Employability and transition to labour market in emerging economies: An Indian perspective on Higher education

Gopalakrishnan, Ambili (2011): Employability and transition to labour market in emerging economies: An Indian perspective on Higher education.

Abstract

Young people account for one fifth of the world’s population and according to the population projections of Planning Commission of India, they contribute to 22.8% of the Indian population. Majority of these young people constitute student population acquiring higher education who may contribute to future workforce of the country. These young people, across the globe, especially in developing countries where the population density and growth is also highest, face unprecedented challenges in their capacity to access public resources and family resources, stemmed from waves of cultural and economic globalisation. Educational qualification levels of the people in the age group 15 to 29 are also expected to improve significantly in the next decade. Growing enrolments in higher education and rising rates of return on it, in not only advanced countries but also many developing countries tend to make a case for expanding higher education to reach larger number of people across the world and India is not an exception. Hence the paper seeks to study the higher education development in India and analyses employability of higher education sector in India and its transition to labour market. The study shows that India with enormous population of 1.21 billion people and an expanding economy, is in urgent demand for qualified work force. Finding reliable solutions for developing the higher education system to facilitate sustainable economic growth is the call, which will require persistent policy, polity and political motivation in the right direction from the stakeholders which lacks at the moment in the country.

• Item Type: MPRA Paper
• Language: English
• Keywords: Employability; transition; labour market; higher education; India
• Subjects: E - Macroeconomics and Monetary Economics > E6 - Macroeconomic Policy, Macroeconomic Aspects of Public Finance, and General Outlook > E66 - General Outlook and Conditions; E - Macroeconomics and Monetary Economics > E2 - Consumption, Saving, Production, Investment, Labor Markets, and Informal Economy > E24 - Employment ; Unemployment ; Wages ; Intergenerational Income Distribution ; Aggregate Human Capital ; Aggregate Labor Productivity; J - Labor and Demographic Economics > J2 - Demand and Supply of Labor > J21 - Labor Force and Employment, Size, and Structure; E - Macroeconomics and Monetary Economics > E6 - Macroeconomic Policy, Macroeconomic Aspects of Public Finance, and General Outlook > E65 - Studies of Particular Policy Episodes; I - Health, Education, and Welfare > I2 - Education and Research Institutions > I21 - Analysis of Education; I - Health, Education, and Welfare > I2 - Education and Research Institutions > I28 - Government Policy; H - Public Economics > H5 - National Government Expenditures and Related Policies > H52 - Government Expenditures and Education

References

Agarwal, P. (2007). Higher Education in India: Growth, Concerns and Change Agenda, Higher Education Quarterly, 61: 197–207.

All India Management Association AIMA (2003), Report of the High Level Strategic Group - India’s New Opportunity -2020, New Delhi.

Bhagwati, J. (2004). In Defense of Globalization. New York: Oxford University Press.

Blackwell, F. (2004). India: A Global Studies Handbook. California: ABC-CLIO Inc.

Census of India (2011). Provisional population totals, Ministry of Home Affairs, New Delhi, India.

Census of India. (2001). Ministry of Home Affairs, New Delhi, India.

Freeman, R. (2005). Human Resource Leapfrogging, The Golbalist, September 05, 2005. Available: http://www.theglobalist.com/StoryId.aspx?StoryId=4759 (accessed 15th January 2011)

Ghose, A. K. (2004). ‘The Employment Challenge in India’, Economic and Political Weekly, November 27.

Kishore, A. (2009). Designing for employability in India, presentation under the theme The Role of Technology in Learning in the 21st Century presented at the Carnegie Mellon University held on January 21st, 2009.

Kumar, D. (1984). Science in Higher Education: A Study in Victorian India, Indian Journal of History of Science, 19 (3): 253-260.

Kumar, D. (2003). India. In Porter R. (ed.), The Cambridge History of Science (4)—Eighteenth-Century Science, Cambridge University Press, UK, 669–687.

Lam, D. (2007). The demography of youth in developing countries and its economic implications, World Bank Policy Research Working Paper 4022, included in World development report, 2007.

NASSCOM (2005). The IT Industry in India: Strategic Review 2005, New Delhi, India.

NASSCOM-McKinsey (2005). Report on Extending India’s Leadership of the Global IT and BPO Industries. Available : http://www.mckinsey.com/locations/india/mckinseyonindia/pdf/nasscom_mckinsey_report_2005.pdf (accessed 12th January, 2011).

National Committee of Inquiry into Higher Education (1997), Government of United Kingdom. UK.

Prabhu, J. (2006). Educational Institutions and Philosophies, Traditional and Modern. In Wolper S. (ed.), Encyclopedia of India (vol. 2), Farmington Hills: Thomson Gale 23–28.

Sen, B. (1989). Development of Technical Education in India and State Policy-A Historical Perspective, Indian Journal of History of Science, 24 (2): 224-248.

Uttara, D. (2010). Higher Education in India: Sustaining Long-Term Growth?, South Asia Monitor, No. 141, Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS), Washington DC.

Venture Intelligence (2010). Venture Intelligence India Venture Capital Report -2009, Chennai, India.

Visaria, P. (1998). Unemployment among youth in India, Level, Nature and policy Implications, International Labour Organisation, Employment and Training Papers, 36, Institute of Economic Growth, New Delhi.

World Bank (2000) World Development Report 2000-01. New York: Oxford University Press.

World Bank (2004). Measuring Trade in Services Liberalisation and its Impact on Economic Growth: an illustration, World Bank Group Working Paper. Available: http://econ.worldbank.org/files/2373_wps2655.pdf (accessed 12th February 2011)

World Bank (2006). India’s Employment Challenge: Creating Jobs, Helping Workers, Chennai: Oxford University Press, India.

World Youth Report (2003). Department of Economic and Social Affairs (DESA) - Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC), United Nations, Geneva, Switzerland.