A challenge to any education institution is the ability to ensure flexibility and responsiveness in equipping young men and women with employable skills. Given the complexity surrounding employability, there isn’t a single indicator that can capture the transition from schooling to labor markets. Vitae is based on the collective experience of IFC’s senior education specialists who have appraised education institutions across the world for several decades. Vitae measures the key processes and drivers of employability at the institution level, then provides recommendations and implementation support to institutions to adjust these processes, with the goal of improving career outcomes for graduates.

An innovation of IFC, Vitae is a first-in-kind program to help steer higher education institutions onto a course where they adopt strategies to better align themselves with market dynamics. The ambition is to foster the development of a higher level of employability standards in emerging markets and to improve student outcomes. IFC has deployed employability assessment for higher education clients in Asia, Africa, the Middle East, Latin America, and the Caribbean. Through Vitae, employability advisory support is offered to higher education institutions outside of IFC’s client network – both public and private – to make a greater positive impact.

IFC, a member of the World Bank Group, is the largest multilateral investor supporting private education in emerging markets, having financed more than $2.3 billion in direct investments since 2006 with an active committed portfolio of $663 million. The majority of IFC’s education investment portfolio is in tertiary education. Through both investment and advisory services, IFC provides value to its higher education clients and, by extension, to their aspiring students. For more information, follow IFC Education on LinkedIn.

For more information, or to contact a Vitae Specialist email vitae@ifc.org