Exploring the contribution of formal and informal learning to academic staff member employability

Abstract

Purpose -Little attention has been paid to the employability of academic staff and the extent to which continuous learning contributes to academic career success. The purpose of this paper is to explore the contribution of formal and informal learning to employability. Design/methodology/approach -Survey data were obtained from 139 academic staff members employed at the Open University in the Netherlands. The questionnaire included employee characteristics, job characteristics, organizational context factors, formal learning and informal learning and employability variables. Findings -Informal learning, such as networking and learning value of the job, appeared to be solid contributors to employability, while the impact of formal learning activities was far less significant. Further, the study revealed the impact of employee and organizational context factors upon informal learning and employability. Age, salary and learning climate appeared to be strong predictors for informal learning, while promotions were shown to be highly positive contributors to employability. Practical implications -The findings stress the value of informal learning, although human resource policies that encourage both formal and informal learning are recommended. Originality/value -Academic careers comprise an under-researched area and the same applies to the relationship between learning and employability in the context of these types of careers.

Great Expectations: The Relationship Between Future Time Perspective, Learning from Others, and Employability

“…We have found positive relationships between learning from others and four dimensions of employability: anticipation and optimization, personal flexibility, corporate sense, and balance. This is consistent with previous research (Froehlich et al 2014b; Van der Heijden et al 2009;Van der Klink et al 2014) and supports the claim that learning activities in general and learning from others in particular are apt means of developing employability. Opportunity focus, which stimulates learning from others, has been found to have indirect positive effects on employability.…”

“…Moreover, the evidence suggests that interaction with one's supervisor may improve balance and corporate sense. The study was largely replicated among academic staff members by Van der Klink et al (2014). There, networking enhanced anticipation and optimization, personal flexibility, and corporate sense.…”

“…Research suggests that learning activities such as working on developmental tasks, networking, or attending trainings are adequate means of improving individuals' employability (Froehlich et al 2014a; Van der Heijden et al 2009; Van der Klink et al 2014;Van Emmerik et al 2012). Previous studies have found that learning from others -in contrast to the learning opportunities offered in trainings -is especially important for older employees (Billett 2011;Froehlich et al 2014b).…”

Employees' perceptions of HR investment and their efforts to remain internally employable: testing the exchange-based mechanisms of the ‘new psychological contract’

“…Employability, broadly defined, reflects an individual's relative, and often self-perceived chances of acquiring a job, retaining a job, or moving seamlessly between jobs, both in same or different functions and within the internal or external labor market (Brown, Hesketh, & Williams, 2003;Forrier & Sels, 2003). The phenomenon has received scholarly attention for well over two decades and continues to be a topic of interest, as indicated by the stream of recent studies concerned with the employability of specific populations, such as college graduates (Dacre Pool, Qualter, & Sewell, 2014), academic staff (Van der Klink, Van der Heijden, & Williams van Rooij, 2014), and aging (Behaghel, Caroli, & Roger, 2014) or displaced workers (Gowan, 2014); public policy issues, including the employability of university students in relation to national education initiatives (Lee, Foster, & Snaith, 2014), native populations in private sectors (Forstenlechner, Selim, Baruch, & Madi, 2014), and disabled jobseekers (Bualar, 2014); organizationally relevant correlates of employability, including job performance and psychological contract obligations (Dries, Forrier, De Vos, & Pepermans, 2014); and, as in the present research, the determinants of employability, including learning activities (Froehlich, Beausaert, Segers, & Gerken, 2014) and perceptions of organizational support ( Van den Broeck et al, 2014). Consequently, employability research spans a wide range of domains, including vocational behavior, economics, public policy, and I/O psychology, numerous contextual settings, and multiple levels of analysis.…”

Stability and Satisfaction at Work During the Spanish Economic Crisis

“…In our analysis, we have included 2 of the cited options (teamwork and carrying out training activities) because both are included in the ECVT although there could be more that improve the employability of workers. Also, according to the studies on the subject, there is a range of variables that influence employability; most authors agree that "training and/or apprenticeships" improve employability (we can quote the studies by Groot and Maassen Vann de Brink (2000) and Van Der Klink et al (2014) for example), while the other variables are open to question.…”