Higher Education institutions' dispute with increasing their graduates' employablity

Katharina Pernkopf, Katharina Chudzikowski, Wolfgang Mayrhofer

Research output: Contribution to conferencePaperpeer-review

Abstract

In this paper we give notice to the controversial debate initiated by the Bologna Process on higher education institutions’ responsibility to increase the employability of their graduates. Against the backdrop of clashing justificatory logics – a public versus private good dispute – and the absence of a uniform understanding of the thing called “employability” we analyze the plurality of actors’ reactions relative to their various contestation situations. Applying
economics of convention, we critically discuss how employability is perceived and constructed by agents of higher education institutions, and identify variations in how this EU initiative is transformed to the local level by analyzing the initial dispute, actors’ critique and potential consequences for the configuration of higher education systems. Empirically, we provide illustrations from the Austrian higher education landscape and try to show how societal logics play out “on the ground”. We conclude with implications for refining the
notion of employability.
Original languageEnglish
Publication statusPublished - Apr 2016
Event12th Workshop on New Institutionalism in Organization Theory - Switzerland, Lucerne, Switzerland
Duration: 31 Mar 20161 Apr 2016

Conference

Conference12th Workshop on New Institutionalism in Organization Theory
Country/TerritorySwitzerland
CityLucerne
Period31/03/161/04/16

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