Gatekeepers of a profession? Employability as capital in the recruitment of medical interns

Abstract

The present article concerns employability in physicians’ professional practice. Drawing on interview data from recruiters at 21 Swedish hospitals with the most applicants for a medical internship, the article seeks to develop a theory of what constitutes an ‘employable medical intern’. Using Pierre Bourdieu’s concept of capital, two forms of capital were constructed using interview data, orientation toward performance and orientation toward human relations. Orientation toward performance concerns the applicants’ drive and ambition, while orientation toward human relations concerns the applicants’ social competence, primarily as co-workers. The study suggests that the most highly employable applicants successfully prove that they possess both forms of capital. These forms of capital are thought to involve sorting mechanisms in the process of recruitment as recruiters infer the desired attributes of applicants from a written application and a job interview. The concept of employability, as well as implications for professional socialisation, is examined and discussed in light of the findings.

Keywords:

• employability
• recruitment
• education–work relationship
• medical education
• Pierre Bourdieu