Teaching and Learning Forum 2011 1 Employer satisfaction of university graduates: Key capabilities in early career graduates Category: Research Mahsood Shah University of Canberra Chenicheri Sid. Nair Centre for the Advancement of Teaching and Learning, University of Western Australia sid.nair@uwa.edu.au While employers are one of the most important stakeholders of universities, there is limited research in Australia on employer satisfaction with the quality of university graduates and on the key capabilities of early career graduates for employers in various professions. Such research is critical as governments in many countries are enhancing quality assurance of higher education with a focus on academic standards and the extent to which student have achieved learning outcomes. This paper outlines the findings of a survey undertaken in 2004 and 2008 in a large Australian university with 400 graduate employers and professional associations on their satisfaction with university graduates with respect to the key capabilities of early career graduates. The paper also looks at the employer’s views about the key skills and attributes needed in early career graduates to meet changing industry trends in various professions. Keywords: employer satisfaction of university graduates, graduate capabilities Introduction Governments in many developed countries like Australia and the United Kingdom are strengthening the role of higher education institutions to contribute to the national economy. The focus of such development is to ensure that universities are fulfilling the moral purpose of higher education to meet the changing needs of employers and the industry. Performance based funding of universities is one of the means used by governments to ensure that the outcomes of higher education contributes to long term sustainability that is economically beneficial to the national economy and that higher education provides socially responsible education. While not all of the problems in society can be expected to be resolved by higher education, the sector can be seen to have some responsibility for employer dissatisfaction with the attributes of university graduates they recruit from universities. In general terms, graduate attributes are understood as the general skills, knowledge and abilities, beyond the discipline content knowledge, that university graduates have gained during their tertiary studies (Bowden, Hart, King, Trigwell, & Watts 2002; HEC, 1992). Graduate attributes are also commonly referred to as generic skills, graduate qualities, generic attributes, or graduate capabilities. Further, the lists of graduate attributes among Australian universities tend to vary, not only in terms of which attributes are included, but also regarding the nature and level of attainment of the attributes. The range of attributes tend to vary from simple technical skills to complex intellectual abilities and ethical values (Barrie, 2006). There are concerns worldwide that existing undergraduate programs are not producing graduates with the kinds of lifelong learning skills and professional skills which they need in order to be successful in their professions (AAGE, 1993; AGR, 995; BHERT, 1992; Candy & Crebert, 1991; Candy, Crebert & O’Leary, 1994; Harvey, 1993; Harvey & Green, 1994; ICAA, 1994; NBETT, 1992). Articles in the media (for example, The Australian) have also highlighted the views of various professional accrediting bodies in relation to the gap between employability skills attained by graduates and what employers want in professions including accounting, finance and economics. Also, the most recent study undertaken in Australia by the