Skip to main content

Constructing Careers: Self-awareness, Self-reflection, and Self-efficacy Amongst Undergraduate Business Students

  • Chapter
  • First Online:
Employability via Higher Education: Sustainability as Scholarship

Abstract

One of the many challenges facing business schools is ensuring that the graduates they produce can work across boundaries, in terms of geographical, subject and functional. This requires graduates to have the skills-mix required to operate in, and respond to, the work place dynamics which exist in a complex world. Over the last two years, Lincoln International Business School (LIBS) has been undergone a radical change in its approach to embedding careers and employability into the undergraduate curriculum. Instead of focusing attention on the skills and competences required to get a job (primarily delivered through extracurricular activities organised by the careers and employability service), it has been repositioned as central to the undergraduate curriculum. It now encompasses the skills and behaviours required to have a fulfilling job once in employment, as well as preparing graduates for profession hopping, and boundaryless working environments as industry moves to more geographically dispersed teams and working practices.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this chapter

Chapter
USD 29.95
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
eBook
USD 129.00
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as EPUB and PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
Softcover Book
USD 169.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Compact, lightweight edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info
Hardcover Book
USD 169.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Durable hardcover edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info

Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout

Purchases are for personal use only

Institutional subscriptions

References

  • AACSB. (2018). Academic unit accreditation [Online]. Available at: https://www.aacsb/accreditation/resources/journey/business/academic-unit. Accessed October 26, 2018.

  • Archer, W., & Davison, J. (2008). Graduate employability: What do employers think and want?. London: CBI.

    Google Scholar 

  • Artess, J., Mellors-Bourne, R., & Hooley, T. (2017). Employability: A review of the literature 2012–2016. York: Higher Education Academy.

    Google Scholar 

  • Avramenko, A. (2012). Enhancing students’ employability through business simulation. Education + Training, 54(5), 355–367.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Ball, C. (2018). HECSU salary report [presentation to University of Lincoln]. Interview, March 26, 2018.

    Google Scholar 

  • Bhabha, H., & Rutherford, J. (1990). Interview with Homi Bhabha: The third space. In Identity: Community, Culture, Difference, pp. 207–221.

    Google Scholar 

  • Bonekamp, L., & Sure, M. (2015). Consequences of industry 4.0 on human labour and work organisation. Journal of Business and Media Psychology, 6(1), 33–40.

    Google Scholar 

  • CBI & Pearson. (2016). The right combination: Education and skills survey. London: CBI and Pearson.

    Google Scholar 

  • Clark, K., Selwood, A., & Muir, M. (2011). Mapping employability tool kit [Online]. Available at: https://www.heacademy.ac.uk/system/files/uwstoolkit.pdf. Accessed October 27, 2018.

  • Coulson, D., & Harvey, M. (2013). Scaffolfing student reflection for experience-based learning: A framework. Teaching in Higher Education, 18(4), 401–413.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Daniels, J., & Brooker, J. (2014). Student identity development in higher education: Implications for graduate attributes and work-readiness. Educational Research, 56(1), 65–76.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Dearing, R. (1997). Higher education in the learning society, report of the national committee of inquiry into higher education. Norwich: HMSO.

    Google Scholar 

  • DeFillippi, R. J., & Arthur, M. B. (1994). The boundaryless career: A competency based perspective. Journal of Organizational Behavior, 15(4), 307–324.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Donovan, P. (2017). A threshold concept in managing: What students in introductory management courses must know. Journal of Management Education, 41(6), 835–851.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Figueiredo, H., Biscaia, R., Rocha, V., & Teixeira, P. (2017). Should we start worrying? Mass higher education, skill demand and the increasingly complex landscape of young graduates’ employment. Studies in Higher Education, 42(8), 1401–1420.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Glover, D., Law, S., & Youngman, A. (2002). Graduateness and employability: student perceptions of the personal outcomes of university education. Research in Post Compulsory Education, 7(3), 293–306.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Guardian. (2018). Methodology behind the Guardian University guide 2019 [Online]. Available at: https://www.theguardian.com/education/2016/may/23/methodology-behind-the-guardian-university-guide-2017. Accessed May 25, 2018.

  • IES. (2018). Institute for employment studies [Online]. Available at: https://www.employment-studies.co.uk/what-we-know/higher-education-and-graduates. Accessed October 1, 2018.

  • Jackson, D. (2013a). Business graduate employability—where are we going wrong. Higher Education Research and Development, 32(5), 776–790.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Jackson, D. (2013b). Re-conceptualising graduate employability: the importance of pre-professional identity. Higher Education Research and Development, 35(5), 925–939.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Jackson, D., Firkto, A., & Edenboroug, M. (2007). Personal resilience as a strategy for surviving and thriving in the face of workplace adversity: A literature review [review paper]. Journal of Advanced Nursing, 60(1), 1–9.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Kensington-Miller, B., Knewstubb, B., Longley, A., & Gilbert, A. (2018). From invisible to SEEN: A conceptual framework for identifying, developing and evidencing unassessed graduate attributes. Higher Education Research and Development, 37(7), 1439–1453.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Klein, E. J., Taylor, M., Storm, K., & Abrams, L. (2013). Finding a third space in teacher education: Creating an urban teacher residency. Teaching Education, 24(1), 27–57.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Knight, P. J., & Yorke, M. (2002). Employability through the curriculum. Tertiary Education and Management, 8(4), 261–276.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Knight, P., & Yorke, M. (2004). Learning, curriculum and employability in higher education. London: Routledge Falmer.

    Google Scholar 

  • Kolmos, A., Hadgraft, R. G., & Holgaard, J. E. (2016). Response strategies for curriculum change in engineering. International Journal of Technology and Design Education, 26, 391–411.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Lock, D. A. (2017). Identity construction amongst knowledge transfer staff in English HEIs (Ph.D. thesis). London: UCL.

    Google Scholar 

  • Lock, D. A. (2018). Education Strategy, 2016–21. Lincoln, UK: Lincoln International Business School.

    Google Scholar 

  • Lorenz, M., et al. (2015). Man and machine in industry 4.0, Boston, USA: The Boston Consulting Group.

    Google Scholar 

  • Magnell, M., & Kolmos, A. (2017). Employability and work-related learning activities in higher education: How strategies differ across different academic environments. Tertiiary Education and Management, 23(2), 103–114.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • McKie, A. (2018). UK universities ‘bleeding their business schools dry’ [Online] Available at: https://www.timeshighereducation/news/uk-universities-bleeding-their-business-schools-dry.

  • McMurray, S., Dutton, M., McQuaid, R. W., & Richard, A. (2016). Employer demands from business graduates. Education + Training, 58(1), 112–132.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Nixon, E., Scullion, R., & Hearn, R. (2018). Her majesty the student: Marketised higher education and the narcissistic (dis)satisfactions of the student-consumer. Studies in Higher Education, 46(3), 927–943.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Ortenblad, A., Koris, R., Farquarson, M., & Hsu, S. (2013). Business school output: A conceptualisation of business school graduates. The International Journal of Management Education, 11, 85–92.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Osmani, M., et al. (2015). Identifying the trends and impact of graduate attributes on employability: A literature review. Tertiary Education and Management, 21(4), 367–379.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Pool, L. D., & Sewell, P. (2007). The key to employability: Challenges to the higher education curriculum. Education + Training, 49(4), 277–280.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Posner, P. L. (2009). The pracademic: An agenda for re-engating practitioners and academics. Public Budgeting & Finance, 29(1), 12–26.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • PWC. (2014). Industry 4.0—Opportunities and challenges of the industrial Internet [Online]. Available at: https://www.pwc.nl/en/assets/documents/pwc-industrie-4-0.pdf. Accessed November 1, 2018.

  • Rae, D. (2007). Connecting enterprise and graduate employability: Challenges to the higher education culture and curriculum? Education + Training, 49(8/9), 605–619.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Rich, J. (2015). Employability: Degrees of value (occasional paper 10). London: HEPI.

    Google Scholar 

  • Rothwell, A., & Arnold, J. (2007). Self-percieved employability: Development and validation of a scale. Personnel Review, 36(1), 23–41.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Scaratti, G., & Ivaldi, S. (2015). Manager on the ground. BPA—Applied Psychology Bulletin (Bollettino di Psicologia Applicata), 63(272).

    Google Scholar 

  • Seibert, S. E., Kraimer, M. L., & Heslin, P. A. (2016). Developing career resilience and adaptability. Organizational Dynamics, 45, 245–257.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Speight, S., Lackovic, N., & Cooker, L. (2013). The contested curriculum: Academic learning and employability in higher education. Tertiary Education and Management, 19(2), 112–126.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Thomas, H. (2017). Rethinking and re-evaluating the purpose of the business school. Rethinking business education: Fit for the future (pp. 8–9). London: Chartered Association of Business Schools.

    Google Scholar 

  • Tomlinson, M., & Holmes, L. (Eds.). (2017). Graduate employability in context: Theory, research and debate. London: Palgrave MacMillan.

    Google Scholar 

  • Tymon, A. (2013). The student perspective on employability. Studies in Higher Education, 38(6), 841–856.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Tymon, A., & Mackay, M. (2016). Developing business buccaneers: Employer expectations of emergent leaders. Human Resource Development International, 19(5), 429–446.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • University of Lincoln. (2016). Thinking ahead: 2016–2021. Strategic Plan, Lincoln: University of Lincoln.

    Google Scholar 

  • Volmer, J., & Spurk, D. (2011). Protean and boundaryless career attitudes: Relationships with subjective and objective career success. Journal for Labour Market Research, 43(3), 207–218.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Wharton, C. Y., & Horrocks, J. (2015). Students’ perceptions of employability within their degree programme: Highlighting the disparity between what academics believe is included and the student experience. Glasgow, UK, Enhancement and Innovation in Higher Education, June 9–11, 2015.

    Google Scholar 

  • Whitchurch, C. (2008). Shifting identities and blurring boundaries: The emergence of third space professionals in UK Higher Education. Higher Education Quarterly, 62(4), 377–396.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • William, D., Baruch, Y., & Ashleigh, M. (2017). Boundaryless and protean career orientation: A multitude of pathways to graduate employability. In M. Tomlinson & L. Holmes (Eds.), Graduate employability in context: Theory, research and debate (pp. 129–150). London: Palgrave MacMillan.

    Google Scholar 

  • Winstead, A. S., Adams, B. L., & Sillah, M. R. (2011). Teaching the ‘soft skills’: A professional development curriculum to enhance the employability skills of business graduates. American Journal of Business Education, 2(5), 35–44.

    Google Scholar 

  • World Economic Forum. (2018). Mapping global transformations: Workforce and employment [Online]. Available at: https://toplink.weforum.org. Accessed June 10, 2018.

  • Xing, B., & Marwala, T. (2017). Implications of the fourth industrial age on higher education [Online]. Available at: https://arxiv.org/pdf/1703.09643.pdf. Accessed October 29, 2018.

  • Yorke, M. (2004). Employability in higher education: What it is—what it is not. York: Generic Centre, Learning and Teaching Support Network.

    Google Scholar 

  • Yorke, M., & Knight, P. (2006). Embedding employability into the curriculum. In Learning and employability series (Vol. 1). York: Higher Education Academy.

    Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

Authors

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Deborah A. Lock .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

Copyright information

© 2019 Springer Nature Switzerland AG

About this chapter

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this chapter

Lock, D.A. (2019). Constructing Careers: Self-awareness, Self-reflection, and Self-efficacy Amongst Undergraduate Business Students. In: Diver, A. (eds) Employability via Higher Education: Sustainability as Scholarship. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-26342-3_24

Download citation

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-26342-3_24

  • Published:

  • Publisher Name: Springer, Cham

  • Print ISBN: 978-3-030-26341-6

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-030-26342-3

  • eBook Packages: EducationEducation (R0)

Publish with us

Policies and ethics