Towards a framework for the promotion of business management graduate employability: an extended CareerEDGE model

ABSTRACT

This paper builds on the dominant employability model by Dacre Pool and Sewell – CareerEDGE model by developing an extended CareerEDGE model for embedding, evaluating and monitoring employability skills relevant to undergraduate students. Drawing on the current literature on employability, the ‘Extended CareerEDGE Model’ is developed by formulating a measurement framework. Elements of the extended model and framework are discussed and their inclusion is justified on the basis of existing research. The model extends the CareerEDGE model by facilitating the inclusion of entrepreneurship knowledge and skills as student entrepreneurial orientation to engender the requisite entrepreneurial mindset to address the need for intrapreneurial and entrepreneurial skills required to operate in the business environment. The study validates the Extended CareerEDGE Model of graduate employability with responses from 947 students engaged in a core employability-embedded business school undergraduate programme. The study confirms a positive relationship between student entrepreneurial orientation with employability reflection and evaluation. Also, the results confirm a positive relationship between Students’ Achievement Orientation with Career Development Learning. A similar positive relationship was established between Students’ Achievement Orientation and Degree Subject Knowledge as well as the acquisition of Generic Skills. Additionally, student Learning Orientation positively influences Career Development Learning, Degree Subject Knowledge and Generic Skills acquisition. The extended CareerEDGE model succinctly informs the planning of programmes and structured interventions on employability essentials for students, administrators and academics.

KEYWORDS:

• Graduate employability
• CareerEDGE model
• entrepreneurial orientation
• higher education
• structural equation modelling

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).