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A critical account of employability construction through the eyes of Chinese postgraduate students in the UK

A critical account of employability construction through the eyes of Chinese postgraduate students in the UK
A critical account of employability construction through the eyes of Chinese postgraduate students in the UK
This paper presents a multiple (n=23), longitudinal case study of the construction of personal employability by Chinese students at a UK university. It draws on the work of Brown and Hesketh (2004) to frame notions of employability in order to understand how these students engage with the international and Chinese labour markets from their own perspectives. The findings suggest that although overseas education is still seen by these students as contributing to their employability in general, there is a decline in the labour market value of the ‘hard currencies’ that overseas qualification carries whilst the ‘soft currencies’ gained from the overseas experiences are of more significant merit. The study also reveals that some concepts developed by Brown and Hesketh (2004), such as ‘purists’ versus ‘players’ and ‘personal capital’, need to be interpreted and contextualised differently when applied in an international context and outlines how this might be achieved in relation to Chinese students by introducing a Chinese concept – ‘SuZhi’(??). It is found that the discourse of ‘SuZhi’ has stronger explanatory power for the phenomenon being studied given its broader social applicability rather than being as directly and narrowly instrumental to employability as is the notion of personal capital.
employability, overseas education, Chinese students, global labour market
1363-9080
Li, Zhen
22ed24c2-7305-4293-97df-4a27d9dd4e0a
Li, Zhen
22ed24c2-7305-4293-97df-4a27d9dd4e0a

Li, Zhen (2012) A critical account of employability construction through the eyes of Chinese postgraduate students in the UK. Journal of Education and Work. (Submitted)

Record type: Article

Abstract

This paper presents a multiple (n=23), longitudinal case study of the construction of personal employability by Chinese students at a UK university. It draws on the work of Brown and Hesketh (2004) to frame notions of employability in order to understand how these students engage with the international and Chinese labour markets from their own perspectives. The findings suggest that although overseas education is still seen by these students as contributing to their employability in general, there is a decline in the labour market value of the ‘hard currencies’ that overseas qualification carries whilst the ‘soft currencies’ gained from the overseas experiences are of more significant merit. The study also reveals that some concepts developed by Brown and Hesketh (2004), such as ‘purists’ versus ‘players’ and ‘personal capital’, need to be interpreted and contextualised differently when applied in an international context and outlines how this might be achieved in relation to Chinese students by introducing a Chinese concept – ‘SuZhi’(??). It is found that the discourse of ‘SuZhi’ has stronger explanatory power for the phenomenon being studied given its broader social applicability rather than being as directly and narrowly instrumental to employability as is the notion of personal capital.

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More information

Submitted date: July 2012
Keywords: employability, overseas education, Chinese students, global labour market

Identifiers

Local EPrints ID: 340943
URI: http://eprints.soton.ac.uk/id/eprint/340943
ISSN: 1363-9080
PURE UUID: 6345bbe9-9688-407b-b138-1fa0d32e2816

Catalogue record

Date deposited: 06 Jul 2012 15:16
Last modified: 14 Mar 2024 11:32

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Contributors

Author: Zhen Li

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