Developing a more coherent and robust perspective for employability research perspective: A Critical Realist perspective

Over the last couple of decades the area of student employability has led to a plethora of research papers, funded projects and policy documents involving university academics, Government bodies, professional body organisations and careers organisations. Since the mid- 2000s the notion of student employability took on a new dimension with the introduction of the Destination of Leavers of Higher Education (DLHE) survey and the resulting metrics being incorporated into Higher Education Institutions’ set of key performance indicators. This has led to an increasing number of Institutions developing employability strategies and putting in place (and resourcing) structures to deliver the strategic objective of improving their performance in the DLHE survey.