Skip to main content

Towards a National Graduate Destinations Survey in Kenya: An Exploratory Study of Three Universities

Higher Education Policy volume 31, pages 97–119 (2018)Cite this article

Abstract

While concerns about graduate unemployment and the work-readiness of graduates in Sub-Saharan Africa abound, there is a severe lack of institutional data and academic research on graduate destinations on which to base policy changes. This article presents findings from an exploratory study of three major higher education institutions in Kenya. An online survey was conducted with recent graduates in a range of disciplinary areas, aiming to determine, first, what employment activities they were engaged in, and second, what associations there might be between those activities, the graduates’ background characteristics, and their experiences at university. Findings suggest that proportions of absolute unemployment are lower than expected, but that many graduates are transiting between provisional or part-time employment and internships, and have not yet obtained the graduate level jobs aspired to. Finally, implications are drawn out for potential national-level graduate destination surveys in Kenya and elsewhere in Sub-Saharan Africa.

This is a preview of subscription content, access via your institution.

Access options

Buy single article

Instant access to the full article PDF.

£ 29.95

Price includes VAT (United Kingdom)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Figure 1
Figure 2
Figure 3
Figure 4
Figure 5
Figure 6

References

  • African Centre for economic Transformation (ACET). (2014) Growth with DEPTH. African Economic Transformation Report 2014, Accra: African Centre for Economic Transformation.

  • African Development Bank/UNDP. (2012) African Economic Outlook 2012; Promoting Youth Employment, Paris: OECD.

    Google Scholar 

  • Allais, S. (2015) ‘Livelihoods and skills’, in T. McCowan and E. Unterhalter (eds.) Education and International Development: An Introduction, London: Bloomsbury, pp. 237–256.

    Google Scholar 

  • Amimo, C. (2012) ‘Tailoring higher education in Kenya to the demands of the postindustrial work place’, Baraton Interdisplinary Research Journal 2(1): 52–58.

    Google Scholar 

  • Association of African Universities. (2013) Transforming African Higher Education for Graduate Employability and Socio-Economic Development, in Proceedings of the 13th General Conference of AAU, Libreville, Gabon.

  • Blom, A., Raza, R., Kiamba, C., Bayusuf, H. and Adil, M. (2016) Expanding Tertiary Education for Well Paid Jobs, Competitiveness and Shared Prosperity in Kenya, Washington, DC, The World Bank.

    Google Scholar 

  • Brewis, E. and McCowan, T. (2016) Enhancing Teaching in African Higher Education: Perspectives of Quality Assurance and Academic Development Practitioners in Ghana, Kenya, Nigeria and South Africa, London: British Council.

    Google Scholar 

  • Cape Higher Education Consortium (CHEC). (2013) Pathways from University to Work, Cape Town: CHEC.

    Google Scholar 

  • Development Policy Research Unit. (2006) Graduate Unemployment in Post-Apartheid South Africa: Nature and Possible Policy Responses. Research Compiled for Standard Bank and Business Leadership South Africa, Cape Town: School of Economics, University of Cape Town.

  • du Toit, J. (2016) ‘Can we augment web responses with telephonic responses to a graduate destination survey?’ Assessment and Evaluation in Higher Education 41(4): 560–574.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • du Toit, J., Kraak, A., Favish, J. and Fletcher, L. (2014) ‘From study to work: Methodological challenges of a graduate destination survey in the Western Cape, South Africa’, Assessment and Evaluation in Higher Education 39(7): 853–864.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hughes, R. (1987) ‘Revisiting the fortunate few: University Graduates in the Kenyan Labor Market’, Comparative Education Review 31(4): 583–601.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • IUCEA/East African Business Council. (2014) Regional Higher Education Qualification Gaps: Vol II. Situation Composite EAC Report, Kampala: IUCEA.

    Google Scholar 

  • Kaminchia, S. (2014) ‘Unemployment in Kenya: Some economic factors affecting wage employment’, African Review of Economics and Finance 6(1): 18–40.

    Google Scholar 

  • Letseka, M., Cosser, M., Brier, M. and Visser, M. (2010) Student Retention and Graduate Destination: Higher Education and Labour Market Access, Pretoria: Human Sciences Research Council.

    Google Scholar 

  • Marginson, S. (2015) Rethinking Education, Work and ‘Employability’. Foundational Problems of Human Capital Theory. Keynote presentation at the Society for Research in Higher Education annual conference, Newport.

  • Mason, G., Williams, G., and Cranmer, S. (2006) Employability Skills Initiatives in Higher Education: What Effects do they have on Graduate Labour Market Outcomes? London: National Institute of Economic and Social Research.

    Google Scholar 

  • McCowan, T. (2015) ‘Should universities promote employability?’ Theory and Research in Education 13(3): 267–285.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • McCowan, T., Ananga, E., Oanda, I., Sifuna, D., Ongwenyi, Z., Adedeji, S., Oyebade, S., Walker, M., Fongwa, S. and James, Z. (2015) Students in the Driving Seat: Young People’s Voices on Higher Education in Africa, British Council, 17, https://www.britishcouncil.org/sites/default/files/2.5_students-in-the-driving-seat_report_overview.pdf.

  • McMahon, W.W. and Oketch, M. (2010) Bachelor’s and Short Degrees in the UK and US: New Social Rates of Return and Non-market Effects on Development, LLAKES Research Paper 12, London: LLAKES.

    Google Scholar 

  • McMahon, W.W. and Oketch, M. (2013) ‘Education’s effects on individual life chances and development: An overview’, British Journal of Educational Studies 61(1): 79–107.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Mugabushaka, A.-M., Teichler, U. and Schomburg, H. (2003) ‘Failed or self-hindering prophecies? Employment experiences of African Graduates in the 1990s’, Journal of Higher Education in Africa 1(1): 57–77.

    Google Scholar 

  • Munene, I. (2015) ‘Profits and pragmatism: The commercial lives of Market Universities in Kenya and Uganda’, SAGE Open. doi 10.1177/2158244015612519.

    Google Scholar 

  • Munene, I. (2016) ‘Kenya’s Universities are in the Grip of a Quality Crisis’, The Conversation, https://theconversation.com/kenyas-universities-are-in-the-grip-of-a-quality-crisis-54664.

  • Munga, B. and Onsomu E. (2014) ‘The State of Youth Unemployment in Kenya’, https://www.brookings.edu/blog/africa-in-focus/2014/08/21/state-of-youth-unemployment-in-kenya/, accessed 23 January 2017.

  • Oanda, I.O. and Jowi, J. (2012) ‘University expansion and challenge to social development in Kenya; Dilemmas and Pitfalls’, Journal of Higher Education in Africa 10(1): 49–71.

    Google Scholar 

  • Oketch, M. (2016) ‘Financing higher education in Sub-Saharan Africa: Some reflections and implications for sustainable development’, Higher Education 72(4): 525–539.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Omolo, J. (2012) Youth Employment in Kenya: Analysis of Labour Market and Policy Interventions, Friedrich-Ebert-Stiftung Occasional Papers No. 1.

  • Omolo, J. (2013) Employment challenges in Kenya, African Journal of Economic Review 1(1): 18–32.

    Google Scholar 

  • Ozor, N., Acheampong E., Lamptey A. and Njagi, D. (2016) Improving the Relevance of University Training to Labour Market Demands in Africa. African Technology Policy Studies Network Technology Brief No 47, Nairobi: African Technology Policy Studies Network/Association of African Universities.

  • Pillay, P. (2011) Higher Education and Economic Development: Literature Review, Cape Town: Centre for Higher Education Transformation.

    Google Scholar 

  • Republic of Kenya. (2011) Kenya National Manpower Survey Report 2010/2011, Nairobi: Kenya National Bureau of Statistics/Ministry of Labour, Social Security and Services.

    Google Scholar 

  • Republic of Kenya. (2016) Economic Survey, Nairobi: Government Printer.

    Google Scholar 

  • Robertson, S. (2016) ‘Piketty, capital and education: A solution to, or problem in, rising social inequalities?’, British Journal of Sociology of Education 37(6): 823–835.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Romer, P.M. (1990) ‘Endogenous technological change’, Journal of Political Economy 98(5, Part 2): S71–S102.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Teal, F. (2000) ‘Employment and Unemployment in Sub-Saharan Africa: An Overview’, Centre for the Study of African Economies, University of Oxford, http://www.csae.ox.ac.uk/conferences/2000-OiA/pdfpapers/teal.PDF.

  • USAID/MEDA/FHI360. (2014) Workforce Connections: Kenya Youth Assessment. Nairobi.

  • van der Berg, S. and van Broekhuizen, H. (2012) Graduate Unemployment in South Africa: A Much Exaggerated Problem, Stellenbosch University Economic Working Paper 22/12.

  • Wangenge-Ouma, G. (2007) ‘Higher education marketisation and its discontents: The case of quality in Kenya’, Higher Education 56(4): 457–471.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Wilton, N. (2012) ‘The impact of work placements on skills development and labour market outcomes for business and management graduates’, Studies in Higher Education 37(5): 603–620.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • World Bank. (2013) Achieving Shared Prosperity in Kenya, Washington, DC: World Bank.

    Google Scholar 

Download references

Acknowledgements

This study was carried out with funding from the British Council as part of the Universities, Employability and Inclusive Development research project (2013–2016). We are grateful to Zipporah Ongwenyi and Alex Ondieki for their assistance in data collection and analysis, and to Carole Rakodi and Denise Hawkes for their comments on earlier versions of the article.

Author information

Affiliations

  1. Institute of Education, University College London, 20 Bedford Way, London, WC1H 0AL, UK

    Tristan McCowan & Moses Oketch

  2. CODESRIA, Dakar, Senegal

    Ibrahim Oanda

Authors
  1. Tristan McCowan
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Ibrahim Oanda
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. Moses Oketch
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Tristan McCowan.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and Permissions

About this article

Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this article

McCowan, T., Oanda, I. & Oketch, M. Towards a National Graduate Destinations Survey in Kenya: An Exploratory Study of Three Universities. High Educ Policy 31, 97–119 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1057/s41307-017-0044-x

Download citation

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1057/s41307-017-0044-x

Keywords

  • African higher education
  • employability
  • graduate destinations survey
  • graduate employment
  • Kenyan universities