Graduate employability skills: Differences between the private and the public sector in South Africa

The article reports on a comparison between the private and the public sector with reference to an evaluation of employability skills of graduates in a sample consisting of employers from the Mangaung area, South Africa. A quantitative study was conducted using an unabridged questionnaire, with a Cronbach’s alpha of.97 and an inter-item correlation of.405340. The sample consisted out of 250 private-sector and 253 public-sector respondents. The results indicate that the only statistically significant differences between the private and the public sector in terms of graduate employability skills are self-responsibility and interpersonal skills. Indicative of the notion that the differences between the private and the public sector are becoming less marked, and that the employability skills that are sought by the public sector are similar to those that are sought by the private sector. Based on the findings of the research project, recommendations are made concerning course curricula in order to ensure that graduates are employable irrespective of sector.