Marketing graduate employability: understanding the tensions between institutional practice and external messaging

© 2019, © 2019 Association for Tertiary Education Management and the LH Martin Institute for Tertiary Education Leadership and Management. Do the narratives of employability constructed by higher education institutions for marketing purposes differ from the conceptualisation and/or the realisation o...

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Main Authors: Divan, A., Knight, E., Bennett, Dawn, Bell, K.
Format: Journal Article
Language:English
Published: ROUTLEDGE JOURNALS, TAYLOR & FRANCIS LTD 2019
Subjects:
Online Access:http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11937/76514
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author Divan, A.
Knight, E.
Bennett, Dawn
Bell, K.
author_facet Divan, A.
Knight, E.
Bennett, Dawn
Bell, K.
author_sort Divan, A.
building Curtin Institutional Repository
collection Online Access
description © 2019, © 2019 Association for Tertiary Education Management and the LH Martin Institute for Tertiary Education Leadership and Management. Do the narratives of employability constructed by higher education institutions for marketing purposes differ from the conceptualisation and/or the realisation of employability within those institutions? The study reported here drew on interviews with 16 senior academic and student support staff who were tasked with developing student employability at one of nine institutions in Australia, Canada and the UK. We employed Holmes’ conceptions of employability as possessional, positional or processual to analyse how the interviewees conceptualised employability and the presentation of employability on the institutional websites. We found that most institutions’ employability marketing narratives were inconsistent with the institutional practice reported by staff. We explain this tension in the context of two competing characterisations of higher education: a university-student transaction view; and a learning view. We emphasise the need for internal and external narratives to align and advocate the need for engagement in a constructive and critical dialogue involving all stakeholders.
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spelling curtin-20.500.11937-765142021-02-11T00:38:22Z Marketing graduate employability: understanding the tensions between institutional practice and external messaging Divan, A. Knight, E. Bennett, Dawn Bell, K. Social Sciences Education & Educational Research Graduate outcomes graduate employment marketing higher education student experience STUDENT WEBSITES © 2019, © 2019 Association for Tertiary Education Management and the LH Martin Institute for Tertiary Education Leadership and Management. Do the narratives of employability constructed by higher education institutions for marketing purposes differ from the conceptualisation and/or the realisation of employability within those institutions? The study reported here drew on interviews with 16 senior academic and student support staff who were tasked with developing student employability at one of nine institutions in Australia, Canada and the UK. We employed Holmes’ conceptions of employability as possessional, positional or processual to analyse how the interviewees conceptualised employability and the presentation of employability on the institutional websites. We found that most institutions’ employability marketing narratives were inconsistent with the institutional practice reported by staff. We explain this tension in the context of two competing characterisations of higher education: a university-student transaction view; and a learning view. We emphasise the need for internal and external narratives to align and advocate the need for engagement in a constructive and critical dialogue involving all stakeholders. 2019 Journal Article http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11937/76514 10.1080/1360080X.2019.1652427 English ROUTLEDGE JOURNALS, TAYLOR & FRANCIS LTD fulltext
spellingShingle Social Sciences
Education & Educational Research
Graduate outcomes
graduate employment
marketing
higher education
student experience
STUDENT
WEBSITES
Divan, A.
Knight, E.
Bennett, Dawn
Bell, K.
Marketing graduate employability: understanding the tensions between institutional practice and external messaging
title Marketing graduate employability: understanding the tensions between institutional practice and external messaging
title_full Marketing graduate employability: understanding the tensions between institutional practice and external messaging
title_fullStr Marketing graduate employability: understanding the tensions between institutional practice and external messaging
title_full_unstemmed Marketing graduate employability: understanding the tensions between institutional practice and external messaging
title_short Marketing graduate employability: understanding the tensions between institutional practice and external messaging
title_sort marketing graduate employability: understanding the tensions between institutional practice and external messaging
topic Social Sciences
Education & Educational Research
Graduate outcomes
graduate employment
marketing
higher education
student experience
STUDENT
WEBSITES
url http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11937/76514