Abstract:

Collaboration between IT professionals and educational institutions plays a vital role in enhancing graduate employability by aligning academic learning with industry expectations. The external bachelor's degree program in Information Technology (BIT) offered by the University of Moratuwa in the open distance mode has taken several steps to incorporate soft-skills development and assessment into its curriculum. This study focuses on the Industry Mentoring Program (IMP) module implemented to facilitate collaboration with IT professionals through guest lectures and industry engagement activities. The module, introduced in 2024, aims to develop essential soft skills, including communication, teamwork, leadership, critical thinking, and the ability to engage in self-directed learning. This Industry Mentoring Program (IMP) module was piloted as a compulsory module, with an assessment framework aligned with the intended learning outcomes (ILOs). This research adopted a mixed-methods approach to evaluate the effectiveness of the IMP module. Quantitative data were collected through competency badges awarded to students to evaluate their engagement in communication skills, teamwork, leadership, critical thinking, and industry awareness, as part of overall employability readiness. In addition, qualitative data were gathered through focus group interviews with IT professionals to explore their experiences and insights regarding the collaboration. The findings indicate that structured engagement with IT professionals, particularly through guest lectures and mentoring, enhances students’ technical and professional competencies to meet industry expectations. The results demonstrate that integrating industry collaboration within open and distance learning programmes contributes to improving graduate employability.

Keywords:

Graduate Employability, Skill Development, Industry Expectations, Industry Mentoring Programme , Open Distance Learning.