The winner takes it all, the loser has to fall: Provoking the agency perspective in employability research
By Anneleen Forrier, Nele de Cuyper, Jos Akkermans. Human Resource Management Journal, 2018
158 citations recorded by the source corpus.
In this paper, we provoke the strong focus on personal agency in employability research. We counter three dominant assumptions in the literature, namely, (a) that employability is an individual asset, (b) that employability is owned by the individual, and (c) that employability leads to positive outcomes. A key observation is that the three dominant theories that are being used in employability studies, namely, human capital theory, conservation of resources theory, and social exchange theory, also question these core agency assumptions that form the basis of those studies. Based on these theories, we identify three blind spots in employability research: Employability is (a) contextual, (b) relational, and (3) polarising. Taken together, we make the case that the agency perspective overlooks a potential dark side of employability: The winner takes it all, the loser has to fall. We outline a future research agenda on this potential dark side of employability.
Subfields: Education, Organizational Behavior and Human Resource Management
View Paper: https://www.semanticscholar.org/paper/51425077682c85aa88c61c4b8fa8d01e4354094a
How researchers see this paper
The researchers whose trusted networks rank it highest, strongest advocate first. Every researcher gets a different order.
In Education
- Ryan D. Duffy
- Vincenza Capone
- Alessandro Lo Presti
- Ada Aversano
- J. Masdonati
- Jos Akkermans
- D. Blustein
- A. Hirschi
In Organizational Behavior and Human Resource Management
- Ryan D. Duffy
- D. Blustein
- Alessandro Lo Presti
- Vincenza Capone
- Ada Aversano
- Jos Akkermans
- J. Masdonati
- Kelsey L. Autin
Citations in the corpus
- Career Competencies and Career Success: On the Roles of Employability Activities and Academic Satisfaction During the School-to-Work Transition (2021, background): “Thus far, the predominant focus in employability research has been on employability perceptions and competencies (cf. Forrier et al., 2018; Vanhercke et al., 2014).”
- Moving Toward Decent Work: Application of the Psychology of Working Theory to the School-to-Work Transition (2021, background): “Rather than a mere individual characteristic, employability should thus be conceived as a contextual and relational phenomenon (Forrier et al., 2018).”