The employability agenda and beyond: what are universities for?

Olivier, Steve

Abstract

In this paper, presented as a provocation for university leaders, I intend to stimulate thought and debate. As such, it is not necessarily a paper typical in the groves of Academe, evaluating and referencing contrasting preceding papers. While I draw on established concepts, I also present actual practice in higher education, relating this to political and quasi-economic matters. Ultimately, the paper is designed to provoke university leaders to question conventional wisdom, accepted practice and politico/social direction. It starts rather factually, describing the landscape of employability in higher education, and then introduces some political considerations. Conceptual points on graduate attributes follow, before I delve into matters more contested, such as the purpose of universities, with my thoughts presented in the context of the preceding points on employability. In short, I argue for institutional and sectoral autonomy, holding that slavishly following imposed agendas will ultimately reduce our institutions' contribution to economic wellbeing.

Citation

OLIVIER, S. 2014. The employability agenda and beyond: what are universities for? London: Leadership Foundation for Higher Education. Hosted on Advance HE [online]. Available from: https://www.advance-he.ac.uk/knowledge-hub/employability-agenda-and-beyond-what-are-universities

• Report Type: Discussion Paper
• Online Publication Date: Jul 31, 2014
• Publication Date: Jul 31, 2014
• Deposit Date: Jan 19, 2022
• Publicly Available Date: Feb 17, 2022
• Publisher: Leadership Foundation for Higher Education
• Series Title: Leadership Foundation for Higher Education stimulus paper series
• Keywords: Higher education; Graduate employability; Scotland
• Public URL: https://rgu-repository.worktribe.com/output/1575271
• Publisher URL: https://www.advance-he.ac.uk/knowledge-hub/employability-agenda-and-beyond-what-are-universities
• Additional Information: This discussion paper has been published with the ISBN 9781906627621