The International Finance Corporation (IFC) of the World Bank Group evaluated and measured employability in Jordan in coordination with representatives from universities and the Accreditation and Quality Assurance Commission for Higher Education Institutions. This evaluation compared Jordanian universities in the field of employability, focusing on the following areas:
Relevance of Learning:
This includes the processes and systems in place to support leadership and faculty in aligning curricula with labor market needs.
Strategy and Employment Outcomes:
Reflects the university's vision and mission commitment to student employability and how employment outcomes are measured.
Employer Engagement:
This encompasses employment-focused activities that ensure job readiness and strengthen employer relationships beyond the classroom.
Career Services:
Covers the types of services and guidance available to students, including how resources for these activities are provided and organized.
Alumni Engagement:
How the institution involves its alumni in supporting current student employment.
The IFC announced the results for Jordanian universities on 7/3/2022. The university achieved a very high score of 3.4 out of 4, outperforming the Jordanian universities' average of 2.6 out of 4.
Key points of excellence for the University of Petra in employability include:
Reviewing curricula to align with labor market requirements with the participation of graduates and relevant employers.
Establishing a business incubator, an entrepreneurship and innovation center, and a dedicated employment office at the university.
Signing agreements with organizations dedicated to training and employing graduates.
Conducting intensive training courses each semester to provide students with the skills required by the labor market.
Offering an academic course titled "Professional Skills" worth 3 credit hours in all university academic programs.
Providing a computerized system to track and communicate with graduates and keep them updated.
Establishing an alumni network to include as many graduates as possible.
Implementing the employment goals throughout the student lifecycle with activities in all academic departments and the Deanship of Student Affairs to support the overall employment objective.
Involving students and graduates in its governance councils (e.g., appointed members in the University Council, advisory boards/committees).
Developing a feasible and measurable student employment strategy with a specific timeline.
Adopting key performance indicators (KPIs) for university employment (e.g., graduate employment rates by program, employer satisfaction, graduate satisfaction, wages by program) and setting the necessary policies to manage these KPIs.
Implementing tools to collect relevant data to support KPIs (institutional data), such as regular graduate outcomes and satisfaction surveys.
Social Security Corporation data (system data) is used as a data point in assessing employment KPIs.
Establishing an internal research office to analyze and publish data.
Applying the concept of management by facts to develop program relevance, admission and registration services, alumni services, etc.
Developing and implementing a discipline-based graduate guidance strategy.
Coordinating with entities involved in student and graduate training and employment and workplace recruitment officers.
Collecting and analyzing graduate data to make informed decisions about alumni engagement.
Engaging graduates in providing external training opportunities or securing internal training opportunities with employers.
Involving graduates in program advisory committees and/or as members of governance councils and at university events.
Engaging graduates as guest lecturers/speakers or for similar special tasks (e.g., resume critiques or mock interview sessions).
Leveraging the alumni network to provide job opportunities for students for work-integrated learning (WIL).
Organizing alumni networking events aimed at connecting recent graduates with working alumni, including entrepreneurs.
Involving alumni as mentors and trainers in entrepreneurship centers/networks.
Organizing activities such as career fairs at the discipline level or campus-wide and on-campus/virtual employer interviews with final-year students.