THE IMPORTANCE–PERFORMANCE ANALYSIS (IPA) OF EMPLOYER EVALUATIONS OF EMPLOYABILITY COMPETENCIES IN VOCATIONAL EDUCATION

The focus of this research is to evaluate the importance of developing different employability competencies in vocational education. The Importance – Performance Analysis (IPA) was used to measure the priority areas in developing employability of graduates in vocational education institutions in Latvia from the employers' perspective. Total 700 companies participated in this research. A list of 17 employability competencies was rated using a five-point Likert scale. Employers rated the relative importance of employability competencies in the labour market, followed by another rating of performance of vocational education institutions in developing these competencies. The purpose of the research is not only to measure the actual satisfaction and performance level, but also to highlight important areas for improvement. The IPA is a clear and powerful tool for policy makers and managers to find out attributes that are doing well and the attributes that need to be improved and require immediate action. The results are useful in identifying priority areas for curriculum development of vocational education to facilitate employability of graduates.