What skills do today's college graduates lack?

I thank the opportunity given to me by a Leading College in Bengaluru to contribute on the survey as a part of student development program with regards to their employability. It gives me immense pleasure to share my experience on “What skills do today's college graduates lack?”

But before getting into the topic, I would like to highlight that a common Skills Training or orientation will not fulfill the mission unless otherwise the Students are assessed individually by suitable specifically designed tests, keeping in mind Indian context. The test may include questions based on attitudes typical to the Indian population and help students to identify their areas of interests and strengths.

“What skills do today's college graduates lack?”

In my opinion the Unemployment problem in India is lower than that of Unemployability problem. Though the Employability skills are domain specific and vary from individual to individual, I hereunder address the generic skills the College Graduates Lack that are appropriate to your survey.

• Need “Values” to un-clutter their life. The Top 7 Values they may lack are Accountability, Achievement, Adaptability, Ambition, Attitude, Awareness and Balance (home/work).
• Must have Subject fluency, not just Subject literacy and Ability to Learn.
• Have to develop thinking process skills, not just content mastery. Preferably Critical Thinking and Problem Solving.
• Should learn to highlight the interconnectedness of knowledge, not just address a topic/subject in isolation.
• Capacity for development of new applications / innovations. This is need of the hour under this pandemic scenario, which the Union Government will support extensively under AatmaNirbar Bharat schemes.
• Require social values and ethics
• Self-management skills and entrepreneurial skills
• Should have Drive – Result orientation, Initiative, Decision-making, Coping with Pressure, Achievement orientation. This skill is more lacking in women candidates.

The topic on skills is a vast one. However, I have given that in a concise manner.