Employability Learning and Teaching Research: A Twenty Year Structured Narrative Review

Authors

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.53761/g8mryt07

Abstract

Employability is a set of key personal attributes and transferable and discipline-specific skills considered essential for effective workplace performance; however, there are numerous perspectives about employability and how to develop it in higher education. Definitions and measurements of employability are influenced by factors such as government policy, requirements of employers, discipline norms and structural barriers. In the context of the Special Issue: 20-year JUTLP Review, this structured narrative review aimed to explore and understand employability to inform higher education learning and teaching practice. Forty-six articles published in the Journal of University Teaching & Learning Practice were included, set in the context of 45 review articles on employability sourced from Scopus and ERIC databases and other selected literature. Several definitions of employability drew on existing employability frameworks and researchers’ evolving conceptions of employability within their disciplinary contexts. We propose a composite definition of employability based on the findings from this review: Employability is lifelong, evolving and complex, requiring adaptability and capabilities including knowledge, skills and attributes to obtain sustainable employment and resolve work ambiguities in challenging globalised, sociocultural and economic contexts. Higher education teaching practices, curriculum and assessment develop employability by developing discipline-specific alongside transferable knowledge, skills, attitudes, literacies, competencies, capacities and capabilities relevant to potential workplaces and aligned with employability attributes. Student-centred experiential learning models such as work-integrated learning, internships, industry experience, problem-based learning and reflection promote employability. Higher education also should promote career development competencies to enable students to showcase their skills, experiences, and attributes to employers through e-portfolios.  

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Author Biographies

  • Dr Derek Choi-Lundberg, University of Tasmania, Australia

    Dr Choi-Lundberg is a senior lecturer in the School of Medicing, and teaches anatomy in the first three years of the medicine course. His current research areas include health and medical education, anatomical sciences education, technology-enhanced learning, learning climate and student experience.

  • Ms Tracy Douglas, University of Tasmania, Australia

    I am a senior lecturer in Human Biology responsible for teaching first year students across a range of courses in cell biology, anatomy and physiology. My research interests are mainly student-focussed and include the first year experience, online learning, experiential learning, health literacy, student engagement, student retention and student mentoring.

  • Dr Marie-Louise Bird, University of Tasmania, Australia

    Dr Bird is an associate professor at the University of Tasmania with affiliations to the University of British Columbia. She has a significant teaching role in the interprofessional units in the allied health expansion, and this includes development of students to meet professional threshold standards. Her research focus includes implementation of evidence into practice and she approaches her work with a health literacy lens.

  • Dr Bianca Coleman, University of Tasmania, Australia

    Dr Bianca Coleman is a lecturer in Humanities and Social Sciences Education in the School of Education at the University of Tasmania. Bianca's research focuses on improving how teacher education is taught in universities. Bianca researches in the field of scholarship of learning and teaching (SOTL) and has a special interest in supporting student equity groups within teacher education, particularly in the areas of student participation, engagement, and retention.

  • Dr Melanie Greenwood, University of Tasmania, Australia

    I am an Associate Professor in the School of Nursing at the University of Tasmania. I am responsible for postgraduate nursing course development and research into nurses' detection and response to physiological deterioration in people in their care. I research and publish practice standards in specialty areas of nursing.

  • Dr Romany Martin, University of Tasmania, Australia

    Dr Romany Martin is a Lecturer in Physiotherapy at The University of Tasmania, which is a role she has undertaken since 2021. Prior to this, she worked in acute hospital settings across Southeast Queensland. Romany earned her PhD in teaching and learning from The University of Queensland, titled ‘Preparing and supporting new-graduate physiotherapists for rural practice’. Her research focuses on preparing students and new graduates for the reality of practice in physiotherapy and more broadly across Allied Health. 

  • Dr Sarah Prior, University of Tasmania, Australia

    Dr Sarah Prior is the Director of Healthcare Redesign within the Tasmanian School of Medicine where she coordinates the post-graduate, workplace integrated healthcare redesign courses. Sarah’s research interests include health service improvement, with a focus on patient and family involvement and co-design and rural health service delivery.

  • Dr Farida Saghafi, University of Tasmania, Australia

    I am a senior lecturer in Nursing and Associate Head of School in Learning and Teaching Postgraduate Courses. With an extensive background in critical care nursing and education, I have dedicated my career to advancing capability of new nurses. I believe in fostering stimulating learning environment and building gap between tertiary education and industry. My research interests are mainly related to nursing workforce and include graduate capabilities and transition to practice.

  • Dr Erin Roehrer, University of Tasmania, Australia

    Dr Roehrer is a senior lecturer with the School of ICT at the University of Tasmania and has held multiple learning and teaching leadership positions, most recently as Associate Head Learning and Teaching Performance, International School. Dr Roehrer has experience in working with international and domestic cohorts, with a focus on the international student experience and students involved in TNE programs. Dr Roehrer is a qualitative researcher who is focused on projects that explore information seeking behaviour and the role of technology in supporting authentic learning and transformative information systems.

  • Dr Suzie Waddingham, University of Tasmania, Australia

    Dr Suzie Waddingham is a lecturer in Health Improvement (School of Medicine). She teaches translational research and a research/evaluation capstone unit. Suzie has 21 years of experience as a dietitian in various areas, mainly in community and public health nutrition. Suzie taught into the Bachelor of Nutrition Science for three years before moving to the Menzies Institute of Medical Research to complete a research fellowship in the area of tobacco, she has continued this research in her current academic role with a focus on prevention and cessation of smoking products among youth.

  • Dr Carolyn Wolsey, University of Tasmania, Australia

    I currently serve as the Academic Year Lead and Senior Lecturer in the School of Nursing at the University of Tasmania, located in Hobart, Australia. With extensive experience in Adult and Pediatric Emergency Medicine, I have been working in the field of nursing education for the last 12 years. My research interests lie in health professional education, nursing education, professional development of academic education, and educational research related to health literacy.

  • Dr Jo-Anne Kelder, University of Tasmania, Australia

    Dr Jo-Anne Kelder is Adjunct Senior Researcher, University of Tasmania and Principal, Jo-Anne Kelder Consulting. Her expertise lies in quality assurance of curriculum and student experience and her passion is developing staff capability in curriculum evaluation and scholarship. She is editor for Advancing Scholarship and Research in Higher Education and Senior Editor (Special Issues) for the Journal of University Teaching and Learning Practice.

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Published

2024-04-15

Issue

Vol. 21 No. 05 (2024): Twenty Years of Learning and Teaching Practice

Section

Special Issues

License

Copyright (c) 2024 Dr Derek Choi-Lundberg, Ms Tracy Douglas, Dr Marie-Louise Bird, Dr Bianca Coleman, Dr Melanie Greenwood, Dr Romany Martin, Dr Sarah Prior, Dr Farida Saghafi, Dr Erin Roehrer, Dr Suzie Waddingham, Dr Carolyn Wolsey, Dr Jo-Anne Kelder

Creative Commons License

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.

How to Cite

Employability Learning and Teaching Research: A Twenty Year Structured Narrative Review. (2024). Journal of University Teaching and Learning Practice, 21(05). https://doi.org/10.53761/g8mryt07