Construction and operationalisation of an Employability Capital Growth Model (ECGM) via a systematic literature review (2016–2022)

Figures & data

Figure 1. shows the PRISMA flow diagram, which we adopted to evidence our systematic review and identification of the sub-corpus from Web of Science of n = 69 manuscripts (based on the structure offered by Page et al. 2021).

Figure 2. shows the PRISMA flow diagram, which we adopted to evidence our systematic review and identification of the sub-corpus from Scopus of n = 58 manuscripts (based on the structure offered by Page et al. 2021).

Figure 3. Summary of the nine forms of Employability Capital. © 2023 Authors. Used with permission.

Figure 4. Employability Capital Growth Model (ECGM) © 2023 Authors. Used with permission.

Table 1. Development of the Employability Capital Growth Model.

ID	Theme	Definition
1	Social Capital	The resources an individual gains via establishing and nurturing relationships through networks with various other individuals and groups, leading to enhanced self-perceived employability via an understanding of values, norms, and practices.
2	Cultural Capital	The influence of the situations experienced by an individual leading to the accumulation of culturally valued knowledge to determine one’s self-perceived employability and functionality within the labour market.
3	Psychological Capital	The characteristics of an individual that determine ‘who you are’, building on social cognitive theory and positive psychology, to offer a personal resource for enhancing self-perceived employability and navigating volatile and global labour market environments.
4	Personal Identity Capital	How prospective employers and others judge an individual based on their background and the associated signals they present. Personal identity capital can enhance or detract from other forms of capital, but an individual’s agency is restricted by external systems.
5	Health Capital	An accumulation (or lack) of resources related to the mental and physical state of an individual, including health dimensions within and outside of their control that impact their self-perceived employability and ability to perform a job.
6	Scholastic Capital	The resources from pre-university education, university education, and additional professional qualifications that cumulatively determine self-perceived employability.
7	Market-Value Capital	The cumulative resources from experiences gained from the labour market combined with technical and personal skills that determine self-perceived employability.
8	Career Identity Capital	The cumulative resources from engaging in reflective practices, seeking career counselling, and adopting personal agency to increase one’s ability to signal their self-perceived employability to prospective employers.
9	Economic Capital	An individual's access (or lack of) to material resources and the associated money that can be generated directly or indirectly from these resources to enhance one’s self-perceived employability.
10	External Factors	Dimensions beyond the individual’s own agency that play a role in determining self-perceived employability and employment outcomes by acknowledging the notion of contingent employability.
11	Personal Outcomes	The benefits an individual experiences from enhancing their employability capital as an accumulation of nine forms of capital.

Table 2. Operationalisation of the Employability Capital Growth Model.

ID	Theme	Definition	Codes
1	Students and Graduates	Individuals either preparing to undertake or having recently undertaken the university-to-work transition.	(i) subject choice at secondary school, (ii) career ownership (protean career orientation), (iii) engage with employability throughout university study, (iv) access self-assessment activities, (v) gain work experience, (vi) develop a network of contacts, and (vii) build narratives to signal employability.
2	Educators	People who deliver content to students via a collection of tutoring sessions and modules that cumulatively form a university degree.	(i) embed employability and entrepreneurship in the curriculum, (ii) promote experiential learning (including self-reflection), (iii) provide exposure to lecturers and students from different countries, (iv) facilitate guest lectures from alums and industry, and (v) source work experience opportunities.
3	Careers and Employability Professionals	An accumulation of people who provide career-related support to students and graduates – acknowledging that careers and employability professional roles are much broader than individuals within university career services (Healy, Brown and Ho 2022).	(i) foster partnerships with industry, lecturers, and alums, (ii) encourage networking behaviours and mentoring, (iii) promote and source internships and placements, (iv) encourage career management, ownership, and engagement, (v) offer tailored and targeted support to students, and (vi) promote extracurricular activities.
4	Employers	The people and organisations that employ students and graduates.	(i) communicate the value of work experience, (ii) offer internships and placements, (iii) shape higher education and develop alternative ways to upskill students, (iv) state the needs of the labour market and rules of the game, and (v) composition of hiring committees and equitable processes.

Page, M. J., D. Moher, P. M. Bossuyt, I. Boutron, T. C. Hoffmann, C. D. Mulrow, L. Shamseer, et al. 2021. “PRISMA 2020 Explanation and Elaboration: Updated Guidance and Exemplars for Reporting Systematic Reviews.” British Medical Journal 372 (1): 71. doi:10.1136/bmj.n71.

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Healy, M., J. L. Brown, and C. Ho. 2022a. “Graduate Employability as a Professional Proto-Jurisdiction in Higher Education.” Higher Education 83: 1125–1142. doi:10.1007/s10734-021-00733-4.

 Web of Science ®Google Scholar