Published by Crackers Books,

24 May 2024

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Understanding Graduate Employability:

A Review of Key Stakeholders' Perspectives

Cheng, M., Adekola, O., Albia, J. and Cai, S. (2022), "Employability in higher education: a review of key stakeholders' perspectives", Higher Education Evaluation and Development, Vol. 16 No. 1, pp. 16-31. https://doi.org/10.1108/HEED-03-2021-0025

Introduction

In recent years, employability has become a central concept in higher education, with graduate employment rates often used to assess the quality of university programs. However, employability and employment are not synonymous. Employability encompasses a broader range of attributes, including skills, knowledge, and personal qualities that enable graduates to navigate the labor market effectively. This blog post summarizes key arguments from a comprehensive review on employability, highlighting perspectives from higher education institutions (HEIs), students, government, and employers.

Key Findings

1. Differing Definitions of Employability:
   
• HEIs: Universities often interpret employability as equipping students with skills, knowledge, and personal attributes that align with employer needs. Their strategies reflect a strong influence from government policies emphasizing vocational training.
  
• Students: Many students view employability as the acquisition of skills and attributes necessary for future employment and career building. Their understanding evolves throughout their studies, with final-year students focusing more on work experience and industry knowledge.
  
• Government: The UK government places a significant responsibility on HEIs to enhance graduate employability, emphasizing vocational skills and employment outcomes.
  
• Employers: Employers prioritize "soft skills" such as teamwork, problem-solving, and communication over technical skills. They advocate for shared responsibility between students, HEIs, and themselves in developing employability.
  
2. Measuring Employability:
   
• Current measures, such as graduate employment rates, are criticized for being overly simplistic and not accounting for external factors like economic conditions, social class, and ethnicity. These measures often ignore the broader and more nuanced aspects of employability.
  
3. Responsibility for Employability:
   
• The review highlights a significant shift in responsibility for employability from the government to HEIs. This transfer has led to a focus on short-term vocational training at the expense of broader educational goals.
  

Strengths of the Paper

• Comprehensive Review: The paper provides a detailed analysis of employability from multiple stakeholder perspectives, offering a holistic understanding of the concept.
  
• Critical Insights: It critically examines the implications of current employability measures and policies, challenging the dominant narratives that prioritize employment statistics over educational quality and student development.
  
• Diverse Perspectives: By incorporating views from HEIs, students, government, and employers, the paper highlights the complexities and contradictions inherent in the concept of employability.
  

Weaknesses of the Paper

• Limited Empirical Evidence: The review is primarily based on literature and document analysis, lacking empirical research to substantiate some of its claims.
  
• Focus on the UK: While the paper provides valuable insights, its focus on the UK context limits its applicability to other regions with different educational and labor market dynamics.
  

Lessons Learned

1. Need for a Unified Definition: There is a clear need for a coherent and universally accepted definition of employability that encompasses both personal attributes and external factors.
   
2. Shared Responsibility: Effective employability strategies require collaboration among all stakeholders—HEIs, students, government, and employers.
   
3. Holistic Education: Universities should balance vocational training with the development of broader intellectual and personal skills to prepare students for diverse career paths and life-long learning.
   

Conclusion

The paper underscores the importance of a nuanced understanding of employability, one that goes beyond simplistic measures and recognizes the shared responsibility of all stakeholders. By fostering collaboration and adopting a holistic approach to education, we can better equip graduates to thrive in an increasingly complex and dynamic labor market.

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