III. Summary of Market Scan Findings

IPSOS conducted an in-depth market research on the KSA Education market in December 2021 with the following objectives to develop a sound strategic plan for Effat University (EU):

• Macroeconomic and Employment Landscape – Economic profile of KSA and its key industries, current and future demand of programs of KSA

• POV - Employers – Interviewing potential employers within institutions in the target segment to understand the expectations from candidates and programs

• POV – Students & Parents – Understanding the perceptions and attitudes of the current students and potential students and their parents, towards universities and programs

To achieve the objective, IPSOS conducted a comprehensive desk research, quantitative survey with 875+ stakeholders (employers (50), current students (154), potential students (61) and parents (112) of the potential students), backed up by qualitative research for deeper insights.

Here are the key findings from the research:

Macroeconomic and Employment Landscape

While oil remains the major export product for Saudi Arabia, its dominance of the total export share for the country has declined over the past few years as shown in the graph below:

It is clear from this chart that employers from wholesale and retail are about (17%), public administration and defense (16%), manufacturing (11%), and construction (11%) who would be seeking our graduates from Supply Chain Management, Finance, Marketing and Master of Science in Finance. Furthermore, 28% of employers from other domains will be seeking our graduates. As all these fields need graduates with skills and competences in managing the finances, projects, inventory, quality, production, services, marketing and sales which are provided in our current curriculums of the programs currently offered at MKT. According to IPSOS market study:

• Under The National Industrial Development and Logistics Program (NIDLP), about 1,600,000 jobs are expected to be created by 2030. Furthermore, Saudi Arabia will invest over SAR 500 billion in airports, seaports, rail and other infrastructure by 2030 to make the kingdom a global transportation and logistics hub.

• Saudi Arabia aims to create 20,000 data analytics and experts by 2030.

• The government is currently in pushing for greater reform and privatization. The sector register a growth of 16 percent in 2019. Traditionally this segments looks at hiring candidates with a degree in Finance & Accounting as well as Business Administration & Marketing.

• ‘Marketing Industry’ is expected to have had a cumulative growth of 15% in 2019. Traditionally this segment looks at hiring candidates with a degree in Sales and Marketing.

• Travel and tourism industry currently accounting for 9% of GDP and is expected to grow at an accelerated rate thanks to $65 Billion earmarked for investment into the sector. Expected to grow at CAGR of 5.6% till 2023. The industry needs graduates from accounting and finance, supply chain, marketing, sales etc.

• Retail is one of the key sectors that has been identified for aggressive Saudization, is expected to grow at a CAGR of 6% till 2024. Marketing, sales and supply chain and Finance & Accounting are typical majors to hire from.

Thus from this information, Accounting and Finance, Operations and supply chain management, Marketing and sales are the most in d emand majors for MKT.

POV (Point of View) - Employer

This module captures the willingness and likelihood of employers in KSA to hire graduates of Effat University. The findings were as follows:

• Driven by Saudization, employers across sectors noted that entry level hiring is likely to grow more than 5% in the next 3 to 5 years. 6 -10% of the employees are at entry level/fresh graduates. Saudization is expected to bring about 7.6%12.5% growth in recruiting entry level/fresh graduate candidates.

• Despite a decline in overall population share, female share of total workforce has increased from 11% in 1990 to 16% in 2020.

• Wholesale and retail sector is the largest employer followed by public administration and defense as indicated in the chart below:

• 70% of the employers surveyed also stated when it comes to recruiting candidates for entry level jobs, the University the candidate graduated from is the most important parameter.

• The key parameters used by employers to evaluate a university are the ‘Reputation’ of the university, its ‘Partnership with International Universities’, ‘Regional Ranking’ & ‘Past Experience’ with the students from the same university. Below is the snapshot of the universities considered as most reputed among employers: %

• Effat University’s reputation stands tall amongst the private universities, with 56% of the employers considering EU as one of the most reputed universities.

• 100% of the employers in Jeddah and Makkah are aware of Effat University, followed by 60% in Riyadh, while the awareness is lower in other regions of KSA.

• EU is currently ranked as 61 – 70 in QS Arab Regional Ranking 2022, moved up from 101 – 110 ranking in 2019, tracing an upward trajectory.

• Majority of the employers state that they consider the candidates are technically sound, with very good communication skills, in addition to holding a recognized internationally accredited degree.

• 70% of the employers that are aware of EU are inclined to recruit candidates from EU in the coming years.

• 75% of the employers would like to receive direct communication from EU about their updated curriculum to the industry needs and newsletters about their students’ achievements which will increase their likelihood of hiring from the university.

• The table below depicts the key skills preferred by the employers in order to hire candidates:

% of the employers indicated the university name as most reputed (Unaided resoponses)

• The combined share of business, administration and law; health and welfare course enrollments among total higher education enrollments in Saudi Arabia increased from 45% in 2013 to 51% in 2019.

• It is clear from the graph above that employers seek other subjects such as Management and Hospitality Management, which could be foreseen as double majors or major-minor with Finance, Marketing, and Supply Chain Management programs.

• EU is currently ranked as 61 – 70 in QS Arab Regional Ranking 2022, moved up from 101 – 110 ranking in 2019, tracing an upward trajectory.

• Effat College of Business (MKT) partnered with Georgetown University and Bocconi University for undergraduate and Master programs respectively.

POV (Point of View)– Students & Parents

• A student’s journey to choosing a university is described as follows:

• While the employers (~10) that are likely to recruit from Effat in the coming years are content with the positive reputation of the university, technical skills of the students, positive relationship with EU, etc., they have suggested that the candidates from EU would have a scope to work on their confidence level and interpersonal/presentation skills.

• There is high demand across individual programs offered by Effat College of Business (MKT). Employers commented in the survey that the recruits from MKT had great technical knowledge, communication skills, internationally accredited degree (e.g. AACSB), interpersonal and problem solving skills, and practical exposure.

• All MKT UG programs require completing a mandatory internship to cover practicum hours.

• It is worth noting that students’ enrollment in the Ambassador Program and their participation in campus-wide activities and clubs, in addition to volunteering in events give them the practical exposure 70% of employers are looking for and the extra-curricular activities 56% of employers are looking for.

• Other programs/subjects suggested by employers that are likely to be in demand in the coming years are as follows: of the employers indicated the university name as most reputed (Unaided resoponses)

Current Students

• Location, preferred subjects and reputation are the key parameters for evaluating among the universities.

• Even though the EU placement test (English & Math) are considered as moderately difficult, overall admission process at EU was seen as smooth.

• Marketing program is the most popular program currently studied by undergraduate students followed by Finance program, while postgraduate students are currently studying Master of Finance as shown in the table below:

• As shown in the figure below, Marketing program is leading the interests in MKT programs, followed by Finance program and supply chain management program.

• Among the postgraduate programs offered in EU, MSF received more interest by students.

Undergraduate Programs

Postgraduate Programs

Effat College of Architecture & Design - BSc Arcchitecture 14% Effat College of Business - BSc Finance - Finance 4%

Effat College of Business - BSc Marketing 11% Effat College of Humanities - BSc Translation and Interpreting 2%

Effat College of Engineering - BSc Computer Science 11%

Effat College of Humanities - BSc PsychologyClinicalPsychology 9%

Effat College of Business - BSc Finance 6%

Effat College of Engineering - BSc Elecctrical & Computer 6%

Effat College of Humanities - BSc English & Translation 5%

Effat College of Business - BSc Supply Chain Management 5%

Effat College of Humanities - BSc English & Translation

- Literature 3%

• Before deciding on EU, current students planned on visiting the university’s official website, seek advice from their families and visiting the university’s campus as shown in the table below:

• According to current students, offering scholarships, the availability of preferred programs and the quality of education are the reasons behind choosing EU as shown in the table below:

After considering the overall experience as a student at EU, 6 in 10 students are satisfied with the institution. This is depicted by the table below:

According to current students, marketing, business administration and psychology are the graduation streams of choice for higher or further education as shown below:

• 2 in 10 students are highly likely to continue their higher education with EU. According to current students, law program is the top program EU could consider. Increasing the number of teaching staff is the top improvement area according to current students as depicted by the chart below:

Potential UG Students

Quality of education, reputation of the university and the career opportunities are the top reasons high school students consider Effat University. When comparing results with the overall universities, availability of dorms, international affiliations and ties with foreign universities are significantly higher for Effat University as shown in the chart below:

• Internet and social media are the types of media most viewed by high school student. Instagram, Twitter and Facebook are the social media platforms accessed regularly as shown in the charts below:

• Internet and social media as well as the television are the types of media most viewed by potential postgraduates. Instagram and Twitter are the social media platforms accessed regularly as depicted in the charts below:

Internet / Social media 99% TV 58%

14%

14%

2%