PROPOSED MODELBefore discussing the model, it is important to clarify the difference between graduate employability and graduate employment outcomes. Pegg, Waldock, Hendy-Isaac and Lawton (2012) highlight tensions in conceptualising employability and the blurred boundaries between a graduate which is considered employable and one that is able to secure employment. As Pegg et al. assert, employability concerns a long-term strategy for enhancing professional well-being and career development prospects. According to well-established models (Dacre Pool and Sewell 2007; Kumar 2007), graduate employability requires developing a wealth of attributes, skills and knowledge which will assist graduates in applying their disciplinary knowledge in the workplace, as well as technical expertise, career development skills and engaging in extra-curricular activities and work experience. Higher education providers in developed economies are increasingly committed to enhancing graduate employability, described by Leonard, Becker and Coate (2005) as “the chief driver of changes to both undergraduate and postgraduate education” (p. 135).The skills required of an employable, or ‘work-ready’ graduate, have received considerable attention and typically comprise team working, communication, self-management, problem solving, analysis and self-awareness skills (AAGE 2012; CBI 2011). Termed here generic skills, they are also referred to as employability, key, professional, core or non-technical skills. There is ongoing debate on skill requirements and their variations by discipline and/or international context; the relative importance of different skill areas (see Jackson and Chapman 2012) and best practice in their development and assessment. It is important not to overlook the multi-faceted nature of graduate employability which extends beyond a list of skill (Hinchcliffe and Jolly 2011). They advocate the importance of graduate identity which encompasses values, intellectual rigour and engagement. Other critical factors are confidence and self-esteem (Little 2011) and professional networking skills and effectiveness in career management (Pegg et al. 2012).In contrast, graduate employment outcomes are measures of achievement in the labour market. This may be assessed, for example, by job attainment levels, entry salaries and time taken to secure full-time employment. Job attainment shortly after graduation is used to measure graduate employment outcomes in the Australian Graduate Survey and the UK’s‘First Destinations’ Survey. One would expect employment outcomes to constitute a reliable and valid indicator of graduate employability. Assuming there is a measure of success in an institution’s pedagogical approach to enhancing employability, such as embedding skill development and increased resources for career preparedness and management, there should be a positive impact on their employment outcomes. Some, however, argue that employment outcomes are a poor indicator of employability (see Bourner and Millican 2011) with considerable noise influencing the recruitment and selection of graduates beyond the employability criteria which employers so audibly assert (Glover et al. 2002). Some argue these proxy measures for employability do not account for labour market characteristics (Smith, McKnight and Naylor 2000; Yorke and Knight 2004). For example, poor full-time job attainment in one discipline may be interpreted as graduates being less employable than those from other fields yet with no consideration to the relative competitiveness of the labour market or the nature of available employment, such as a high incidence of casual or part-time positions (Bridgstock 2009). Bourner et al. (2011) lament this breakdown between employability and employment outcomes, “graduates from universities which have focused most on developing employability skills seem to have been less successful in finding graduate employment than graduates of universities that have been less focused on them” (p.8).
đang được dịch, vui lòng đợi..
