Last year I attended a high school open evening with my ten-year old daughter. First up to speak was the ‘Chief Executive’ of the school. She began by telling the children what employers want and how missing school and not working hard will mean they won’t get a job. (I paraphrase but this was the general and clear message). Nothing about the joys of learning, the friends they will make and the unique individuals they will become.

Childhood is a fleeting stage of life which should be remembered for fun, lack of financial commitments, maybe even breaking rules and testing the boundaries. Expectations, not only of families and schools, but also this vague entity of ‘their future potential employer’ overshadow decisions they make (school attendance, subject choice & career choices). Young people have the added pressure many of us never had (thankfully!) of social media, documenting and broadcasting their every transgression, mood and bad hairstyle.

The spectre of unemployability

Employability is high on the agenda for UK schools, colleges and universities. Getting a good job quickly is seen as the key successful outcome. Fundamentally, this begs the question ‘what is the purpose of education? Is it to broaden horizons, change lives and contribute to the greater good? Is it a handmaiden to industry? And does the purpose depend on the school and the ‘type’ of pupils it serves? Is ‘employability’ for working class children and ‘career development’ for those higher up the food chain? 

In my research (forthcoming) with students and graduates who were the first in their family to go to university and/or attended less prestigious universities, many felt at a disadvantage in the labour market because of the cards they had been dealt in life. I was saddened by the huge pressure they felt to build their CV and ‘personal brand’ to compensate. Many were juggling full-time study with paid and unpaid work and caring commitments. Enjoyment and engagement with their learning – and their life – was so often overshadowed by this spectre of unemployability.

Being ‘employable’ at the end of a degree is a noble intention few would question. It is, however, a complex and context-specific concept. What makes a good engineer is not necessarily the same as the attributed required for a social worker. Qualities such as adaptability and flexibility are frequently exalted, yet entry to some career paths requires a dogged, determined single-mindedness.

Ironically, when education focuses on encouraging young people to thrive and develop holistically, they will become better employees and citizens anyway.

‘Where’s my job?’ 

Some of the graduates I spoke to (I will use pseudonyms here) had internalised and acted out the neoliberal narrative ‘work hard and you will be successful’ only to find that society did not keep its side of the bargain.

‘You just expect that when you come out the other end that there is just going to be this dream job  – I’ve worked hard through the years and paid all this money, surely I should just leave and be like “where’s my job?” kind of thing’ (Sarah)

Kayla urged me to tell students what the world of work is really like. She felt she had been seriously misled.

‘I think we are all just shocked, you graduate and you’ve got through so many difficulties just to get there… it’s important that people know how hard it is to find jobs, I was so naïve to think it was so simple’

Five signposts towards social justice

But how can we, as career professionals (and parents), tread this fine line between fuelling aspirations and dashing hopes? The five signposts towards social justice in career guidance are helpful here. ‘Building critical consciousness’ encourages us to represent the reality of the world of work with all its beauty and its flaws, not to overly glamorise it or underplay the challenges.

‘Naming oppression’ can be a tricky one as it involves acknowledging students’ disadvantages without damaging their confidence. Conversations about structural inequalities and ‘career capitals’ can perhaps help to depersonalise this.

‘Questioning what is normal’ catalyses discussions about peer and societal pressure, alternatives to the corporate graduate schemes and whether it’s ever OK to dress down for an interview.

Finally, working together and at a range of levels is the only way. How we introduce young people to the world of work needs rethinking. Less social control, more social engagement.