The Emphasis on Employability and the Changing Role of the University in Europe

Abstract

This article argues that in today's knowledge societies, European universities are called upon to make students more employable, by cultivating their skills and by encouraging them to lifelong learning for enhancing their flexibility in the labour market. Employability is emphatically stressed and, to a certain extent, is associated with equity concerns. However, the special emphasis on employability is strongly associated with the emergence of the ‘market‐driven’ or ‘pragmatic’ university, as pressures increase for the university to abandon the Humboldtian ideals of its autonomy.

Acknowledgement

The author would like to thank Maria Karamessini for her valuable comments on earlier drafts of this text, during their co‐operation in presenting a common paper under the title “Higher Education and Work: Graduates' Employment and Educational Policy” (in Greek) at the international conference on “Social Policy in a Changing Environment: Challenges and Prospects”, organised by the Department of Social Policy of the Panteion University, Athens, 25–26 May 2006.