Employability in Higher Education; Exploring Frameworks of Support for Undergraduate Business Management Students.

This thesis focuses on employability in current English Higher Education (HE). It explores where the responsibility lies for developing employability skills by considering both institutional and student roles. It also seeks to identify if differences exist in the drivers for employability between pre- and post-92 universities. The research concentrates on final year Business Management students at two contrasting universities. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with staff and focus groups were held with students. The research points to employability in HE as an ongoing challenge where neoliberal approaches dominate, the impact of which is critiqued throughout the thesis. The findings highlight that employability and employment are two different things, but that the metrics applied to measure success fail to differentiate between them. Considering how employability is embedded at pre- and post-92 universities, the thesis identifies students as individuals with differing needs for developing their employability skills. It questions the onus of responsibility and whether it should lie with students themselves or with course teams within the sample. The recommendations call for a review of the metrics used to measure employability within HE. Students are heterogenic and as such should be encouraged to drive their student journey to incorporate their individual needs for employability. It is recommended that universities look to review their current offerings and consider a loose framework where students are supported by their course team. The focus should be placed on providing a good student experience with individualised employability choices for students’ personal growth and development. This would result in a win/win, a positive student experience and a meeting of the metrics.