Purpose: Tackling structural and emergent problems in the labour market, valorising skilled human capital (HC) for opportunity creation, economic development and growth, are some of the key drivers for graduate entrepreneurship. This paper aims to examine developments in Africa, focusing on the significance of improving human capital through…

Purpose: UK government strategies for higher education (HE) continue to emphasise the promotion and enhancement of students' employability skills and subsequent graduate opportunities. The purpose of this paper is to explore what this means for those HE learners already in work. Design/methodology/approach: The paper presents the findings of a…

Purpose: This article aims to offer a perspective on issues pertaining to higher education, the graduate and the labour market. It is one of several similar perspectives on the occasion of the 50th anniversary of the publication of the journal "Education + Training." Design/methodology/approach: The approach adopted has been to provide…

Purpose: The industrial training component in a university's curricula adds tremendous value to a degree programme by enhancing the employable skills of graduates. The purpose of this paper is to assess the perception of organisations that have trained construction students from the Department of Building Technology of the Kwame Nkrumah University…

Purpose: The paper seeks to provide perspectives on the job search expectations and job seeking strategies of Australian graduates, including their perceptions of University Careers Centres (UCCs). Design/methodology/approach: A total of 45 new graduates and representatives of five UCCs were interviewed. Findings: Both Australian graduates and…

Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to explore the issues around a multiple generational workforce and more specifically, the challenges and benefits for education providers and employers. Design/methodology/approach: Reviewing research papers, analysing academic texts, interrogating market intelligence and contextualising case studies, the…

Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to examine the situated understandings that higher education students can offer on their employability, and to make sense of "employability" in industry and career context-specific ways. The paper further seeks to explore potential critical reflections on emerging professional practice and future…

Purpose: Although there is increasing evidence that the creative industries are essential to national economic growth as well as social and cultural well-being, creative graduates often find it difficult to become established professionally. This study aims to investigate the value of career management competence and intrinsic career motivations…

Purpose: The curricular profile that businesses demand from their workers is undergoing considerable change, especially in regard to university graduates. Considering the functions that are associated with universities, they should respond to these business demands. As a result, they should educate their students following curricula that fit the…

Purpose: The purpose of this article is to explore to what extent there are variations in the development of graduates once in employment; to what extent these variations can be explained by differences in the higher education systems; and what the current moves towards greater harmonisation between these systems might mean for graduates'…

Purpose: The aim of this article is to illustrate how employers have used more innovative "localised" strategies to address what appears to be "globalised" problems of attracting and retaining high calibre applicants with the appropriate "work ready" skills. Design/methodology/approach: A series of interviews were…

Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to present the evaluation results of a training initiative, undertaken in Palestine, that targeted fresh graduates in information and communication technology ICT disciplines. It describes the implementation and results of a practical training model where industry and academia cooperate jointly to develop,…

Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to investigate the gender impact of tertiary education on the probability of entering and remaining in self-employment. Design/methodology/approach: A data set on labour market flows produced by the Italian National Statistical Office is exploited by interviewing about 62,000 graduate and non-graduate…

Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to examine the evolution of an employee opinion survey and to evaluate its impact on the graduate training programme and associated employment relationships. Design/methodology/approach: The paper provides a detailed, longitudinal case study of one large-scale UK organisation. The approach recognises that…

Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to examine the extent to which term-time employment influences two specific aspects of the student experience in higher education: working collaboratively and preparing for entry into the graduate labour market. The paper also aims to consider the extent to which the students are able to appreciate the…