The institutional form and conception of Higher Education have changed through the growth of mass higher education, which in many national systems now operates on market logics. Drawing on theories of credentialism, this article provides a critical analysis of the inter-relationship between massification and marketization and examines a range of…

The relationship between universities and employer organisations has been given significant attention in the context of a changing graduate economy and the policy imperative to enhance post-university returns. This article presents a conceptual analysis of this relationship in the context of structural changes on both sides and its bearing on the…

Purpose: This article provides empirical validation of the Graduate Capital Model, adopted at a UK Russell Group University as a tool to analyse and support the career preparedness of both undergraduates and postgraduate students. An overview of employability capitals and how the development of these will potentially result in positive employment…

This study deployed a qualitative approach to explore an alternative perspective regarding graduate migrants' employability. Twenty graduate migrants in Australia participated in in-depth interviews. Findings revealed graduate migrants faced various challenges in the target labour market, and to successfully secure employment it was important for…

This article provides evidence and insight on the demand-side of graduate employment and selection through an investigation of employers' conceptions of what constitutes hireable and employable graduates. Drawing on evidence from a qualitative study with a diverse range of employers in the UK, the article shows that employers understand graduates'…

Purpose: In the context of far-reaching changes in higher education and the labour market, there has been extensive discussion on what constitutes graduate employability and what shapes graduates' labour market outcomes. Many of these discussions are based on skills-centred approaches and related supply-side logic. The purpose of this paper is to…

This paper outlines core features of what it terms "consumer-based learning" and relates this to the context of increasing utilitarian goals and values of higher education. It argues that this presents challenges broader than the immediate teaching and learning environment and student experience, which also potentially impacts the future…

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…

This article examines the way students, making the transition from higher education into the labour market, construct, understand and begin to manage their employability. It draws upon a qualitative study of 53 final-year undergraduates in a pre-1992 university in the UK. It firstly explores students' perceptions of the current labour market for…