Graduate Work: Skills, Credentials, Careers, and Labour Markets

Description

The expansion of Higher Education has been one of the most important changes to affect Western labour markets. More than a third of all British workers are now degree holders. The graduate labour market is often understood as that part of the labour market characterized by high skills and high knowledge intensity and that is perceived to be needed and used in an increasingly complex economy. Higher education is presumed to be the developer of these advanced skills. Yet with the graduatisation of the workforce, comes growing concerns about, as well as misunderstanding, of what jobs graduates occupy, how they utilise their skills, and what the role of education is within graduate work and the competition for jobs. The book examines some of the assumptions placed on graduate work, graduate jobs, graduate skills, and graduate careers. It provides valuable insights how we can understand the meaning of graduate work within a rapidly changing economic, technological, and organizational context. Based on in-depth qualitative case studies of software developers, financial analysts, laboratory scientists, and press officers, the book shows that the graduate labour market is more heterogeneous than often is understood. What counts as graduate work remains contested and under constant reinterpretation and re-negotiation. Access to work, job performance, and career advancement are not necessarily driven by university qualifications and skills associated with Higher Education. The book begins to explore how and to what extent, those workers with university degrees are defined by their educational experiences, status, and qualifications. Cover Graduate Work: Skills, Credentials, Careers, and Labour Markets Copyright Acknowledgements Copyright acknowledgements Contents List of Figures List of Tables 1: Introduction What Happened to the Graduate Labour Market? The Study The Four Occupations Software Engineers Laboratory-based Scientists Financial Analysts Press Officers Outline of the Book Notes 2: The Contested Nature of Graduate Labour The Dominant View on the Graduate Labour Market Knowledge-based Economy Knowledge Worker Education Critiques from within Academia Demand for Education? Impasse Notes 3: The Changing Graduate Labour Market Growth of High-skilled Jobs Demand for Skill? Where Do Graduates Work? Wages Conclusion Notes 4: Recruitment and Selection of Graduate Workers Introduction The Process of Picking Winners Selection as an Interactional Process Suitability Technical Skills Qualifications Acceptability The Relationship between Suitability and Acceptability Conclusion Notes 5: The Role of Education Introduction Meaning of HE Where Work-based Skills Are Learnt Credentials Degrees as Means of Access What Do Degrees Signal? Credential Inflation Credential Half-life Education and Labour Market Advantage Master´s Degrees PhD Qualification for Laboratory Scientists Professional Qualification and Financial Analysts Non-graduate Competition Conclusion Notes 6: Skills and Knowledge Introduction Skills Used in the Work Process Technical Skills: Graduates as Knowledge Workers? Lab Scientists Software Engineers: Problem Solvers? Financial Analysts: the Power of Numbers Press Officers: Knowledgeable Workers? Job Control and Creativity Technical Skills: Conclusion Soft Skills Communication Skills Social Skills Social Fit Conclusion Notes 7: Graduate Occupations Introduction What is an Occupation? Within-occupational Differences Company Size Sector-dependent Differences Nominal Fluidity The Social Construction of Graduate Occupations The Issue of Demarcation: Lab Technicians and Graduate-level Scientists Software Engineers: Labour of Love? Financial Analysts: the Thorny Relationship with Accountancy Press Officers: Dealing with Rapid Change Professionalization Abstract Knowledge Education Identity Professional Bodies The Possibility of Professionalization Conclusion Notes 8: Graduates´ Careers Introduction Careers Boundaries Technological Change as a Boundary Sectorial Boundaries Occupational Trajectories of Graduate Workers Becoming Management Planning Careers Employability and the Competition for Jobs Skills Work Ethic and Networks The Role of Education Conclusion Notes 9: The Ideal of the Graduate Worker Introduction Recruitment and Selection (Chapter4) The Role of Education (Chapter5) The Skills Used at Work (Chapter6) Occupations and Professionalization (Chapter7) Careers (Chapter8) Symbolic Closure and Classification Games Graduates Are the Cracks Showing? The Function of HE A Way Forward What Are Graduate Skills? What Are Graduate Jobs? Recruitment and Selection The Role of HE Conclusion Skills and Economic Policy Social Mobility Final Thought Notes References Index