Leyes

The emphasis on the employability of graduates ensues from the assumption that we are working in a globally competitive 'knowledge-driven’ environment (Smetherham 2009), where knowledge is viewed as a key resource for economic wealth, societal well-being and innovation (Teichler 1999). At the same time the labour market is characterised by less job security and an increase in part-time and contract positions or employment for limited periods of time. Also, job structures and skills requirements seem to change at an ever-increasing pace (Bridgstock 2009; Greenhaus, Callanan, and Godshalk 2010; Teichler 1999).

Graduates entering the South African labour market also face challenges such as an economy characterized by slow or even zero growth and an unemployment rate which peaked in June 2016 at 26.7 per cent. A very concerning statistic is that 53.6 per cent of youth between the ages of 15 and 24 are not in education, employment or training (Trading Economics 2016). Although the graduate unemployment rate is much lower at six per cent, the rate has doubled since 2008 (Van Broekhuizen 2013). Race and class are still predictors of employment outcomes (Baldry 2015) even though policies such as the Employment Equity Act (EEA) and Black Economic Empowerment (BEE) have been put in place to eliminate the persistent racial inequalities in the labour market as a consequence of apartheid.

This is the work context that graduates entering employment in SA are expected to be prepared for; essentially it means that they must be able to function in a more fluid working world (Greenhaus, Callanan, and Godshalk 2010) in which a HE qualification does not guarantee employment. The implications for HE as the ‘producer’ of graduates with high-level skills and work-ready graduates need to be considered carefully.

4.3 Conceptualising graduate employability

4.3.1 The skills approach

The growing emphasis on the role of HE in preparing graduates for employment is closely linked to the notion of graduate employability (Holmes 2013). Various theoretical approaches to graduate employability have been developed of which the skills approach is dominant. This approach maintains that graduates, as a result of their HE experiences, should possess skills, understandings and attributes which would make them employable and successful (Okay-Somerville and Scholarios 2015; Yorke 2004). Differences in employment outcomes are hence viewed as a reflection of the graduate’s set of achievements or lack thereof. Although the skills approach remains dominant, this approach has been criticized as being narrow (Bridgstock 2009), conceptually weak (Barrie 2005), unable to explain variations in graduate outcomes (Holmes 2013), and victimising the graduate for a possible lack of skills or attributes (Okay-Somerville and Scholarios 2015). In consideration of the critique against the skills approach, we suggest a development processual perspective to graduate employability and therefore employ a process of career management lens in the study.

4.3.2 Graduate employability as a process of career management

Bridgstock (2009) proposes a view of graduate employability as a process of career management as an alternative to the narrow skills approach. Career management can be regarded as the ability to build a career; to purposely manage the interaction of work, learning and other aspects of the individual’s life throughout his/her lifetime (Bridgstock 2009). This perspective of graduate employability supports our position that HE is not only about preparing students for the world of work, but more broadly about the development of students to become well-rounded individuals who can

function responsibly in a global context. The career management approach recognizes career management as a developmental process, and that work (career) continuously interacts with other life facets.

The career management process entails the individual making a series of decisions (Greenhaus, Callanan, and Godshalk 2010), while engaging in reflective and evaluative processes (Bridgstock 2009). Okay-Somerville and Scholarios (2015) refer to this process as career self-management as it involves consistent career- related information gathering and planning. Such a process would provide a student with a realistic preview of probable opportunities, and would thus be essential for a successful university-to-work transition. The implication of viewing graduate employability in this manner is that employability as career management should start as early as students’ considerations of programme options in HE. Pre-emptive consideration of a future career is closely connected with securing and maintaining meaningful employment (O’Regan 2010), alluding to the responsibility of an individual to take proactive decisions during the career management process (Greenhaus, Callanan, and Godshalk 2010).

We contemplate career management below by integrating frameworks suggested by Bridgstock (2009), Greenhaus, Callanan, and Godshalk (2010), and Okay-Somerville and Scholarios (2015). We discuss four steps in the career management process while emphasizing the integrated and iterative nature of the process.

a) Career exploration

The first step in the career management process is career exploration. This is the process of collecting and analysing information regarding oneself and the work environment (Greenhaus, Callanan, and Godshalk 2010; Okay-Somerville and Scholarios 2015). This is done by employing self-management and career building skills (Bridgstock 2009). Self-management involves attaining self-knowledge through evaluating and knowing oneself by exploring one’s values, interests and abilities. (Greenhaus, Callanan, and Godshalk 2010). Career building involves gaining knowledge of different occupations, organisations and opportunities in the labour market and identifying the most suitable options for oneself (Greenhaus, Callanan, and Godshalk 2010; Okay-Somerville and Scholarios 2015). Engagement with both

self-management and career building skills is an interdependent process which shapes the career exploration process. Awareness of the self and the environment leads to more appropriate and more realistic goal setting which is the second step in the career management process (Greenhaus, Callanan, and Godshalk 2010).

b) Career goal setting

Goal setting is crucial in terms of career performance. Greenhouse and others (2010) define a career goal as a desired outcome in the workplace that a person intends to attain. Research indicates that employees who are committed to specific goals outperform those without goals or with a weak commitment to established goals (Locke and Latham 2002). The development of realistic and personally meaningful career goals is a self-management skill which gives direction to the career exploration process (Bridgstock 2009), and facilitates putting strategies in place to achieve those goals. The interdependency between career exploration, goal setting and career strategies reflects the iterative nature of the career management process.

c) Employing career strategies

Career strategies enable one to achieve career goals, which means that employees need to identify and engage in strategic activities which could benefit the attainment of their goals (Bridgstock 2009). Working hard and being loyal is not enough to advance one’s career, but rather engaging in activities that would develop career competencies, and ensure appropriate work experience (Greenhaus, Callanan, and Godshalk 2010), goal attainment and career performance. Guidance seeking, for example, is an activity with the potential of enhancing goal attainment and career performance; this can also be related to career appraisal which comprises the last step in the career management process (Okay-Somerville and Scholarios 2015).

d) Career appraisal

In a continuously fluctuating labour market employees need to frequently evaluate their career choices and engage in career appraisal (Larson 2006). Career appraisal is the process by which an individual evaluates and reconsiders career choices and employs feedback to enable further planning. This process enables the monitoring of

career progress through adaptive feedback from peers, employers and/or significant others (Greenhaus, Callanan, and Godshalk 2010). Feedback closes the career management cycle as it provides critical information about a person, his/her career and his/her progress towards goals. Through the appraisal process an employee is positioned to re-evaluate goals and related strategies (Greenhaus, Callanan, and Godshalk 2010) to ensure effective career management and a successful career.