Mapping graduate employability and career development in higher education research

Tuesday, 04 May 2021, CGHE webinar
Michael Healy, University of Southern Queensland

Scholars in two fields of research, higher education and career development, have studied the characteristics and conditions that promote or constrain graduates’ career success. However, they have exchanged little theoretical or practical knowledge between them, despite their common interest in how students achieve positive career and employment outcomes. This presentation illustrates these parallel research agendas with visualisations of direct citation networks among graduate employability and career development research. Michael will describe the disciplinary landscapes that the citation networks reveal, identify themes within both fields of research, and identify areas in which some exchange is beginning to happen. This presentation will conclude with an argument that purposeful exchange between the two fields will enrich both, informing an evidence-based, integrative pedagogy of careers and employability learning in higher education.