Date of Award
12-20-2024
Document Type
Dissertation
Degree Name
Doctor of Business Administration (DBA)
Department
College of Business
First Advisor
Julie Bilodeau
Committee Members
L Hughes, Matthew Richardson
Abstract
Each year throughout the United States, millions of bachelor’s degrees are conferred to recent graduates, and 17% of those graduates earned a business degree (Hanson, 2024). The problem this study addressed was rooted in the commonly held belief that recent graduates with a bachelor’s degree in business were not prepared with the skill sets needed to be successful and positively impact organizations (Berger, 2023; Molinsky & Pisman, 2019). The purpose of this research was to determine the skills that employers and recent graduates deem as most important for recent graduates with a bachelor’s degree in business to possess in a post-pandemic work environment and how the managers and graduates rate the skill proficiency of these recent graduates. This problem was reviewed in the theoretical framework of Vroom’s (1995) Theory of Motivation, which reviewed an individual's valence, force, and expectancy of their motivation. The research questions of this study reviewed if there was congruence on the importance and proficiency levels in the NACE (2022a) critical career skill sets. Also, the self-assessed proficiency level was assessed for a statistically significant relationship to motivation in recent graduates.
This study used a quantitative research design to illuminate these research questions. The sample included recent graduates who graduated with a bachelor's degree in business within the last two years and hiring managers who directly work with and onboard recent graduates into their organization. An electronically distributed survey measured the importance and proficiency levels of critical skill sets individually for each sample group. The survey data was analyzed for statistically significant relationships through two-tailed t-tests and multiple linear regression models.
Major findings were discovered through the applied data analysis. First, there was congruence between hiring managers and recent graduates. Second, there was no congruence between observed proficiency levels from the hiring managers' perspective and the self-assessed proficiency of recent graduates. Finally, the self-assessed proficiency rating of recent graduates accounted for 40% of their motivation level in their early careers. These findings can allow for potential action to understand better and onboard recent graduates as they transition from higher education to their early careers.
Recommended Citation
Chapman, Steven James, "Impact of Self-Efficacy on Motivation in Recent Business Graduates" (2024). JWU Dissertations & Theses. 8.
https://scholarsarchive.jwu.edu/jwu_etd/8
