Towards Learning for Employment: A Study of Effect of Different Variables on Employment Readiness of Students Enrolled in Professional Programmes Delhi-NCR, India.

Abstract Indian Higher Education system has got 70 million students enrolled in different technical and professional courses, which is highest in world. Being the fastest growing economy, India has got global attention also. Despite such strong foundation, the nation lacks a skilled workforce. The expectations of the industry don’t match with what they receive as a workforce. There has been a continuous effort in instilling technical, communication, spiritual, leadership skills along with building a high quotient of ethics and professionalism in the students. The problem lies somewhere else, which needs quick attention. The present study attempts to analyze the effect of independent variables assessment of self competence, open to change, networking, professional growth, emotional growth, spiritual growth, realistic expectations, interpersonal skills, conceptual skills, technical skills, leadership skills, attitude towards planet, ethical disposition, flexibility to work and orientation towards money on the dependent variable Employment readiness through Regression analysis. The findings suggest that students need to assess their self competence, develop an achievement orientation attitude and work on technical skills in order to become Employment ready. There are very few studies addressing this issue in Indian context and researchers could find no published empirical work analyzing the effect of all these variables on Employment readiness. This would serve as a strong base for researchers in similar field. This study is beneficial for academicians, policy-makers and academic regulatory bodies. Keywords: Employment readiness, Indian higher education, Generation y employment readiness, Employability of gen y.