Graduate employability in a
changing world
Professor Ronald McQuaid
University of Stirling, UK
[email protected]
Graduate Employability
• Employability generally has been a crucial part of
labour market policy since the 1990s (e.g. OECD,
1998; CEC, 1999; ILO, 2000; UN, 2001)
• Graduate employability has been a major objective of
universities and educational bodies for over the last
decade (e.g. Hefc, Sfc, KPIs) – university is now more
than ‘just’ a degree
• But is remains a ‘fuzzy concept’
History of the concept of employability
• A century ago it focused on the ‘dichotomy’ of whether someone
was employable or not (and so eligible for welfare and part of the
‘deserving poor’) – usually based on being medically unfit to work
• 1950s Socio-medical employability - in the United States and
parts of Europe, referring to the distance between the existing
work abilities of socially, physically or mentally disadvantaged
people and the work requirements of employment
• 1990s onwards: outcome-based ‘labour market performance
employability’; ‘initiative employability’, with its focus on
individual responsibility; and ‘interactive employability’, which
“maintains the focus on individual adaptation, but introduces a
collective/interactive priority” (Gazier 1998, p. 300).
What is graduate employability?
• Many definitions
• “a set of achievements – skills, understandings and
personal attributes – that makes graduates more likely
to gain employment and be successful in their chosen
occupations, which benefits themselves, the
workforce, the community and the economy”
(Yorke, 2006)
•
•
•
•
I.e. Three aspects:
gaining initial employment
maintaining employment
obtaining new employment if required
(Hillage and Pollard, 1998)
Some common graduate skills
and attributes – examples
Attributes and ‘soft’ skills (used to be ‘generic skills’)
• Autonomy, independence, self-confidence
• Global and cultural awareness
• Integrity
• Curiosity and ability of learning to learn
• Problem solving and ability to think creatively and critically
• Communication and networking
• Digitally/ IT literate
• Enterprise skills (often based on Peter Drucker’s ideas) .......
Hard skills
• Scholarship etc. related to discipline/subject
Work Experience
The list is endless……
What is graduate employability cont.
• Employability does not guarantee actual employment, it only
influences the probability of employment
• Some views focus mainly on the skills and attributes of
graduates (especially common among university strategies and
practitioners)
• i.e. supply-side focus (focuses on the individual and what the
organization can influence). But ignores the many other factors
influencing possible outcomes
• So others focus on: the full range of factors influencing
outcomes (of getting into or progressing in work);
• or on the social relationships reflected in employability,
sometimes seeing it as a negotiation between employers and
potential recruits for high level (graduate) jobs; or on graduate
identity etc.
Broad Employability
INDIVIDUAL FACTORS (e.g.)
• Employability skills and attributes
• Health and well-being
• Job seeking
• Adaptability and mobility
PERSONAL CIRCUMSTANCES
• Household circumstances
•
Work or education culture
• Access to resources
EXTERNAL FACTORS
• Demand factors
• Enabling support factors
See: McQuaid and Lindsay (2005); Hillage and Pollard (1998)
The changing external world
- demographics
• It is often tough to be a young graduate (in much of
the world)
• But the world is rapidly ageing in structure (other than
places such as the West & Central Asia and Africa)
CHANGING SCOTLAND:
ESTIMATED AND PROJECTED AGE
STRUCTURE 1901-2031
Scotland 1951
Scotland 1911
80 - 84
FEMALES
70 - 74
60 - 64
60 - 64
50 - 54
50 - 54
Age
70 - 74
40 - 44
MALES
FEMALES
40 - 44
30 - 34
30 - 34
20 - 24
20 - 24
10 - 14
10 - 14
0-4
0-4
-300,000 -200,000 -100,000
0
100,000 200,000 300,000
Population
-300,000 -200,000 -100,000
0
100,000 200,000 300,000
Population
Scotland 2001
Scotland 2031
80 - 84
Age
MALES
MALES
80 - 84
FEMALES
70 - 74
70 - 74
60 - 64
60 - 64
50 - 54
50 - 54
40 - 44
Age
Age
80 - 84
FEMALES
40 - 44
30 - 34
30 - 34
20 - 24
20 - 24
10 - 14
10 - 14
0-4
0-4
-300,000 -200,000 -100,000
0
100,000 200,000 300,000
Population
MALES
-300,000 -200,000 -100,000
0
100,000 200,000 300,000
Population
Source: GRO(S)
China’s Population 2010–2030
(Based on Census Bureau projections)
http://globaleconomicanalysis.blogspot.co.uk/2012/05/chinas-population-poised-to-crash-in.html
By 2030 22% of rural China‘s population will be 65 or older
Not only age structure but size of
labour supply is also changing …..
EU’s workforce will shrink…
Working age population in million
320
300
-42 m workers over
the next 50 years..
280
260
240
Baseline scenario
No migration
220
.. -96 m workers without
migration..
200
2010 2015 2020 2025 2030 2035 2040 2045 2050 2055 2060
Source: Eurostat, EUROPOP2010 projection
From: Dr. Jörg Peschner, European
Commission, DG EMPL/A1
The changing external world
- technology and Artificial Intelligence
• Projections of mass jobs cuts due to exponential growth of AI
• 47% of total US employment is at risk (Frey & Osborne, 2013)
• (Among least likely: Emergency Management Directors and Occupational
Therapists. Most likely: Telemarketers and tax preparers). UK 35% in 20
years (same methodology)
• Affecting sectors and regions differently (30% in London)
• Could lead to:
- mass unemployment (unlikely in long-term given history and
depends on distribution policies etc.) or low income ….
- or ‘new’ jobs in new industries or sectors ….
• How will changes affect employability & ‘employability skills’ etc.? Frey
& Osborne: creative intelligence, social intelligence or physical dexterity
The changing external world
- how people learn
“Each generation is defined by its life experiences,
giving rise to different attitudes, beliefs and
sensitivities.”
(Oblinger, 2003; p.38)
But there appears to be a major step change between current
young people’s use of technology and ways of gaining information
than earlier generations. Some changes are superficial but some
may be profound...
Perhaps some employers will want graduates to adapt to existing
ways, but, increasingly over time, perhaps some of the new
industries will have adapted and it will be the universities that are
out of step (but they have been adaptable in the past)
Conclusions
Many narrow versions of employability focus just on skills
and attributes of the graduates, but other factors are also
important to successful outcomes
Graduates are entering an uncertain world, with
occupations and industries that may not exist today
The Digital Revolution will impact graduate employability
by leading to changes in what employability means, how
universities (and others) support the learning of students
and who the students are
However, teaching must also go beyond employability to
deal with the wider needs of society and the development
of graduates who are moral and critical thinkers throughout
their lives
What is graduate employability?
• There are many definitions
• Employability is often a multi-dimensional and dynamic
concept where the context is important, with people’s
employability adapting with time and circumstances