Annotated Bibliography: Assessing Business Students' Work Readiness

This annotated bibliography examines the research question of whether business students are work-ready, drawing on multiple sources to assess the current state of graduate employability. Jackson (2013) investigates the reasons behind business graduates' unemployability, proposing integrated learning and internships to enhance non-technical skills, though acknowledges potential limitations in practical application. Tymon (2013) explores graduate employability in the UK context, highlighting differing perceptions among students and recommending work-based training and university-industry collaborations. Batistic and Tymon (2017) analyze networking's impact on employability from a social capital perspective, emphasizing its importance in job searching. Rothwell and Rothwell (2017) provide a critical overview of graduate employability, analyzing policy and suggesting improvements to higher education, while Burke et al. (2017) examine alternative theoretical perspectives on graduate employability in the UK, focusing on structural constructivism and critical realism. Jackson (2014) tests a model of employability skills, finding that gender, demographics, and employment experience influence skills. Jackson and Chapman (2012) identify non-technical skill gaps in Australian business graduates, emphasizing the need for curriculum adjustments. The bibliography provides a comprehensive overview of the key issues and research findings related to business student preparedness for the workforce.

ANNOTATED BIBLIOGRAPHY
Research Topic: Are business students work-ready?
Jackson, Denise. "Business graduate employability–where are we going
wrong?." Higher Education Research & Development 32, no. 5 (2013): 776-790.
The aim (or purpose) of the research was to find out the real issue behind the unemployability
of business graduates and thereby attempt to identify a model to develop the non-technical
skill set and knowledge base of the students through a phased-out and methodical approach.
The researcher, through secondary research by way of literature review in the given field, has
conceived the primary issue pertaining to the measurement of skill outcome and subsequent
transfer of students to the corporate arena. The research suggests that integrated learning and
internship should be incorporated within the course curriculum and course module in a more
detailed manner. However, the theoretical model may not be practically applicable as the
model may not be based on empirical research and study. Literature review in the graduate
employment horizon may not be a conclusive approach to establish the practical viability of
the model in a complex real-life scenario.
Tymon, Alex. "The student perspective on employability." Studies in higher
education 38, no. 6 (2013): 841-856.
The aim (or purpose) of the research was to examine the employability of graduate business
students in terms of knowledge and skill set in the UK context. Approximately more than 400
business students from one post-92 UK University have been asked several questions on
employability and the responses are summarised for subsequent analysis. The results show
that there are differences in the perception of the concept of employability among first,
second and third-year students. Such differences in the perception may primarily be
attributable to the fact of the knowledge gap, reality check, lack of engagement and practical
experience with the real world. The researcher, in the paper, presents certain recommendatory
measures for the Universities in the form of work-based training, practical approach in the
classroom teaching technique and strategic affiliation with corporate houses for internships in
a more comprehensive manner so as to enhance the scope for the graduates to increase their
employability. It may be observed that the research conducted is the primary research and
hence there remains the claim of originality in its findings and resultant analysis. However,
the respondents have been limited to one post-92 UK University and hence the sample may
not be perceived to be representative to the wider population of an entire graduate bunch of
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the country. Moreover, the research may be conceived to a country-specific and hence may
not be applicable in a global context.
Batistic, Saša, and Alex Tymon. "Networking behavior, graduate employability: a social
capital perspective." Education+ Training (2017).
The aim (or purpose) of the research was to examine various networking approaches and
employability propositions in the backdrop of social capital theory. The research focusses on
the identification of networking initiative to be a critical parameter for enhancing the
efficiency of the job-searching process, goal orientation and consequently the employability
among the graduates. For the purpose of the given research, 376 full-time students from
business studies have been chosen and the questionnaire forms have been filled up by them
through survey method. The research may be considered to be a primary research as the
fieldwork has been conducted with a focus on the originality of the responses. The findings
may be used both ways; firstly, the business students may consider the paper useful for
understanding the implications of networking in enhancing their employability. On the other
hand, the future researchers may focus on the networking propositions in the graduate
employment research field as the same may pave the way to be criticized with counter logic
and critical view point.
Rothwell, Andrew, and Frances Rothwell. "Graduate employability: A critical
oversight." In Graduate employability in context, pp. 41-63. Palgrave Macmillan,
London, 2017.
The aim (or purpose) of the research was to provide a critical oversight to the concept of
graduate employability in the backdrop of the conceptual framework of employability and
related governmental and human resource policy. The researcher has provided a brief
explanation of the main dimensions of graduate employability by performing a corresponding
literature review. In addition, the focus on employment in the public policy domain has also
been analyzed to point out the issue of graduate unemployment on account of non-existing
skill sets. Also, the higher education setup may need to be revamped to include the
considerations for Centres of Excellence in Teaching and Learning (CETLs). The article
additionally provides the concept of self-perceptions of employability (SPE) that may apply
to the graduates transiting from education to work model. In performing the research, the
researcher has undertaken a detailed review of a wide literature spectrum in the given
context. Since the work has been primarily based on secondary data and analysis, the
authenticity of the research results and analysis may be questioned on account of its failure to
provide any new angle to the concept of graduate employability.
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Burke, Ciaran, Tracy Scurry, John Blenkinsopp, and Katy Graley. "Critical
perspectives on graduate employability." In Graduate employability in context, pp. 87-
107. Palgrave Macmillan, London, 2017.
The aim (or purpose) of the research was to find out the alternative theoretical perspectives
for the purpose of conceptualizing graduate employability in the UK context. The
researchers, in this paper, have examined two researcher works of Pierre Bourdieu's structural
constructivist position and Margaret Archer's specific form of critical realism. These two
works have been critically analyzed in the context of their usefulness in graduate employment
research. Therefore, the given paper assumes its importance in a future study on the given
research field. Therefore, the paper applies the secondary research method where the other
research work and theoretical framework have been referred for analysis and subsequent
derivation. The research has been conducted in the UK context and hence the same may be
construed to one of the significant limitations of the given study. Since the majority of the
research work focussed on the UK Performance Indicators (UKPI) for Higher Education
(HE), the same may not be applied to a separate country’s educational framework and hence
the recommendatory measures for the upliftment of employability of graduates in the UK
context may not be considered to be feasible for other countries.
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