Bridging the gap between college and career: Development of a graduate attribute framework for Saudi students

The objective of this quantitative study was to examine the efforts of one large university in the Eastern Province of Saudi Arabia to develop and approve a graduate attributes (GA) framework. The large-scale initiative drew on faculty members and students’ perceptions of graduate attributes that can bridge the gap between college and career readiness at Imam Abdulrahman bin Faisal University (IAU). The study’s methodology employed a web-based questionnaire administered to the institutional community of faculty members and students. Descriptive and inferential statistics were conducted and analyzed to refine the final attributes. The results indicated the following five core GAs based on 1,826 participant responses: 1) knowledge application and lifelong learning; 2) problem-solving and decision-making abilities; 3) information technology skills; 4) an active personality and 5) a commitment to values, ethics and responsibility. This inaugural study’s results can contribute to the growing interest in creating GA frameworks for Saudi universities and their graduates. The absence of GA frameworks in the Saudi context should be considered in future updates. Recommendations further suggest secondary analyses to provide more meaningful insights into the IAU’s GA framework and its relevance to Saudi Arabia’s higher education sector in general.