Social Capital and Employability in Palestine Challenges Facing Higher Education Case study of Palestine Polytechnic University (PPU) Hebron, Palestine

This study explores the factors contributing to the unemployment for the graduates of the Palestinian Universities (Palestine Polytechnic University (PPU) as a case study). Semi-structured interviews with employed and unemployed graduates and with university representatives as well as focus groups with the last year study students have revealed a range of views about the employability of the graduates and the university course which sought to prepare them for the labor market. The analysis of the interview data revealed that traditional human capital accumulation is insufficient to deliver jobs; the human risk capital is high. Risk factors for PPU students include course admission, curriculum content and delivery and language fluency. A significant contribution of the research is the recognition that the framework of educational practices, associated with what has been termed social capital, provides an alternative and more constructive means for the analysis of the data. The findings of the research suggest the need for a university in a country such as Palestine to expand its educational responsibility by taking on a social capital curriculum whose principal feature is the establishment of communicative links between local communities, the university and workplaces.