Abstract:
Training students in Africa to acquire the competencies needed to fit the 21st century’s job market has been a great
burden on universities. It appears that universities are finding it difficult in training students to be creative, thoughtful
and proficient with their areas of study. The aim of this study is to examine the perception of graduate university
students on the gap between academia and industry in Ghana. A survey was conducted and questionnaires were
conveniently administered to 2,200 university graduate in Ghana. Only university graduates who were engaged in
permanent employment and had worked for a year or more were targeted for the study. A scale was developed and
validated using Structural Equation Modelling with 5,000 bootstrap samples. The study revealed that universities did
not equip students with practical skills in their area because they (graduates) were not exposed to frequent experiential
training. It was found that the university system encourages memorisation of facts and focused on passing examinations.
It is recommended that the Management of Ghanaian Universities should quickly put in place mechanisms in the
reformation of assessment and the curriculum as a whole. University curriculum/course designers should ensure that
there is consistency in all the elements of the curriculum such that programme objectives can be achieved.
