An Inclusive Analytical Study of Employability Skill Gaps and their Assessment Across India

Globalization and technological advancement have prompted corporations and professionals to continuously reevaluate their enterprises due to significant financial challenges, innovations, and the ever-increasing demands of business. Education and training are crucial in addressing the issues of youth employability, which ultimately contributes to the prosperity of the nation. An MBA is a popular educational choice among youth in India. However, existing literature indicates that, despite its rising popularity, employers often find Indian management graduates to be lacking in employability. This analytical study aims to understand and analyze the findings and perceptions of various researchers, authors, bloggers, and recruiters regarding employability and the skill gap. Very few Indian research studies have comprehensively explored diverse viewpoints from various stakeholders through qualitative inquiry. The current article outlines the employability skill gap among graduating management and other graduates by synthesizing information from published research papers, articles, blogs, and online sources. It also reveals a significant difference in soft skills, such as critical thinking, leadership, and independent decision-making, among senior-level professionals compared to digital skills. The article recommends that candidates acquire soft skills during their preparation before joining institutions and corporate settings. Furthermore, the article seeks to evaluate the factors contributing to the employability gap faced by business students, while discussing and analyzing various significant publications related to the skill gap. It offers several strategies for addressing employability issues. Additionally, the article will present reasons for the discrepancies in graduates' employability and highlight the skill gap, while also addressing the challenges encountered in skill enhancement. This review attempts to explore the determinants of stock returns in the Karachi Stock Exchange (KSE) using two asset pricing models: the traditional Capital Asset Pricing Model (CAPM) and the Arbitrage Pricing Theory (APT) model. To test the CAPM, market return is utilized, whereas macroeconomic factors are considered in testing the APT. These macroeconomic factors include inflation, oil prices, interest rates, and exchange rates. Monthly time series data has been organized from January 2010 to December 2014 for this analysis.