Graduate identity and employability
TL;DR: In this article, the authors developed the concept of graduate identity as a way of deepening the understanding of graduate employability through presenting research in which over 100 employers in East Anglia were asked to record their perceptions of graduates in respect of their employability.
Abstract: This paper develops the concept of graduate identity as a way of deepening the understanding of graduate employability. It does this through presenting research in which over 100 employers in East Anglia were asked to record their perceptions of graduates in respect of their employability. The findings suggest a composite and complex graduate identity, depending on employer size and sector. There is no one fixed identity for graduates. Nevertheless, certain themes emerged that seriously put into question the traditional model of graduate employability comprising skills, competencies and attributes. What emerges is a four-stranded concept of identity that comprises value, intellect, social engagement and performance. Thus, when assessing the potential of graduates, performance is not the only criteria that employers take into account. Moreover, the four elements of identity are by no means independent of each other but are expected to interpenetrate producing a composite identity, with different employers ...
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TL;DR: The authors provide an overview of some of the dominant empirical and conceptual themes in the area of graduate employment and employability over the past decade, and argue for a broader understanding of employability than that offered by policymakers.
403 citations
Cites background from "Graduate identity and employability..."
...Problematising the notion of graduate skill is beyond the scope of this paper, and has been discussed extensively elsewhere (Holmes, 2001; Hinchliffe and Jolly, 2011)....
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...Perhaps more positively, there is evidence that employers place value on a wider range of softer skills, including graduates’ values, social awareness and generic intellectuality — dispositions that can be nurtured within HE and further developed in the workplace (Hinchliffe and Jolly, 2011)....
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TL;DR: This article developed a framework that incorporates six key dimensions (human capital, social capital, individual attributes, individual behaviours, perceived employability and labour market factors) to help explore and explain the concept of graduate employability.
Abstract: Graduate employability has become a key driver for universities in Australia and the UK. In response to increasing pressure from governments and employer groups, universities have adopted a range of generic skill-based learning outcomes which, when embedded into degree programs, are expected to increase graduate employability and therefore improve graduate employment outcomes. In addition, many universities are now including internships, work placements and international study in their programmes with the aim of enhancing graduate employment prospects. This somewhat instrumental approach to graduate employability does not, however, take into account other critical factors. Drawing on the broader employability literature, this article develops a framework that incorporates six key dimensions – human capital, social capital, individual attributes, individual behaviours, perceived employability and labour market factors – to help explore and explain the concept of graduate employability.
399 citations
Book•
20 Feb 2012
TL;DR: The Pedagogy for Employability publication as mentioned in this paper has been updated with the practitioner in mind, as they discuss the policy and institutional context that frames the environment within which people work and provide case studies of learning and teaching that support the development of student employability.
Abstract: This guide, produced by the HEA, constitutes a revised and updated version of the Pedagogy for Employability publication first published in 2006.
The publication has been updated with the practitioner in mind – those teaching in the classroom and those engaging with policy and student interactions in other ways, such as careers guidance and learning development workers. Practitioners are our focus, as we discuss the policy and institutional context that frames the environment within which people work. The early sections of this publication are intended to illuminate the possibilities and constraints that operate in different national, institutional and departmental situations, having a direct impact on the way that teaching and learning takes place between practitioners and students. Case studies of learning and teaching that support the development of student employability, in the classroom, through distance and part-time learning and in co-curricular and extra-curricular activities, are provided throughout the publication. In the later sections of the publication we focus particularly on the curriculum and learning and teaching practice.
279 citations
TL;DR: In this article, the authors present a new model on graduate employability, linked to five areas of capital which are seen as constitutive of graduates' employability and significant to their transitions to the labour market.
Abstract: Purpose
In the context of far-reaching changes in higher education and the labour market, there has been extensive discussion on what constitutes graduate employability and what shapes graduates’ labour market outcomes. Many of these discussions are based on skills-centred approaches and related supply-side logic. The purpose of this paper is to develop an alternative, relational conceptualisation of employability based on the concept of capitals. It discusses how this provides a more detailed and multi-dimensional account of the resources graduates draw upon when transitioning to the labour market.
Design/methodology/approach
The paper presents a new model on graduate employability, linked to five areas of capital which are seen as constitutive of graduates’ employability and significant to their transitions to the labour market. The paper draws together existing conceptual approaches and research studies to illustrate the different features of the model and how they relate to graduate employability. It also discusses some practical implications for those helping to facilitate graduates’ transitions to the job market.
Findings
The paper argues that the graduate capital model presents a new way of understanding graduate employability which addresses the challenges of facilitating graduates’ transitions and early career management. The forms of capital outlined are conceived as key resources that confer benefits and advantages onto individuals. These resources encompass a range of human, social, cultural, identity and psycho-social dimensions and are acquired through graduates’ formal and informal experiences.
Research limitations/implications
Whilst this is a conceptual model, it has potentially strong implications for future research in this area in terms of further research exploration on the core components and their application in the labour market.
Practical implications
This re-conceptualization of graduate employability has significant implication for graduates’ career management and strategising in developing resources for enhancing their transitions to and progression within the labour market. It also has implications for career educators in developing practical employability strategies that can be used within institutional settings.
Social implications
The paper raises salient implications for the effective and equitable management of graduate outcomes post-graduation which has clear relevance for all stakeholders in graduate employability, including students/graduates, career educators and employers.
Originality/value
The paper develops a new model for conceptualising graduate employability and illustrates and applies this to discussion of graduate employability. It also raises practical applications around the different components of the model.
248 citations
TL;DR: In this article, the authors argue for the redefining of graduate employability by embracing pre-professional identity (PPI) formation, which relates to an understanding of and connection with the skills, qualities, conduct, culture and ideology of a student's intended profession.
Abstract: Despite efforts to broaden the concept of graduate employability, there remains an overarching focus on developing industry-relevant employability skills. The skills-based approach is, however, too narrow and does not fully capture the complexity of graduate work-readiness. This paper argues for the redefining of graduate employability by embracing pre-professional identity (PPI) formation. PPI relates to an understanding of and connection with the skills, qualities, conduct, culture and ideology of a student's intended profession. The ‘communities of practice’ model is drawn upon to demonstrate how PPI can be developed during university years. Here, a student makes sense of his/her intended profession through multiple memberships and differing levels of engagement with various communities within higher education's ‘landscape of practice’. Example communities include professional associations, student societies, careers services and employers. Implications for stakeholders are discussed.
214 citations
Cites background from "Graduate identity and employability..."
...Similarly, Hinchliffe and Jolly (2011) argued ‘universities and government would be better employed promoting student employability indirectly through the promotion of graduate identity and well-being… rather than directly through employability skills’ (p. 582)....
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...Although the value of non-technical skills is broadly accepted, many (Hinchliffe & Jolly, 2011) lament the narrow skills-list approach to employability....
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References
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Book•
01 Jan 1999
TL;DR: In this paper, Amartya Sen quotes the eighteenth century poet William Cowper on freedom: Freedom has a thousand charms to show, That slaves howe'er contented, never know.
Abstract: In Development as Freedom Amartya Sen quotes the eighteenth century poet William Cowper on freedom: Freedom has a thousand charms to show, That slaves howe'er contented, never know. Sen explains how in a world of unprecedented increase in overall opulence, millions of people living in rich and poor countries are still unfree. Even if they are not technically slaves, they are denied elementary freedom and remain imprisoned in one way or another by economic poverty, social deprivation, political tyranny or cultural authoritarianism. The main purpose of development is to spread freedom and its 'thousand charms' to the unfree citizens. Freedom, Sen persuasively argues, is at once the ultimate goal of social and economic arrangements and the most efficient means of realizing general welfare. Social institutions like markets, political parties, legislatures, the judiciary, and the media contribute to development by enhancing individual freedom and are in turn sustained by social values. Values, institutions, development, and freedom are all closely interrelated, and Sen links them together in an elegant analytical framework. By asking "What is the relation between our collective economic wealth and our individual ability to live as we would like?" and by incorporating individual freedom as a social commitment into his analysis, Sen allows economics once again, as it did in the time of Adam Smith, to address the social basis of individual well-being and freedom.
19,080 citations
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TL;DR: In this article, the authors address issues of defining and measuring the quality of life and discuss recent developments in the philosophical definition of well-being and link them to practical issues such as the delivery of health care, and the assessment of women's quality-of-life.
Abstract: This book addresses issues of defining and measuring the quality of life. Recent developments in the philosophical definition of well-being are discussed and linked to practical issues such as the delivery of health care, and the assessment of women's quality of life. Leading philosophers and economists have contributed to this volume to consider the problems the subject raises. This volume reflects the growing need for interdisciplinary work as economists become more sensitive to the importance of facing fundamental philosophical questions and of the importance of linking their theoretical enquiries to an understanding of complex practical problems. Contributors: E. Allardt, J. Annas, C. Bliss, S. Bok, D. Brock, G. A. Cohen, R. Erikson, W. Gaertner, J. Griffin, S. Hurley, C. M. Korsgaard, L. Kruger, M. C. Nussbaum, O. O'Neill, S. Osmani, D. Parfit, H. Putnam, R. A. Putnam, J. Roemer, T. Scanlon, P. Seabright, A. Sen, C. Taylor, M. Valdes, B. M. S. van Praag, M. Walzer, B.-C. Ysander
3,336 citations
01 Jan 1991
TL;DR: Amartya Sen as discussed by the authors proposes that alternatives be appraised by looking to the capabilities they provide for individuals rather than only by individual utilities, incomes, or resources (as in commonly used theories).
Abstract: Amartya Sen (1933–) was born and educated in India before completing his doctorate in economics at Cambridge University. He has taught in India, England, and the United States and is currently the Lamont University Professor at Harvard University. He is one of the most widely read and influential living economists. His books have been translated into more than thirty languages. In 1998, he was awarded the Nobel Price in Economics for his work on welfare economics, poverty and famines, and human development. He has also made major contributions to contemporary political philosophy. In this essay, he proposes that alternatives be appraised by looking to the capabilities they provide for individuals rather than only by individual utilities, incomes, or resources (as in commonly used theories). Introduction Capability is not an awfully attractive word. It has a technocratic sound, and to some it might even suggest the image of nuclear war strategists rubbing their hands in pleasure over some contingent plan of heroic barbarity. The term is not much redeemed by the historical Capability Brown praising particular pieces of land – not human beings – on the solid real-estate ground that they ‘had capabilities’. Perhaps a nicer word could have been chosen when some years ago I tried to explore a particular approach to well-being and advantage in terms of a person's ability to do valuable acts or reach valuable states of being.
3,188 citations
Book•
01 Jan 1982TL;DR: Sen's contributions have been collected from many journals in the fields of economics and public affairs and from books that were published between 1966 and 1980 as discussed by the authors and are distributed among five topical sections: Choice and Preference, Preference Aggregation, Welfare Comparisons and Social Choice, Non-utility Information, and Social Measurement.
Abstract: In the course of his distinguished career, Amartya K. Sen has scrutinized the foundations of economic theory and analysis. He has brought into sharper focus such concepts as choice, preference, rationality, aggregation, evaluation, and measurement, and applied these concepts to the economic issues underlying universal social concerns, among them inequality, unemployment, poverty, human welfare, liberty, rights, justice. The twenty essays in this book encompass both these aspects of Sen's economic endeavors.Kenneth Arrow has written that "Sen's mastery in the fields of social choice, the foundations of welfare economics, and, more broadly, distributive ethics and the measurement problems associated with these fields is unquestioned. The selection of articles fully reflects his work in this area ... a number of the papers are already classics."The author has provided a substantial introduction to the book that interrelates his diverse concerns and analyzes the wide-ranging discussions that were generated by the original papers, while stressing the central concepts and underlying issues.His writings are distributed among five topical sections: Choice and Preference, Preference Aggregation, Welfare Comparisons and Social Choice, Non-utility Information, and Social Measurement. The contributions have been collected from many journals in the fields of economics and public affairs and from books that were published between 1966 and 1980.Amartya K. Sen is Drummond Professor of Political Economy at Oxford, and Fellow of All Souls College.
1,286 citations
Posted Content•
TL;DR: The Mismanagement of Talent as mentioned in this paper argues that talent is being mismanaged by employers that have yet to come to terms with the realities and possibilities of mass higher education and argues that some graduates are playing 'the game' to win a competitive advantage and what really happens in the selection events of leading-edge employers.
Abstract: The knowledge economy conjures a world of smart people, in smart jobs, doing smart things, in smart ways, for smart money, a world increasingly open to all rather than a few. Glossy corporate brochures present a future in challenging, exciting and financially rewarding jobs for the winners in the competition for fast track management appointments. They also convey an image of enlightened employers actively seeking to diversify their talent pool, reflected in their approach to identifying, hiring and retaining outstanding talent. We are told that the challenge confronting governments around the world is to enhance the employability of the workforce. Every effort must be made to expand access to higher education, dismantle barriers to talent regardless of social circumstances, gender, or skin colour, and to harness human creativity and enterprise to meet the demands of the new economy. The Mismanagement of Talent comes to a different conclusion. Those leaving the world of mass higher education find themselves in a scramble for jobs with rising stakes for the winners and losers. The Mismanagement of Talent examines what determines the outcome of this race when a degree loses its badge of distinction. It shows how some graduates are playing 'the game' to win a competitive advantage and what really happens in the selection events of leading-edge employers. It also argues that talent is being mismanaged by employers that have yet to come to terms with the realities and possibilities of mass higher education. The Mismanagement of Talent will be thought-provoking and controversial reading for those involved in the recruitment of graduates, and those concerned with the way knowledge-based firms recruit and the impact of higher education policy: Professionals working in university careers services, HRM, training, or recruitment generally; Researchers, academics, or students of Business and Management, Human Resource Management, Public Policy, Education, or Sociology; and Job candidates themselves - the 'players' and 'purists' described in the book.
631 citations