Higher Education and Graduate Employability

Located within the changing relationship between higher education and the labour market in the UK, this book examines the concept of graduate employability. Drawing upon a qualitative study based on in-depth interviews with over seventy students and academics in higher education, it details higher education students perceptions of the labour market, the management of their employability, and their orientations and attitudes to future work and careers. The book highlights the growing challenges felt by both students and academics around employability in light of widespread changes in higher education and the labour market. It illustrates that the transition from university to work involves an active process for students: employability is an organising principle in the way students understand future career progression and manage their employment expectations. It further considers some of the implications this has for policies on higher education and the labour market in the UK context.