Subject choice motivation and students’ conceptions of employability: thin and thick

IF 2.2 3区教育学 Q1 EDUCATION & EDUCATIONAL RESEARCH

British Journal of Sociology of Education Pub Date : 2023-05-19 DOI:10.1080/01425692.2023.2203364

M. Souto-Otero, Jesús García-Álvarez, Miguel A Santos Rego

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引用次数: 0

Abstract

Abstract This study aims to fill a gap in our understanding of the relationship between two major topics in educational research: higher education choices and students’ conceptions of employability. It explores, first, the balance between vocational calling, instrumental considerations and chance in subject choice and, second, the relation between vocational calling and two alternative conceptions of employability (thin and thick) articulated in the article. Using survey data from ‘Education’ students in Spain, the results show an association between a strong vocational calling in subject choice and a ‘thick’ conception of employability that goes beyond credential performance and underlines the importance of an economy of experience. By contrast, students with lower vocational calling adopt a narrower (‘thin’) conception of employability, based on credential performance. The consequences of these results for theory and for practice are discussed, highlighting the need to better acknowledge the role of interests, and not only skills, in the employability agenda.

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学科选择动机与学生就业能力观：薄与厚

摘要本研究旨在填补我们对教育研究中两个主要主题之间关系的理解空白：高等教育选择和学生的就业能力概念。它首先探讨了职业召唤、工具性考虑和主体选择中的机会之间的平衡，其次探讨了职业呼唤与文章中阐述的两种可供选择的就业能力概念（薄和厚）之间的关系。使用来自西班牙“教育”学生的调查数据，结果显示，在科目选择上强烈的职业号召与“厚重”的就业能力概念之间存在关联，这种概念超越了证书表现，强调了经验经济的重要性。相比之下，职业要求较低的学生对就业能力的概念更为狭隘，基于证书表现。讨论了这些结果对理论和实践的影响，强调了更好地认识兴趣而不仅仅是技能在就业议程中的作用的必要性。

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来源期刊

British Journal of Sociology of Education Multiple-

CiteScore

3.70

自引率

9.50%

发文量

期刊介绍： British Journal of Sociology of Education is one of the most renowned international scholarly journals in the field. The journal publishes high quality original, theoretically informed analyses of the relationship between education and society, and has an outstanding record of addressing major global debates about the social significance and impact of educational policy, provision, processes and practice in many countries around the world. The journal engages with a diverse range of contemporary and emergent social theories along with a wide range of methodological approaches. Articles investigate the discursive politics of education, social stratification and mobility, the social dimensions of all aspects of pedagogy and the curriculum, and the experiences of all those involved, from the most privileged to the most disadvantaged. The vitality of the journal is sustained by its commitment to offer independent, critical evaluations of the ways in which education interfaces with local, national, regional and global developments, contexts and agendas in all phases of formal and informal education. Contributions are expected to take into account the wide international readership of British Journal of Sociology of Education, and exhibit knowledge of previously published articles in the field. Submissions should be well located within sociological theory, and should not only be rigorous and reflexive methodologically, but also offer original insights to educational problems and or perspectives.