Abstract:

Employability is not just about getting a job. Employability is about getting ‘work ready’ by developing ones skills, techniques and experience to become employable or progressing within a current career. Harvey (2005) argues that learning should emphasise less the ‘employ’ and more the ‘ability’ in order to prepare the ground for “developing critical, reflective abilities, with a view to empowering and enhancing the learner”.

Building upon this vision, I have conducted a pilot study (Dawson, 2012 & 2013) the outcomes of which were presented at the ICERI2012 and EDULEARN13, which employs a student-subject oriented approach to enable Undergraduate students to work on Personalised Projects (Personal Employability Skills Portfolios (PESP). These are designed in a specific manner to give them the opportunity to build the relationship between Higher Education and graduate employability in a way that makes sense to them. The students embark upon a journey of investigation and exploration of a variety of potential employment paths as well as a journey of self discovery encompassing their strengths and limitations in terms of transferable skills in order to make informed decisions for their future career.

Presently, the study has grown further with particular focus on embedding employability in education for sustainable development. It considers education as the ‘primary switch’ which could accelerate the evolution of one’s informed choice which could lead to a sustainable future. Hence, emphasis is given on the individuals’ personality and characteristics allowing learners to critically examine their priorities, habits, beliefs, values, principles and practices to foster a balanced personal development, explore their alternatives and communicate their experiences effectively with a community of people aiming to strive to balance the needs of such community and hence society.

The study results reveal that students, who undertook the Personal Employability Skills Portfolios as part of a detached, stand-alone Undergraduate module, evidenced their journey from an 'unaware' phase to 'informed' progression in graduate employment and made informed decisions for the benefit of themselves and others, for now and in future years and acted upon them. It emphasizes the need for HEIs to adopt an educational approach to teaching and learning which exploits, human capital for sustainable development. It concludes that it is imperative for the research-active curriculum to incorporate in-depth examination of the role of the human productive capabilities (individual skills, abilities and competences) in particular, as a determinant of sustainability.

Keywords:

Employability, education for sustainable development, personalised learning for sustainability.