How to Enhance Graduate Employability in Higher Education? : Employability, Mentoring and Value
Hölttä, Kaisa (2022)
Hölttä, Kaisa
2022
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Julkaisun pysyvä osoite on
https://urn.fi/URN:NBN:fi:amk-2022061417967
https://urn.fi/URN:NBN:fi:amk-2022061417967
Tiivistelmä
This study aims to understand how students and graduates can enhance their employability and what role mentoring plays in employability-building. The objective is to develop existing mentoring and career services in the case organisation to better meet the different aspects of employability. The case organisation is a large Finnish higher education institution in the capital region of Finland. The participants of the study are international degree students and graduates.
The study's theoretical framework consists of employability, mentoring, and value formation. From the vast employability theories, Michael Tomlinson´s (2017) graduate capital model is used to create a frame for development work and analysis. The customer-dominant logic of Heinonen, Strandvik & Mickelsson (2010) creates a well-suited approach to evaluate how value emerges for a student in mentoring over a time span. The results show that all five graduate capitals can be enhanced in mentoring. Mentoring provides a framework, a locus, for developing employability capitals and direct employment. Concerning customer-dominant logic, value formation happens in students' ecosystem, and the time span of mentoring benefits can offer a far-reaching value for the student.
The design frame is a case study with some features from constructive research. The research approach is qualitative with an aim to interpret the phenomenon in-depth and understand the experiences and subjective world of the research participants. The study was conducted using a service design process following the Double Diamond model of British Design Council (2005) with discover, define, develop, and deliver phases. Service design methodology was used in different phases of the process. The methodology consists of, e.g., in-depth-interviews, How might we -questions, visual ideation with 10 plus 10 -method, evaluation with Idea Portfolio, and validation interviews.
The outcome of the development work is three practical solutions for the employability enhancement of students. According to the first solution, students could enhance their self-awareness and show their strengths better through discussions with mentors and company representatives. The second solution aims for a better success of students in recruiting processes with a CV-tailoring process. According to the third solution, skilful but shy students could benefit from blind challenge auditions, where they could outline their skills to a company without a need for social networking. With respect to Tomlinson´s graduate model, these solutions enhance all five graduate capitals: human capital, social capital, cultural capital, identity capital, and psychological capital.
The study offers multiple proposals for future development. To succeed in the future labour market, students and graduates need to develop all five employability capitals, not only within higher education, but also in extracurricular activities. The ultimate responsibility for developing employability lies in students´ own efforts, but higher education institutions have an important role in facilitating this development. Social connections and support given to the students, including mentoring, play an essential role.
Keywords: Employability, mentoring, value, graduate capital model
The study's theoretical framework consists of employability, mentoring, and value formation. From the vast employability theories, Michael Tomlinson´s (2017) graduate capital model is used to create a frame for development work and analysis. The customer-dominant logic of Heinonen, Strandvik & Mickelsson (2010) creates a well-suited approach to evaluate how value emerges for a student in mentoring over a time span. The results show that all five graduate capitals can be enhanced in mentoring. Mentoring provides a framework, a locus, for developing employability capitals and direct employment. Concerning customer-dominant logic, value formation happens in students' ecosystem, and the time span of mentoring benefits can offer a far-reaching value for the student.
The design frame is a case study with some features from constructive research. The research approach is qualitative with an aim to interpret the phenomenon in-depth and understand the experiences and subjective world of the research participants. The study was conducted using a service design process following the Double Diamond model of British Design Council (2005) with discover, define, develop, and deliver phases. Service design methodology was used in different phases of the process. The methodology consists of, e.g., in-depth-interviews, How might we -questions, visual ideation with 10 plus 10 -method, evaluation with Idea Portfolio, and validation interviews.
The outcome of the development work is three practical solutions for the employability enhancement of students. According to the first solution, students could enhance their self-awareness and show their strengths better through discussions with mentors and company representatives. The second solution aims for a better success of students in recruiting processes with a CV-tailoring process. According to the third solution, skilful but shy students could benefit from blind challenge auditions, where they could outline their skills to a company without a need for social networking. With respect to Tomlinson´s graduate model, these solutions enhance all five graduate capitals: human capital, social capital, cultural capital, identity capital, and psychological capital.
The study offers multiple proposals for future development. To succeed in the future labour market, students and graduates need to develop all five employability capitals, not only within higher education, but also in extracurricular activities. The ultimate responsibility for developing employability lies in students´ own efforts, but higher education institutions have an important role in facilitating this development. Social connections and support given to the students, including mentoring, play an essential role.
Keywords: Employability, mentoring, value, graduate capital model