Education & employability Research brief
Only a quarter believe their degree makes them job-ready
The gap between credential and employability, in the cohort's own assessment.
45.1% of the cohort — 180 of 399 respondents — answered only partially sufficient when asked “Do you currently feel that your formal college degree can secure you an immediate, industry-ready job?”. The next-largest answer, no, it is completely insufficient, accounts for 27.8% (111), a gap of 17.3 percentage points.
Key figures
- 45.1% (180 of 399) answered only partially sufficient on “Do you currently feel that your formal college degree can secure you an immediate, industry-ready job?”.
- The top two answers are separated by 17.3 percentage points, and the smallest category still covers 108 respondents.
- Findings describe this community-recruited cohort of 399 respondents, not Kerala's youth population.
Figures & data tables#
Figures are drawn directly from the primary response counts; each carries its full data table and an embed snippet.
Do you currently feel that your formal college degree can secure you an immediate, industry-ready job?
നിങ്ങളുടെ കോളേജ് ബിരുദം വഴി ഉടനടി ഒരു മികച്ച ജോലി ലഭിക്കുമെന്ന് നിങ്ങൾക്ക് ഉറപ്പുണ്ടോ?
ഓരളവിന് മാത്രം മതിയെന്നേ ഉള്ളൂ
ഇല്ല, ഇത് ഒട്ടും മതിയായതല്ല
അതെ, ഇത് പൂർണ്ണമായും മതിയായതാണ്
Data table
| Response | Count | Share |
|---|---|---|
| Only partially sufficient | 180 | 45.1% |
| No, it is completely insufficient | 111 | 27.8% |
| Yes, it is fully sufficient | 108 | 27.1% |
| Total answered | 399 | 100% |
Embed this figure on your site (free, CC BY 4.0)
Copy the snippet below. Keep the source link — attribution is the licence condition.
<iframe src="https://journal.moyanai.app/journal/embed/degree-job-readiness" width="100%" height="420" style="border:1px solid #e5e7eb;border-radius:8px" title="Do you currently feel that your formal college degree can secure you an immediate, industry-ready job? — Moyan Journal"></iframe>
<p>Source: <a href="https://journal.moyanai.app/journal/kerala-gen-z-survey-2026">The Kerala Gen Z Report 2026</a>, Moyan AI.</p>What the primary figure shows#
The full distribution for “Do you currently feel that your formal college degree can secure you an immediate, industry-ready job?” (n = 399) is: Only partially sufficient — 45.1% (180); No, it is completely insufficient — 27.8% (111); Yes, it is fully sufficient — 27.1% (108).
The cohort is moderately concentrated on this question. One option leads without dominating, so the second and third answers carry real policy weight. The smallest recorded answer, yes, it is fully sufficient, still represents 108 people — a group large enough to matter in programme design even at 27.1%.
How far these figures can be read#
The sample is a community-recruited cohort of 399 respondents surveyed between 21 May and 28 June 2026. Figures describe this cohort; they are not state-level prevalence estimates and should not be reported as such.
The composition of the sample also shapes the totals: 74.4% of respondents fall in the older student and early-career band, and 72.7% identify as male. Any reading by gender, district or occupation needs disaggregated fieldwork this instrument was not designed to deliver.
The instrument records one moment in time, so nothing here identifies a cause or a trend. Statements about mechanism in this brief are interpretive and flagged as such.
Questions readers ask#
- Do you currently feel that your formal college degree can secure you an immediate, industry-ready job?? (Kerala Gen Z Survey 2026)
- 45.1% of 399 respondents answered only partially sufficient, followed by no, it is completely insufficient at 27.8%. Full distribution: Only partially sufficient — 45.1% (180); No, it is completely insufficient — 27.8% (111); Yes, it is fully sufficient — 27.1% (108).
- How many people answered this question?
- All 399 respondents in the Kerala Gen Z Survey 2026 answered this item.
- Can these figures be generalised to all Kerala youth?
- No. The survey is a community-recruited cohort of 399 respondents surveyed between 21 May and 28 June 2026, so the figures describe this cohort rather than the state's youth population.
Source and reuse
Every figure in this brief comes from the The Kerala Gen Z Report 2026 response sheet. The full aggregate dataset, codebook and methodology are open: open data · methodology.
Cite this page
Free to reuse under CC BY 4.0. Attribution with a link back is the only condition.
Community Leadership and Social Change Program Research Scholars & Valakkulam, Y. (2026). Only a quarter believe their degree makes them job-ready. Moyan Journal of Community & Society, Volume 1, Issue 1. Department of Graduate Institute, DHI University (DHIU), India; published by Moyan AI. https://journal.moyanai.app/journal/research/kerala-degree-employability-gapReference manager
Open access. This work is published under CC BY 4.0. You may copy, redistribute, adapt and reuse the text, figures and data for any purpose, including commercially, with attribution and a link back.