Purpose

This article provides empirical validation of the Graduate Capital Model, adopted at a UK Russell Group University as a tool to analyse and support the career preparedness of both undergraduates and postgraduate students. An overview of employability capitals and how the development of these will potentially result in positive employment outcomes is explored. We describe the development of a psychometric tool “the Graduate Capital Scale” that seeks to operationalize these capitals. We then draw on data to establish the factor structure, reliability and validity of the tool.

Design/methodology/approach

This paper introduces a new psychometric instrument, called the “Graduate Capital Scale”; this self-reflective tool aligns closely with the five capitals within the Graduate Capital Model (Tomlinson, 2017) and has been designed for higher education students to self-assess their confidence in transitioning to the graduate labour market.

Findings

Based on a sample of 1,501 students across data collection waves, the findings from the psychometric scale show good factor reliability and validity for the constructs central to the overarching Graduate Capital Model. Within each of the component of the model, high factors loading emerged for a range of scale items, including subject-related skills, social networking, perceived job market fit and engagement with extra-curricula activities. Few gender differences emerged across the constructs.

Research limitations/implications

The research was confined to a specific English university comprised of mainly academically high-achieving and higher socio-economic students. However, there is significant scope for the model and related scale tool to be applied to diverse student groups given its wholistic nature.

Practical implications

The scale has considerable potential to be incorporated into careers practices and also embedded into course programmes as it aligns with a range of related learning outcomes. There is significant scope for this approach to complement a range of pedagogical and practical career interventions, including: self-reflective tools within tutorials; measures of learning gain for specific interventions such as careers coaching and mentoring; and as a personal reflective tool in careers guidance.

Social implications

The approach developed through this employability tool has scope to be used for diverse graduate groups, including those with lower levels of career confidence, preparedness and insight and including those from lower socio-economic backgrounds.

Originality/value

This paper has introduced and demonstrated the validity of a practical careers and employability development tool that has significant practical applicability for students, graduates and practitioners. Moreover, this scale supports a pre-existing conceptually driven model and has demonstrated a clear alignment between theory and practice in the area of graduate employability.

中文翻译：

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为充满挑战的劳动力市场发展毕业生就业能力：毕业生资本规模的验证

目的

本文对英国罗素集团大学采用的研究生资本模型进行实证验证，作为分析和支持本科生和研究生职业准备的工具。探讨了就业能力资本的概述以及这些资本的发展将如何潜在地产生积极的就业成果。我们描述了一种心理测量工具“研究生资本量表”的发展，旨在使这些资本运作。然后，我们利用数据来确定该工具的因子结构、信度和效度。

设计/方法/方法

本文介绍了一种新的心理测量工具，称为“研究生资本量表”；这个自我反思的工具与毕业生资本模型（Tomlinson，2017 年）中的五个首都密切相关，专为高等教育学生而设计，以自我评估他们对过渡到毕业生劳动力市场的信心。

发现

基于跨数据收集波的 1,501 名学生的样本，心理测量量表的结果显示，对于总体研究生资本模型的核心结构，具有良好的因子信度和效度。在模型的每个组成部分中，一系列量表项目都出现了高因子负载，包括与学科相关的技能、社交网络、感知的就业市场契合度和参与课外活动。在这些结构中几乎没有出现性别差异。

研究限制/影响

该研究仅限于一所特定的英国大学，该大学主要由学术成绩优异和社会经济地位较高的学生组成。然而，鉴于其整体性，该模型和相关的量表工具有很大的范围可以应用于不同的学生群体。

实际影响

该量表有相当大的潜力可以纳入职业实践，也可以嵌入到课程计划中，因为它与一系列相关的学习成果相一致。这种方法在补充一系列教学和实践职业干预方面有很大的余地，包括： 教程中的自我反思工具；针对特定干预措施（例如职业指导和指导）的学习增益测量；并作为职业指导中的个人反思工具。

社会影响

通过这种就业能力工具开发的方法可用于不同的研究生群体，包括职业信心、准备和洞察力水平较低的研究生群体，以及社会经济背景较低的研究生群体。

原创性/价值

本文介绍并证明了实用职业和就业能力发展工具的有效性，该工具对学生、毕业生和从业者具有重要的实际适用性。此外，该量表支持预先存在的概念驱动模型，并证明了毕业生就业能力领域的理论与实践之间的明确一致性。