SCDTP Studentship - Career Readiness, Employability and Capitals: the role of socio-economic background

This project will investigate the career readiness and employability of first-generation students studying at the University of Southampton. Informed by concepts of graduate capitals, in particular the Graduate Capital Model (Tomlinson, 2017) and career readiness (Tomlinson, McCafferty et al, 2017), the project aims to better understand the opportunities and challenges experienced by students from lower socio-economic backgrounds, their strategies and approaches to developing their career profiles and the ways in which these are shaped by their HE experiences.

Initial research using the 'Career Readiness Test' seems to point to some significant disadvantage in areas such as social capital - being defined as having the capacity 'to develop networks and social relations to enhance knowledge and access to target employment' (McCafferty et al, 2017).

This project will explore the extent to which first generation students are disadvantaged in the development of their capitals, their awareness of this disadvantage and their views on potential interventions which might support their progression (if any).

Research outcomes will include survey data evidencing the impact that being a first-generation student has on employability; narrative data from the students themselves exploring their perceptions of the labour market and their capitals; and proposals to support first generation students better.

Stage 1: literature review, including an examination of local/ national destination data.
Stage 2: role out and analysis of large-scale psychometric survey.
Stage 3: narrative interviews contextualised with the GCM. Hearing the stories of the students and the extent to which they are aware of the barriers facing them.
Stage 4: an exploration of potential methods to enhance capitals.
Stage 5 moving on from the PhD and sharing learning.

Full ethical approval will need to be obtained for the project; I already have experience of successfully navigating this for other large scale projects. Barriers will include the recruitment of students from First Generation backgrounds; this data is collected, but rightly classed as highly sensitive.