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The employability agenda and beyond: what are universities for?

Professor Steve Olivier
Vice-Principal and Deputy Vice-Chancellor (academic), University of Abertay
Stimulus paper, July 2014

The employability agenda and beyond

Summary
In this paper, presented as a provocation for university leaders, the author draws on established concepts, and presents actual practice in higher education, relating this to political and quasi-economic matters. Ultimately, the paper is designed to provoke university leaders to question conventional wisdom, accepted practice and politico/social direction. It starts rather factually, describing the landscape of employability in higher education, and then introduces some political considerations. Conceptual points on graduate attributes follow, before delving into matters more contested, such as the purpose of universities, with the author’s thoughts presented in the context of the preceding points on employability.

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