A3 Refereed book chapter or chapter in a compilation book
Finnish University Students Constructing Their Ideal Employable Identities: A Case Study of Top Performing Experts
Authors: Hirvonen Inka, Siivonen Päivi, Komulainen Katri
Editors: Siivonen Päivi, Isopahkala-Bouret Ulpukka, Tomlinson Michael, Korhonen Maija, Haltia Nina
Publication year: 2023
Book title : Rethinking Graduate Employability in Context: Discourse, Policy and Practice
First page : 275
Last page: 297
ISBN: 978-3-031-20652-8
eISBN: 978-3-031-20653-5
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-20653-5_13(external)
Web address : https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-20653-5_13(external)
Self-archived copy’s web address: https://research.utu.fi/converis/portal/detail/Publication/179859184(external)
The society has a great impact on defining what is a successful employable identity. This means that the construction of employable identity has become crucial to pursuing opportunities in the competitive labour market. In this article, employability is seen as a process where Finnish university students play out an identity project and construct their future-oriented employability. By applying narrative thematical analysis, the study shows that students constructed an ideal employable identity, designated as a Top Performing Expert. The process of constructing this identity contained three phases: 1. employability as a long-term goal, 2. constructing employability in a specific field, and 3. harnessing personality to strengthen employability. The authors suggest that identity process requires each individual’s own activity and problem-solving.
Downloadable publication This is an electronic reprint of the original article. |