A Centre for International Education Research seminar presented by Professor Melanie Walker, University of the Free State, South Africa.
Professor Melanie Walker's paper explores employability through a conceptual lens of human development values and valued capabilities formation among diverse students at four historically distinctive South African universities.
Development in this approach is understood as a process of expanding the real freedoms that people enjoy; universities would then be a key site for ‘inclusive development’, which in turn would be constituted by
- the relationship between macro-meso and micro and between government policy and universities
- an interdisciplinary approach
- individual and social well-being processes and outcomes of capabilities expansion for quality of life beyond economic development and human capital, especially for the disadvantaged in society
- shaped by historical, political social and cultural ‘conversion’ factors.
In particular, Professor Walker focus empirically on the capability to aspire and on aspirations as a space to investigate operationalizing capabilities and conversion factors, drawing on the biographies of students who were re-interviewed, and focusing in on four stories in some detail. Finally Professor Walker consider a grid of four threshold capabilities which emerge as important for employability as human development.
This event is free but please register online. Refreshments and a light buffet will be available.