Abstract

This study examined the communication, analytical/problem-solving and interpersonal competencies required of Business Education graduates of Colleges of Education for sustainable employability in North-East Nigeria. The persistent mismatch between the competencies graduates acquire and those demanded by contemporary employers has become a major driver of graduate underemployment in Nigeria. Anchored on Human Capital Theory and Employability (Dispositional) Theory, the study adopted a descriptive survey design. Three research questions and three null hypotheses guided the investigation. The population comprised Business Education graduates and their employers across the six North-Eastern states. A sample of 310 respondents (214 graduates and 96 employers) was drawn using a multistage sampling procedure. A 36-item structured questionnaire titled “Required Employability Competencies Questionnaire (RECQ)”, validated by three experts and yielding a Cronbach’s alpha reliability coefficient of 0.87, was used for data collection. Mean and standard deviation answered the research questions, while the independent-samples t-test tested the null hypotheses at the 0.05 level of significance. Findings revealed that all three competency clusters were rated as “required”, with grand mean ratings ranging from 3.28 to 3.71. The t-test showed no significant difference between graduates and employers on communication and interpersonal competencies, but a significant difference on analytical/problem-solving competencies. The study concluded that the competency profile valued by the labour market is broadly shared by graduates and employers, although a measurable perception gap persists around higher-order analytical skills. It recommended curriculum reform, the institutionalisation of work-integrated learning, and stronger college–industry linkages.