Improving Job Market Skills of Graduates

In Egypt and its neighbouring countries, a mismatch between educational output and training requirements of the labour market has been a significant constraint on economic development. Pre-employment skills are essential to prepare newly graduated students for the job market in the industry as well as academia.

AGYA members Dr. Lobna Said, Dr. Mohamed Abou El-Enein, Dr. Shadi Albarqouni and Dr. Mohammad Adm want to bridge this gap and offer training courses for students to improve their labour market skills. At the same time, the AGYA members aim to ignite a debate on the further development of the university’s curricula which must be adapted to the new requirements of the international labour market for more sustainable development.

After a widespread call for participation, 74 participants were selected from over 460 applications to participate in the online workshop. They have diverse disciplinary backgrounds and come from Algeria, Egypt, Jordan, Libya, Morocco, Palestine, and Nigeria.

The events had a hybrid character: an online workshop with input sessions about the enhancement of marketability, research and entrepreneurial skills was combined with hands-on training courses that took place simultaneously in Cairo, Gaza City and Hebron. 

In the intensive on-site training course in Egypt and Palestine, participants practised interview situations. The expertise of high-ranking trainers was combined with the AGYA members’ experience from several academic fields and interdisciplinary collaboration.

Objectives/Contributions:

The project aims to bridge this gap and offer training courses for students to improve their labour market skills. At the same time, the AGYA members aim to ignite a debate on the further development of the university’s curricula which must be adapted to the new requirements of the international labour market for more sustainable development.