Bulletin of
Vitebsk State
Technological
University

Abstract

Changing conditions of the labor market affect the primary goal of higher education institutions which is not only the need to ensure high-quality professional training of graduates, but also to support their sustainable retention in the workplace. This is especially true for graduates at the initial stages of their careers. In addition, for many higher education institutions of the Republic of Belarus the employability of graduates is one of the criteria for inclusion in the international rankings. On the other hand, many graduates today face difficulties at the stage of job placement, adaptation, and socialization at their first workplace, which subsequently leads to qualification and skills mismatches, and a high turnover rate among young people. All this necessitates the creation of new approaches and tools for analyzing and managing graduate retention processes.

The purpose of the study is to develop, for higher education institutions, a model of graduate retention at their first job, based on the integration of different information sources of graduate employment (a study of the graduate employment, an expert survey of organizations, and online sources) and the combined efforts of all stakeholders (graduates, higher education institutions, organizations, and government bodies in employment and education), as well as practical recommendations for its implementation.

The object of the study is graduates of Vitebsk State Technological University.

The article presents the author's retention model of graduates of higher education institutions at their first job, which is based on results of a 2023 study of the graduate employment (a case study of full-time graduates of Vitebsk State Technological University), an expert survey of organizations (case study of 45 organizations in the Vitebsk region), and results of an investigation of the youth labor market based on online sources. The developed model has practical significance for graduates, young employees, organizations, regional employment centers, and higher education institutions.

A model for the retention of graduates of higher education institutions at the first workplace