NX0473/LD0473: Emotional & Cultural

Intelligence strand

Week 2- Theoretical perspectives on graduate employability

and careers
 Lecture Objectives
• To introduce theoretical perspectives on graduate employability, careers and the graduate
labour market (GLM).

• To consider these perspectives in light of a range of graduate career trajectories.

• To consider the role of E&CI in graduate employability.

• To introduce staff research into graduate employability and careers.

• To introduce useful reading and resources for your E&CI assessment.

 The graduate labour market (GLM)
Levels of education, training and skills
of the population are attributed to Participation in HE = added human
growth and sustainability of the capital
economy

Human Capital Theory

Higher levels of More

education and training productive
 The graduate labour market (GLM)
• Pre-1980s vs. post-1980 output (Williams and Flippakou 2010; Wilton 2011).

14 million graduates in the Half of leading UK

UK in July-September employers reported an Supply of graduates in
2017 increase in graduate Europe exceeds demand
applications
ONS (2017) High Fliers (2018)

• Higher education (HE) expansion has given rise to an increasingly heterogeneous

blend of graduates (Tomlinson 2012).

• Traditional routes to employment have given way to a GLM which is much more
diverse.
 External influences on the GLM

External Government Changing

economic climate policy priorities of HEIs

Uncertain
Globalisation and Industry-level employer
technology influences demands and
expectations
 Graduate employability

“….a set of achievements – skills,

understandings and personal attributes
– that make graduates more likely to
gain employment and be successful in
their chosen occupations, which
benefits themselves, the workforce, the
community and the economy…”

Yorke (2006, p. 8)
Theoretical perspectives on the GLM and
employability

Employability vs. Skills-focused

Employment perspectives
(McQuaid and Lindsay 2005) (Holmes, 2001; Rae, 2007)

Possession,
Graduate ‘capital’ position,
(Kalfa and Taksa, 2013;
Tomlinson, 2017)
processual?
(Holmes, 2015)
Graduates and career theory
Traditional vs. ‘new’ graduate careers
(Elias and Purcell, 2004)

Global careers

Mid-career/career change

Career management (skills?)

(Bridgstock, 2009)
 ‘Global Graduates’
• Due to increasing globalisation and internationalisation, employers are now looking for
graduates who can work in culturally diverse contexts (Crossman and Clarke 2010)

Study of Korean graduates Chinese graduates in

who gained their degree in Australian and global
the US GLMs

Kim (2016) Blackmore et al (2015)

International students
graduating from Japanese
universities

Breaden (2014)
 Emotional intelligence and graduate
employability

“People who consider themselves better able to

perceive, use, understand, and manage emotion
should use these skills to form better
interpersonal relationships with others in the
workplace. As such, they are likely to enjoy wider,
more supportive networks, and feel confident in
their ability to gain and retain suitable employment
that will bring them career satisfaction...”

Pool and Qualter (2013, p. 216)

 Emotional intelligence and graduate
employability
Understanding
Understanding
and managing
and managing
others’
own emotions
emotions
“...it’s all well and good knowing the
process and the policy but sometimes
you have to take into consideration that
each and every individual is different and
each and every situation is
different…actually you need to work in
connection with people…to make sure
that you get to the end result that works
for you but also that you're working for
the customer….”
Mullen (2016)
Impact on
workplace
relationships
“…you need to see both sides of the coin,
from the employees’ point of view but also
from the business perspective. And to be
able to take a view that’s not necessarily
emotionally driven, because one side or
the other, or both in fact will have different
emotional cools and it’s important to be
able to see beyond that and work the facts
out, what’s the right thing to do…”
 Summary
When students enter university today, it is critical for them to recognise that their formal education is
only one dimension. Instead, students must constantly be assessing highly dynamic employer
needs….” (Finch et al, 2016, p. 3)

• Contemporary graduate job markets and careers can be characterised as increasingly diverse.

• A postgraduate qualification may increase your employability, but it will not be the only criterion of
interest for an employer.

• Regardless of graduate career trajectory, emotional intelligence (EI) can be highly influential for
establishing and maintaining relationships at work.

• For your assessed essay, you should consider issues and challenges within your target
profession/industry/sector, which could include competition for jobs, obstacles to career progression,
or skills/knowledge gaps.
 Directed study
• Access the Digital Reading List and complete recommended reading.

Task 1: Conduct some independent research into your target profession/industry/sector, and bring a
summary of your research with you to the seminar (either hard copy or access to an electronic copy
via your tablet/laptop). See TLP for suggested sources to support your directed study.

Task 2 (optional): Visit the CV ZONE on the module Blackboard site, you will find useful resources
and reading on writing CVs, cover letters and answering competency-based questions.

There will be time set aside during next week’s class if you would like tutor feedback on your CV.
We recommend that you bring a copy of the person specification/job advertisement for your target
job so that your tutor can provide feedback on how well you have tailored your CV.
 References

Becker G.S. (1993). Human Capital: A Theoretical and Empirical Analysis with Special Reference to Education (3rd ed.). Chicago:
University of Chicago Press.

Berntson, E. Sverke, M. and Marklund, S. (2006). Predicting Perceived Employability: Human Capital or Labour Market Opportunities?
Economic and Industrial Democracy. 27(2): 223-244.

Blackmore, J, Gribble, C, & Rahimi, M (2015) International education, the formation of capital and graduate employment: Chinese
accounting graduates’ experiences of the Australian labour market, Critical Studies in Education, 1-20.

Breaden, J (2014) Global attributes or local literacy? International students in Japan’s graduate employment system, Japan Forum,
26(4): 417-440.

Bridgstock, R (2009) The graduate attributes we’ve overlooked: enhancing graduate employability through career management skills,
Higher Education Research & Development, 28(1): 31-44.

Crossman, J.E., and Clarke, M (2010). International experience and graduate employability: stakeholder perceptions on the connection,
Higher Education, 59, 599-613.

Elias, P and Purcell, K. (2004). Researching Graduate Careers Seven Years On: A research project jointly funded by the Economic and
Social Research Council and the Higher Education Careers Services Unit. No. 6 SOC (HE): A classification of occupations for studying
the graduate labour market.
 References
Finch, D.J, Peacock, M, Levallet, N, and Foster W, (2016) A dynamic capabilities view of employability: Exploring the drivers of competitive
advantage for university graduates, Education + Training, 58(1).

Holmes, L. (2001). Reconsidering Graduate Employability: The Graduate Identity Approach. Quality in Higher Education, 7(2): 111-119.

Holmes (2013). Competing perspectives on graduate employability: possession, position or process? Studies in Higher Education. 38(4): 538-
554.

Kalfa and Taksa (2013) Cultural capital in business higher education: reconsidering the graduate attributes movement and the focus on
employability, Studies in Higher Education, 40(4): 580-595.

Kim, J (2016) Global cultural capital and global positional competition: international graduate students’ transnational occupational trajectories,
British Journal of Sociology of Education, 37(1): 30-50.

McQuaid, R.W. and Lindsay, C. (2005). The concept of employability. Urban Studies, 42(2): 197-219.

Mullen, E. (2016). Human Resources Graduate Employability: An Exploration of Line Managers’ Experiences and Perceptions. PhD Thesis.

Patterson, N, and Mavin, S. (2009). Women Entrepreneurs: Jumping the Corporate Ship and Gaining New Wings. International Small
Business Journal. 27(2): 173-192.

Pool, L.D. and Qualter, P. (2013). Emotional self-efficacy, graduate employability and career satisfaction: testing the associations. Australian
Journal of Psychology, 65(4): 214-223.
 References

Rae, D. (2007). Connecting enterprise and graduate employability: Challenges to the higher education culture and curriculum? Education+
Training, 49(8/9): 605-619.

Thompson, L.J., Clark, G., Walker, M., Duncan Whyatt, J., 2013. ‘It’s just like an extra string to your bow’: exploring higher education
students’ perceptions and experiences of extracurricular activity and employability. Action Learning in Higher Education. 14(2): 135–147.

Tomlinson, M. (2012). Graduate employability: a review of conceptual and empirical themes. Higher Education Policy, 25(4): 407-431.

Tomlinson, M. (2015). Between instrumental and developmental learning: ambivalence in student values and identity positions in marketized
UK higher education. International Journal of Lifelong Education, 34(5): 569-588.

Tomlinson (2017). Forms of graduate capital and their relationship to graduate employability, Education + Training, 59(4): 338-352.

Williams, G. & Filippakou, R. (2010). Higher Education and UK elite formation in the 20th century. Higher Education, 59(1): 1-20.

Wilton, N. (2011). Do employability skills really matter in the UK graduate labour market? The case of business and management graduates.
Work, Employment & Society, 25(1): 85-100.

Yorke, M. & Harvey, L. (2005). New Directions for Institutional Research. No. 128.
 Additional staff research papers

• Blenkinsopp, J. & Scurry, T. (2007). “Hey GRINGO!”: the HR challenge of graduates in

non‐graduate occupations. Personnel Review, 36(4): 623-637.

• Harper, A. Nolan, T. and Warhurst, R. (2009). What UK graduate employers think they want and
what UK business schools think they provide? International Journal of Management Concepts and
Philosophy, 3(3): 275-289.

• Scurry, T. & Blenkinsopp, J. (2011). Graduate underemployment: a review of the literature.

Personnel Review, 40(5): 643-659.