Accepting employability as a purpose of higher education? Academics' perceptions and practices

Dados Bibliográficos

ID4098077
AutoresCristina Sin (0000-0001-6039-8194, CIPES – Centre for Research in Higher Education Policies, Matosinhos, Portugal, autor correspondente), Orlanda Tavares (0000-0002-8750-2032, CIPES – Centre for Research in Higher Education Policies, Matosinhos, Portugal), Adela Amaral (0000-0003-4263-3765, CIPES – Centre for Research in Higher Education Policies, Matosinhos, Portugal)
Ano2019
Volume44
Fascículo6
Páginas920-931
Data de publicação2019-06-03
Peer ReviewedSim
Open AccessNão
TipoARTICLE
PeriódicoStudies in Higher Education (JOURNAL)
Identificadores do periódicoISSN: 0307-5079 • E-ISSN: 1470-174X
EditoraInforma UK Limited (PUBLISHER • GB)
DOI10.1080/03075079.2017.1402174
OpenAlexW2769294114
IdiomaEN
Citações recebidas27
Referências citadas38

This study explores Portuguese academics’ acceptance of employability as a purpose for higher education further to the Bologna reforms, focusing on their understandings of employability and their teaching practices. The data were gathered through focus groups in which participated around 70 academics from 3 disciplinary areas, belonging to different institutional types. Findings suggest that there are different degrees of acceptance of employability as a purpose for higher education, varying by discipline and type of institution. Irrespective of the differences in perceptions of employability, all academics engage in teaching practices associated to the development of employability, although with different ends in mind. While Computer Engineering and Management academics aim to train professionals fitting into specific employment, for Arts academics such teaching methods aim to introduce students to artistic practice. These findings warn against equating employability with crude indicators of employment and using it as a performance indicator

Curriculum · Discipline · Employability · Higher education · Institution · Medical education · Pedagogy · Perception · Political science · Social science · Sociology · Higher Education and Employability · Higher Education Governance and Development · Higher Education Practises and Engagement · Psychology