Measuring the mediating role of quality education for ensuring employability skills: An analysis of higher education student perception in Bangladesh

Author Contributions Conceptualization: Khandakar Kamrul Hasan, Mobashwer A. Khandaker. Data curation: Shadia Sharmin, Ariful Hoque Shuhan. Funding acquisition: Khandakar Kamrul Hasan. Investigation: Shadia Sharmin, Mobashwer A. Khandaker. Project administration: Khandakar Kamrul Hasan. Resources: A. T. M. Fahimul Islam, Abdul Hasib Siddique. Validation: A. T. M. Fahimul Islam, Abdul Hasib Siddique. Writing – review & editing: Hissan Khandakar. References 1. UGC. List of Private Universities. In: University Grants Commission of Bangladesh [Internet]. 2023 [cited 23 Jul 2023]. http://www.ugc-universities.gov.bd/private-universities 2. UGC. List of Public Universities. In: University Grants Commission of Bangladesh [Internet]. 2023 [cited 23 Jul 2023]. http://www.ugc-universities.gov.bd/ 3. Rahman MdM, Rahman MdK, Alamgir SMd, Ahmed KEU, Khan SMKH, Sultana S, et al. Bangladesh Education Statistics 2022. Bangladesh Bureau of Educational Information and Statistics. Dhaka; 2022. 4. Star Digital Report. HSC results published: pass rate in Dhaka board 87.8%. The Daily Star. 8 Feb 2023. https://www.thedailystar.net/youth/education/news/8595-students-passed-2022-hsc-and- equivalent-exams-3242216. Accessed 23 Jul 2023. 5. Suleman F, Videira P, Arau´ jo E. Higher Education and Employability Skills: Barriers and Facilitators of Employer Engagement at Local Level. Educ Sci (Basel). 2021; 11: 51. https://doi.org/10.3390/ educsci11020051 6. Alam MJ, Ogawa K, Islam SR Bin. Importance of Skills Development for Ensuring Graduates Employ-

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Future Research. J Mark. 1985; 49: 41–50. https://doi.org/10.1177/002224298504900403 14. Prasad RK, Jha MK. Quality Measures in Higher Education: A Review and Conceptual Model. Journal of Research in Business and Management. 2013; 1: 23–40. https://doi.org/10.35629/C132340 15. Biggs J, Tang C. Teaching for Quality Learning at University. 4th ed. Open University Press. Open Uni- versity Press; 2011. www.openup.co.uk 16. Sahney S, Banwet DK, Karunes S. Customer requirement constructs: the premise for TQM in educa- tion. International Journal of Productivity and Performance Management. 2004; 53: 499–520. https:// doi.org/10.1108/17410400410556174 PLOS ONE Measuring the mediating role of quality education for ensuring employability skills PLOS ONE | https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0310815 October 7, 2024 15 / 18