English Communicative Skills and Professional Success: Perspectives from Indian Universities and Industry Stakeholders

Abstract

English communicative competence and Indian graduates' employability: A Borneo-Pacific perspective Indeed, while English is increasingly made the criterion of access to higher education by standards‐conscious regimes in many regions of globalized academe, local certifications remain definitive. This paper explores the correlation between English communication skills and career development challenges faced by university graduates in two dimensions: universities and industry participants. A total of 300 students, faculty and HR professionals from Delhi-NCR, Uttar Pradesh and Uttarakhand were surveyed using a mixed-method research design. Quantitative assessment indicated that 62% of students felt they had adequate writing skills in English, whilst only 34% were confident communicators which is undoubtedly  a clear, significant disparity between learning and application. The interviews with the teachers revealed that value placed on traditional product- based, grammar-focused foreign-language education and short experiential contact block communication development. Concerning industrial needs, negative feedback was received on weak presentation through poor writing, speaking, artic ulation, inability to listen actively, and difficulty speaking in public which are directly reflected in the workplace. There was a high positive correlation (r = 0.78) between English skills and employment, statistically. The study established the fact  that confidence, clarity and cultural sensitivity must be taught as life skills and not as a linguistic subject. It suggests integrating communication training from across disciplines, popularizing experiential and technology-assisted platforms for learning, encouraging university–industry partnerships and conducting faculty development programmes to reorient pedagogy with Outcome-Based Education and the aspirations of NEP 2020. Bringing about communicative ability would not only enhance graduate employability, but also prepare India’s youth to participate comfortably in the global workplace.