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Hi , Madi! For me it’s a bit complicated to fully grasp the idea about “employability skills” in higher education…Perhaps one of the reasons is that sometimes, jokingly, HE education in Bulgaria is called “the best self-educating system” :-D especially from students who are completely convinced that 1 yes, one needs a degree, 2 yes, colleagues, drinking and professors are cool, but 3- if you want to learn anything related to your future profession you have to rely on yourself and NOT on the university, because university is not practical. Haha. It may sound weird, but there are some reasons for this belief, which aren’t very far from the truth.  The other reason this concept is difficult for me is that I am still stuck a bit in the early Middle ages, where if you wanted to ‘master’ a job ,you had to be the pupil of a master of the job- engineering, architecture ( remember Ken Follet’s book about the cathedrals?) and if you wanted to understand metaphysics, theology and civil society, you went to university. Actually this idea of “having” vs. “Being” is the core of philosophy since antiquity, where many Greek and Arabic scholars (Christians to, I am just not very well acquainted with the Christian Medieval tradition) believe and try to prove that as humans , we are just “potential”, but in order to become actual, to really achieve Being, the only path is knowledge. And then the 20th century with Marx’s justice being “ Everyone works according to his abilities and everyone receives according to his needs”- we kind of tried this, didn’t we…. So the only thing that comes to my mind in summary is the following picture, which says it is about education, but I really think is about employability.

Thanks, Madi!

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HE as an opportunity for time to explore

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HE as an opportunity for time to explore

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Definition "Occupation" from the World Federation of Occupational Therapists:

In occupational therapy, occupations refer to the everyday activities that people do as individuals, in families and with communities to occupy time and bring meaning and purpose to life. Occupations include things people need to, want to and are expected to do.

http://www.wfot.org/aboutus/aboutoccupationaltherapy/definitionofoccupationaltherapy.aspx

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On dropping out, to drop in: Stay hungry stay foolish

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An article regarding marketization and the student as uncritical consumer.

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An article regarding marketization and the student as uncritical consumer.

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What teaching and learning approaches could the authors adopt to avoid the uncritical 'having' mode they claim is adopted by their students?

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Exercise adapted from Reflective teaching in Higher Education Ashwin et al (2015) 

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Exercise adapted from Reflective teaching in Higher Education Ashwin et al (2015) 

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Graduateness tends to  defined in terms of 'hard' (subject / discipline specific) and 'soft' skills and dispositions that are more generic and transferable.

What does 'graduateness' mean in your discipline (or work-role?).

Employability has been defined by Yorke (2004) as "A set of achievements - skills, understandings and personal attributes - that makes graduates more likely to gain employment  and be successful int heir chosen occupations, which benefit themselves, the workforce, the community and the economy".

What does 'employability mean in your discipline (or work role)?

What learning, teaching and assessment approaches might be adjusted or included to include a focus on graduate attributes and employability?

References:

Ashwin, P. Boud, D. Coate, K. Hallett, F. Keane, E. Krause, K.L. Leibowitz, B. MacLaren, I. McArthur, J. McCune, V. & Tooher, M. (2015). Reflective Teaching in higher education. London. Bloomsbury.

Yorke, M. (2004). Employabiloty in the undergraduate curriculum: some students' perspectives', European Journal of Education. 39, 409-27.