Tested or Recommended? Examining evidence on curriculum design and institutional management to TVET graduate employability

Technical and Vocational Education and Training (TVET) institutions are widely recognized as engines of youth employment and economic development, yet persistent challenges continue to undermine graduate employability across low- and middle-income regions. This systematic literature review employed utilized PRISMA for identification and selection process, synthesizing peer-reviewed literature published between 2015-2026 addressing curriculum design, institutional governance, resource management, and quality assurance in TVET institutions, focus on the Philippines, and comparative coverage of Sub-Saharan Africa and South Asia. Through a structured search from academic databases and repositories, 21 studies met the inclusion criteria requiring an explicit employability-related outcome such as job placement, employer satisfaction, graduate readiness, skills utilization, graduate readiness, skills utilization, or wage outcomes. The most frequently mentioned challenges were curriculum-industry misalignment, inadequate facilities and equipment, weak institutional leadership, and interagency coordination, and underdeveloped outcome-based quality assurance systems. However, only few studies (n=6) have tested empirically the relationship of a specific curriculum or management intervention to a measurable change in an employability outcome; the majority described problems and recommended, but did not assess, solutions. Empirically supported findings include a positive correlation between institutional management quality and graduate employability outcomes in the Philippines, a measurable wage premium for post-secondary TVET graduates, and evidence that work-based training intensity, but not dual-system status alone, predicts short term labor market advantage. Notable gaps the limited outcome-tested quality assurance and accreditation reforms and application of signaling theory for TVET-credentialing. Implications for institutional practice, policy, and future research are discussed.