Rethinking Graduate Employability in Context: Discourse, Policy and Practice

✍ Scribed by Päivi Siivonen (editor), Ulpukka Isopahkala-Bouret (editor), Michael Tomlinson (editor), Maija Korhonen (editor), Nina Haltia (editor)

• Publisher: Palgrave Macmillan
• Year: 2023
• Tongue: English
• Leaves: 384
• Category: Library

✦ Synopsis

This open access book offers critical, multidisciplinary analyses on graduate employability. The book examines employability at the macro, meso and micro levels: higher education policy, the labour market, higher education institutions, organisations, individuals and social groups, in European, North American and Australian contexts. The contributors provide social and contextual analysis of graduate employability as a theoretical concept, a discourse and policy imperative and a social and discursive practice. The volume also introduces novel methodological perspectives to study the process of graduate employability. There is an urgent need for comprehensive and unified critical perspectives on graduate employability, as such analyses have so far been scarce and often isolated. Besides filling this gap in the literature, the book will also serve as essential reading on courses that focus on graduate careers and employability as well as higher education policy and practice.

✦ Table of Contents

Preface
Contents
Notes on Contributors
List of Figures
List of Tables
Chapter 1: Introduction: Rethinking Graduate Employability in Context
Part I: Critical Perspectives on the Theory of Employability
Part II: Graduate Employability and Social Inequalities in Different National Contexts
Part III: Graduate Employability as a Career and Identity Process
References
Part I: Critical Perspectives on the Theory of Employability
Chapter 2: Graduate Employability and Its Basis in Possessive Individualism
Introduction
Frames of Reference for Graduate Employability Research
Problems with the Skills and Attributes Perspective
Policy Origins of the Skills and Attributes Perspective
The Political Theory of Possessive Individualism
Self-contained Individualism
Language and the Need for Conceptual Clarification
Conclusion
References
Chapter 3: Relative Employability: Applying the Insights of Positional Competition and Conflict Theories Within the Current Higher Education Landscape
Introduction
Part I: Early Theories on Positionality of Education and Employability
Positional Conflict in the Graduate Labour Market
Higher Education Systems: Ranking and Stratification
Part II: The Growing Relevance of Relative Employability
Labour Market Positioning: Continuous Growth in the Supply of Qualified Graduates and Recent Labour Market Shocks
Educational Positioning: Growing Segmentation of Higher Education at the Top
Social Positioning: Greater Effort Is Afforded by Those Wanting to Distinguish Themselves
Discussion: Outlining a New Policy and Research Agenda
References
Chapter 4: Boosting Employability Through Fostering an Entrepreneurial Mindset: Critical Analysis of Employability and Entrepreneurship in EU Policy Documents
Introduction
Governmentality Perspective on Employability and Entrepreneurial Mindset
Critical Analysis of the EU’s Education Policy Documents
Entrepreneurship Education as a Solution to Employability Problems
Problem 1: Lack of Entrepreneurial Skills
Problem 2: Obsolete Higher Education
Problem 3: Risk Society and Risky Labour Markets
Discussion: Empowered or Neurotic Citizens?
Appendix A: Analysed Documents
References
Chapter 5: The Affective Life of Neoliberal Employability Discourse
Introduction
Ideas of Affect
Affect, Governance and Graduate Employability in Higher Education
Affect and Discursive Repertoires in a Qualitative Study of University Students
Conclusion
References
Chapter 6: Grounding Employability in Both Agency and Collective Identity: An Emancipatory Agenda for Higher Education
Introduction
Conceptualising Employability as a Capacity for Collective Agency
Collective Identity Underpins Agency Within Workplaces
Practical Implications for Universities and Employers
Conclusions
References
Part II: Employability and Inequalities in Graduate Labour Markets
Chapter 7: Are Graduates Working in Graduate Occupations? Insights from the Portuguese Labour Market
Introduction
The Benefits of Education
The Assignment of Graduates and Overeducation
Education and the Labour Market: Studies from Portugal
Data and Method
Empirical Evidence and Discussion
The Supply of Graduates
The Distribution of Graduates Across Types of Occupation
Industry Affiliation: Education and Occupations
Wages: Education and Occupations
Discussion of the Findings
Concluding Remarks
References
Chapter 8: Institutionalisation of Employability Capital in Employment Markets
Introduction
Revisiting the Empirical Study
Conceptualising the Institutionalisation of Employers’ Beliefs About Graduate Employability from a Capital Perspective
Reinterpretation of Cai’s (2012) Findings from the Employability Capital Perspective
Implications of Cai’s (2012) Study on Interactions Between Graduates and Employers
Discussion
Conclusion
References
Chapter 9: The Vocational Drift of French Higher Education and the Employability of Graduates
Introduction
French Higher Education System
Graduate Employment and the Vocational Drift in the French Higher Education
Access to Labour Market and Representation of Employability, a Review of Recent French Studies
Conclusion
References
Chapter 10: Re-Framing Employability as a Problem of Perceived Opportunities: The Case of Internships in a U.S. College Using the Student Perceptions of Employment Opportunities (SPEO) Framework
Introduction
Limitations in Employability Research: Issues with Ambiguity, Dimensionality, and Causality
Additional Insights from Cognitive Psychology and Intersectionality Research
A New Approach: The Student Perceptions of Employment Opportunities (SPEO) Framework
An Empirical Example: Internship Experiences of Latinx Students at a Texas University
Findings
Factors Leading to Student Perceptions of Not Being Competitive/Limited Opportunities
Influence of Pay and Housing on Students’ Ability to Take Internships
Role of Texas College as Vehicle for Social Capital/Information Resource
How Do these Multi-Level Factors Intersect in the Lives of Actual Students?
Conclusions and Next Steps
Notes
References
Chapter 11: Working-Class Adult Students: Negotiating Inequalities in the Graduate Labour Market
Introduction
Taking a Critical Look at Employability
A Discussion on Class
A Note on Methodology: Using Biographical Methods
Working-Class Student Perspectives on Employability
Class, Gender and Age
Economic Social and Cultural Capital
Summary
References
Part III: Graduate Employability as a Career and Identity Process
Chapter 12: Health as Employability Potential in Business Graduates’ Career Imagination
Introduction
Health as a Social Practice in the Neoliberal Governance of Workers
Thematic Analysis of Business Graduates’ Interviews
Health in Terms of Timescapes of Working Life: Normalising Intensive and Stressful Working Life
Health as a Driving Force and Enabler of Vitality
Health as Risk Awareness and Skilful Risk Management
Health in Terms of Time Maps: Constructing Employability Potential in Career
Work-Life Balance as Postponed to Future Career
Health as Achieved Equilibrium
The Counter Stories of Intensive Working Life and Flexible Career—The Discourse of Balance
Discussion
References
Chapter 13: Finnish University Students Constructing Their Ideal Employable Identities: A Case Study of Top Performing Experts
Introduction
The Ideal Employable Identity
Data and Methods
Findings
1. Employability as a Long-Term Goal
1a. Early Vision About Future Employment
1b. Applying to Study in University
1c. Accumulating Work Experience During Time Spent in Education
1d. Gaining Extensive Work Experience from the Field After Graduation
2. Constructing Employability in a Specific Field
2a. University Degree as a Minimum Demand
2b. Available Vacancies in the Field
2c. Developing One’s Competence Continuously
2d. Free Time and Hobbies
3. Harnessing Personality to Strengthen Employability
3a. Maximising Efficiency at Work
3b. Being Passionate About Work
3c. Personality as an Asset
Discussion
Notes
References
Chapter 14: Strategies Undertaken by International Graduates to Negotiate Employability
Introduction
International Graduates’ Employability from Different Perspectives
Conceptual Frameworks
Methodology
Participants
Data Collection and Analysis
Results
Possessional Approach: Building Human Capital as Guided by Study Programmes
Positional Approach: Being Positioned as a Disadvantaged Group in the Host Labour Market
Processual Approach: Enacting Various Forms of Agency to Negotiate Employability
Discussion and Conclusion
References
Chapter 15: Employability as Self-branding in Job Search Games: A Case of Finnish Business Graduates
Introduction
Self-branding as Performances of Employable Graduate Identities
Methodological Issues
Participants
Method and Analysis
Results
Performing Difference to Other Job Seekers
The Tactical and Unique Job Seeker Versus the Average Highly Educated Job Seeker
Performing Sameness Enough
Good Novice Employee “on paper” Versus Credible by Experience
The Self-branding Dilemma of Authenticity Versus Fabrication
Boundaries of Authenticity Versus Fabrication
Boundaries of the “curated self”
Discussion
References
Chapter 16: Negotiating (Employable) Graduate Identity: Small Story Approach in Qualitative Follow-up Research
Introduction
Data and Methods
Small Story Approach in the Reading of Joel’s Follow-up Interviews
The Creation of Accounts for Ruptures
Negotiation of Continuity Versus Change as a Good and Valuable Employee
Continuity in the Construction of a Jobseeker Who Is Not Well-Networked
Change in the Construction of Experience as a Jobseeker and Employee
Changing Positions Towards the Future and a Dream Job
Negotiation of Graduate Identity in Relation to Employability in Small Stories
Conclusion
References
Chapter 17: Epilogue
Ways Forward in the Field
References
Index