Social connectedness and graduate employability: exploring the professional networks of graduates from business and creative industries

Bridgstock, Ruth; Jackson, Denise; Lloyd, Kate; Tofa, Matalena

doi:10.4337/9781788972611.00012

Cited by 12 publications

(19 citation statements)

References 37 publications

(30 reference statements)

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“…As discussed before, networking is interpreted differently in different contexts. For example, in developed countries, in most cases, employers select the right person for a job through networking, job fairs and information sessions (Bridgstock et al, 2019). However, in developing countries, this may not be true.…”

Section: Social Mobility Skills (Sms)mentioning

confidence: 99%

Factors affecting business graduates' employability–empirical evidence using partial least squares (PLS)

Hossain

Alam

Alamgir

et al. 2020

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PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to examine the relationship between skills and employability of business graduates. The study also examines the moderating effect of ‘social mobility factors’ in the ‘skills–employability’ relationship.Design/methodology/approachA quantitative positivist approach was undertaken to test the hypotheses. Business graduates from two universities in a developing country responded to a questionnaire about their perceptions of different sets of employability factors. Partial least squares (PLS)-based structural equation modelling (SEM) was used to examine the relationships between skills and employability of business graduates.FindingsThe findings show that both soft skills and technical skills are positively related to employability, which is consistent with prior studies. The findings also indicate that social mobility factors play a significant role in employability.Research limitations/implicationsThe study is based on data from two public universities, and its findings need to be interpreted with care as universities differ in their size, area of concentration and ownership structure.Practical implicationsThe findings advance the evidence of graduate employability of business students. Based on these results, university authorities, policymakers, teachers and business graduates will benefit from the findings related to students preparedness for the competitive global job market.Originality/valueThe study's findings contribute to business graduates' skill set development in the developing countries that share a similar education system, culture and values.

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Section: Social Mobility Skills (Sms)mentioning

confidence: 99%

Factors affecting business graduates' employability–empirical evidence using partial least squares (PLS)

Hossain

Alam

Alamgir

et al. 2020

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“…Individual workers are made responsible for meeting the needs of employers or clients through upskilling, financial investment in training, ‘lifelong learning’, networking and portfolio-building, all adding to the ‘self-work’ expected in the neoliberal creative economy (Cohen, 2016; Ouellette, 2014: 104; Randle, 2011: 150–151). As scholars have noted, and as this study of graduates demonstrated, graduates of media degrees often report feeling ill-prepared for media work and perceive themselves as lacking various skills necessary for the work, ranging from practical and technical to transversal skills (Ball et al, 2010; Bridgstock and Carr, 2013; O’Brien et al, 2021). In addition, graduates and media workers report challenging education-to-work transitions, reflecting the sometimes ‘multiple entry attempts, unpaid internships, travel to follow the possibility of work, more education and/or training, and reliance on non-career jobs, family or social security for financial support’ that can characterise media career commencement and development (Bridgstock and Cunningham, 2016: 12).…”

Section: Literature Reviewmentioning

confidence: 94%

Skills narratives amongst media degree graduates and students: Discourses of hard and soft skills in education-to-work journeys

Arnold

2022

Industry and Higher Education

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This article focuses on media students and graduates’ subjective understanding and expression of skills acquired while undertaking an undergraduate media studies degree programme. It reports on a single undergraduate media studies programme in Ireland and draws from two questionnaires: a 2019 questionnaire of graduates who reflected on the skills developed during their education as well as their employability; and, following a subsequent skills development intervention in the media programme, a 2021 questionnaire of final-year students who undertook a newly introduced module focusing on media and non-media work, skills development and employment in Ireland. This latter questionnaire had the dual purpose of assessing whether students had benefited from this new module and, more generally, of understanding students’ perceptions of their skills and employability. This study was concerned to ascertain whether the provision of a new module that reflected on skills development through a media programme aided students’ understanding of how their knowledge and skills related to employability. Ultimately, the study found that the module was successful in developing students’ understanding of the alignment between transversal skills and employment. However, despite the intervention, students still perceived employability as related mainly to practical skills and supplemental career development activities.

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“…Informal learning is based on self-directed learning activities or takes place in communities of practice. These communities involve building relationships and practice-based interactions between individuals with similar interests, and peer-to-peer learning is a crucial aspect of acquiring digital skills [36].…”

Section: Creative Economy In Estonia and Building The Background Fram...mentioning

confidence: 99%

The Exploration of Skill Gaps and Ecosystem Potential among Estonian Creatives

Bauters,

Tokranova,

De Silva

et al. 2023

Sustainability

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Recent studies on Estonia’s creative economy show a growth in employment in the country’s creative sector and an overall increase in generated revenue. However, some areas need improvements, such as the international export of talent and art, interdisciplinary collaboration, and digital skills in strategy building and creating ecosystems. This study explores which skills and tools Estonian creatives are using, lacking, and willing to obtain, and focuses on collaboration manners and attitudes towards cross-sectoral ecosystems. The methodology is composed of a participatory co-design approach with quantitative and qualitative data sources, including background research on industry mapping and economic statistical indicators, semi-structured interviews with industry professionals and stakeholders, and co-design workshops with local creatives. Data were collected from recordings and transcribed, and the co-design workshop post-it notes were digitalised. The data were analysed from the bottom-up and mapped top-down with the 21st-century skills and ecosystem approach. Our current studies show that knowledge transfer and collaboration (across industry sectors, NGOs, and academia) are critical in a small country with a small population, intertwined with dynamic ecosystem building. Creative people upscale and continuously deepen their professional skills (digital and non-digital) in a lifelong learning manner. The current study found that specialising is hard since sustainable values, including those that promote degrowth, are involved.

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Social connectedness and graduate employability: exploring the professional networks of graduates from business and creative industries

Cited by 12 publications

References 37 publications

Factors affecting business graduates' employability–empirical evidence using partial least squares (PLS)

Factors affecting business graduates' employability–empirical evidence using partial least squares (PLS)

Skills narratives amongst media degree graduates and students: Discourses of hard and soft skills in education-to-work journeys

The Exploration of Skill Gaps and Ecosystem Potential among Estonian Creatives

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