Title: A bibliometric analysis of employability skills: trends, gaps, in educational institutions

Authors: Anil Kumar Garg; Hamendra Kumar Dangi; Navneet Kumar

Addresses: Rukmani Devi Institute of Advanced Studies, Madhuban Chowk, Rohini, Delhi-110085, India ' Department of Commerce, Delhi School of Economics, University of Delhi, India ' Department of Commerce, Delhi School of Economics, University of Delhi, India

Abstract: This study conducts a bibliometric analysis of global academic research on employability skills in higher education using a dataset of 557 peer-reviewed articles indexed in the Scopus database (2001-2024). It sheds light on the idea of employability skills shows up in academic research specially in context of higher education. Focus in higher education is not only on technical expertise to encompass interpersonal competencies like effective communication, problem solving and adaptability, which are increasingly valued in professional settings. Through bibliometric methods, including citation network analysis and co-authorship mapping, this study examines the occurrence and distribution of these themes across global scholarship. VOSviewer and the Biblioshiny package in R, were employed to explore interconnectedness among research topics and to identify regions, such as parts of the Global South, where scholarship lags. This study highlights the need for educational institutions to ensure graduates possess the versatile skill sets demanded by evolving labour markets.

Keywords: bibliometric analysis; higher education; workforce readiness; employability skills.

DOI: 10.1504/IJBBM.2025.152216

International Journal of Bibliometrics in Business and Management, 2025 Vol.4 No.3, pp.224 - 255

Received: 12 Mar 2025
Accepted: 17 Sep 2025
Published online: 11 Mar 2026 *

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