Stakeholders’ Perception of ICT Graduates’ Employability at the University of Guyana

Despite the technical competence of Information and Communication Technology (ICT) graduates of the Department of Computer Science (DCS) at the University of Guyana, stakeholders’ perception generally holds that they lack affective and behavioural (soft) skills. These soft skills are expected of them to lead and champion technological change in Guyana. This dissertation addresses the question of what is understood about, and how meaning and sense are made of, the concept of ‘ICT graduate employability’, in the context of the local public sector, by the key stakeholders: employers (government), and alumni (graduates) and lecturers (educators) of the DCS. On account of the cyclic, incremental, reflective nature of Action Research (AR) and its tenet of integrating theory with practice, an AR project was undertaken to develop a deep local understanding about ICT graduate employability. This understanding has implications for how ICT graduates are prepared as a function of their programme of study in the DCS and how their performance and careers are managed in the public sector. The research comprised one reconnaissance study (Cycle 0), an intervention-based study (Cycle 1), and a qualitative study (Cycle 2). The focus and direction of Cycle 2 were refined by insights garnered from Cycles 0 and 1. Cycle 2 employed surveys, interviews, and focus groups to elicit the perceptions, views, opinions, experiences, values, and framing ideas and beliefs of a sample of forty participants. Thematic analysis was used to identify patterns and develop themes in the process of analysing and interpreting the data. The findings unearthed a local definition of ICT graduate employability; revealed implications of environmental factors in the public sector for the psychological safety and resilience of ICT graduates; and informed recommendations for a locally relevant ICT graduate education ecosystem.