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Developing a Delphi Model of the Relationship Between Higher Education Skills in Libya and Labour Market Needs: A Case Study of Benghazi, Libya

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Elaokali, Zakarya Abdulla (2012) Developing a Delphi Model of the Relationship Between Higher Education Skills in Libya and Labour Market Needs: A Case Study of Benghazi, Libya. PhD thesis, University of Gloucestershire.

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Abstract

Universities in Libya and in other North African and Middle Easter countries have experienced massive expansion in terms of quantitative growth and geographic distribution in recent years (Al-Badri, 2006; El-Hawat, 2007; Mogassbi, 1984). The labour markets in these countries, on the other hand, traditionally suffer from a shortage of skilled manpower (ILO, 2007). Thus, the main questions of this research are formulated as: In what ways could higher education (HE) skills and changing labour market (LM) needs in Libya be better aligned? The research was conducted by collecting and analysing primary and secondary sources of documented material on the case study of Libya, in particular the second city of Benghazi. The secondary data collection largely focused on the generation of continuous datasets on students and graduate numbers in Libya, a country in which the state controls such sectors as HE, but does not make data on the sectors easily available in the public domain. The empirical data collection comprised semi-structured interviews and the application of the Delphi Technique (DT) to develop future scenarios using a panel of experts. The latter activity generated a final key research question: How can the DT be adapted and applied to the understanding of the relationship between HE skills and LM needs in the context of Libya? This research focused specifically on the graduate skills and attributes of job commitment, competitiveness, desire for excellence and teamwork and problem-solving, due to factors relating to the internal and external environment. The DT has been applied effectively on this topic and has developed the analysis from primary data collection research resulting in four potential strategies for both HE and LM, as follows: 1. Survival strategy: to reduce negative effects of external threats. 2. Defensive strategy: to face threats and strengths as a support. 3. Reorientation strategy: to take advantage of opportunities to decrease weaknesses. 4. Radical strategy: to benefit from opportunities by exploiting strengths. In the light of all that has been said about the strategies for Libyan HE and Libyan LM, three kinds of scenarios - optimistic, possible and pessimistic - have been built for HE and three others for LM.

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Thesis (PhD)

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