Employability models for higher education: A systematic literature review and analysis

Employability Learning and Teaching Research: A Twenty Year Structured Narrative Review

“…Definitions of employability frequently incorporate broad contextual factors, including social and macroeconomic conditions, labour market supply and demand, massification of higher education, employers' requirements, reputation of universities, and structural barriers and biases faced by many individuals (Cheng et al, 2022;Clarke, 2018;Dinh et al, 2023;Donald et al, 2024;Eimer & Bohndick, 2023;García-Álvarez et al, 2022;McCafferty, 2022;Tsiligiris & Bowyer, 2021). An example definition of employability incorporating both individual and contextual factors is 'the capacity to be self-reliant in navigating the labour market, utilising knowledge, individual skills, and attributes, and adapting them to the employment context, showcasing them to employers, while taking into account external and other constraints' (Small et al, 2018, p. 151).…”

“…Cook (2022) identified 13 models of employability and discussed their paradigms and relationships to curricula and teaching, including intra-curricular, co-curricular and extra-curricular elements. Eimer and Bohndick (2023) reviewed 21 models and frameworks, which they categorised into narrow models focusing on generic competencies; broad models including generic and discipline-specific skills; holistic models additionally incorporating external or contextual factors and barriers to work; and models addressing contextual factors including global inequalities, historic and ongoing injustices, pandemics, extreme climate events, social unrest and conflict.…”

“…Guidance on which employability competencies to include in curriculum may be from several sources. Universities commonly specify graduate attributes or generic competencies expected of all their graduates (Cook, 2018;Savage & Healy, 2019), and many employability frameworks provide categories and lists of relevant skills and attributes (Bandaranaike, 2018;Eimer & Bohndick, 2023;Osmani et al, 2015). The World Economic Forum ( 2023) surveys organisations about core skills required of their employees, with cognitive skills such as analytic, creative and systems thinking; self-efficacy skills including resilience, flexibility, motivation, life-long learning, and attention to detail; interpersonal skills like empathy, active listening and leadership; and technology skills all ranking highly.…”

“…Career services staff can develop various co-curricular activities to enhance employability, such as leadership and mentoring programs; workshops on career planning, resume writing, presenting e-portfolios and showcasing skills in job interviews; and career talks from employers (Chan & Chen, 2022;Cook, 2018;Cook, 2022). Such activities should be focused on raising awareness of and developing students' employability skills, agency and social capital (Dinh et al, 2023), and helping students understand the broad external, contextual factors that influence employability (Clanchy et al, 2021;Eimer & Bohndick, 2023). Employability questionnaires can be used by students to self-assess their developing employability competencies (Scoupe et al, 2023) and by universities and staff to monitor the impact of employability initiatives.…”

“…Rather than taking a narrow, neoliberal focus on employment outcomes, universities should integrate employability with their wider missions (Palmer et al, 2018), including advancing knowledge, fostering innovation, addressing local and global challenges, and promoting the holistic development of individuals, communities, and societies (Cheng et al, 2022;Cook, 2018). University leaders should explore and select relevant employability models to develop their employability and to recognize external factors over which they have limited or no influence (Eimer & Bohndick, 2023). Nevertheless, failing to improve employment outcomes and the broader employability of graduates risks reputational damage to HEIs in the eyes of society, governments, employers, potential students and their families and communities (Hack-Polay, 2020).…”