Assessing the status of employability and entrepreneurial skills of students in the theoretical fields of humanities, experimental sciences and mathematics-physics from the perspective of students and teachers: a combined study

The present study is a combination of sequential (qualitative-quantitative) exploratory type in terms of applied purpose and in terms of data collection method. First, in order to identify the components of employability skills, semi-structured interviews were conducted with purposeful samples consisting of 10 faculty members, educational psychology professors, skill based textbook authors, and employers. The analysis was performed and finally 56 indicators were identified as the main components of employability skills. Then, in the quantitative section, in order to evaluate the employability and entrepreneurial abilities of students from their own point of view as well as their teachers, first a researcher-made questionnaire was designed and then along with the entrepreneurial spirit questionnaire, on a sample of 375 male and female students. The second-high school in theoretical fields and 250 teachers were conducted in Amol city. Findings indicate that in assessing the employability skills and entrepreneurial spirit of students from their own point of view, they have acceptable and relatively high skills, while the evaluation of teachers showed that they do not have sufficient ability in problem solving skills and in the field of entrepreneurial spirit. They have a spirit of self-esteem, a source of internal control and moderate risk-taking. Also, the comparison of students in three fields of study in the extent to which they benefit from employability skills indicates the weakness of mathematics-physics students in teamwork skills as well as weakness in the spirit of motivation for progress as one of the dimensions of entrepreneurial spirit.