5 The Future of Work in Australia: Preparing Graduates
for Changing Work Patterns that Require New Skill Sets . . . . . . . 65
Barbara Mumme and Roslyn Cameron
6 Work-Readiness of Indian Graduates: A Multi-stakeholder
Approach to Assess Competence Deficits and Causes, and
Possible Solutions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 85
Sanjeev Kumar, Parth Patel and Verma Prikshat
7 Graduate Work-Readiness Challenges in Indonesia—Findings
from a Multiple Stakeholder Study. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 107
Soegeng Priyono and Alan Nankervis
8 Graduate Work-Readiness in Malaysia: Challenges, Skills
and Opportunities. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 125
Noorziah Mohd Salleh, Jabil Mapjabil and Rafeah Legino
vii
viii Contents
9 Graduate Work-Readiness Challenges in Mauritius . . . . . . . . . . . . 143
Sarita Hardin-Ramanan, Loga Ballasoupramanien, Shafiiq Gopee,
Vikash Rowtho and Odylle Charoux
10 The Transition from Graduation to Work: Challenges and
Strategies in Singapore . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 161
Peter Waring, Christopher Vas and Azad Singh Bali
11 Graduate Work-Readiness in Taiwan: Stakeholder Perspectives
and Best Practices. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 179
Min-Wen Sophie Chang and Julia Connell
12 Graduate Work-Readiness in Thailand. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 203
Surapit Promsit
13 Enhancing Graduate Work-Readiness in Vietnam . . . . . . . . . . . . . 221
Nguyen Danh Nguyen, Nguyen Ba Ngoc and Alan Montague
Part III Comparative Analysis and Conclusion
14 Challenges and Strategies of Transition from Graduation
to Work in the Post-2020 Asia Pacific and Beyond:
A Comparative Analysis of Nine Countries. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 241
Subas Dhakal, Alan Nankervis, John Burgess and Verma Prikshat
15 Conclusion: The Future for Transition from Graduation
to Work in the Asia Pacific and Beyond. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 255
Subas Dhakal, Verma Prikshat, John Burgess and Alan Nankervis
Editors and Contributors
About the Editors
Subas Dhakal is a Lecturer at Curtin Business School, Curtin University. He is a
management academic with expertise in the theory and practice of sustainable
development. Prior to Curtin appointment, hewas a PostdoctoralFellow under the
federallyfundedCollaborativeResearchNetworks(CRN)programmeimplemented
in partnership between Southern Cross University and University of Queensland.
He has extensive research experiences/publications in the areas of corporate social
responsibility and stakeholder engagement, green jobs and employability, interna-
tional development and disasters management, and social entrepreneurship and
community-based tourism in the Asia Pacific and South Asian regions.
Verma Prikshat Lecturer, Australia Institute of Business, Adelaide. He has more
than17yearsofacademicexperience,includingteaching,researchandprogramme
managementandcoordinationattertiarylevel,inAustralianandIndianuniversities.
Hehastaughtavarietyofmanagementcourses(forexample,Management,Human
Resource Management, Organisation Change and Management, Organisation
Behaviour, Leadership, Managing Change and Leadership and Employment
Relations) at three Australian universities (namely, Central Queensland University
—Melbourne Campus and Batchelor Institute of Indigenous Tertiary Education,
Northern Territory). He has presented his research findings in numerous interna-
tional conferences, and his major areas of research interest are in human resource
competencies and graduate work-readiness challenges in the Asia Pacific region.
Alan Nankervis is an Adjunct Professor of HRM at RMIT University. He was
formerly theResearch Director intheSchool ofManagement atCurtin University,
theDirectoroftheGraduateSchoolofManagementatWesternSydneyUniversity
and the Head of HRM at RMIT. He is also the Chair of the Australian HR
Institute’s national programme accreditation committee. He has more than 150
publications, including books, book chapters, journal articles and international
conference presentations. His research interests include comparative Asian
ix