Doing Employability Differently - Ricky Gee

Higher education has experienced many changes since the late 20th century which has resulted in 'employability' becoming a major policy concern for the sector.

This book provides critical insights into the sociological, political and philosophical parameters of the employability agenda, to critically inform employability research, policy and practice. The book advocates for a critical approach to challenge the current employability offer to students which tends to focus on individual agency providing a deficit model, assuming they lack skills and experiences to be ‘employable’ and therefore require support to gain work experience and career planning skills. Evidence suggests that a student’s social position and identity characteristics are a greater predictor of where, or if, they end up in the labour market than their own aspirations and career management. Such parameters tend to be missing from employability input and therefore this book provides case studies from successful innovative employability endeavours that take a collective rather than individualised approach. Such case studies provide the perspectives of students, alumni, community partners and scholars engagement with such activity.

Showcasing the positive impact of critical employability approaches, the book is valuable reading for students considering the transition from full time learning to work, career practitioners, scholars involved with teaching or research, and university managers embroiled in curriculum design.