Understanding Graduate Employability: Views of Stakeholders of Higher Education

Employability is a key agenda in higher education worldwide. Universities are often measured against graduate employment rate to demonstrate to the public that the quality of their educational provision is good. However, employability and employment are two different concepts. This paper will increase the understandings of employability through interpreting its meaning and whose responsibility for graduate employability from the perspectives of four key stakeholders of higher education: higher education institutions, students, government and employers. It reveals that responsibility for employability has been transferred by the UK Government to HEIs despite that it needs to be shared by all the key stakeholders. There is a gap between employers’ expectation for employability and the Government’s employability agenda. Using employment rate as a key indicator for employability will encourage the practice of putting employers’ need above the development of academic disciplines, which will make higher education vocation driven.