Do employability programmes in higher education improve skills and labour market outcomes? A systematic review of academic literature

Scandurra, R., Kelly, D., Fusaro, S., Cefalo, R. and Hermannson, K. (2023) Do employability programmes in higher education improve skills and labour market outcomes? A systematic review of academic literature. Studies in Higher Education, (doi: 10.1080/03075079.2023.2265425) (Early Online Publication)

Abstract

We conduct a systematic literature review of the academic literature on activities organised by Higher Education Institutions (HEIs) with the aim of improving skills associated with employability and facilitating labour market outcomes. The search resulted in 87 papers followed by an iterative evaluation of their relevance. Papers in the corpus were analysed using an evaluation research framework and classified in terms of the activities, outputs, and outcomes. The reviewed literature is centred on one of three stakeholders: HEIs, students or employers. It suggests all stakeholders value employability activities for similar reasons. Generally, they are seen as a vital part of HEI education programmes, facilitating the development of diverse skills that are desirable in the labour market as well as de-risking labour market entry for students and appointments for employers by alleviating information asymmetries. The evidence base is dominated by small-scale case studies and evaluations that are not sufficiently robust to infer about causal impacts of employability activities on students’ development and labour market outcomes. Moreover, the corpus is skewed towards studies of Work-Related Learning. We set out avenues for future research and argue for a comprehensive evidence base encompassing diverse forms of employability activities, such as larger scale ‘embedded employability’ activities; a more contextual understanding of employability as an interplay between individual and a particular labour market and education system; and a more robust evidence base tracking students from education into the labour market, allowing for selection effects and identifying heterogeneity of impacts across different activities and demographics.

• Item Type: Articles
• Keywords: Employability, skills development, graduate outcomes, work-based learning, higher education institutions.
• Status: Early Online Publication
• Refereed: Yes
• Glasgow Author(s) Enlighten ID: Hermannsson, Professor Kristinn and Kelly, Dr Deirdre
• Authors: Scandurra, R., Kelly, D., Fusaro, S., Cefalo, R., and Hermannson, K.
• College/School: College of Social Sciences > School of Education > Educational Leadership & Policy
• Journal Name: Studies in Higher Education
• Publisher: Taylor & Francis
• ISSN: 0307-5079
• ISSN (Online): 1470-174X
• Published Online: 26 October 2023
• Copyright Holders: Copyright © 2023 The Authors
• First Published: First published in Studies in Higher Education 2023
• Publisher Policy: Reproduced under a Creative Commons License