'The degree is not enough': students' perceptions of the role of higher education credentials for graduate work and employability
'The degree is not enough': students' perceptions of the role of higher education credentials for graduate work and employability
The UK Government is calling upon higher education students to see their learning as an investment that will give them direct benefits in the labour market. At the same time, the relationship between educational credentials and their returns in labour market has been changing in recent times. Based on a qualitative study with 53 final?year undergraduate students in a pre-1992 university, this article examines the way higher education students understand the role of their educational credentials in relation to their future employability. It shows that students perceive their academic qualifications as having a declining role in shaping their employment outcomes in what is perceived to be a congested and competitive graduate labour market. While academic credentials are still seen as a significant dimension of their employability, students increasingly see the need to add value to them in order to gain an advantage in the labour market.
mass higher education, graduate employability, human capital, credentials, positional competition
49-61
Tomlinson, Michael
9dd1cbf0-d3b0-421e-8ded-b3949ebcee18
January 2008
Tomlinson, Michael
9dd1cbf0-d3b0-421e-8ded-b3949ebcee18
Tomlinson, Michael
(2008)
'The degree is not enough': students' perceptions of the role of higher education credentials for graduate work and employability.
British Journal of Sociology of Education, 29 (1), .
(doi:10.1080/01425690701737457).
Abstract
The UK Government is calling upon higher education students to see their learning as an investment that will give them direct benefits in the labour market. At the same time, the relationship between educational credentials and their returns in labour market has been changing in recent times. Based on a qualitative study with 53 final?year undergraduate students in a pre-1992 university, this article examines the way higher education students understand the role of their educational credentials in relation to their future employability. It shows that students perceive their academic qualifications as having a declining role in shaping their employment outcomes in what is perceived to be a congested and competitive graduate labour market. While academic credentials are still seen as a significant dimension of their employability, students increasingly see the need to add value to them in order to gain an advantage in the labour market.
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e-pub ahead of print date: 11 January 2008
Published date: January 2008
Keywords:
mass higher education, graduate employability, human capital, credentials, positional competition
Organisations:
Southampton Education School
Identifiers
Local EPrints ID: 199739
URI: http://eprints.soton.ac.uk/id/eprint/199739
ISSN: 0142-5692
PURE UUID: a22e22c3-e8b0-47c6-bcda-692f87cef63d
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Date deposited: 24 Oct 2011 10:59
Last modified: 15 Mar 2024 03:40
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