Reconsidering Graduate Employability: Educational Pathways for Transitions to Work

Constant economic, health, social and political challenges are transforming the labour market in new and unknown directions. Job profiles are evolving and new professions are continuously being born. What is the educational system’s answer to this evolving scenario? What role can positive HE-to-work transition processes play in dealing with unemployment, overeducation, mismatching, NEETs and so on? REMPLOY will provide new knowledge on graduate employability. Co-built with all the agents involved, it offers the HE system concrete answers in the current turbulent scenario. The research proposal reformulates employability as a complex pedagogical construct, going beyond the interpretations based on socio-economic measurements and individual adaptation. By framing the construct of employability within a broader discourse to rethink policies and practices of learning in HE, and involving a lot of actors in a collaborative method, casting light on their experiences and outlooks and investigating the contextual conditions supporting transitions from HE to work, it is theoretically and methodologically groundbreaking. REMPLOY redefines graduates’ employability within a systemic, critical and pedagogical framework, while listening to students’ voices as well as other stakeholders to identify the competencies that facilitate a positive, if not linear, transition. In addition, REMPLOY defines the actions, tools and services that can support the students in this process. The research focuses on 5 MA courses in the education area, preparing professionals for work in the vast professional area of human development. Representative in terms of numbers and geographical distribution, they form a sample for this research. These professional profiles are not only always evolving within an uncertain context, they are also paradigmatic of many other paths in HE providing training in professions without a clear profile and not organized in professional orders. Through a multiple case study methodology using mixed-method and collaborative research strategies, REMPLOY will offer not only theoretical contributions but good practices and useful tools for HE course design. For most of the project, the research units will follow the same path; at the end, each unit will offer a specific contribution, through a more in-depth exploration of a particular topic: networking and co-design strategies with stakeholders (Florence); accessibility of training opportunities and services to support positive transitions (Naples); and systemic tools to bring out students’ voices and reflexivity (Milan). REMPLOY will positively impact the micro level (involving agents’ outlooks at the local scale), meso level (providing tools and guidelines for faculty development, work-related learning and services) and macro level (suggestions for work-related policies in HE), while underlining the valuable contribution of a pedagogical perspective in the resolution of complex socio-economic problems.