Career readiness: Developing graduate employability capitals in aspiring media workers.

Abstract

Teaching students aspiring to media work presents the educator with a fundamental dilemma. On the one hand, students require the knowledge and skills necessary to find and sustain employment within existing industry practices, systems and structures. On the other hand, students need to be prepared for the uncertain and shifting nature of media work, and highly problematic aspects of some of those selfsame practices, systems and structures. How do you ensure the former, without condoning or under-playing the latter? An overly theoretical and critical education risks producing graduates unprepared for the practicalities of media employment. An overly instrumental education risks graduates lacking the necessary responsiveness and resilience required to drive a media career over time, or the ability to recognize, to navigate, or to challenge systemic problems within these industries. This article approaches the dilemma from a UK perspective, through a consideration of the notion of employability, interpreted as career readiness. It advocates five inter-related forms of graduate capital: human capital; social capital; cultural capital; psychological capital; and identity capital. The article argues that their application to aspiring media workers in particular, provides a valuable conceptual framework for educators concerned to find an approach to employability that is both instrumental and critical.