This book addresses the issue of graduate employability (GE) within the changing context of
contemporary Vietnam. GE has become a highly topical and contested issue in Vietnam. Employers
report that university students are not suitably prepared for work and universities are often
criticised for their poor commitment to developing student employability assets. However it is
suggested that enhancing GE in Vietnam involves many factors that are often underplayed in the
general literature. In the Vietnamese context both the education system and the economy remain
relatively underdeveloped students are schooled to be passive learners and corrupt employment
practices remain rife. Moreover Confucian cultural features of face saving hierarchical order
in decision making and the role of rumour and hearsay in a collectivist culture each play an
important part in the different ways university graduates negotiate their transition to
employment. Thus in order to enhance the development of GE in Vietnam all related
stakeholders need opportunities to collaborate so that a mutual understanding of the problem is
arrived at and feasible solutions are developed and implemented.
