Abstract:
University graduates in Azerbaijan currently face significant employability issues. Since
1993 to 2017 there was a steady decline in employment of students from 53% to 45%. The research
shows that there are several reasons for this decline and teaching strategies is one of them. To
understand this issue, I conducted a multi-phase study with the aim to investigate how universities
cultivate graduate employability and the role of teaching strategies in this process. Three
population groups, employers, university students, and university instructors participated in this
study. The study was conducted at ADA University and partner organizations with ADA
University. A total of 39 adults representing three population groups took part in my study. A
multi-phase research design was employed, which consisted of three phases: qualitative study with
employers, a mixed methods study with students, and a qualitative study with instructors. Data
were collected using questionnaire, interview protocols, and focus group protocol.
The findings obtained from the research allowed to claim that teaching strategies affect
employability of graduates. Teachers use a variety of teaching strategies to enhance employability
of graduates, which is confirmed by the results obtained from students. Students also think that
they enter the job market with the certain set of skills and knowledge. However, according to
employers these skills either are not adequate or do not fully meet the demands of current job
market. This shows that there is a gap between job market and universities, which might be due to
inadequate communication between these two parties. Thus, I recommend to strengthen the
communication between the job market and universities in order to fully meet employers’
requirements. In addition to this, it is necessary to emphasize the role of teaching strategies for the
growth of graduates’ employability skills by adopting internal policies. This also demands to support and increase university teachers’ capacity to cultivate graduate employability through
various professional development events.