Employability at GCU: The Real WoRLD Project

What is employability?

The Scottish Funding Council (SFC) defines employability as:

“a set of achievements -skills, understandings and personal attributes- that make graduates more likely to gain employment and be successful in their chosen occupations, which benefit themselves, the workforce, the community and the economy”. (Scottish Funding Councils for Further and Higher Education, 2004, Learning to Work: Enhancing employability and enterprise in Scottish further and higher education, Edinburgh).

A more recent definition was provided by the Confederation of British Industry (CBI)

“ A modern, competitive economy needs workers who possess skills, knowledge and attitudes they can take to any work situation and have the ability and willingness to continuallyadapt and prosper in a changing world.”

(CBI, Future Fit: Preparing Graduates for the World of Work, 2009)

Employability addresses the capacity for employment rather than employment per se.

Higher Education Academy student employability profiles

(view What is work-related learning? page)

Real WoRLD Project email: realworld@gcal.ac.uk

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