login

‘Am I employable?’: Understanding students' employability confidence and their perceived barriers to gaining employment

Journal of Hospitality Leisure Sport & Tourism EducationPublished 7 August 2016Open access
Emily Beaumont, Sharon Gedye, Samantha Richardson
Citations52
View PDF

Abstract

This paper addresses employability among undergraduate Marine Sport Science students' at a post-92 HE Institution in the UK, focusing on perceptions of their own employability and their confidence in gaining graduate employment after having careers education embedded within their programme. Mixed method surveys (69% of cohort/n=57) produced results that showed that Marine Sport Science students' perception of their employability increased year on year whilst conversely, confidence in gaining graduate employment decreased year on year. This was due to seven perceived barriers: competition, experience, location, degree quality, qualifications, economy and confidence. The ‘diving board theory’ was established explaining the juxtaposition of improving perceived employability alongside decreasing confidence in gaining employment.

Keywords

Social SciencesBusiness, Management and AccountingEngineering