ASSOCIATION BETWEEN EDUCATIONAL ACHIEVEMENT, EMPLOYABILITY SKILLS, AND EARLY CAREER SUCCESS AMONG UNIVERSITY GRADUATES: A CROSS-SECTIONAL ANALYSIS
Abstract
Graduate employability has become a strategic priority for higher education institutions as employers increasingly seek graduates who combine strong academic achievement with practical and transferable professional skills. This study investigated the association between educational achievement, employability skills, and early career success among university graduates using a quantitative cross-sectional design. A publicly available dataset comprising 400 graduates was analyzed to evaluate the relationships between academic performance indicators (high school GPA, SAT score, and university GPA), employability attributes (internships, projects, professional certifications, networking ability, and soft skills), and career outcomes, including job offers, starting salary, career satisfaction, years to promotion, and work–life balance. Descriptive statistics, Pearson correlation analysis, and multicollinearity diagnostics were performed using Python. The findings revealed significant positive associations between educational achievement, employability competencies, and multiple indicators of early career success. Graduates demonstrating stronger academic performance and higher employability skill levels generally received more job offers, reported higher starting salaries, and experienced greater career satisfaction. However, severe multicollinearity among predictor variables indicated substantial overlap between academic and employability characteristics, highlighting the need for robust analytical approaches in future predictive modeling. Overall, the study emphasizes that integrating academic excellence with experiential learning and competency development is essential for enhancing graduate employability and supporting sustainable early career success in increasingly competitive labor markets.
Downloads
References
2.Duta, A., Wielgoszewska, B., & Iannelli, C. (2021). Different degrees of career success: social origin and graduates’ education and labour market trajectories. Advances in Life Course Research, 47, 100376.
3.Franco-Ángel, M., Carabali, J., & Velasco, M. I. (2023). The internship performance of undergraduate students: Are hard or soft skills more important?. Industry and Higher Education, 37(3), 384-396.
4.Friedman, J. N., Sacerdote, B., Staiger, D. O., & Tine, M. (2025, May). Standardized test scores and academic performance at ivy plus colleges. In AEA Papers and Proceedings (Vol. 115, pp. 676-681). 2014 Broadway, Suite 305, Nashville, TN 37203: American Economic Association.
5.Habets, O., Stoffers, J., Heijden, B. V. D., & Peters, P. (2020). Am I fit for tomorrow’s labor market? The effect of graduates’ skills development during higher education for the 21st century’s labor market. Sustainability, 12(18), 7746.
6.Howard, J. L., Bureau, J., Guay, F., Chong, J. X., & Ryan, R. M. (2021). Student motivation and associated outcomes: A meta-analysis from self-determination theory. Perspectives on Psychological Science, 16(6), 1300-1323.
7.Jackson, D. (2024). The relationship between student employment, employability-building activities and graduate outcomes. Journal of Further and Higher Education, 48(1), 14-30.
8.Mabunda Baluku, M., Nsaale Mugabi, E., Nansamba, J., Matagi, L., Onderi, P., & Otto, K. (2021). Psychological capital and career outcomes among final year university students: The mediating role of career engagement and perceived employability.
9.Majid, S., Eapen, C. M., & Oo, K. T. (2019). The Importance of Soft Skills for Employability and Career Development: Students and Employers' Perspectives. IUP Journal of Soft Skills, 13(4).
10.Mezhoudi, N., Alghamdi, R., Aljunaid, R., Krichna, G., & Düştegör, D. (2023). Employability prediction: a survey of current approaches, research challenges and applications. Journal of Ambient Intelligence and Humanized Computing, 14(3), 1489-1505.
11.Mtawa, N., Fongwa, S., & Wilson-Strydom, M. (2021). Enhancing graduate employability attributes and capabilities formation: a service-learning approach. Teaching in Higher Education, 26(5), 679-695.
12.Musa, S., Nurhayati, S., & Boriboon, G. (2025). The Effect of Internships on Graduates' Employability, Soft Skills, and Digital Competence. Educational Process: International Journal, 17, e2025306.
13.Ng, P. M., Chan, J. K., Wut, T. M., Lo, M. F., & Szeto, I. (2021). What makes better career opportunities for young graduates? Examining acquired employability skills in higher education institutions. Education+ Training, 63(6), 852-871.
14.Pedro, F., Subosa, M., Rivas, A., & Valverde, P. (2019). Artificial intelligence in education: Challenges and opportunities for sustainable development.
15.Pico-Saltos, R., Bravo-Montero, L., Montalván-Burbano, N., Garzás, J., & Redchuk, A. (2021). Career Success in University Graduates: evidence from an Ecuadorian study in los ríos province. Sustainability, 13(16), 9337.
16.Riches, V., Gadow, F., & MacDonald, J. (2018). Transition from university to employment. In People with intellectual disability experiencing university life (pp. 255-266). Brill.
17.Shamim, A. (2025). Education & career success [Data set]. Kaggle. https://www.kaggle.com/datasets/adilshamim8/education-and-career-success
18.Singha, R., & Singha, S. (2024). Educational innovation transforming higher education for workforce readiness. In Advancing student employability through higher education (pp. 37-55). IGI Global Scientific Publishing.
19.Small, L., Shacklock, K., & Marchant, T. (2018). Employability: a contemporary review for higher education stakeholders. Journal of Vocational Education & Training, 70(1), 148-166.
20.Theobald, R. J., Goldhaber, D. D., Gratz, T. M., & Holden, K. L. (2019). Career and technical education, inclusion, and postsecondary outcomes for students with learning disabilities. Journal of Learning Disabilities, 52(2), 109-119.
21.Yi, E., & Park, D. H. (2024). The effect of core competencies of university students on employment and first year salary level based on school activity log. Heliyon, 10(7).
Copyright (c) 2026 IJRDO - Journal of Social Science and Humanities Research
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.
Author(s) and co-author(s) jointly and severally represent and warrant that the Article is original with the author(s) and does not infringe any copyright or violate any other right of any third parties, and that the Article has not been published elsewhere. Author(s) agree to the terms that the IJRDO Journal will have the full right to remove the published article on any misconduct found in the published article.
