Bachelor of Science Environmental Health graduates’ academic competencies and public health work expectations in Kenya: Graduate and employer perspectives

Abstract

Background: Public Health workforce faces varied challenges ranging from personnel shortages to debates on relevance and adequacy of the training provided to graduates undertaking degree in Bachelor of Science in Environmental Health. There are also concerns of the mismatch between the academic training and the market demands which raises concerns on the preparedness of these graduates to handle public health activities and responsibilities. Objectives: The objectives were to: assess how educational competencies relate to the graduates’ current working role, evaluate employer assessment of graduate work skills and competency; establish the perception of graduates’ preparedness to handle emerging public health challenges and explore professional development needs and available employer support options for public health graduates. Methods: A cross-sectional, mixed methods employing concurrent triangulation methods was done at the Moi University, School of Public Health, Eldoret. The graduates of 1999 to 2015 were stratified by year of graduation and gender then randomly select to attain a sample of 227. For graduate employers, a total of 45 were purposely selected. Data was collected using a pretested semi-structured questionnaire and an interview guide for in-depth interviews. Data was analysed using SPSS® version 20 and NVivo® software. Quantitative data was summarized using proportions and median while inferential statistics was carried out using Mann Whitney U test, Kruskal Wallis and logistic regression. Statistical significance was considered for p < 0.05. Qualitative data was analysed thematically. Results: Out of 227 graduates sampled, 188 responded and out of 45 employers sampled, 39 responded giving a response rate of 82.1% and 86.7% respectively. Among the 188 graduates, 79 (42%) were aged 25-34 years and 111 (59%) were male. Among the employers, 27 (69.2%) were males and 12 (30.8%) were females. Graduates were distributed among 12 public health career areas with the highest 33 (17.6%) being in the field of disaster management. Only 72 (38.3%) of the graduates reported competency challenges and 142 (75.5%) reported that their training formed the basis of their current jobs. However, 131(69.7%) graduates reported not to have acquired adequate skills to match their work performance with 39 (20.7%) self-rating poor and 64(34.0%) self-rating fair. The overall graduate median competency score was 3 with employers rating graduates highly on timely task completion and teamwork. Majority of the graduates 123 (65.4%) perceived that they were prepared to handle emerging public health challenges and on Mann Whitney U test, those that felt that they were adequately prepared had a higher median competency score compared to those who did not (2.93vs2.79, Z=2.472, p=0.013 while binary logistic regression indicated that a unit increase in the competency score increases the likelihood of being prepared by 10.6% (OR; 95% CI: 1.106; 1.042-1.174, p=0.001). Further qualitative findings showed that Community Based Education and Service (COBES) activities came in handy especially on communicable disease control while the scope on disaster management and preparedness was wanting. Most of the employers 27 (69.2%) recommended the need for professional training to boost graduates’ competencies at their place of work with 21 (53.8%) providing support in form of reducing workload and 11(28.2%) granting study leave. Conclusion: The education competencies did not entirely conform to the graduates’ practice and work expectations. Although the majority of the graduates perceived to be prepared to handle emerging public health challenges and concerns, there were an overwhelming proportion of graduates who lacked adequate skills to match work expectations. Most employers recommended further professional training for the graduates. Recommendation: There is need to forge and strengthen collaborations between the training institutions and the practitioner organizations to tailor graduate training to industry requirements.