Additional Skills Acquisition Programme (ASAP) Project: The Case of an Employability Enhancement Initiative in India

Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to explore an employability enhancement initiative, the Additional Skills Acquisition Programme (ASAP) project in the state of Kerala, India, as a case for the inclusive development of employability in college and university students. Design/methodology/approach...

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Bibliographic Details
Published inJournal of International Education in Business Vol. 15; no. 2; pp. 393 - 405
Main Authors M., Nimmi P, Mathew, Paul V, Donald, William E
Format Journal Article
LanguageEnglish
Published Acton Emerald Publishing Limited 23.09.2022
Emerald Group Publishing Limited
Subjects
Business Administration Education
Business Skills
College Students
Colleges & universities
Education policy
Employment
Employment Potential
Foreign Countries
Gender Differences
Higher Education
Job Skills
Job Training
Labor Market
Low Income Students
Poverty
Role of Education
Skill Development
Sustainability
India
China
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Summary:Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to explore an employability enhancement initiative, the Additional Skills Acquisition Programme (ASAP) project in the state of Kerala, India, as a case for the inclusive development of employability in college and university students. Design/methodology/approach: ASAP is applied as a case study to examine the employability enhancement initiative in India. Findings: Participation in the ASAP project led to increased measures of employability. These increases were most pronounced in women and individuals living below the poverty line. Partnerships between educational institutions and organisations focusing on students' technical and skill development can help overcome local and national talent shortages. Originality/value: The theoretical implications come from addressing the lack of representation of skills based employability initiatives among students from India in the vocational behaviour literature. Practical implications come from knowledge sharing of innovative strategies to enhance the employability outcomes of individuals entering the labour market. New ways to overcome the reported mismatch in business education between curriculum content and the development of employability skills in graduates are presented. Benefits for diversity and inclusion are also provided.
ISSN:2046-469X
1836-3261
DOI:10.1108/JIEB-10-2021-0094