Ignorance is risk: An exploratory investigation of students’ perceptions of their education–employment pathways

Abstract

The widely held view that higher education constitutes a gateway to employment has underpinned the dramatic widening of access to university in recent decades. However, globalisation and technological development have complicated the task of enhancing the employability of students, as the future world of work has become ever-more dynamic and unpredictable. Given such conditions, the delivery of employability teaching has become a central focus of many higher education providers (HEPs). To meet their responsibilities, HEPs must understand how students perceive their respective courses in relation to the employment pathways that they seek to follow. The present study aimed to gain an understanding of prospective students’ perceptions regarding this, but also to evaluate the accuracy of these perceptions. Because some course types are more narrowly vocational than are others, a subsidiary aim was to investigate whether or not student expectations and knowledge varied depending on course-type. The findings gathered from 462 students enrolled into a wide range of courses at 15 Australian universities were profound. They highlight that, while most students commence university with a career goal in mind, many have a poor understanding of the education-employment pathways on which they have embarked. Students demonstrated a limited understanding of the careers to which their courses might lead, and of the relevance of postgraduate study to their chosen career goals. These findings varied significantly across different course-types. Overall, these findings highlight the need for HEPs to educate their students explicitly about the education-employment pathways that are available to them.

Graduate Employability of Business Students

“…Views have shifted from obtaining satisfying work to the adaptive capacity an individual need for obtaining and retaining work during an environment of fast-moving changes (De Vos et al 2021;Presti et al 2019). The later conceptualisation includes the need to strengthen self-awareness, self-efficacy, proactivity, career building skills, self-directedness, resilience, adaptability, agility, reflectivity, persistence/grit, social and cultural awareness, emotional intelligence, lifelong learning, growth mindset, and understanding of the labour market, as some of the bedrocks for a sustainable career in precarious, continuously evolving, and turbulent labour markets of the 21st century (Rowe 2019;Van Harten et al 2022;Masole and van Dyk 2016;Lock and Kelly 2020). What is clear is that employability skills are highly sort after by most employers when recruiting entry-level graduates (Robinson and Garton 2008;Lim et al 2016;Succi and Canovi 2020).…”

“…A study in the Czech Republic found that university studies were theory-based and detached from practice (Gawrycka et al 2020). Lock and Kelly (2020) observed that some Australian students often have limited understanding of how different courses they undertake at university are linked to their chosen careers. Many students have a "poor understanding of the education-employment pathways on which they have embarked" (Lock and Kelly 2020, p. 22).…”

“…In addition, the global trends towards massification of higher education have meant that more and more graduates are competing for fewer jobs, reducing the currency of a first degree, as well as increasing the competition in graduate labour markets (Pinto and He 2019;Tomlinson 2008;Moore and Morton 2017). Increasingly, new graduates are entering graduate labour markets that are very competitive, congested, dynamic, precarious, turbulent, and unpredictable (Lock and Kelly 2020;Watzlawik and Kullasepp 2016;Tomlinson 2017b). In addition, more and more new graduates are entering non-graduate and recently graduated jobs (i.e., clerical and administrative jobs in banks (tellers), customer services, marketing, etc.…”

“…There is now significant research which suggest that students often have a blurred understanding of what graduate employability is, what skills are needed by employers for entry-level positions, and how to enhance their career prospects during their studies at university (Amoroso and Burke 2018;Dolce et al 2020). Students often fail to link their learning experiences at university to future careers (Lock and Kelly 2020;Scott et al 2019). Consequently, they may not always avail themselves of university-wide opportunities that may exist to enhance their employability profile while studying at university.…”

Employability of Iranian Engineering graduates: Influential factors, consequences, and strategies

“…In this workshop, students get acquainted with industry leaders and peers to gain useful insights for working in the real world, exchanging views and visiting real workplaces (Lock & Kelly, 2020). This example shows the importance of universities incorporating entrepreneurship into the curriculum to enable their graduates to better fit the current concepts of employability (Azmi, et al, 2018).…”