Graduate employability in context: charting a complex, contested and multi-faceted policy and research field

Tomlinson, Michael (2017) Graduate employability in context: charting a complex, contested and multi-faceted policy and research field. In, Tomlinson, M. and Holmes, L. (eds.) Graduate Employability in Context: Theory, Research and Debate. London, GB. Palgrave Macmillan, pp. 1-40. (doi:10.1057/978-1-137-57168-7_1).

Record type: Book Section

Abstract

Very few issues have gained such attention and caught the imagination of those who have an interest in higher education as graduate employability. The debates over how ‘work-ready’ graduates are and what economic contribution they can make have been around for many decades, yet since the start of this century interest in this area has exploded. The very term ‘graduate employability’ has become synonymous with the ways in which the relationship between higher education and the economy is now understood. Across all counties there is a widespread concern that their higher education systems are attuned to the changing economic environment, shaped profoundly by the challenges of economic globalisation. In all cases, higher-education systems have evolved from a relatively loosely coupled relationship with both state and economy to one where their role is cast as highly integral to economic prosperity. Graduates have invariably been positioned as key players on the economic stage whose role and input in the labour market is of huge significance.

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