The Influence of Bachelor of Arts from Sri Lanka State Universities on the Graduates’ Employability: A review of the Gaps between Bachelor of Arts Outcomes and the Employers’ Expectations

This study was conducted to investigate whether the current Bachelor of Arts (B.A) degrees outcomes from Sri Lanka state universities affect their employability in the job market. This helped to determine the relationships inherent among factors such working experience, academic reputation, and soft skills that are possessed by a
B.A graduate and the extent to which each one of these factors affects their employability.

The study relied on data from 150 participants selected through stratified sampling followed by simple sampling from the strata (3 strata each having 50 participants). The data was analyzed quantitatively using the hypothesis testing technique, which was appropriate to test if there were mean differences in the average responses of respondents across the various research variables.

The results revealed that there are gaps in B.A skills requirements between Sri Lanka state university outcomes and the employers’ expectations. These gaps are majorly on the soft skills, which include the oral and written communication skills, numeracy skills, computer skills, time management and responsibilities, professionalism, problem solving skills, and graduates’ such as taking initiative and willingness to learn, graduates’ ability to work in a team, and their interpersonal skills. The research concluded that having studied at a popular university for a B.A degree is not a determinant of securing employment. In addition, B.A skills requirement is invariant across employers from different industries.