Title: Development of Undergraduate Employability Skills Scale (UESS): Construct Identification, Item Generation, and Content Validation
Authors: Gideon Abayomi OLOYEDE
Serifat Funmilayo AKOREDE
Volume: 10
Issue: 8
Pages: 115-122
Publication Date: 2026/08/28
Abstract:
The lack of context-specific instruments for assessing undergraduate employability skills has limited efforts to evaluate graduates' workplace readiness in Nigerian universities. This study developed the Undergraduate Employability Skills Scale (UESS) through systematic construct identification, scenario-based item development, and expert validation. The study employed the initial phase of a sequential exploratory mixed-method design. Construct identification integrated evidence from a systematic literature review of 55 studies and key informant interviews with 19 employers. Qualitative content analysis, descriptive statistics, and methodological triangulation identified 24 employability skill domains, of which seven, communication, problem-solving, teamwork, digital literacy, decision-making, leadership, and interpersonal skills, received consistent support from both evidence sources and were retained as the conceptual framework for the instrument. Based on these domains, an initial pool of 175 scenario-based items was developed to assess undergraduate employability skills in authentic academic, workplace, and social contexts. Face validation by experts resulted in the removal of 21 ambiguous or redundant items, leaving 154 items for content validation. Subsequent expert evaluation using Lawshe's Content Validity Ratio (CVR) eliminated an additional 49 items, yielding a preliminary 105-item instrument. The findings provide satisfactory evidence of content validity and demonstrate that integrating systematic literature review, employer perspectives, scenario-based assessment, and expert validation can produce a theoretically grounded and contextually relevant employability assessment instrument. The preliminary UESS provides a strong foundation for subsequent psychometric evaluation and offers a practical tool for assessing undergraduate employability skills in Nigerian universities.