NotesFAQContact Us
Collection
Advanced
Search Tips
Back to results
Peer reviewed Peer reviewed
Direct linkDirect link
ERIC Number: EJ908560
Record Type: Journal
Publication Date: 2010-Jun
Pages: 16
Abstractor: As Provided
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: ISSN-1749-6896
EISSN: N/A
Investing in the Self: Structure, Agency and Identity in Graduates' Employability
Tomlinson, Michael
Education, Knowledge & Economy: A Journal for Education and Social Enterprise, v4 n2 p73-88 Jun 2010
This article presents an alternative approach to the dominant analysis of graduate employability, through a consideration of the dynamic and socially mediated interaction that graduates have with labour market. This interaction is largely constitutive of their dispositions and identities as graduates, and entails a dynamic interplay between graduates' agency and the wider structural context of the labour market. Informed by structuration theory, this perspective offers a richer, more socially nuanced account into employability than that presented by dominant policy-based approaches, namely the human capital and "skills" agenda. Such approaches present a largely de-contextualised account of employability and a somewhat simplistic notion of the link between education and the labour market more generally. In this article, we argue that employability must be seen as an active social process, and that this process is mediated significantly by the way graduates position themselves, and are positioned, within a continually shifting labour market context.
Routledge. Available from: Taylor & Francis, Ltd. 325 Chestnut Street Suite 800, Philadelphia, PA 19106. Tel: 800-354-1420; Fax: 215-625-2940; Web site: http://www.tandf.co.uk/journals
Publication Type: Journal Articles; Reports - Descriptive
Education Level: Higher Education
Audience: N/A
Language: English
Sponsor: N/A
Authoring Institution: N/A
Identifiers - Location: United Kingdom
Grant or Contract Numbers: N/A