Capitals, capabilities, and the conversion of commodities: the case of neurodivergent graduates’ transitions to the labour market
Capitals, capabilities, and the conversion of commodities: the case of neurodivergent graduates’ transitions to the labour market
The employment opportunities and outcomes of disabled graduates has gained increased international attention among researchers, policymakers and HE practitioners. This article explores the early employment transitions and experiences of neurodivergent graduates, a group who have been shown to experience significant barriers in accessing competitive employment. We offer a new framework which incorporates aspects from both capabilities and capitals perspectives to appraise the personal and socially mediating influences that shape graduates’ initial labour market opportunities and outcomes. Drawing on a qualitative dataset from 228 survey responses and interview data from 14 recent neurodivergent graduates, we analyse the experiences of graduates to understand how they convert the graduate capitals they have garnered in HE into meaningful capabilities and employment functionings. As such, this article adds empirical insight and conceptual novelty in illuminating the personal, contextual and environmental conversion factors which facilitate and/or constrain early career outcomes. Our findings raise implications for policymakers, practitioners, and employers in the UK and beyond for supporting neurodivergent graduates towards developing meaningful employment outcomes.
Capabilities, Capitals, Employability, Neurodivergent graduates, Value
Tomlinson, Michael
9dd1cbf0-d3b0-421e-8ded-b3949ebcee18
Vincent, Jonathan
7145417c-da7e-4189-89ce-1d45b4da77ef
Tomlinson, Michael
9dd1cbf0-d3b0-421e-8ded-b3949ebcee18
Vincent, Jonathan
7145417c-da7e-4189-89ce-1d45b4da77ef
Tomlinson, Michael and Vincent, Jonathan
(2025)
Capitals, capabilities, and the conversion of commodities: the case of neurodivergent graduates’ transitions to the labour market.
Higher Education.
(doi:10.1007/s10734-025-01451-x).
Abstract
The employment opportunities and outcomes of disabled graduates has gained increased international attention among researchers, policymakers and HE practitioners. This article explores the early employment transitions and experiences of neurodivergent graduates, a group who have been shown to experience significant barriers in accessing competitive employment. We offer a new framework which incorporates aspects from both capabilities and capitals perspectives to appraise the personal and socially mediating influences that shape graduates’ initial labour market opportunities and outcomes. Drawing on a qualitative dataset from 228 survey responses and interview data from 14 recent neurodivergent graduates, we analyse the experiences of graduates to understand how they convert the graduate capitals they have garnered in HE into meaningful capabilities and employment functionings. As such, this article adds empirical insight and conceptual novelty in illuminating the personal, contextual and environmental conversion factors which facilitate and/or constrain early career outcomes. Our findings raise implications for policymakers, practitioners, and employers in the UK and beyond for supporting neurodivergent graduates towards developing meaningful employment outcomes.
Text
Tomlinson_et_al-2025-Higher_Education
- Version of Record
More information
Accepted/In Press date: 8 April 2025
e-pub ahead of print date: 16 April 2025
Keywords:
Capabilities, Capitals, Employability, Neurodivergent graduates, Value
Identifiers
Local EPrints ID: 501465
URI: http://eprints.soton.ac.uk/id/eprint/501465
ISSN: 0018-1560
PURE UUID: 3220a2c3-d86a-44ac-a928-2f3404bcaefa
Catalogue record
Date deposited: 02 Jun 2025 16:47
Last modified: 03 Jun 2025 01:45
Export record
Altmetrics
Contributors
Author:
Jonathan Vincent
Download statistics
Downloads from ePrints over the past year. Other digital versions may also be available to download e.g. from the publisher's website.
View more statistics
