ANVESHAK-International Journal of Management

Open Access Open Access  Restricted Access Subscription Access
Open Access Open Access Open Access  Restricted Access Restricted Access Subscription Access

Unemployment among Engineers in India:The Issue of Employability


Affiliations
1 Punjab School of Economics, Guru Nanak Dev University, Amritsar–143005, Punjab, India
     

   Subscribe/Renew Journal


Although stupendous efforts have been made in the rapid growth of technical education institutions in India, yet mere quantitative expansion has raised several questions on the quality of education being provided by these institutes. Because the reckless expansion has generated the problem of unemployability among Indian engineers, the problem which is more serious than the problem of unemployment itself. Basically, employability of technical graduates may be defined as the consistency between technical education and the requirement of the industry. In other words, it is a person's capability of gaining initial employment, maintaining employment, and obtaining new employment if required. The National Employability Report by Aspiring Minds in 2012 stated that 83% of engineering graduates in India are unfit for employment. Similarly, NASSCOM study depicted that 75% of IT graduates to be unemployable. Thus, barring a few elite institutions majority of the technical institutes are producing graduates who are not employable. The employers are facing severe problems in finding the appropriate skilled and trained personnel for the rapid expanding IT industry and other sectors of the economy competing in the globalized regime. Therefore, it is imperative to place special emphasis on improving quality of education being provided by the ever-expanding institutions of technical education, especially, in the private sector. Only then the country will be able to produce engineers who will not only be employable within the nation but also globally competitive. The objective of the present study is to examine the extent of unemployment among Indian engineers and the reason behind their unemployability which is generally stated in terms of below par quality of technical education.

Keywords

Engineers, Un-Employability, Quality Education.
Subscription Login to verify subscription
User
Notifications
Font Size


  • 􀀃 Anand, G. (2011), “India Graduates Millions, But Too Few are Fit to Hire”, The Wall Street Journal, Available at: http://online.wsg.com.

  • 􀀃 Banerjee, R. and Muley, V.P. (2008), “Engineering Education in India”, Sponsored by Observation Research Foundation, Indian Institute of Technology, Bombay (IITB).

  • 􀀃 Bariana, S.S. (2012), “Agency to Rate Functioning of Private Engineering Colleges”, The Tribune, October 19.

  • 􀀃 Cotton, K. (2001), “Developing Employability Skills”, Portland, OR: Northwest Regional Educational Research Laboratory, Available at: http://www.nwrel.org/scpd/sirs/8/c015.html.

  • 􀀃 Dalal, R.C. (2013), “Soft Skills are a Necessity Today”, The Tribune, September 3.

  • 􀀃 Dharur, S. (2012), “No Takers for 1 Lakh Engineering Seats in Andhra”, The Tribune, September 18.

  • 􀀃 FICCI (2013), Reaping India’s Promised Demographic Dividend-Industry in Driving Seat.

  • 􀀃 Fleming, P. and Sturdy, A. (2009), “Just Be Yourself-Towards Neo-Normative Control in Organisations?”, Employee Relations, Vol. 31(6), pp. 569–583.

  • 􀀃 Gautam, H.R. (2013), “Engineering Education Needs Quality Boost”, The Tribune, September 17.

  • 􀀃 Gill, R. (2013), “Imparting Value-based Education to Students”, The Tribune, September 3.

  • 􀀃 Government of India (2002), Tenth Five Year Plan: Information Technology Sector, Department of Information and Technology, New Delhi: Ministry of Commerce and Information Technology.

  • 􀀃 Green, D. and Harvey, L. (1993), “Quality Assurance in Western Europe: Trends, Practices and Issues”, in Santa, T.W., Anderson, C.L. and Berendt, B., (Eds.), Fifth International Conference on Accessing Quality in Higher Education, Indiana University, Indian polis.

  • 􀀃 Grewal, R.S. (2013), “Devise Enabling Regulatory Mechanism to Improve Quality”, The Tribune, October 1.

  • 􀀃 Jacobsson, K. (2004), “A European Politics for Employability”, in C. Garsten and K. Jacobsson (eds.), Learning to Be Employable: New Agendas on Work, Responsibility and Learning in a Globalizing World, Basingstoke: Palgrave, pp. 42–62.

  • 􀀃 John, S.F. and Senith, S. (2012), “Service Quality in Indian Technical Education”, Canadian Journal on Scientific and Industrial Research, Vol. 3(3), March.

  • 􀀃 Khanna, S. (2011), “Growth and Performance of ICT Sectors in the Emerging Knowledge Economy of India: Problems and Challenges”, Unpublished Thesis in Faculty of Business and Economics, Guru Nanak Dev University, Amritsar.

  • 􀀃 Kingdon, G.G. and Rao, V.S. (2010), “Para-Teachers in India: Status and Impact”, Economic and Political Weekly, Vol. 45(2), March 20.

  • 􀀃 Mander, M. (2015), “Industry in a Fix Over Hiring Fresh Engineers”, The Tribune, January 21, p. 15.

  • 􀀃 Natarajan, R. (2000), “The Role of Accreditation in Promoting Quality Assurance of Technical Education”, International Journal of Engineering Education, Vol. 16(2), pp. 85–96.

  • 􀀃 Nerad, M. (2006), “Globalisation and its Impact on Research Education: Trends and Emerging Best Practices for the Doctorate of the Future”, in M. Kiley and G. Mullins (Eds.) Quality in Postgraduate Research: Knowledge Creation in Testing Times, CEDAM, The Australian National University, Canberra.

  • 􀀃 Palshikar, S. (2010), “Quality in Higher Education: Complex Issues, Superficial Solutions”, Economic and Political Weekly, Vol. 45(20), May 15, pp. 30–32.

  • 􀀃 Pfeffer, N. and Coote, A. (1991), “Is Quality Good for You?” Social Policy Paper No. 5, Institute of Public Policy Research, London.

  • 􀀃 Prakash, V. (2007), “Trends in Growth and Financing of Higher Education in India”, Economic and Political Weekly, Vol. 42, No. 31, pp. 3249–3258.

  • 􀀃 Sharma, S. (2012), “Solve the Skill Crisis First”, The Tribune, October 21.

  • 􀀃 Sridhar, V. (1999), “Technical Education and Some Worries”, Frontline, Vol. 16, Issue 27, December 25.

  • 􀀃 Svensson, L. (2004), “Lifelong Learning: A Clash between a Production and a Learning Logic”, in C. Gartsen and K. Jacobsson (eds.), Learning to Be Employable: New Agendas on Work, Responsibility and Learning in a Globalizing World, Basingstoke: Palgrave, pp. 83–106.

  • 􀀃 Tandon, A. (2013), “Not Engineered for Jobs”, The Tribune, September 25.

  • 􀀃 The National Curriculum Framework (2011), “Towards a Quality Education for All”, Consultation Document 2: Rationale and Components, Malta: Ministry of Education, Employment and Family, p. 24. ISBN 978-99957-0-036-2.

  • 􀀃 Yumnam, R. (2005), “Quality of IT Manpower Concerns”, Times of India, September 7.


Abstract Views: 659

PDF Views: 1




  • Unemployment among Engineers in India:The Issue of Employability

Abstract Views: 659  |  PDF Views: 1

Authors

Pooja Choudhary
Punjab School of Economics, Guru Nanak Dev University, Amritsar–143005, Punjab, India
Vikram Chadha
Punjab School of Economics, Guru Nanak Dev University, Amritsar–143005, Punjab, India

Abstract


Although stupendous efforts have been made in the rapid growth of technical education institutions in India, yet mere quantitative expansion has raised several questions on the quality of education being provided by these institutes. Because the reckless expansion has generated the problem of unemployability among Indian engineers, the problem which is more serious than the problem of unemployment itself. Basically, employability of technical graduates may be defined as the consistency between technical education and the requirement of the industry. In other words, it is a person's capability of gaining initial employment, maintaining employment, and obtaining new employment if required. The National Employability Report by Aspiring Minds in 2012 stated that 83% of engineering graduates in India are unfit for employment. Similarly, NASSCOM study depicted that 75% of IT graduates to be unemployable. Thus, barring a few elite institutions majority of the technical institutes are producing graduates who are not employable. The employers are facing severe problems in finding the appropriate skilled and trained personnel for the rapid expanding IT industry and other sectors of the economy competing in the globalized regime. Therefore, it is imperative to place special emphasis on improving quality of education being provided by the ever-expanding institutions of technical education, especially, in the private sector. Only then the country will be able to produce engineers who will not only be employable within the nation but also globally competitive. The objective of the present study is to examine the extent of unemployment among Indian engineers and the reason behind their unemployability which is generally stated in terms of below par quality of technical education.

Keywords


Engineers, Un-Employability, Quality Education.

References





DOI: https://doi.org/10.15410/aijm%2F2017%2Fv6i1%2F120841