Linda Riebe

Purpose: This study aims to investigate graduate employer perceptions of determining factors in recruitment decisions and their preferred use of recruitment channels. This study drew on the employability capitals model to interpret findings and identify ways to better prepare higher education students for recruitment and selection. This is particularly important in declining graduate labour markets, further weakened by COVID-19.Design/methodology/approach: This study gathered data from surveying 183 Australian employers from different organisational settings. Responses were analysed using descriptive and multivariate techniques, the latter exploring variations by role type, sector and organisation size.Findings: Findings reaffirmed the criticality of students having the right disposition and demonstrating professional capabilities during recruitment, highlighting the value of building cultural and human capital during university years. Recruitment channels that require students to mobilise their identity and social capital were prioritised, particularly among private sector organisations. Work-based internships/placements were considered important for identifying graduate talent and developing strong industry–educator partnerships, needed for building networks between students and employers.Originality/value: This study provides valuable insights into determinants of graduate recruitment decision-making from the employer perspective. These highlight to students the important role of capitals, and how they can be developed to optimise recruitment success. This study presents practical strategies for universities to build their students’ human, social, cultural and identity capital. Findings on the prioritisation of recruitment channels among graduate employers from different sectors will enable students and universities to better prepare for future recruitment. It emphasises that student engagement with employability-related activities is a critical resource for an effective transition to the workplace.

The contemporary university is now characterised as a complex working environment wherein faculty must negotiate increasing demands for accountability, performativity, and productivity. A multiplicity of expectations adds to this complexity. Specifically, expectations set by employers in developing ‘work-ready’ graduates have compelled faculty to negotiate interdependent contradictions that focus on developing employability skills alongside technical skills. This qualitative study reports on the lived experiences of 30 business school teaching faculty, negotiating tensions as they relate to the teaching of one type of employability skill: teamwork. Paradox theory is appropriated to better understand how faculty perceive their professional environment and practices related to teamwork pedagogy. The findings reveal that faculty navigate the performing/learning, performing/organising and performing/belonging paradoxes of teamwork pedagogy by passively suppressing tensions or through proactive acceptance strategies.

Teamwork pedagogy has received considerable attention across a wide range of academic literature. Yet employers continue to argue that universities need to do more to better prepare graduates to work in team-based environments. Grounded in the social constructivist paradigm, this article uses a two-phase systematic literature review methodology to explore the conditions and influences affording or constraining teamwork pedagogy. A complementary thematic analysis of the articles revealed two broad themes: pedagogy and transaction costs. In almost all 57 articles, a range of factors influencing teamwork pedagogy were elaborated. Temporal, fiscal, and human resource transaction costs were identified as constraints in the application of teamwork pedagogy. An overlap of educator, student, and institutional factors are discussed as contributing to the transaction costs of implementing process-oriented teamwork pedagogy. However, the interdependent interactions among educators and students, within and across institutions, remained largely underexplored and are presented as part of a future research agenda.

Calls for employability skill development in undergraduates now extend across many culturally similar developed economies. Government initiatives, industry professional accreditation criteria, and the development of academic teaching and learning standards increasingly drive the employability agenda, further cementing the need for skill development in undergraduate degree programs. Principles and best practice on developing employability skills continue to emerge in international literature, yet educators grapple with ways to determine student learning in targeted employability skills. The purpose of this article is to explore the pedagogical conundrum of how employability skill attainment can be assessed through the use of rubrics. The rationale for using rubrics to promote learning and facilitate assessments through shared understanding by stakeholders of benchmark standards is outlined. Industry will have a clearer picture of what can realistically be achieved during university years, and students will gain a better appreciation of targeted skills and expected outcomes. Furthermore, rubrics may provide a tool for engaging academics and employers in an ongoing dialogue on expected skill attainment and identifying ways in which they may actively collaborate to enhance student learning. The implications of developing and implementing rubrics for determining employability outcomes for key stakeholders are also presented.

Purpose: – The ability to working effectively with others (WEWO) is critical yet industry continues to lament deficiencies in new graduates. Progress in developing this highly valued skill in undergraduates is impeded by a lack of conceptual clarity and evidence of how best to measure it, and a tendency to adopt an outcomes-focused, rather than process-oriented, approach. This paper aims to investigate undergraduate perceptions of how well a stand-alone employability skill development programme, operating in an Australian Business Faculty, is fostering the WEWO skill set and which pedagogical practices are considered to add most value. Design/methodology/approach: – The study examines undergraduate perceptions using data gathered from a skills audit of 799 business undergraduates from all four sequential units within the skills programme. Undergraduates rated and described their development against an established framework of WEWO behaviours. Findings: – Findings indicate that, overall, skill development is rated highly among the undergraduates although the behaviours of conflict resolution, social intelligence and influencing others were rated less highly than others within the skill set. The importance of class activities and assessment items, including the use of virtual learning tools were identified by students as critical to the development of WEWO behaviours. Originality/value: – The study highlights the important role of constructive alignment, sequential skill development, consistency of delivery and ensuring student “buy-in” to education practitioners in their efforts to meet industry expectations of graduates who can WEWO.

Business schools globally are responding to calls for graduate work-readiness primarily through the development of employability skills, encompassing career management skills, and work integrated-learning (WIL). There has been considerable attention to clarifying precisely which skills should be developed, and how, but far less on evaluating employability skill provision and its impact on graduate work-readiness. This is increasingly important as industry worldwide continues to lament graduate inadequacies in certain employability skills and the extent to which they are job-ready. This paper outlines a systematic approach for evaluating employability skill outcomes and the effectiveness of learning programs in developing these skills. The approach was developed in a learning program dedicated to developing employability skills in business undergraduates in an Australian university. It may assist other universities in communicating, assessing, mapping and reporting their employability skills outcomes; an integral component of all business undergraduate programs, and now a requirement of all Australian higher education providers (TEQSA, 2011). The approach provides a means of evaluating program effectiveness in skill provision, enabling a more informed review of curricula content, assessment and pedagogical techniques to achieve better alignment with industry requirements.

This study provides insights into the perceptions and expectations of Australian undergraduate business students (n=150) regarding the incorporation of guest speakers into the curriculum of a leadership unit focused on employability skills development. The authors adopted a mixed methods approach. A survey was conducted, with quantitative results analysed using SPSS allowing comparison of mean values between items and the identification of any statistical difference by student demographics. A thematic approach using inductive coding was applied to analyse the qualitative responses to open-ended questions. The results indicate that an appropriately briefed, qualified, interesting and engaging guest speaker plays an important role in active learning by exposing students to the ‘real world’ of the workplace and can reinforce the significance of key employability skills for future career success. The results also indicate that students' experience of guest speakers may be influenced by cultural factors and learning styles, with differences between the perceptions and expectations of domestic and international students with regard to certain factors. The paper has practical implications for those organizing the implementation of guest speaker programmes in HEIs and for the guest speakers themselves.

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to present a case study on improvements to professional teaching practice within an undergraduate university business programme to more effectively teach an employability skill and enhance the student experience of teamwork. Design/methodology/approach – A three-phase approach to teaching teamwork was introduced. Tuckman's model of team development was explicitly taught and used as the conceptual framework for the student teamwork process. Assessments were constructively aligned to address team skills and engage students in team processes. A questionnaire was developed to guide team member expectations of teamwork. Two online surveys tracked the development of student team skills and were used in feedback loops for student learners and facilitators. The use of reflective weblogs provided insights to student perspectives. Findings – Student engagement in teamwork was aided by the use of team surveys to assist students to explicitly make connections with the generic skills underpinning effective teamwork and a questionnaire to establish team norms. The teaching strategies employed developed a greater level of awareness in students, contributing to the development of their team skills. Practical implications – The student experience of working in teams can be enhanced by providing a clear, conceptual framework for developing team skills. The teaching practices implemented can be replicated and address student perceptions of working in teams in order to effect positive change and develop transferable team skills. Originality/value – The case study highlights the applicability of explicitly teaching team skills to positively enhance the student experience in a unique generic skills programme.