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A Cross-sectional Observational Study to Assess Career Readiness among

Private University Graduating Students in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia on the Year
2023.
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Acknowledgement

We would like to thank the department of psychology of Addis Ababa University and Mr.
Aberra for providing the opportunity and needed help in writing this proposal.

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Contents

1. Introduction..............................................................................................................................1
2. Statement of the problem.........................................................................................................3
3. Significance of the study..........................................................................................................4
4. Review of the literature............................................................................................................4
Conceptual framework.................................................................................................................4
5. Objectives.................................................................................................................................5
General objectives:.......................................................................................................................5
Specific objectives:......................................................................................................................5
6. Method......................................................................................................................................5
Eligibility criteria.........................................................................................................................5
Inclusion criteria:.........................................................................................................................5
Exclusion criteria:........................................................................................................................5
Sample size determination:..........................................................................................................5
Sampling procedure.....................................................................................................................5
Study variables.............................................................................................................................5
Independent variables..................................................................................................................5
Operational definition..................................................................................................................5
Data collection procedures...........................................................................................................5
Data collection instruments..........................................................................................................5
Data quality control:.....................................................................................................................5
Data entry, processing and analysis:............................................................................................6
7. Ethical considerations...............................................................................................................6
8. Dissemination of the results.....................................................................................................6
9. Work plan.................................................................................................................................6
10. Budget breakdown................................................................................................................9
11. Annex: Data collection tool................................................................................................10
12. Bibliography.......................................................................................................................10

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1. Introduction

College graduates should be able to contribute to their highest potential to the productivity of
themselves, their organization, community, country and globe at large when they join the work
force. This however cannot be achieved without the acquisition of certain skills by the graduates,
one of which is career readiness that contains a set of competencies and capabilities that makes
them competent, effective and efficient in their work.

Before discussing in detail about career readiness however we first would define what career
readiness is. National Association of Colleges and Employers (NACE), 2023, defines career
readiness as the acquisitions and demonstrations of core competencies among individuals that are
required for success in the workplace and lifelong career management
(CAREER READINESS COMPETENCIES, n.d.)
. NACE (2023) has included eight core skills graduates must acquire to
be career ready. These competencies are career and self-development, communication, critical
thinking, equity and inclusion, leadership, professionalism, teamwork and technology.

Several of the components of career readiness are also part of the framework of capacity
assessment developed by UNDP (2008) and JICA (2008) and these capacities can be both
individual capacity, organizational capacity and enabling factors (Hosono et al., 2020). It is also
categorized into technical capacity in the form of techniques and particular knowledge and core
capacity (capacity to address core issues in individual and organizational levels), which utilizes
technical capacity to independently solve issues, including will, attitude, and leadership
(Hosono et al., 2020)
. Hosono et al. (2011) defines core capacity as generic and crosscutting competencies
and the ability to commit and engage, to identify needs and key issues, to plan, budget, execute,
and monitor actions, and to acquire knowledge and skills (Hosono et al., 2020). They point out
that the challenge is how to enhance effectively such crosscutting core capacity. These factors
are also a components of Kaizen frame-work as it has components that both address the technical
aspects and human aspects which included core capacities (Hosono et al., 2020., p 89-117).

Career and self-development the first competency in the NACE (2023) necessary skills for career
readiness is the ability of oneself to actively and continually develop self and career through
learning, being aware of one's strengths and weaknesses, navigating the career opportunities and
creating networks to build relationships within and outside the organization they are in.
Characters of students with this quality include have capabilities to identify areas of growth
while accepting and applying the feedbacks, can develop plans and goals for their future career,
will advocate for themselves as well as others ethically, will demonstrate curiosity and look for
opportunities to learn, are voluntarily participating in further education and trainings to support
one's career.
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The other quality under career readiness forwarded by NACE (2023) is communication; which is
the ability of the individual to clearly, effectively and timely exchange ideas, information, facts,
and perspectives with other individuals, units or communities both inside and outside the
organization.

Employees with these qualities will show and demonstrate the following characters but not
limited to it according to NACE (2023); they understand and transmit proper and professional
verbal, written and non-verbal language, they employ active listening, persuasion and
influencing skills, they have the capability to frame the information and communication with
diversity, cultural differences and individual differences in mind, they ask proper and respectful
questions and inform others promptly and timely when needing guidance or transferring one or
information.

The other characteristics within career readiness is an ability of the employee to demonstrate
critical thinking to detect, decide and respond to needs based on rational and sound
understanding, reasoning and judgment of the situation and logical analysis with relevant
information. They have multiple sources of information that puts the lived experiences and
perspectives of the diverse group of population in the organization to fully understand the
problem and proactively anticipate certain need and have an ability to prioritize actions. They are
able to effectively summarize and interpret the data they get with being aware of their own
personal biases that could impact the outcome. They can well communicate their rationale and
process for their decision properly.

Career ready graduates should be equitable and inclusive, that is to demonstrate the awareness,
attitude, knowledge, and skills required to equitably engage and include people from different
local and global cultures. Engage in anti-racist practices that actively challenge the systems,
structures, and policies of racism. Employees with this character will be able to get and utilize
feedback from diverse cultural views and actively advocate and contribute for the inclusivity and
equitable practices in and beyond the organization. They are eager to interact and learn from the
experiences of different demographic groups. They are always open to a novel idea of thinking
and ideas, in that they make it they role to eliminate barriers and offer their services to address
systemic racism, inequities and biases they perceive.

Leadership with the aim of recognizing and capitalizing on the identified individual and group
strengths to achieve the organization's goals is another character of career readiness. They are
therefore able to inspire, motivate, persuade, seek resources, ideas, and innovative ideas to
achieve the shared and agreed visions. They should also be able to plan, organize, equip, start,
monitor and evaluate projects with the goal of accomplishing the objective with utmost quality,
integrity and fullness.

Professionalism is needed as well to be career ready in one's journey. They should act with much
integrity and accountability to self, others, organization and beyond. Professionals often have
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their own personal brand that aligns with their job, values and workplace. They are consistently
prepared, attentive, dependable and ready to fulfill their responsibilities and expectations
exceedingly.

To be career ready one has to be able to effectively and efficiently work in a team with a
common purpose and goals with giving the proper appreciation and regards to different views
and shared responsibilities. They should therefore be capable to listen, compromise and take the
time to understand others. They are equipped to resolve conflicts ad ambiguities that might arise
in a team. They are able to collaborate and build a healthy professional working relationship with
each member of a team that should enable free flow of ideas, feedbacks, corrections, and
identification of errors without blaming.

Career readiness is not complete without the skills to utilize, adapt and manage the everchanging
technologies to increase efficiency and productivity.

Badillo-Amador & Vila (2013) and Mateos-Romero & Salinas-Jimenez (2018) have pointed that
failure to equip graduates with the necessary skills, attributes, and competencies can have
adverse consequences such as unemployment, low wages, job dissatisfaction, low productivity,
and less competitiveness of a given economy as stated on (Tamrat, 2022).

2. Statement of the problem

The purpose of this cross-sectional observational study is to assess the level of career readiness
among private university graduating students on the year 2023 in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.
Knowing the level of career readiness of college graduates is the first step in making a positive
step towards understanding and correcting the employability and quality issues observed of
graduating students from across different institutions. Assessing the levels of career readiness at
private colleges in Ethiopia also enables to have a general overview of the differences between
public universities and private ones in order to come up with solutions to fill the gaps that could
be observed between them. For this research career readiness is defined as the state of being
prepared to enter college and/or the world of work (Malin, Bragg, & Hackmann, 2017) and
meeting criteria set by NACE 2023.

3. Significance of the study

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4. Review of the literature

Introduction

Body

Conclusion

Conceptual framework

5. Objectives
General objectives:
Specific objectives:

6. Method

Methods
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Eligibility criteria

Inclusion criteria:
Exclusion criteria:

Sample size determination:

Sampling procedure

Study variables
Independent variables

Operational definition
Data collection procedures

Data collection instruments

Data quality control:

Pre data collection

Consistency/reliability:
External validity:
Bias:
Multi-collinearity:
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Data entry, processing and analysis:

Confounding Variables (factors)

7. Ethical considerations

8. Dissemination of the results

9. Work plan

Table 1: Work plan for assessing Career Readiness among Private University Graduating
Students, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, 2023.

Activity Responsibl Time period in month

e person

Proposal Principal
writing investigato
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r
Final Principal
proposal investigato
submission r
approved
by advisors
and
proposal
defense
Ethical IRB
approval
Preparation Principal
of study investigato
tools and r
selection of
data
collectors
Training of Principal
data investigato
collectors r
and
supervisors
Pretesting Principal
investigato
r, data
collectors
and
supervisors
Data Principal
collection investigato
r, data
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collectors
and
supervisors
Data entry Principal
and investigato
cleaning r
Data Principal
analysis investigato
r
Research Principal
report investigato
writing r
Mock Principal
defense investigato
r and
advisor
Final thesis Principal
submission investigato
r
Monitoring Principal
and investigato
evaluation r, advisors
and
supervisors

10. Budget breakdown

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Table 2: Budget breakdown the study Career Readiness among Private University Graduating
Students in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia on the Year 2023.

S.n Budget Unit Unit price Quantity Total Remark

o category in Birr
1 Personnel
1.1
1 Data Birr per 100 Birr 100*5 500*21 = 10,500 Budget for
collectors day for 5 per day for Birr both data
data 21 days pretest and
collector actual data
s collection
1.2 Supervisors Individu 120 Birr 1 individual 1*21*120= 2520 Including
als per day per for 15days Birr pretest days
individual
for 21 days
Subtotal= 13020Birr
2 Supplies
2.1 Duplication Pages 2 birr per 500 pages 1000 Birr
of page total
questionnaire

2.2 Pen Pack 250Birr 1 250Birr

2.3 Pencil Pack 20Birr 1 20Birr
2.4 Eraser Pieces 6 10 60Birr
2.5 Staple Pack 6 10 60Birr
2.6 Stapler Pieces 200 1 200Birr
Subtotal = 1590 Birr
3 Service fee
3.1 Communicat
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ion
3.2. Internet Monthly 999 1 999
1 service unlimite
d
3.2. Mobile card Item 50 Birr 6 Items 300Birr
2
3.3. Binding Binding 50 3 1500Birr
3

3.3. Transportatio Travel 250 6 1500 Birr

4 n
Subtotal=4299

Total = 18909 Birr

Contingency 10% =1890
Grand total= 20799 Birr

11. Annex: Data collection tool

12. Bibliography
CAREER READINESS COMPETENCIES. (n.d.).

Hosono, A., Page, J., & Shimada, G. O. (2020). Workers, managers, productivity: Kaizen in developing
Countries. In Workers, Managers, Productivity: Kaizen in Developing Countries. Palgrave Macmillan.
https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-15-0364-1

Tamrat, W. (2022). Graduate Employability and Responsiveness: The Need for Aligning Policy Directions and
Institutional Readiness in Ethiopia. In Graduate Employability Across Contexts: Perspectives, Initiatives
and Outcomes (pp. 147–166). Springer Nature. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-19-3959-4_8