How intentional are the employability strategies of higher education institutions?

Abstract

An employability strategy communicates the commitment of higher education institutions (HEIs) towards students’ future, signals effectiveness and efficiency in resource allocation, and positions HEIs against competing institutions. However, not all HEIs display the same awareness when it comes to the design of a coherent bundle of actions in support of their graduates’ employability. This paper focuses on the formation of employment strategies to test the contrasting hypotheses of planned strategy, that frames strategy as an explicit and purposeful plan fully designed before deployment, and emergent strategy, where the adopted plan gradually unfolds from the interaction among different players and circumstances. Four case studies of Italian and Portuguese HEIs reveal emergent employability strategies that surpass the limitations set by modest intended employability targets. However, lack of guidance from an explicit action plan and limited resources may question the long-term viability of the emerging approaches.