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Palgrave Macmillan

Universities, Employability and Human Development

  • Book
  • © 2017

Overview

Authors:
  1. Melanie Walker

    1. University of the Free State , Bloemfontein, South Africa

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  2. Samuel Fongwa

    1. University of the Free State , Bloemfontein, South Africa

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    You can also search for this author in PubMed   Google Scholar

  • Advances an innovative human capabilities approach to graduate employability
  • Highlights the importance of paying attention to the intersections of personal, university and social conditions to enable more effective and fair university interventions for diverse students
  • Brings together and explores the perceptions and experiences of diverse students, lecturers, support officers and employers

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Table of contents (9 chapters)

  1. Front Matter

    Pages i-xiii
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  2. Contextual and Policy Conditions

    • Melanie Walker, Samuel Fongwa
    Pages 1-28

  3. Graduate Employability, Global Shifts and Local Realities

    • Melanie Walker, Samuel Fongwa
    Pages 29-51

  4. A Human Capabilities Conceptualization of Graduate Employability

    • Melanie Walker, Samuel Fongwa
    Pages 53-78

  5. Employability and Conversion Factors

    • Melanie Walker, Samuel Fongwa
    Pages 79-108

  6. Access and Participation

    • Melanie Walker, Samuel Fongwa
    Pages 109-132

  7. Democratic Citizenship and Employable Graduates

    • Melanie Walker, Samuel Fongwa
    Pages 133-157

  8. Employers and Graduate Opportunities

    • Melanie Walker, Samuel Fongwa
    Pages 159-180

  9. Aspirations, Capabilities and Navigating Future-Forward

    • Melanie Walker, Samuel Fongwa
    Pages 181-213

  10. Human Development, Capabilities and Graduate Employability

    • Melanie Walker, Samuel Fongwa
    Pages 215-227

  11. Back Matter

    Pages 229-248
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Keywords

About this book

The book makes a significant contribution to critical higher education studies, specifically to graduate employability research and to capabilities and education research. The book moves beyond the simplistic conception of alleged 'gaps' in graduate skills and 'mismatches' between employers and universities, and instead provides an innovative multi-dimensional and intersectional human capabilities conceptualisation of graduate employability. The book challenges an individualised notion of employability, instead locating employability issues in social and economic conditions, and argues that employability choices cannot be divorced from inequality. Qualitative and quantitative data from multiple case-study universities in South Africa are used to explore the perceptions and experiences of diverse students, lecturers, support officers and employers, regarding what each university is doing, or should be doing, to enhance graduate economic opportunities and contribute to inclusive development. The book will be highly relevant to students, scholars and researchers in the fields of education and sociology, particularly those with an interest in graduate employability.

Authors and Affiliations

  • University of the Free State , Bloemfontein, South Africa

    Melanie Walker, Samuel Fongwa

About the authors

Melanie Walker is South African research chair in higher education and human development at the University of the Free State, South Africa.


Samuel Fongwa is a post-doctoral fellow and researcher at the Centre for Research on Higher Education and Development at the University of the Free State, South Africa. 


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