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Introduction
The issue of how and why graduates succeed in the labour market and what can be done to enhance their “employability” continues to dominate discussions on the economic impact and role of higher education (HE). It is 20 years since the Dearing (1997) report made active recommendations for the enhancement of graduates’ “employability skills” and calls for university curricula to be more attuned to the needs of the economy. Such concerns have been given a renewed momentum in light of recent UK Government proposals linking institutional effectiveness and quality to graduates’ returns in the labour market (Department for Business, Innovation and Skills (DBIS), 2016). However, what makes a graduate desirable to employers and what role HE plays in this has been subject to considerable academic debate and employer analysis (Hinchliffe and Jolly, 2011). Whilst it is often assumed that graduates who possess the most desirable level of skills – or indeed “attributes” – are more employable, much analysis has shown graduate employability to be broader and more complex (Jackson, 2016; Holmes, 2013; Tomlinson, 2012; Brown and Hesketh, 2004).
This paper develops a new conceptualisation of graduate employability, based on graduate capitals. It conceptualises graduate employability as largely constitutive of the accumulation and deployment of a variety of interactive forms of capital. Capitals are defined here as key resources that confer benefits and advantages onto graduates. These resources encompass a range of educational, social, cultural and psycho-social dimensions and are acquired through graduates’ formal and informal experiences. They also comprise multiple forms which interact and help reinforce the strength of each form. The main forms of capital which are integral to this approach are: human, social, cultural, identity and psychological. Much of the conceptual framings of capitals have been informed by either economic or sociological approaches which have highlighted the advantages of gaining formal qualifications and the favourable economic positioning this engenders. In the former case, overarching human capital accounts are popular amongst policy makers and make strong links between higher investments in learning and improved employment prospects and earnings. More sociological approaches (see Bourdieu, 1986) highlight the ways in which the relative acquisition of cultural capital, largely in the form of educationally and culturally derived knowledge, generates educational (dis)advantage between individuals.
Whist these theories...