Graduate employability in Vietnam: A loose relationship between higher education and employment market

Tran, Thi Tuyet

Graduate employability in Vietnam: A loose relationship between higher education and employment market

by Thi Tuyet Tran (Author)

Sociology - Work, Profession, Education, Organisation

53115

Summary

This book addresses the issue of graduate employability (GE) within the changing context of contemporary Vietnam. GE has become a highly topical and contested issue in Vietnam. Employers report that university students are not suitably prepared for work, and universities are often criticised for their poor commitment to developing student employability assets. However, it is suggested that enhancing GE in Vietnam involves many factors that are often underplayed in the general literature. In the Vietnamese context, both the education system and the economy remain relatively underdeveloped; students are schooled to be passive learners; and corrupt employment practices remain rife. Moreover, Confucian cultural features of face saving, hierarchical order in decision making, and the role of rumour and hearsay in a collectivist culture each play an important part in the different ways university graduates negotiate their transition to employment. Thus, in order to enhance the development of GE in Vietnam, all related stakeholders need opportunities to collaborate so that a mutual understanding of the problem is arrived at and feasible solutions are developed and implemented.

Excerpt

Abbreviations

Meaning

ASEAN

The Association of Southeast Asian

Nations

FDI

Foreign direct investment

graduate

GDP

Gross Domestic Product

HERA

Higher Education Reform Agenda

HES

Higher education system

MOET

The Ministry of Education and Training

student

SMEs

small and medium enterprises

SOEs

state owned enterprises

WTO

The World Trade Organization

Abbreviations used for participating universities

Abbreviation

University name (pseudonym)

Communications and Transportation

Engineering and Technology

Diplomatic Relation

Education

Finance

Law

Languages and International Studies

Banking

Economics

U10

International Business

U11

Science and Technology

U12

Business and Technology

U13

Foreign Language Interpretation

U14

Teaching Pedagogy

U15

Education 2

U16

Multi-disciplinary

U17

Post and Telecommunications

U18

Water Resources

Abstract

Graduate employability has become a highly topical and contested issue in

Vietnam. Many employers report that university students are not suitably prepared for

work, and universities are often criticised for their poor commitment to developing

student employability assets. Much of the criticism identifies the causes to be an

outdated higher education curriculum coupled with too much reliance on traditional

teaching approaches, and a general poor capacity of universities to support students

to develop the skills that the market requires. This study challenges this `common

sense' (Gramsci, 1999) criticism that places the responsibility of student transition to

the employment market squarely on the shoulders of universities. By analysing

qualitative data, that includes the voices of students, recent graduates and

employers, on issues related to employability, this study locates the criticisms of the

Vietnamese higher education system within the wider social and cultural contexts

related to the difficulties of student transition. It adopts Hillage and Pollard's (1998)

employability conceptual framework where the interplay between student

employability assets, the ways students translate or deploy their university

achievements in employment (Knight & York, 2004) and the internal and external

contexts under which students seek work (Beckett & Mulcahy, 2006), interact to

contribute a complex picture of employability.

The findings of this study reveal that enhancing graduate employability in

Vietnam involves many factors that are often underplayed in the general literature. In

the Vietnamese context, both the education system and the economy remain

relatively underdeveloped; students are schooled to be passive learners and

workers; and corrupt employment practices remain rife. Moreover, Confucian cultural

features of face saving, hierarchical order in decision making, and the role of rumour

and hearsay in a collectivist culture each play an important part in the different ways

vii

university graduates negotiate their transition to employment. The study suggests

that universities, students, employers and other related stakeholders (including

students' families, government and educational policy makers) all need to

acknowledge the rapid changes taking place in Vietnamese society. In order to

enhance the development of graduate employability in Vietnam, these sectors of

society need opportunities to collaborate so that a mutual understanding of the

problem is arrived at and feasible solutions are developed and implemented.

viii

Acknowledgement

The author would like to thank Dr. Julie White (Victoria Institution), Tai Peseta

(The University of Sydney) and Professor Ramon Lewis (La Trobe University) for

their essential support and constructive comments.

This book is also dedicated to the radical love and actions of Hoa Do and Ha

Linh Do Tran

Chapter 1 Introduction

1.1 Personal

impetus

In 2005, when I went to sign a contract to hire camping tents for my university

students, the owner asked me to help find a job for a particular girl and pointed to a

shy-looking young girl who was sitting at a small table in front of the owner's shop.

This girl had approached the shopkeeper a few months before about the job posted

on the shop window. The owner said "I can't employ you because I don't need a

university graduate. I only need someone who can read and write and I can only pay

500,000 dongs a month" (about 30 USD at that time). The young woman sadly

walked away. A month later, she came back and pleaded "Please give me the job or I

will die of hunger." The owner was overcome with pity and employed her, promising

at the same time to find a better job for this `poor obedient girl'.

Apart from passing her documents to the job matching centre of the Student

Association in my university, I could not do much to help this unfortunate young

woman, but the image of a shy girl sitting in front of a small table near the road side

continues to haunt me.

Two years later, I went into a toyshop where the shop assistant recognised me

and struck up a conversation, saying that she knew me from my role of Youth Union

Secretary of her university. I was surprised to realise it was the same young woman,

and at her polite and easy going manner. I asked her, "Why don't you find something

better to do?" She turned my question back on me asking, "What can I do, Sister? I

learned French at the University, but I don't want to be a tourist guide. My health is

not good and I don't think I can do anything else." When I left the shop, the image of

the lonely and forgotten girl sitting in front of a small table near the roadside came

back to me and I was overwhelmed by sadness.

Since then, when it comes to graduation time each year in June, these images

return to haunt me. Eventually I felt a pressing need to find out more about the route

taken by recent graduates entering the employment market in Vietnam. After making

inquiries with many people, and observing for myself the fraught and precarious

process for recent graduates in searching the market for a suitable job, I gradually

assigned myself the responsibility to help these young people. There must be more

to know and to do about employability, and to help these young people to help

themselves.

This was the impetus that propelled me into this study, which examines the

transition from university to employment of Vietnamese university students upon

graduation. The central focus is on the perspectives of final year university students

and recent graduates. I wanted to know how these participants articulate the central

issues they face in this transition, how they view their knowledge, skills and attitudes

needed for work, what assets they possess for employment, and how might these

assets, in turn, influence their employment chances. The perception of employers

about recent graduates is also important. By listening carefully to both groups during

this study, a sharper picture of the students' transition to employment has emerged.

The issues related to the transition of university graduates to the workplace are

complex, and there is no easy solution. There are many stakeholders involved,

including higher education managers, teachers and policy makers, employers,

university students and their families. The purpose of this book is to contribute fresh

insights on this issue and to include different voices and perspectives so that the

obstacles blocking or hindering recent graduates can be better navigated.

1.2 Context

and

background

Vietnam is a socialist country, and after gaining independence in 1945, it

adopted a `centrally planned economy' (nn kinh t tp trung) where the direction

and development of the economy were planned and controlled by the government.

The government was considered to be dictatorial: `a monopolist of capital and

monopsonist of labour' (Harrison, 2002, p. 402). The way jobs were allocated

reflected this form of social organisation. Upon graduation, university graduates

received their `job assignment' (giy phân công công tác) informing them where they

were allocated to work. Graduates did not have to find work for themselves.

Conversely, however, they did not have the right to change the work they were

assigned to do.

The Sixth National Congress in 1986 became a turning point for Vietnam when

the centrally planned economy was replaced by a market-based one. The

Congress's Doi Moi

policy is considered to be a major economic renovation or

liberalization that has brought massive changes into the Vietnamese economy (Pham

Thanh Nghi, 2010; Phung Xuan Nha, 2009; Tran Quang Trung & Swierczek, 2009;

Trinh Thi Hoa Mai, 2008)

. Its implementation called to a halt a long period of

stagnation in the Vietnamese economy after the independence of the country was

established (Harman, Hayden, & Pham Thanh Nghi, 2010; Montague, 2013). Since

Doi Moi, Vietnam has undergone profound changes in all areas of life. The internal

economy developed very quickly and the private and foreign investment sectors

boomed. In terms of human resource management, there is no more `job assignment'

for graduates. Instead, there are increasing numbers of opportunities opening up for

graduates, not only with traditional organizations in the government sector, but also

from emerging private and foreign direct investment (FDI) enterprises. Graduates

have been given the right, as well as the challenge, to stand on their own feet, and to

thereby find and maintain their own work within the Vietnamese market-driven

Doi Moi means reform or renovation.

Due to the ubiquity of the major family names such as Nguyen, Tran and Le, and the habit of

addressing with the given name even in formal situations in Vietnam, this book uses the full

name of the Vietnamese authors instead of using only their first names.

economy. The higher education sector has also developed very quickly in order to

meet the human resource needs of the open employment market.

Since the economic liberalisation of 1986, both the Vietnamese economy and

its higher education system (HES) have developed very quickly. Paradoxically,

despite the fact that each year thousands of students graduate and many have

difficulty finding work, employers continue to complain that they have difficulty finding

graduates with the required knowledge and skills. The consistent discourse is that

university graduates are underprepared, have impractical and underdeveloped

professional knowledge and lack the necessary skills required by the contemporary

workplace (Ketels, Nguyen Dinh Cung, Nguyen Thi Tue Anh, & Do Hong Hanh,

2010; Montague, 2013; Pham Thi Huyen, 2008; The World Bank, 2008).

1.3 Vietnamese higher education limited to training purposes

As I have pursued my interest in the journey of university graduates entering the

labour market, I have been surprised and saddened by the high number of

unemployed and underemployed graduates, and the frustration expressed by

employers who despair about the quality of work demonstrated by these young

people. The ready blame levelled at the HES is a consistent theme in both

contemporary research about the HES in Vietnam and in the media (Tran Thi Tuyet,

2011). Surprisingly, it is not only employers who blame the situation on the HES. It

seems the entire Vietnamese society places the responsibility of students' transition

to the workplace on the ill equipped and underfunded higher education sector.

Shifting the responsibility for graduate unemployment onto the HES in Vietnam

is convenient but simplistic. However, this view has historical roots. The Vietnamese

people are used to viewing the university as having this responsibility. The focus on

work preparation and supplying a skilled workforce for the development of the

country is often considered the main mission of higher education in Vietnam (Tran

Ngoc Ca, 2006). George also notes that the structure of higher education has also

been `fundamentally designed to meet the needs of the labour market' (2010, p. 34).

Since Vietnam gained independence in 1945, the system was built following the old

Soviet system where higher education institutions are small, mono-disciplinary, very

specialised organisations focused on training the labour force to meet the projected

labour requirements of each sector (George, 2010). Originally, many universities

were formed in association with their Line Ministries. For example, the University of

Health was placed under the Ministry of Health, while the University of Agriculture

was under the Ministry of Agriculture and Development. Until recently, 13 major

universities have remained under their Line Ministries as well as the Ministry of

Education and Training (MOET). Clearly, the Vietnamese government has retained

universities as the primary means to train a skilled workforce for the economy.

The vocational focus in higher education has created the belief that a university

has more to do with `training', rather than `education'. Several researchers have

emphasised this central mission of the HES. Ta Thai Anh and Winter (2010), for

example, suggest that education refers to primary and secondary education, while

training refers to higher education. The name of the Central Ministry, The Ministry of

Education and Training also reflects this order as education precedes training. Tran

Ngoc Ca (2006) goes so far as to claim that the main mission of the Vietnamese

university is to produce an educated labour force for industry. The argument that

university students should be provided with in-depth professional knowledge has also

gained support from the Education Law 2005

. This Law emphasises that higher

education has a responsibility to provide professional knowledge and skills, to satisfy

the demands of the labour market, and to support the need to modernise and

industrialise the country (Pham Thi Huyen, 2008). The majority of academic staff also

Education Law number 38/2005/QH11.

consider their role is to support the traditional mandate of the university to produce

human resources for the nation state rather than to engage in research (Tran Ngoc

Ca, 2006).

1.4 Problematising the mission of Vietnamese higher education

As indicated above, much contemporary research in Vietnam has stated that

the major purpose of higher education is to prepare students for work. This same

research suggests that there is a concern about the HES's poor infrastructure, out-

dated teaching facilities, curriculum and teaching methods. Unless these deficiencies

are addressed, the likely success of universities in Vietnam carrying out their tasks is

diminished (Montague, 2013; The World Bank, 2008; Tran Quang Trung &

Swierczek, 2009; Tran Thi Tuyet, 2010). As a result, university graduates will be

unable to meet the requirements of the contemporary workplace. It seems that all

eyes look towards the HES to increase the employability of students.

As a person involved in the Vietnamese HES since 1986, as both a student and

then a staff member, I was lucky to have experienced the changes in the system, the

changes in society and also the significant changes in the economy. I also

understand the complaint about the weak capability of the HES in preparing its

graduates for employment. However, I question the popular perception of this

complex issue. Transition tends to be challenging for most (Van Geert, 1994), and

transition from university to employment - the transition from learning to doing - is not

expected to be easy. A drop in student performance has been reported (Van Geert,

1994). The HES does need to take responsibility for its quality of teaching. However,

is its solo effort enough to drive a positive change on the issue of graduate

employability in Vietnam?

Moreover, the traditional mission of universities in Vietnam was to prepare

workers for a command economy where they were required to follow orders, to listen

and obey, rather than to develop creativity and take initiative (Nguyen Van Lch,

2009). Thus, the teaching in higher education institutions has strongly reflected both

Confucian culture and the old Soviet system top-down approach where the teacher is

considered the primary source of knowledge. The main duty of students has been to

receive knowledge from the teacher and then re-learn it for the exam (Dapice et al.,

2008; Stephen et al., 2006; Vu Ngoc Hai et al., 2007; and Vu Quang Viet, 2008).

However, after Doi Moi, with the massive development of both private and

foreign direct investment sectors, the traditional `products' of the Vietnamese HES -

the passive learners and workers - do not appear to be suitable for work in these

changing times (Pham Thi Huyen, 2008; The World Bank, 2008). Vietnam has

increasingly integrated into the global market, e.g. becoming a member of the

Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) in 1995 and the World Trade

Organization (WTO) in 2007. This required the internal economy to change to

respond to the international competitive market. Instead of requiring loyalty, hard-

work and obedience within the centrally planned economy, employers now require

graduates to understand a foreign language (especially English), to have good

communication skills, teamwork and personal skills, and to demonstrate such

characteristics as taking initiative and being proactive (Ketels et al., 2010; Tran Ngoc

Ca, 2006; Tran Quang Trung & Swierczek, 2009).

In a relatively short period of time, this level of change has been highly

significant within Vietnamese society. At the same time, the HES has struggled and

been pressured to develop a system that meets the new needs of the economy.

However, universities have faced many additional challenges during this transitional

period. They lack teaching staff (General Statistics Office, 2012a), and the level of

funding and resources is very low (Evans & Rorris, 2010). They do not possess

autonomy in such areas as curriculum development or designation of their own

rector

(Hayden & Lam Quang Thiep, 2010; The Southeast Asian Ministers of

Education Organization, 2007). In addition, the inherited infrastructure of most

universities is antiquated and teaching methods have remained traditional - focused

on transmitting knowledge from the teacher to the student (Dapice et al., 2008;

Stephen, Doughty, Gray, Hopcroft & Silvera, 2006; Vu Ngoc Hai et al., 2007; and Vu

Quang Viet, 2008). Change on so many fronts will require time, support, funding and

effort to allow universities to address the new labour needs of the economy. Adding

to these difficulties and challenges are the loose relationships between the HES and

the labour market, the underdeveloped research capability of universities, and the

tenuous research-industry linkage gap (Fatseas, 2010). Together, these work as

obstacles blocking the ability of universities to enhance the capability of their

graduates for employment.

While it is easy to point to the need for universities to change and many are

quick to state this, with the current system of teaching, research, governance, and

limited connection to and communication with the employment market, it may be an

insurmountable problem for the HES to create the change necessary to satisfy the

needs of the labour market in the short term. Moreover, bridging the gap between the

HES and the employment market will require good will and effort from a range of

stakeholders. In addition, the transition from the university to the workplace is one

that individual graduates will need to negotiate. As the `job allocation' from the

government no longer exists, the onus is on the graduate to find a job and to stay

employable in the market. How might they be better supported in this adaptation?

Vietnamese HES is still under centralized governance where the central ministry (the Ministry

of Education and Training) decides matters such as the curriculum framework and

governance in every institution.

1.5 Approaching the problem

It is not enough to describe this situation as complex without investigating the

possibilities. With a strong belief that enhancing graduate employability for

Vietnamese students needs the assistance of a range of stakeholders, I do not want

to locate my research only within the HES. However, the question I have to confront

is how to address the problem and bring about a clearer picture of related issues so

that all stakeholders involved can see their responsibility and make an effort to

enhance graduate employability in the Vietnamese context.

Internationally, there has been substantial research focusing on enhancing the

capability of university students to meet the demand of the new workplace

environment. One obvious and popular approach has been to develop lists of skills

deemed desirable by employers. Many universities have built and attempted to

assess lists of skills or graduate attributes that university students purportedly need

to develop to be employable after graduation (see for example Cox & King, 2006;

Hart, 2008; Hartshorn & Sear, 2005; Meisinger, 2004; Omar, Manaf, Mohd, Kassim,

& Aziz, 2012; Raybould & Sheedy, 2005). In Vietnam, Tran Quang Trung and

Swierczek (2009) and Truong Quang Duoc (2006) have also suggested specific lists

of skills considered important for Vietnamese university students to develop if they

want to succeed in entering the employment market.

Although the outcomes of these initial research projects in Vietnam are

significant and important for all related stakeholders to gain a better understanding of

the problem in the Vietnamese context, the very distinctive features of the

Vietnamese context and culture do not seem to be articulated well in this research.

These lists do not seem to adequately probe the hidden features of the context and

circumstances in which graduates are seeking jobs. In a collectivist and high context

culture like that in Vietnam, where context is more important than the transmitted

message in creating meaning (Hall, 1976, 2000; Kittler, Rygl, & Mackinnon, 2011),

there is a need to make explicit the context and cultural features which play an

important role in graduate thinking and their way of entering the market. A central aim

of this book is to contribute a clearer picture of those features that are specific to the

Vietnamese context, in order to offer a way forward.

1.6 A journey to undertake

My intention in this book is to examine the perceptions and interpretations of

students and graduates, and combine them with the expectations of employers on

the issue of enhancing graduate employability. By engaging in dialogue with final

year students and recent graduates and also by providing a vehicle for their voices to

be heard, my aim is to gain further insight into the transition to employment of

university graduates. I also want to explore how Vietnamese university students and

recent graduates make sense of their employment situation, how they make sense of

what is waiting for them in the new environment at work, and how they react in that

situation. I also aim to investigate how internal and external circumstances and

context in the contemporary Vietnamese society impact on these young people.

In order to navigate this proposition, the employability framework developed by

Hillage and Pollard (1998) has been employed in this inquiry. The four components

of this framework are employability assets (knowledge, skills and attitudes),

deployment, presentation, and context. In employing this framework, my purpose is

firstly to gain a sense of student and graduate perceptions about the employability

assets they identify as important and valuable for workplace entry. The second

purpose is to explore student and graduate understandings of workplace

requirements. A third goal is to examine the way students and graduates view their

assets in the process of searching for suitable jobs in the employment market.

Finally, by employing this framework, I will also be able to consider how their

personal circumstances, the Vietnamese cultural context, and the Vietnamese labour

market requirements influence their meaning-making. The voice of employers has

also been sought to ensure that the external context of workplace requirements is

explicit and to problematize student and graduate perceptions.

Theoretical perspectives from several fields such as constructivism, transition,

as well as literature related to graduate employability have informed this inquiry.

These combined and overlapping fields have been explored in the development of

the questions that guide this investigation:

What do Vietnamese students, graduates and employers perceive about

graduate employability assets?

How do students and graduates deploy and present their employability

assets in the employment market?

3. What

socio-cultural factors affect Vietnamese graduates' search for

employment and how do their individual circumstances impact on this

process?

While this study reflects my location and insider knowledge as a lecturer and a

researcher who has studied and worked in the HES in Vietnam for more than twenty

years, the interview process and the analysis of data have been carefully designed to

pay close attention to the voices and perspectives of students, graduates and

employers. This design aims to develop a `thick description' (Stake, 2008, p. 128) of

the graduate employability issue and context in contemporary Vietnamese society. It

will contribute not only to the general body of knowledge in this field, but

pragmatically, it is intended to act as a resource for a range of stakeholders who are

keen to learn about the issues and complexities involved in graduate employability

within Vietnam.

In Chapter 2, the Vietnamese context of this study is outlined in more detail with

particular attention to the socio-economic situation in Vietnam and higher education.

In Chapter 3, relevant literature on the issue of enhancing graduate employability is

critiqued. In particular, the debate about whether enhancing skills and graduate

employability is the responsibility of universities is reviewed. The literature discussing

Vietnamese higher education and its own reactions to this issue is also closely

examined.

The methodology underpinning this investigation is outlined in Chapter 4. A

justification for locating the study within a constructivist paradigm is provided. My

rationale for using a qualitative approach based on focus group interviews with

students and in-depth semi-structured interviews with graduates and employers is

also discussed. Issues arising from these methods, including researcher subjectivity

and reflectivity, are also considered.

Chapter 5 reports the results of the study where the findings are presented in ways

that privilege the participants' voices. Chapter 6, the final chapter, is a summary and

discussion of the research findings. The major considerations from the findings are

offered and recommendations are made for better enhancing graduate employability

in the specific context of contemporary Vietnamese society. Finally, some

suggestions for further study bring this inquiry to a close.

1.7 Limitation of the study

A particular limitation of this inquiry is that the students, graduates and

employers participating in this study are associated with a limited range of settings in

which they have studied, worked and searched for work. Another is that the number

of participants is small in size. The study was conducted in Vietnam and invited only

students, recent graduates and employers but not all higher education-workplace

related stakeholders. For example, important perspectives from higher education

policy makers and student families were not sought. This study therefore makes no

claim to a broad generalisation. However, generalisation is not the intent of this

research. It is a context-specific study and hence does not seek to make claims that

are applicable to all situations (Lincoln & Guba, 1985; Merriam, 1998). It does not

aim at definitive descriptions of graduate employability but at understanding

perceptions of graduate employability in a very particular Vietnamese context and

culture. In addition, this study is best considered as a snapshot rather than a

comprehensive study, because the revealed perceptions are situated in a specific

time and place. The picture of graduate employability and how it might be enhanced

is highly context specific, which is both a strength in terms of thick description and

depth, and a weakness in terms of generalisability or breadth.

There is also a limitation inherent in this study related to my personal

involvement in the Vietnamese HES and this has undoubtedly influenced the study

design and data interpretation. Confronting reflexivity and minimising personal bias is

not easy or straightforward but my sensitivity to this limitation together with my

special interest in listening to the voices of my research participants have created a

desire to describe `the thick of what is going on' (Stake, 2008, p. 128) in not only my

own world but also the world of the research participants. Specific strategies toward

achieving this goal will be discussed in detail in Chapter 4.

1.8 Significance of the study

This study aims to investigate the issue of how graduate employability could be

enhanced in the Vietnamese context. Instead of focusing on the superficial issue of

skills, this study aims to develop a broader picture of the socio-economic context and

cultural characteristics in Vietnam which have affected and impacted upon the

processes in which university students enter the workplace. As employability is

context and culture dependent (Beckett & Mulcahy, 2006), the findings of this study

suggest that skills are not the only things that matter in enhancing graduate

employability, especially in the Vietnamese high context culture where

communication is often `indirect, implicit, internalised, or more dependent on physical

and psychosocial contexts' (Scheele, Pruitt, Johnson, & Xu, 2011, p. 245). Therefore,

an essential feature of my study is the contribution to research on Vietnamese

society by looking at appropriate ways of producing knowledge. The findings will

hopefully illuminate related policies and practices in the Vietnamese educational

system with a view to offering forward-looking courses of action.

In terms of the personal benefits, this project has challenged my ideas and

understanding, and transformed my professional identity. As a university lecturer with

management experience, the inquiry has shed light on my future teaching and

research direction. In developing my understanding of the complicated factors

affecting students' transition to work, my teaching, research and decision making,

particularly regarding students' employability will hopefully contribute to Vietnam's

future as well as to knowledge in more general terms.

For the Vietnamese students, graduates and employers who participated in this

study, the process offered them the opportunity to reflect on their own study and work

practices, and to hear the stories of others who study or work in similar situations.

This study is especially beneficial for students and recent graduates who have had

the opportunity to share their understandings, their hurdles and their thinking when

coping with the challenges of entering employment.

There is also potential for my research to shed light on the way in which

meaning-making occurs, in particular, regarding the complexity in enhancing

graduate employability (Beckett & Mulcahy, 2006; Hager & Holland, 2006; Harvey,

2005; Holland, 2006; Knight & Yorke, 2004), and therefore, it contributes generally to

knowledge in this field. The complexity of the employability discourse is partly due to

the circumstances in which programs of study and pathways into the workplace

occur.

Little connection is apparent between HES and industry within Vietnam

(Fatseas, 2010; Pham Thi Huyen, 2008), little information is provided to students

about the labour market requirements and little guidance is available to better

prepare graduates for employment (Mai Trong Nhuan & Hoang Van Van, 2009).

Standing on the threshold of a significant transition in life, students are bombarded

with rumours and hearsay coming from a range of directions in the collectivist culture

of Vietnam. Alongside stories of corruption, students' and graduates' poor

employability assets intersect with their desire to keep face for the whole family, to

earn money immediately after graduation, and to find work to stay in big cities. These

all add to recent graduates' anxiety when struggling to find their ways into

employment. In a culture where many things are driven by unwritten rules and where

there is often very low transparency in policy making and practices (Gillespie, 2008),

enhancing graduate employability in Vietnam still remains a challenging, opaque and

bewildering process for many university students and graduates.

While this inquiry addresses the issue of enhancing graduate employability

within the specific context and culture of Vietnam, this does not negate its valuable

contribution for the field. This book offers a fresh voice and original to the literature

about graduates' transition from university to the labour market.

Chapter 2 Contextualizing

2.1 Introduction

A good job and a better future is the most desirable outcomes of education for

young people in Vietnam and universities are considered the ideal places to fulfil this

dream. Prior to 1990, a young person holding a university degree could say good-bye

to farm work in a predominantly agricultural country and join the intellectual

workforce. This meant a life of relative privilege with a high status job and a higher

income. Finding employment for university graduates was not a problem either

because until quite recently, it was the government's responsibility. As soon as

students were awarded their degrees, they were allocated work by the government.

However, in the late 1980s and early 1990s, the Doi Moi reform meant considerable

change. Doi Moi changed Vietnam from a centrally planned economy to a market-

oriented one, which heralded enormous societal change, for university graduates too.

As a direct result of Doi Moi, the economy developed rapidly and has since been

driven mainly by the market. The HES has also expanded exponentially in order to

meet the economy's need for qualified employees. The old and comfortable system

where work was allocated to new graduates by the government is fading from

memory, and in these new times, university graduates are required to apply for a

limited number of positions in an open and competitive market. A major problem

arises when up to 400,000 students graduate each year. Many of these graduates

have not yet found a suitable job a year after graduation. Conversely, employers

complain loudly about their very real difficulty in finding graduates with the required

knowledge and skills. The supply does not seem to meet the demand on the labour

market and there are complicating historical, social, educational and economic

factors that this book attempts to unravel.

The `Vietnam Higher Education Renovation Scheme' identified the major

weakness of the higher education sector: its poor capacity to train and provide

qualified human resources for the industrialisation and modernisation of the country

(MOET, 2006a). The current teaching and learning quality indicators in higher

education in Vietnam are generally considered to be low, not only by global

standards but also because they are considered to be lower than that of

neighbouring developing countries with similar cultures such as Thailand and China

(Dapice et al., 2008). Higher education in Vietnam does not appear to meet domestic

requirements or expectations.

Some of the indicators include: complaints about the quality of higher education

training, the dissatisfaction of employers, and the high rate of underemployment and

unemployment among university graduates (Pham Thi Huyen, 2008). Universities

often receive the blame for not training their students to meet the demands of

employers (Tran Thi Tuyet, 2013b). Recently, MOET issued a number of resolutions,

instructions, and plans to reform the educational system. Nonetheless, many of these

resolutions and plans have been criticised as impractical as they were issued without

careful research into the background context, culture, as well as the teaching and

learning infrastructure, conditions, traditions and habits in Vietnam. Together with

unclear implementation, the result has, in most cases, been unsurprisingly

unsuccessful (Hayden & Lam Quang Thiep, 2007; Thi Tuyet Tran, 2014

forthcoming). The current situation of the HES in Vietnam and the gap between

education and the real needs of the society in terms of university graduates'

transition to work in particular, call for further investigation into the problem.

In order to provide an overall picture of the complexity of Vietnamese

universities and employment, this chapter offers the background context for the

study. Two major aspects are considered in detail. The first is the socio-economic

background of Vietnam focusing specifically on the impact of the Doi Moi economic

liberalisation process and the recent changes in the labour market. The second offers

an account of the expansion of the Vietnamese HES and related issues.

2 Vietnamese social and economic system from 1986 to present

2.1 The development of the Vietnamese economy after Doi Moi

Vietnam is a mainly agricultural country with nearly 87 million people, of whom

the majority live in the countryside and rural areas (General Statistics Office, 2012b).

After Doi Moi in 1986, the Vietnamese economy experienced impressive growth and

considerable wealth expansion. Doi Moi had a significant and immediate impact on

the economy which involved agriculture becoming privatised, property rights being

introduced, price controls and controls on foreign trade being eased and Vietnam re-

engaging with the international economy (Glewwe, Agrawal, & Dollar, 2004). One

remarkable change in the economy after Doi Moi was the development of a multi-

sector economy. Before Doi Moi, there were only two economic sectors in Vietnam,

namely the state economic sector and the cooperative

economic sector. With four

more sectors added after the reform

, the multi-sector economy allows and

encourages private and foreign investment organisations to develop their business in

Vietnam (Nguyen Loc, 2006).

Vietnam has experienced strong growth in both private sectors and foreign

direct investment. With the annual average Gross Domestic Product (GDP) growth

rate of 7.5%, the economy has recorded a relatively high growth rate compared to

other developing countries (Ministry of Planning and Investment, 2006). Along with

the growth in GDP, there has also been a significant change in the structure of the

economy. With more and more private and foreign direct investment enterprises, the

The economic form where business is set up and run by its members.

The four new economic sectors after Doi Moi are:

x Private and small business economic sector

x Private capitalist economic sector

State capitalist economic sector and,

Economic sector with foreign investments.

country now is marked by an increasing number of small and medium enterprises

(SMEs) with 87% of enterprises employing less than 50 employees and 57% of

enterprises employing less than 10 employees (General Statistics Office, 2008).

According to the Spring 2011 report, the number of Vietnamese SMEs in 2011 was

nearing 400,000, which represents 97-99% of the number of businesses of the

country. These SMEs employed 77% of the workforce and accounted for 80% of the

retail market (Runckel, 2011).

The structure of the labour market in Vietnam has also changed accordingly.

Although Vietnam remains a predominantly agricultural country, the share of

employment in agriculture has declined, while the share of jobs in industry and

service sectors has both sharply increased (The World Bank, 2008). Alongside the

shift to more varied job opportunities, employees have also experienced significant

changes in employment processes. Before Doi Moi, all graduates had work places

arranged for them by the government. Most were sent to rural areas for a few years

before returning to work in the city or where they preferred to go. Doi Moi marked an

important change: graduates would now be required to find the type of work as well

as the location of work by themselves (Vu Ngoc Hai, Dang Ba Lam, & Tran Khanh

Duc, 2007). However, for several years after Doi Moi, and despite the shift to six

sectors, the state sector still dominated the economy. For many, influence,

relationship and bribery remained significant to securing employment (Rama & Võ

Van Kiet, 2008). Even though the economy has recently expanded with many jobs

created in other sectors, the criteria for recruitment in the state sector are still

considered by many job seekers as the `standard' for preparing themselves in

applying for jobs (Pham Thi Huyen, 2008). However, this is no longer an appropriate

strategy in gaining employment for the majority of young people. An increasing

number of jobs offered in the market are from SMEs that often have different

requirements to very large government organisations. Nonetheless, the importance

of relationship, connection and `black money' in employment remains a popular part

of the Vietnamese collectivist culture. This often drives students and their families to

acquiesce and participate in corrupt labour market practices. In the next section, I will

discuss in more detail the issue of corruption in the Vietnamese labour market.

2.2 Corruption

employment

Although Doi Moi fostered the development of an independent external labour

market, this market has remained underdeveloped with many internal problems

(Benson & Zhu, 2005). The prevalence of corruption, a popular problem in

developing economies, is also a significant problem in Vietnam (Gainsborough,

2003). Phrases such as `black money', `go by the back door', `use money to grease

the machine', `money the first' and `if you have money, you can buy fairies' are very

familiar to Vietnamese people. A few cases of corruption remain where fake or

bought university degrees are used to purchase good jobs (Nguyen Phan & Quang

Phuong, 2007). The prevalence of corruption originated in the central command

economy (Rama & Võ Van Kiet, 2008). In fact, corruption was considered acceptable

at the beginning of Doi Moi:

In the poor Vietnam of the early years of Doi Moi, petty corruption was an

accepted way to make ends meet. It was the individual equivalent of "fence

breaking" in the face of an overregulated and inefficient system (Rama & Võ

Van Kiet, 2008, p. 39).

However, as the economy has developed and people are becoming richer,

corruption is increasingly considered to be `associated with greed, more than need'

(Rama & Võ Van Kiet, 2008, p. 39). The stories regarding the `buying' of positions in

government organisations, of the `envelope culture'

and the back door in

Envelope culture or `vn hóa phong bì' is quite popular in Vietnam. It is where money (put in

envelopes) is used to `grease the machine', to get more attention, more help and better

employment processes have inevitably caused bitterness among recent graduates

who are struggling to find their way in the workplace.

It has been suggested that the major reason for the prevalence of corruption

continuing to exist is the low level of development of the Vietnamese economy which

is still considered to be transitional (Collins & Zhu, 2005; Le Chien Thang & Truong

Quang, 2005). Further, the transparency of economic policies is very low and many

non-market factors have remained within the market-driven economy (Nguyen Van

Lich, 2009). The Vietnamese business environment is still overseen by the central

government and the political system remains under the control of one party (Collins,

2005). The government remains strongly interested in many aspects of the labour

market; in the allocation of land, capital and natural resources (Collins, 2005). Due to

this interference, state-owned enterprises (SOEs) remain the dominant force in the

economy and the most important industries still operate under the control of SOEs.

This, as suggested by the state's authority, is to `maintain state power and social

stability' (Collins, 2005, p. 190).

Similarly, the reform process for employment policy and practice has been

closely monitored by the state. In the public sector, the government maintains legal

control over employee wages especially in the area of administration, where the

wage is set according to the length of service rather than the abilities or the level of

work contribution, as in the open market (Nguyen Phuong An, 2002). Employers

cannot make decisions regarding the salaries of their employees. This affects `the

free negotiation rights between employers and employees in the market' (Nguyen

Phuong An, 2002, p. 15). In reality however, this control has not always been

implemented consistently and often applies mainly to the public sector, where the

quality of service in such places as hospitals, schools and other social interactions

(http://dantri.com.vn/c673/s673-528312/nhin-van-hoa-phong-bi-tu-can-nguyen-xa-hoi.htm).

employee receives their salary from the government budget. Generally, students who

can speak foreign languages prefer to work for international companies because

these companies often pay significantly higher wages, and money and relationship

do not normally impact in this sector. Nonetheless, there are also graduates who are

seeking jobs in the government sector. Many of them are girls who want to find stable

employment, involving relatively unchallenging work, little money but allowing them

more time and energy to take care of their families later on (Tran Thi Minh Duc,

2011). There are also instances where graduates want to enter the government

sector in order to create relationships, gain a ready promotion, and get rich in this

`enveloped' working culture. Small enterprises are normally the last option for most

university graduates. Although these companies generally pay higher wages than the

government sector, employees often feel vulnerable because the labour laws in

Vietnam are not implemented effectively. Employees can be overloaded with work

and dismissed without recourse (Nguyen Khac Tien, 2011).

In the transition from a central command to a market economy, many markets in

the Vietnamese economy are considered at a beginning stage of development, and

thus all of their related laws and regulations still lack consistency and are rather

`loose' (Nguyen Phuong An, 2002). This is an important feature which will be taken

into consideration in this study. Until recently, the transparency of the labour market

(especially in employment processes in the public sector) was still very low. This is

one reason leading to the prevalence of corruption which is considered popular in

this market. Recruitment power is often in the hands of some specific people. They

may choose to employ whomever they like. They may also base their decision on

their own interests and ignore the needs of the organisation when employing staff

(Nguyen Van Lich, 2009). Together with the poor management knowledge and skills

of the majority of employers in Vietnam, the low level of input for human resource

development popular in Vietnamese companies does not augur well for the transition

to employment of university graduates (Nguyen Phuong Anh & Robinson, 2010).

2.3 Human resource issues in Vietnamese enterprises

Human resource management practices in the labour market are often directly

related to the transition of university graduates to employment. Such practices

include:

o what employers require from recent graduates,

o the kinds of training they are willing to offer these young people

to ease their transition,

o how well human resource issues are managed within their

companies and

o the extent to which a positive environment for these young

people is created for them in which to work and develop.

Each of these factors affects the transitional process for recent graduates.

However, adding to the lack of consistency and transparency of government

economic policies and the slow development of the internal economy, are the

employers themselves. They are often considered to lack critical management skills

and the knowledge (especially in human resource management) to conduct their

business properly (Le Chien Thang & Truong Quang, 2005). The number of SME

owners and employers with higher education qualifications is very limited, and their

managerial expertise is mainly based on practical knowledge acquired over time

(Fatseas, 2010; Trinh Thi Hoa Mai, 2008).

Vietnamese employers do not only have little knowledge and experience in

human resource management, but their investment in this area is also limited. When

the majority of Vietnamese companies are small and medium-sized, where the

owners keep a close eye on cost-cutting policies, the funding of human resource

management activities is often very limited. In Vietnam, traditionally there is a view

that training and development are not the employers' responsibility but is instead, the

responsibility of the government and the educational system (Le Chien Thang &

Truong Quang, 2005). Thus, local organisations are often weak in developing

company-specific skills and knowledge, and are likely to outsource their training.

Formal qualifications are considered important for job seekers entering these sectors.

By contrast, in international enterprises, there is evidence of more modern human

resource management practices. Compared to local enterprises, international

enterprises are

more active in finding applicants for open positions, developing their human

resource assets more by in-house facilities than by outsourcing, appraising

people more on an individual basis, and rewarding them more generously with

respect to their level of performance (Le Chien Thang & Truong Quang, 2005,

p. 40).

Although the level of understanding and adoption of human resource

management practices is not the same in different sectors, it is becoming

increasingly apparent that employers from different sectors seem to be dissatisfied

with the quality, skills and knowledge of job seekers, particularly recent graduates. A

report by the Ho Chi Minh City Department of Labour, Invalids, and Social Affairs

(quoted in Le Chien Thang & Truong Quang, 2005, p. 29) points out that: `Only about

one third of the companies in operation are satisfied with the qualifications of their

new recruits'. Even university graduates, who are considered the most skilful and

knowledgeable new entrants into the workforce, are described as lacking the

knowledge and skills employers require (Nguyen Phuong Anh & Robinson, 2010;

Pham Thi Huyen, 2008). There is an urgent call from the employment market for

improvement in higher education training to close this perceived performance gap.

Compared to the international enterprises, the working conditions as well as the

wages offered by local enterprises tend to be significant, making them less attractive

to the most suitable candidates in the market. Even when this is the case, the blame

easily returns to the HES: `although enterprises have too many applications from

university graduates for each vacant position, it is still not easy for them to find the

one suitable' (Trinh Thi Hoa Mai, 2008, p. 31).

One factor which is consistently identified to be important to the issue of

unemployment or underemployment of university graduates is the alleged skill

shortage of graduates (Asian Development Bank, 2008). Economic development

requires a skilled, creative and flexible workforce that can adapt to changes in

economic activity and technology. However, it has been widely assumed that most

graduates from Vietnamese universities do not possess the capacity to meet this

demand (Asian Development Bank, 2008; Ketels et al., 2010; Nguyen Phuong Anh &

Robinson, 2010).

Clearly, there are many challenges for Vietnamese society during this intense

transitional period, where the economy is rapidly changing. As a result of the limited

funding for and limited understanding of contemporary human resource practices,

together with the widespread assumption that training for work is still considered the

responsibility of the government and the educational system, it seems unlikely that

Vietnamese local enterprises will attain the desired workforce quickly. In stark

contrast, international enterprises generally use transparent employment processes

including developing and supporting their staff with in-house training, very attractive

salaries, and reward systems to acknowledge the performance of their employees. It

is these organisations that the most skilful and productive workers, understandably,

want to join. These are also the reasons why international organisations often attract

and reach more qualified candidates in the labour market. This creates a fear among

local organisations that they will lose their well-trained and highly qualified employees

for a better paid job in FDI enterprises (Truong Quang & Ha Kim Dung, 1998). The

`brain drain' from local to more global organisations is happening extensively and

rapidly within the local Vietnamese employment market. The urgent call for change

by local companies does not yet appear to have been heeded. It is suggested that

they should invest more in their human resource management policies and practices,

and cooperate with the higher education sector (Le Chien Thang & Truong Quang,

2005; Nguyen Phuong Anh & Robinson, 2010; Trinh Thi Hoa Mai, 2008). However,

this is more easily said than done as great cultural change is required within the

workplace.

3 The Vietnamese higher education system

Figure 1: Vietnamese educational system. Source: MOET (2006c)

There are two types of higher education institutions in Vietnam, namely college

and university. There is no specific difference in terms of the subject of study

between colleges and universities. However, in order to enter universities, students

need to pass the university entrance exam, whereas students who do not pass this

exam can apply and can be accepted to study in colleges. College programs take

three years and are predominantly vocational. They provide students with

fundamental knowledge as well as practical and problem-solving skills for specific

careers. Graduates from colleges are awarded College Diplomas. Universities

provide both undergraduate and postgraduate programs. Undergraduate programs,

depending on specific areas of study, take four to six years for upper secondary

school leavers, and one to two years for those having completed related college

programs. Universities provide students with consolidated professional knowledge

and practical skills for individual specific careers. Graduates from undergraduate

programs are awarded Bachelor Degrees (MOET, 2006b).

Vietnamese higher education has expanded rapidly since Doi Moi. In 1987,

there were only 101 colleges and universities in the whole country, with a total of

more than 100,000 students. In accordance with the massification of higher

education elsewhere, in 2012, this number grew to 419 universities and colleges, and

more than 2.2 million students (MOET, 2012). Despite the government's increase in

funding for higher education each year after the Doi Moi process, it has not kept up

with the demand of the booming higher education sector (Nguyen Nhung, 2009). For

the past 10 years, the Vietnamese government has considered higher education

institutions and universities to be financially autonomous, yet most universities have

struggled to fund core activities. University programs have become products that are

marketed in the public media to attract fee-paying students. In order to quickly

increase its resources, each university has invested in commercial packages to

generate demand, revenue and to satisfy customer needs. It is not unusual to find

many irregular streams within a public university, such as in-service classes for

professionals, distance learning, part-time courses, short-term training, second

undergraduate degree education as well as specialised or retraining courses (Kelly,

2000). These additional courses have been designed for those who cannot follow

mainstream study

and are willing to pay higher fees to undertake these courses.

Examining this from an economic perspective reveals that all programs provided by

In Vietnam, the term `main stream study' or `h chính qui' refers to the programs for those

who pass the university entrance exam and follow the curriculum set by MOET.

private universities as well as these irregular courses and programs provided by

public universities are designed according to the requirements of the learners and

they are very profitable because of market demand. Therefore, in order to survive,

the HES in Vietnam has become increasingly commercialised and driven by market

forces.

However, an additional important consideration here is the role, preparation and

remuneration of academic staff. Vietnamese higher education does not seem to

have prepared well for its commercialisation, especially in terms of its teaching staff.

The ratio of students to teachers is very high. In 2005, the Prime Minister called for a

reduction in the student-teacher ratio from 29:1 to 20:1 by the year of 2010

(Vietnamese Government, 2005). However, in 2012, according to the statistics

provided by MOET, there were more than 84,000 university lecturers, both full time

and casual staff, employed in the HES, with more than 2,200,100 enrolled students,

indicating that the student-teacher ratio in 2012 is still higher than 26:1 (MOET,

2012). It is suggested that with the continued growth in enrolment numbers, these

ratios may continue to rise (The World Bank, 2008).

In terms of the quality of teaching staff, there has been a significant increase in

the level of qualifications of academic staff in the HES (54% of university lecturers

with postgraduate qualifications in 2012 compared with 30% in 1997 and only 10% in

1987) (See Appendix I for more details). Before 1987, it should be pointed out that

most of the postgraduate training for Vietnamese higher education academic staff

was undertaken in the Soviet Union (Ngo Doan Dai, 2006). After Doi Moi, an

increasing number of institutions were permitted to offer postgraduate training, and

university lecturers have consistently been encouraged to undertake programs of

study at master or doctoral levels. Since 2000, the Government project, `Training

Scientific and Technical Cadres in Institutions Overseas with the State Budget' has

supported leading science and technology staff in key sectors to gain higher degree

qualifications though providing scholarships. These scholarships prioritise higher

education academic staff (Vietnam International Education Development - Ministry of

Education and Training, 2009). Since 2012, another project namely `911' has

enabled higher education academic staff to go overseas for doctoral study

. The

strengthening ties between MOET and a range of countries has meant that each

year, hundreds of academics from different Vietnamese universities are granted

overseas scholarships to undertake master or doctoral level study (Nguyen Thuy

Anh, 2009). This is the major reason for the significant increase in the number of

academic staff who have postgraduate qualifications in the Vietnamese HES.

Despite the significant increase in the qualifications of higher education

lecturers, university academic staff are still considered as having insufficient

qualifications to be higher education lecturers (Ketels et al., 2010; Powell & Lindsay,

2010). In 2012, 46% of university lecturers nearly half the number of academic

staff, held a bachelor degree (see Appendix I for more details). The teaching

methods employed in the HES have been criticised as remaining quite traditional,

dominated by rote learning - that is memorisation and reproduction of information

provided in lecture format. The main duty of students in many universities is still to sit

quietly in classes, taking notes on whatever the teacher says. They then `re-learn'

this information at home and reproduce the information verbatim during examinations

(Dapice et al., 2008; Stephen et al., 2006; Vu Ngoc Hai et al., 2007; and Vu Quang

Viet, 2008). This teaching and learning style does not support individuals to develop

creativity, flexibility or cultivate independence but instead reduces their capacity to

Prime Minister's Decision No. 911/QD-TTG dated 17 June 2010 approving the Training

Initiative Project for Educators of Tertiary Institutions to pursue and attain doctoral degrees for

period 2010-2020.

adapt to the changes required by their workplace after their graduation (Dapice et al.,

2008).

These traditional teaching and learning methods have received extensive

criticism from both the Vietnamese and international academic communities.

Thompson (2009) explains the situation historically, suggesting that for centuries,

Vietnamese education has been rooted in the Confucian tradition which emphasises

the supreme knowledge of the teacher and the duty of students to be passive,

obedient and to learn `by heart' the information provided by the teacher. In addition to

the Confucian tradition, Vietnamese history meant that French and Soviet influences

have also impacted on the teaching style in higher education. Both French and

Soviet systems are similar in that they have traditionally depended primarily on

teaching by lecture and rote memorisation (Thompson, 2009). Vu Ngoc Hai (2007)

argues that this is the result of the poor training teachers received, whereas Stephen

et al.(2006, p. 13), Vu Quang Viet (2008) and Tran Quang Trung and Swierczek

(2009) suggest that the heavy emphasis on curriculum is the main factor preventing

efforts to update the dominant teaching style in the Vietnamese HES.

The current curriculum framework, according to Tran QuangTrung and

Swierczek (2009), is too theory-oriented and according to Stephen et al. (2006) and

Vu Quang Viet (2008), is too heavily laden with subjects requiring students to obtain

about 200 credit points in order to graduate (MOET, 2010). Vu Quoc Viet (2008)

compares the curriculum framework of Northwestern University, USA with the one

provided by MOET (which every public university in Vietnam is required to follow)

and concludes that the curriculum of most Vietnamese universities contains twice the

content of the American one. This does not include the additional compulsory

subjects set by MOET: Military education (165 lessons) and physical study (75

lessons) (Vu Quang Viet, 2008, p. 14). The argument that the heavy and theory-

oriented curriculum effectively discourages any improvement in terms of teaching

and learning style, and negates the effort to renovate the system is widely

acknowledged within and outside Vietnam (Tran QuangTrung & Swierczek, 2009; Vu

Quang Viet, 2008; The World Bank, 2008).

While the explanations offered in the literature regarding Vietnamese higher

education appear to be reasonable, it should be noted however, that there seems to

be a need for a more constructive or useful solution beyond a mere description of the

problems. A number of issues raised by education academics and curriculum

theorists (Burnard & White, 2008; Connell, 2009; White, 2010, 2012) might be

helpful. These issues are:

`What changes should be made?'

`Who should change it?'

`How should they go about it'

`What knowledge should be valued instead?'

`Who decides which knowledge is of most value?'

Pham Thi Huyen, a researcher of the Vietnam Development Forum, seems to

address some of these issues when she suggests an alternative and more complex

explanation:

The managing mechanism at higher education level is too concentrative

and inflexible. They do not allow universities to change the programs and

subjects in accordance with changes of the environment. As a result, many say

that Vietnam's higher education stands apart from movement of the global

education. According to Professor Do Tran Cat, the General Secretary of the

Council of National Professor Title, higher education programs are still

inappropriate however, their modifications are very ineffective. Opinions of

experts are usually not acknowledged in process of making training programs

(SIC) (2008, p. 152).

The Ministry of Education and Training (MOET) has been extensively criticised

for the existing problems in Vietnamese higher education. They are the ones who set

the current curriculum frameworks for all higher education institutions in Vietnam

(The World Bank, 2008). MOET prescribes the curriculum framework for all

undergraduate courses, including `content structure, number of subjects, duration of

training, time proportion between studying and practicing' (Hayden, 2005, p. 9). The

Education Law also reinforces the centrist nature of managing the curriculum

framework by confirming that MOET has responsibility for `the compilation and

approval of syllabi for common use by colleges or universities'

. This means that if a

university wants to open a new training program or short course, they first have to get

the approval from MOET and their Line Ministries. Institutions do not seem to have

much choice about selecting the content of courses in their own institutions, let alone

how the courses are taught.

Alongside the curriculum, MOET also has control over the most important

decisions of each institution: course approvals and registration, numbers of staff, and

numbers of students admitted. Even the rector of each institution is designated by

MOET (The Southeast Asian Ministers of Education Organization, 2007). The

university entrance exam, which is considered the most important in each student's

life

, is also designed and monitored by MOET. So far, the `autonomy' that MOET

has proclaimed necessary to create good teaching and learning environments within

institutions appears to be experimental in only some institutions and this seems to be

mainly regarding financial affairs (Pham Thi Huyen, 2008). For all of the major

governance and management decisions, institutions have to ask for and obtain

permission from MOET.

Education Law, 2005, Article 41, Section 4 (Law number: 38/2005/QH11).

Gaining access to universities is considered important because it opens up the opportunity

for individuals to join the educated work force which often receives much higher wages

compared to manual labour. It is also important socially and produces great pressure as

individual students need to `keep face' for the whole family.

Clearly, the central management of MOET appears to be rigid, and centralised

decision making seems no longer appropriate for the development of the HES in

Vietnam. It has been widely criticised in the literature. MOET itself appears aware of

its own weaknesses and is struggling to find suitable solutions (Vietnamese

Government, 2005). However, most of its reforms do not appear to have led to

effective changes (Pham Thi Huyen, 2008). One of the major stated aims is to

increase the employability of graduates to satisfy the requirements of the

modernising and industrialising country. Yet, most higher education institutions in

Vietnam are struggling to find ways to solve their internal problems of underequipped

lecturers and the urgent need to upgrade the qualifications of all academic staff. In

addition to these basic requirements, there is a pressing need to create positive and

culturally relevant change in teaching and learning practices and to find resources to

increase the extraordinarily low level of income for academic staff

. While the

traditional mission of the university in Vietnam was to provide skilled workers for the

modernisation and industrialisation of the country (George, 2010; Tran Ngoc Ca,

2006), the labour market has undergone massive changes due to the impact of the

market-driven economy and in the context of external environment and globalisation.

In order to successfully enhance graduate employability in the contemporary labour

market, universities need to have positive and strong relationships with all types of

enterprises. Universities also need the capability to undertake research into labour

market requirements in order to link teaching and learning practices with labour

market demands. Nonetheless, at the current stage, universities do not seem to have

that capability; there are even no university career staff in Vietnamese universities.

Or in other words, there is virtually no link between Vietnamese higher education and

the employment market (Tran Ngoc Ca, 2006; Le Thi Huyen, 2008).

For example, from July 2013, a university lecturer with five year experience receives from 3

billion to 5 billion Vietnamese dongs a month (around 150 AUD to 250 AUD). A senior lecturer

with more than 10 years' working experience receives about 6 to 8 billion dongs a month (300

AUD to 400 AUD).

Details

Pages
Type of Edition: Erstausgabe
Publication Year: 2014
ISBN (eBook): 9783954897520
ISBN (Softcover): 9783954892525
File size: 1.8 MB
Language: English
Publication date: 2014 (April)
Keywords: employment market connection higher education graduate employability Vietnam

Author

Thi Tuyet Tran (Author)

Graduate employability in Vietnam: A loose relationship between higher education and employment market

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Author

Thi Tuyet Tran (Author)