Are Universities in Nepal Concerned About the Employability of Their Graduates?

While Nepali universities continue their core mission of teaching, grading, and generating research output, a diverse group of stakeholders-including students, industries, governments, and international agencies-now hold specific expectations: they demand that universities formulate job market-relevant courses, achieve breakthroughs in scientific discovery and technological growth, drive industry-specific innovations, and ultimately create employment opportunities for students immediately after graduation.

Employability of graduates has become an important indicator for university ranking these days, and there is a growing pressure on universities in Nepal to prove that they can prepare industry- ready and globally competitive graduates. However, the Nepali higher education system still struggles with deep-rooted issues such as the persistence of academic snobbery and the outdated assumption that theoretical instruction is sufficient for preparing students for their employability.

Asymmetry between claims and the actual realities of the job market

The employability concern of universities in Nepal has been a peculiar case of lost translation because of a widespread mismatch between what they offer academically and the actual realities of the job market, business needs, and industry expectations both locally and abroad. First of all, the universities in Nepal need to present genuine, trustworthy, and evidence-based claims about the employability value of their degrees, courses, and teaching-learning activities. Their claim for employment, entrepreneurship, business opportunities, career pathways, and professional  application of academic learning need to be congruent with actualities of the business environment and job market. Asymmetry here will only generate confusion, self-doubts and dissonance among graduate and post-graduate students.

Similarly, universities in Nepal can’t remain relevant by simply clinging onto the same old overstated or unsubstantiated employability claims based on their self-referential and  institutional closure-driven academic arguments borrowed from global and generic references without a critical, data-driven, and transparent approach grounded in job-market trends, employer feedback, industrial requirements, and demonstrable graduate outcomes.

Apart from job fairs, career events, and workshops here and there, universities in Nepal have not properly utilized public relations, communication, and marketing activities to build their reputation in both national and international job markets as institutions that produce competent and industry-ready human resources. In addition to job placement cells, universities also need to use social media marketing activity to display how their internship initiations have resulted into proper career pathways for their graduates. Besides, universities in Nepal need to keep up with appropriate business metrics, industry analytics, policy reforms, and emerging job market trends that may have an impact on the employability of their new graduates.

Symbolic rather than systemic/strategic concern for employability

Indeed, universities in Nepal have undertaken curriculum reforms aimed at strengthening practical learning necessary for the employability of their graduates. They have started to revise their curriculum based on industry-driven, practice-oriented approaches such as mandatory industry internships with no concurrent coursework, practicums for developing soft skill competencies, project-based work, consulting assignments, and relevant interactive, experiential, and problem-solving components within their course programs. Despite these efforts, a significant gap remains in the purposeful integration of theory and practice as universities in Nepal continue to operate within rigid hierarchies, outdated institutional structures, self- referential norms, insular evaluations, and a lingering academic elitism.

Universities in Nepal have not adequately realized that when students fail to recognize the relevance of their university-acquired knowledge in professional and business contexts, it signals that universities are not effectively bridging theory with practice. Similarly, the teaching and learning model prevalent within universities in Nepal still privileges abstract knowledge, content delivery, passing exams and achieving grades, and structural academic practices. Besides, universities in Nepal have not been able to encourage their faculty members to become engaged scholars, industry collaborators, problem solvers, innovators and pracademics who can translate complex theories into actionable strategies. 

Here again, another longstanding problem with the university system in Nepal has been the disproportionate focus on exceptional outliers rather than the typical student. A handful of bright and highly motivated graduates do indeed launch start-ups, pass public service commission exams, and secure government job positions, or excel internationally with their academic knowledge. But for the majority of students seeking stable employment and a feasible career path, they receive insufficient systemic support from the university. They rarely encounter learning environments that help them connect theory to practice or develop applied skills aligned with professional needs. Hence, the concern for graduate employability in Nepal has been more symbolic rather than systemic and strategic.

Lack of job market reputation
More importantly, Universitas in Nepal to realize that their employability of graduates also depends on the job market reputation of the institutions from which they have graduated. Hence, without proper alignment with the requirements of the job market at both the national and international levels, it will be difficult for universities in Nepal to enroll sufficient students in both graduate and postgraduate studies. After all, graduate employability has become a central concern shaping institutional missions worldwide.

Moreover, to address these concerns, universities in Nepal must rethink their purpose and adopt a more integrated, forward-looking model of education. University courses should not only transmit knowledge but also cultivate the skills that industries require. In addition, the pedagogical and student assessment approach needs to consider academic rigor and practical relevance as complementary rather than contradictory to each other.

Hence, if universities in Nepal are genuinely concerned about the employability of their students, first they must think beyond bureaucratic inertia and prestige-driven metrics such as publication counts, student enrollments, grade distributions, and exam performance. Next, they need to commit to evidence-based reforms that engage closely with employers and embed employability skills such as critical thinking, communication, problem-solving, teamwork, disciplinary
exploration, creativity, innovation, experiential learning, and adaptability into every stage of the student learning journey. More importantly, universities in Nepal need to achieve demonstrable graduate employability outcomes to enhance their reputation in the job market.