GRADUATE COMPETENCY ENHANCEMENT TO REDUCE

UNEMPLOYMENT IN KENYA (A CASE STUDY OF THE

COOPERATIVE UNIVERSITY OF KENYA)

MIKE MURIU MWANGI

A RESEARCH PROPOSAL SUBMITTED TO THE FACULTY OF

COMMERCE IN PARTIAL FULFILLMENT OF THE REQUIREMENTS
FOR THE AWARD OF THE DEGREE OF BACHELOR OF COMMERCE,
THE COOPERATIVE UNIVERSITY OF KENYA

DECEMBER, 2019
 DECLARATION

Declaration by the candidate

This project is my original work and has not been presented for award of a degree
in any other University or for any other award
________________________ ________________________
Signature Date
Mike Muriu Mwangi BCMC01/0158/2016

Declaration by the supervisors

We confirm that the work reported in this project was carried out by the candidate
under our supervision and has been submitted with our approval as university
supervisors

________________________ ________________________
Signature Date

______________________________________________
Name of supervisor, department, faculty and university.

________________________ ________________________
Signature Date

______________________________________________
Name of supervisor, department, faculty and university.
 DEDICATION

I wish to dedicate this research project to all university graduates that have come
before me, currently in study and those to come. It comes from a place of best
wishes because our luck is different even though we share the same predicament. I
also dedicate this to the folks at the top of the food-chain. All boards of directors
whose decisions impact on the employment status of graduates, giving them a view
of the roots in the industry to identify fall-between the current employment rate
and the overall target to employment.
 ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

I wish to acknowledge my project supervisor, Dr. Grace Okello for providing

insight into the requirements of this project as per the supervisory panel. I also
wish to acknowledge my fellow scholars for providing cushion on the overall
standard of research and being research items themselves through our daily
interactions. I particularly wish to acknowledge
 ABSTRACT

This proposal will seek to dive into the problem of unemployment with a solution
oriented detail thereafter. The research will first of all seek to get the opinion of the
subjects in study, and then use that to construct a solution oriented report. This will
seek to, although not eliminate the problem of unemployment absolutely, but
reduce the rate of cooperative university graduates going unemployed- by
providing a step by step approach to solution.
 CHAPTER ONE: INTRODUCTION

Background to the problem

Unemployment is the state of not having a job. The number of unemployed
individuals as a percentage of the total number of people willing, ready and
actively looking for a job constitutes the unemployment rate. Unemployment is a
global problem affecting even the most developed countries. Employment means
providing labor as an input to production that ultimately boosts economic growth.
This is the reason why reducing unemployment is such a high priority issue.
Currently in Kenya, unemployment is a sensitive issue especially with university
graduates. This proposal seeks professional backing into investigation of the nature
and volatility of this problem as an update on unemployment especially among
graduates, from a stepping-into-the world graduate student’s perspective.

The problem statement

High rate of unemployment among university graduates. Unemployment in itself is
inexcusable. However, if this rate is higher than the given threshold a country
considers full employment then it becomes a problem to recon- because the
government gives room for a few unemployables and workers out of one job and
on their way to the next, leaving just about a good percentage of the workforce
always unemployed. Training is offered to enhance skills and ultimately increase
the chances of securing a job. But if a huge number of fresh graduates is going
unemployed, then it puts shame on our whole education to development system. It
gives rise to book smart graduates who do not hold up in a real life situation. Labor
is one of the most crucial inputs to economic growth. Lacking a means to control it
is equivalent to lacking a handle on the economic growth.
Objectives of the study
The study will be carried out for the following reasons:

To determine why graduates, suffer from unemployment.

To determine the number of graduate output in cuk annually.
To determine the level of graduate motivation in the search for jobs.
To get a graduate view point on the possibility of unemployment among them.
To identify the skills, gap so-said by employers among graduates in cooperative
university.
To determine the socioeconomic status of cuk graduates that allows them land or
lack jobs.
To explore the employer demand majority for cooperative university students in
the labor market.
To determine the competitiveness of cuk graduates compared to other graduates on
jobs by their level of skill.
To determine employee turnover as a percentage of leave out graduates.
To use the scope area of study to identify the unemployment rate among graduates
in the cooperative university.
To find out graduates’ alternative courses of action in case of unemployment.
To explore self-employment as a solution to unemployment in the cuk.
Research Questions
This research seeks to answer the following questions:

Why do graduates miss job openings?

How many graduates leave cuk annually?
Who are the employer favourites for the average cuk graduate?
How many graduates secure jobs out of the annual graduation number?
How do graduates align their existence to the tune of the employment lifestyle?
What do graduates think about the possibility of being unemployed after
graduation?
What are the underlying factors that keep graduates unemployed?
How well are cuk graduates prepared to compete with other graduates for the few
employment slots available?
What rate of employee turnover will allow for continuous uptake of cuk graduates
into the job market?
What are the soft skills an employer lacks in graduates despite going through 2 to 4
years of training?
How can a graduate explore self-employment as an alternative to employment in
cuk?

Hypotheses
The number of graduate output in the cuk beats the available job opportunities for
their intake.
Significance of the study
This study is important to these stakeholders because;

It will provide insight for graduates into their role in the graduation-employment
transition, allowing them realign their goals and actions to a position of max
employability.
It will help to provide insight to the employer on the state of employability of
graduates as well as provide a plug through which he can inject his input to
influence the outcome of his product (the employee) in the supply chain.
It will as well, provide the government with a bearing on the graduate
employability matter and how it can enhance this through policy decisions to
ultimately fuel economic growth.

Scope of the study

The study will focus on the state of unemployment among cuk graduates. Being a
student myself, cuk graduates seem a very interesting group to study as well as
their readily being available for investigation. This is because the graduates will be
available for study on the first week of December during graduation.

Limitations of the study

The study might encounter a bit challenges due to the nature and dynamic of the
situation. First of all, the graduates’ availability for study will last only a few hours
within the school compound- nothing a good sampling technique cannot handle.
Secondly, graduates might not accrue to the fact that unemployment is a very
likely possibility and to discuss the doom of one’s future on their graduation day
would prove discomforting.
Definition of key terms

Stakeholder in this proposal denotes an organization or individual seen as having

an interest in the success of this research.
Graduate is any person who has successfully completed study and is trained in a
given field, who has been awarded an undergraduate or first academic degree.
Employee turnover in human resources context is the act of replacing an employee
with a new employee. Partings between organizations and employees may consist
of termination, retirement, death, interagency transfers and resignations.
Unemployment rate is a measure of the prevalence of unemployment. It is the
number of unemployed individuals as a percentage of the total number of people
willing and ready to work.
 CHAPTER TWO: LITERATURE REVIEW

Introduction
In this chapter, available sources of information already written by other scholars
will be reviewed in line with the objectives.

Empirical Review

According to David C. Colander, Microeconomics- third edition, Middlebury

College;
Graduates suffer from unemployment because of several reasons. First of all, the
economy might be in a state of recession such that it becomes difficult for a
graduate to find a job. This is referred to as cyclical unemployment. In some
cases, the economy restructures including industrial revolution such that some
skills are deemed obsolete. This is referred to as structural unemployment.
Otherwise, employees may have recently just quit their job and happen to be
actively looking for a new one. This is referred to as frictional unemployment.
There is a lack of decent jobs and affordable transportation to get to the jobs that
exist. To an extent, many graduates become discouraged and have stopped trying-
in the Keynesian argument.
Graduates believe that jobs ought to be available to commensurate with the
individual’s training and past job experience. At the same time, it is an individual’s
responsibility to find a job, any job at some wage rate. Given such views, it is hard
for graduates not to find a job, even if it is selling apples on the street for KES 40 a
fruit.
According to the CEO of ISE in the UK, Stephen Isherwood,
https://www.topuniversities.com/student-info/careers-advice/which-skills-do-
employers-value-most
 “The pace of change in the workplace is ever increasing, so graduates need to
ensure they are developing the skills and abilities that will not only empower them
to land the job of their choice, but allow them to thrive as their career develops.”
It is found that the three most valued skills among graduates worldwide are:
Problem-solving, the ability to work in a team and Communication skills.

According to the Cooperative Universityhttps://www.cuk.ac.ke/university-

graduation-information-page/
The total number of graduates including certificate, diploma and degree students
whose fee balance was equal to or less than KES 2,000 was 1,707 (One thousand,
seven hundred and seven.)
According to the World Bank speech on youth unemployment in
Kenya, http://go.worldbank.org/5DLMHJ6C00
Economic opportunities driven by a high growth rate must outpace the increase in
population. The rate at which young people find jobs depends on how prepared the
labor market is to receive them as well as how ready they are for the labor market.
Potential employers in Kenya as well as elsewhere say that our institutions aren’t
graduating people with the skills they need to enhance their success. The abilities
of job-seekers are falling short of the ambitions of industry. Kenya’s vision 2030
sets an ambitious target to become a middle income country. This goal not only
requires uninterrupted growth of 10% per year, but will also demand citizens with
globally-competitive skills. Policy makers must modernize the curriculum, sponsor
programs to assess and re-equip youth with the skills the market will be looking for
tomorrow. They must also aim for expansion of tertiary and university education.
These investments must be targeted at improving the human skills base of Kenya
as well as providing the basic infrastructure that citizens need to thrive.
According to Kong Jun’s research project on Factors Affecting Employment
and Unemployment for Fresh Graduates in China, Submitted: September 25th
2016. Published: August 23rd 2017;
https://www.intechopen.com/books/unemployment-perspectives-and-
solutions/factors-affecting-employment-and-unemployment-for-fresh-graduates-in-
china
The ease with which cuk graduates find jobs based on the socio-cultural factors
include: Reputation of the college. Others include college’s geographic location
and the assistance offered by the college career center. The higher the reputation of
the college, the higher the possibility of the graduate finding a job. The process for
such graduates is both easier and speedier because, the employer regards them as
employees with greater potential. Furthermore, individual factors such as the
discipline of study, grade average, and gender also affect graduates’ jobs hunting.
The employer may regard the graduates with high scores as diligent and smart
people who can perform better at work. In addition, the employers often like to
hire experienced graduates. They think of the graduate’s internship as an important
step in their training. Finally, abilities such as driving a car, knowing a foreign
language or mastery of programming software may play an important role in the
job search.

According to Tuko Business News, in Kenya, https://www.tuko.co.ke/281804-

employee-turnover-reasons-calculation-reduction-strategies.html
Employee turnover is the measure of substituting an employee with another.
Employee turnover rate refers to the percentage or number of employees who are
replaced by new workers. It will be calculated using the following formula;
First-year turnover rate (%) = [Number of employee who left after less than a year
of employment/ Average number of employees in the same period] x 100
This will allow for the graduates to eye the available number of opportunities for
employment before concluding otherwise.
According to H. Plecher of Statistica.com Sep 12, 2019:
Kenya’s unemployment rate was 9.31 percent in 2018. This represents a steady
decline from the increase after the financial crisis, but pre-recession levels were
still above 10 percent.
According to Amber Rolfe, 5 ways to beat graduate unemployment,
https://www.reed.co.uk/career-advice/five-ways-to-beat-graduate-unemployment/
Anything from working part-time, volunteering, or freelancing, through
to interning and temping, could help you to gain a number of practical skills and
abilities - many of which will be useful in almost every job. Do some research
(whether it’s online, through networking, or by taking a course) into industries and
roles that suit your skills, passions, professional training. Then use what you find
to give your search a clearer direction. So plan for each day with a clear wake up
time, and make a to-do-list you can stick to. If you treat your job search like a full-
time job, it’ll only increase your chances of finding the right role for you. Start by
making sure your graduate CV and cover letter include everything, whether it’s
by using a template or following our helpful tips and advice. Use your social media
wisely. Your social media pages are a great way to give an employer the added
boost they need to confirm your suitability.

According to Career Point Kenya, things to do before becoming self-employed 27

Jul 2018; https://www.careerpointkenya.co.ke/2018/07/6-things-to-do-before-
becoming-self-employed/
 It’s because you want independence that you cannot get when working for
someone else or you have not been able to get a job. You first need to ensure that
you will have an alternative source of income. If you want to become a freelancer,
you can start by establishing a client base so that when you quit you have a little
more money to fall back on and also clients for your new business. Look into what
the law says you need to start your business, how much capital you will need, who
your target client is and where they are, the day to day cost of running your
business and many more. You need to save as much money as possible because
most businesses will not make you any money during the first few months. Are
you capable of handling your finances in a manner that ensures whether you get
income or not you will still be able to handle your responsibilities? You should not
think that just because you are self-employed that you don’t have to work hard if
anything, you have to work twice as hard to ensure the success of your business.
When it comes to starting your own business, you need to know that not every
business succeeds so you should not be discouraged if something you started does
not pan out. You need to be fully prepared before you decide to take the leap into
self-employment.
 Conceptual framework

Independent variable
The number of students graduating from the cooperative university of Kenya.
Dependent variable
The number of jobs available for uptake of cuk graduates.
Control variable
The annual graduation event which will take place on the 6th of December, 2019.

This model will demonstrate that the number of jobs to be created is dependent on
the number of graduates coming from the university each year.
 CHAPTER THREE: METHODOLOGY

Research design
This study will attempt to use a user sample experience experimental design. The
appropriateness of the situation is that in attempting to solve the problem of
unemployment, the solution lies within accessing each individual’s experience in
job search to attempt to identify loopholes and weaknesses in their strategy, and
rectify those towards achieving employment for each. The research will take the
form of interviews with candidates. Sampling will apply in the selection of
candidates for interview to ensure even distribution coming from candidate
answers.
Population and sample
The target population for this particular study will be the 2019 cuk graduate group.
This population is most appropriate because these candidates are directly next in
line outside interview rooms fresh out of campus. They will provide the outlook
orient on the future of their employment status. Apart from the education system
demanding them to follow up on their educational qualification to seek jobs, what
else contributes to their want to get jobs?
A good sampling technique would be stratified random sampling. In this technique,
the target population will be divided into various subgroups. These will have
already been done and will include the different graduating categories. These
categories such as the graduating group course title. Then a 3% number of cases in
each population subgroup will be randomly selected.
Data collection procedures
Since most of this information required is opinion from the subjects, the most
appropriate data collection method would be to conduct an interview. In cases
where interviews will not be possible, either the subject will be too preoccupied to
spare a moment, a questionnaire will work just fine to be collected later on. An
interview will entail a question and answer session with each subject recorded on
camera to capture every detail of their responses. The footage will then be edited to
just about ten minutes of talk.
Data analysis
Moment correlation happens to be the most appropriate data analysis method in
this case. The variables will be spelt out for the subject who will then give his
opinion on the correlation of the same, unique to his case. A keen look at his facial
expression and non-verbal cues should reveal each subject’s true intent and attitude
toward the variables. The biggest advantage with this technique is that it is flexible.
The researcher can always go back and review the data in a case clarity is required.

Time schedule

Activity Time frame

Formulating variables in 5th of December the day before the
a question form. actual study
Showing up to the 6th December at 9:00 AM
graduation square to
access the viability of
the study
Selecting the subjects of 10:00 AM same day
the study from the
graduation list.
Searching for them in 11:00 AM – 2:00 PM
person to interview.
data analysis 6TH December, the next day to January
next year, 2020.
Budget

Cash
Estimated beginning cash balance Ksh. 400

Receipts
 Cash handouts Ksh. 500
 Online income Ksh. 300
 Savings Ksh. 1,000

Gross total receipts Ksh. 1,800

Total funds available Ksh. 2,200

Expenditure
 Assets finance (video camera Ksh. 3,000
equipment) Ksh. 2,500
 Offshore storage drive Ksh. 500
 Questionnaire printouts
Ksh. 6,000
Total expenditure
Ksh. 3,800
Balance to be carried forward
References

David C. Colander, Microeconomics- third edition, Middlebury College;

The CEO of ISE in the UK, Stephen Isherwood,
https://www.topuniversities.com/student-info/careers-advice/which-skills-do-
employers-value-most
The Cooperative Universityhttps://www.cuk.ac.ke/university-graduation-
information-page/
The World Bank speech on youth unemployment in
Kenya, http://go.worldbank.org/5DLMHJ6C00
Kong Jun’s research project on Factors Affecting Employment and
Unemployment for Fresh Graduates in China, Submitted: September 25th 2016.
Published: August 23rd 2017; https://www.intechopen.com/books/unemployment-
perspectives-and-solutions/factors-affecting-employment-and-unemployment-for-
fresh-graduates-in-china
According to Tuko Business News, in Kenya, https://www.tuko.co.ke/281804-
employee-turnover-reasons-calculation-reduction-strategies.html
H. Plecher of Statistica.com Sep 12, 2019:
Amber Rolfe, 5 ways to beat graduate unemployment,
https://www.reed.co.uk/career-advice/five-ways-to-beat-graduate-unemployment/
Career Point Kenya, things to do before becoming self-employed 27 Jul 2018;
https://www.careerpointkenya.co.ke/2018/07/6-things-to-do-before-becoming-self-
employed/
MIKE
MWANGI
Research Student.
PROFILE
Averagely skilled HR professional
with explicit communication skills.
Able to maneuver his way around
almost any situation given the
objective. Persistent in quest for
what he considers a priority. A team
player. Good work ethic but could
use a little guidance from the
professionals. He is highly motivated
and able to lead in group situations.
Also, has a knack for finding
solutions to problems. His
perspective is unique, therefore
setting him apart from the rest.
CONTACT
0705 665887
Mike Mwangi
Mike.mwangi9@gmail.com
@muriu_mike
EDUCATION
The Cooperative University of Kenya
2016 - date
Bachelor of Commerce. Specializing in Human Resource
Management in my third year. Supporting member of the students’
fraternity. Actively exploring new educational qualifications for my
career.
Njiiri School
2012 - 2015
Majored in History and Government. Learnt responsibility the hard
way. Achieved 67 GPA.
WORK EXPERIENCE
Fleek Interior Decors -Freelance Wallpaper Installation
2018 May –August
A strategist for this wallpaper installation firm. Bridged the
communication gap between the client on Face book and business
owner hands on.
Uhuru Bookshop– Attendant
2017 May – August
Always on time to open business. Tidied up the workspace. Achieved
a sales increased of 5% by the end of three months.

LOCATION SKILLS
Ushirika Road, Hardy-Karen.
24814-00502 Nairobi. Decision M... 85%

Res 75%
HOBBIES
Em 55%
Writing
Travelling Communic... 100%
Sight seeing Organiz... 78%
Practice
2 5 7 1