Job relevance of employment among graduates of selected bachelor’s degree programmes between public and private universities in Kenya

Abstract

The study identifies a critical gap in Kenya’s higher education system, where limited evidence exists on the extent to which bachelor’s degree programmes translate into jobs that are relevant to graduates’ fields of study. This paper examines the job relevance of employment among graduates of selected public and private universities in Kenya, defining job relevance as the alignment between academic training and occupational roles. The study was based on human capital theory. Using a cross‑sectional survey of 955 graduates, findings reveal that 49.4% rated their jobs as moderately relevant, while only 32% reported direct alignment with their degree programmes. Private‑university graduates demonstrated significantly higher job relevance and stronger field‑of‑study match compared to their public‑university counterparts. These results underscore systemic inefficiencies in public universities, including oversupply in low‑demand fields and weak employer engagement, while highlighting the advantages of private institutions’ market‑driven curricula and stronger industry linkages. The study concludes that addressing this gap requires curriculum reforms, expanded work‑integrated learning, and institutionalized tracer studies to ensure bachelor’s degree programmes consistently produce graduates whose skills align with labour market needs. The study recommends that the universities in Kenya should align their curriculum with the labour market and follow it with periodic curriculum reviews by the Commission for University Education to ensure that programmes remain responsive to evolving industry needs; Link accreditation and funding incentives to demonstrated evidence of education–occupation congruence, rewarding institutions that achieve high job relevance scores and increase laboratory work, field attachments, and competency-based learning to strengthen skill applicability.