Analytic Quality Glossary
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Citation reference: Harvey, L., 2004–9, Analytic Quality Glossary, Quality Research International, http://www.qualityresearchinternational.com/glossary/
This is a dynamic glossary and the author would welcome any e-mail suggestions for amendments or additions.
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Employability
Employability is the acquisition of attributes (knowledge, skills, and abilities) that make graduates more likely to be successful in their chosen occupations (whether paid employment or not).
explanatory context
Employability usually refers to the
employment of graduates but this includes self-employment. A broader definition
includes any lifestyle choice, or refers to employability as the development of
abilities to ensure graduates are critical life-long learners.
There is a narrow alternative approach,
once popular, especially with policy makers but now less used, which was to
define employability as the proportion of graduates, from an institution that
were employed within a specified period after graduation.
Employability
is not just about getting a job. Conversely, just because a student is on a
vocational course does not mean that somehow employability is automatic.
Employability is more than about developing attributes, techniques or
experience just to enable a student to get a job, or to progress within a
current career. It is about learning and the emphasis is less on ‘employ’ and
more on ‘ability’. In essence, the emphasis is on developing critical,
reflective abilities, with a view to empowering and enhancing the learner.
analytical review
The definition adopted
by the
a set of achievements, skills, understandings and personal attributes that make graduates more likely to gain employment and be successful in their chosen occupation.
A set of skills, knowledge and personal attributes that make an individual more likely to secure and be successful in their chosen occupation(s) to the benefit of themselves, the workforce, the community and the economy. (University of Leeds, undated)
Harvey and Locke (2002), state:
Employability of a graduate is the propensity of the graduate to exhibit attributes that employers anticipate will be necessary for the future effective functioning of their organisation.
Earlier Hillage and Pollard (1998) had defined it as:
Employability is the ability to
gain and retain fulfilling work.
Brown and colleagues
(Brown et al.
2002, p. 9) objected to the Hillage and Pollard
definition and offered a different definition of employability:
The relative chances of finding and maintaining different kinds of
employment.
Many of the variants
on defining employability are about the propensity of graduates to secure a job
and progress in their career. For example, the
capacity to move self-sufficiently into and within the labour market, to fulfil potential through sustainable employment.
AEC (2004) define employability as:
The
relevance of knowledge, skills and competences acquired through training to
what the labour market/profession requires.
The NHS Scotland on their website Healthy Working Lives (2008) state:
The definition adopted by the Scottish Government and the Scottish Centre for Healthy Working Lives is: "The combination of factors and processes which enable people to progress towards or get into employment, to stay in employment, and to move on in the workplace.”
Similarly the Northern Ireland Department for Employment and Learning (undated) is reported on the BBC Northern Ireland Learning website as defining employability thus:
Employability is the capability to move into and within labour markets and to realise potential through sustainable and accessible employment.
For the individual, employability depends on: the knowledge and skills they possess, and their attitudes; the way personal attributes are presented in the labour market; the environmental and social context within which work is sought; and the economic context within which work is sought.
Wang Xia and Cui Ying Fen (undated) suggest the following about the translation of employability into Chinese:
related terms
sources
Allison, J.,
Harvey, C. & Nixon,
Association europeenne des conservatoires [Academies de musique et musikhochschulen] (AEC), 2004, Glossary of terms used in relation to the Bologna Declaration http://www.aecinfo.org/glossary%20and%20faq%20english.pdf, accessed September 2004. Not available at this address 31 January 2011.
Brown, P., Hesketh, A. and Williams, S., 2002, Employability in a
knowledge-driven economy. In Knight, P. (compiler) Notes from
Enhancing
Student Employability Co-ordination Team (ESECT), 2005, Home, http://www.esect.co.uk
Harvey, L.
2003, Transitions from Higher Education to Work. A briefing paper prepared by Lee Harvey
(Centre for Research and Evaluation,
Harvey, L. and
Locke, W. with Morey,
A., 2002, Enhancing employability, recognising diversity.
Healthy Working Lives, 2008, What is Employability? NHS Scotland, available at http://www.healthyworkinglives.com/advice/employability/what-is-employability.aspx, last reviewed 20 June 2008, accessed 4 March 2011.
Hillage, J. and Pollard, E., 1998, Employability:
Developing a framework for policy analysis, Department for Education and Employment (DfEE)
Research report. no RR85 (
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