Developing employability attributes of higher education project management graduates: A scoping review

Projects play a pivotal role in modern enterprises. Functional structures of organisations are being replaced by project-based organisations. Along with the growth in project management, the need for skilled project professionals is mounting for the successful execution of the projects. This reflects the importance of preparing project management graduates for complex project environments. Higher education institutions (HEIs) are responsible for preparing work-ready project management graduates so are responding by continually reviewing and developing effective project management courses. This scoping review focuses on how HEIs are addressing the employers’ demand by preparing project management graduates for the industry. Recent research on the work-readiness of project management graduates adds valuable contribution to the literature, however, there is a lack of a rounded overview which focuses on HEIs contribute to the development of employability attributes of project management graduates. Accordingly, this scoping review paper aims to explore the status quo of research on the employability of graduates within the context of project management education. More specifically, the study will capture and investigate the different approaches adopted by HEIs in developing work-ready project management graduates. The paper contributes to the literature by providing insights into project management graduates’ job readiness in order to inform higher education institutions, policymakers and future research.