KUKU

KU ScholarWorks

  • myKU
  • Email
  • Enroll & Pay
  • KU Directory
    • Login
    View Item 
    •   KU ScholarWorks
    • Dissertations and Theses
    • Dissertations
    • View Item
    •   KU ScholarWorks
    • Dissertations and Theses
    • Dissertations
    • View Item
    JavaScript is disabled for your browser. Some features of this site may not work without it.

    Employability and Empowerment: Discursive Constructions of Career Planning

    Thumbnail
    View/Open
    HelensHart_ku_0099D_13951_DATA_1.pdf (2.250Mb)
    Issue Date
    2015-05-31
    Author
    Helens-Hart, Rose
    Publisher
    University of Kansas
    Format
    161 pages
    Type
    Dissertation
    Degree Level
    Ph.D.
    Discipline
    Communication Studies
    Rights
    Copyright held by the author.
    Metadata
    Show full item record
    Abstract
    Since the 1980s there has been a notable trend of university career centers (UCCs) transforming from job-placement centers into full-service centers that include career coaching, counseling, and job search activities such as mock interviews, resume writing, and career fairs ("Best practices in career services for graduating students," 2012; Garver, Spralls, & Divine, 2009). This shift has accompanied what has been referred to as the “death” of the organizational career where individuals can no longer expect their careers to unfold in a single organization over their lifetimes (Arthur & Rousseau, 1996). Rather, individuals are urged to prepare themselves for multi-directional careers marked by frequent job and industry changes and even bouts of unemployment (Baruch, 2004). Coupled with mounting external stakeholder pressure for universities to assume greater responsibility for graduates obtaining employment, the need for universities to educate students in job search skills and engage them in career planning is more important than ever ("FACT SHEET on the President's plan to make college more affordable: A better bargain for the middle class," 2013; "Half of recent college grades underemployed or jobless, analysis says," April 23, 2012). Thankfully most colleges and universities have staff dedicated to providing career planning and job search assistance in on-campus UCCs. This dissertation explores the communication of a UCC’s organizational members in a large mid-western public university. Specifically, I take a communicative look at how career planning was discursively constructed as the empowered pursuit of employability. Toward this end, discourse was focused on how services could increase the likelihood that graduates would obtain employment and be prepared to search and apply for jobs throughout their careers. The career coaching model used in the UCC was intended to center and empower students in the career planning process. This discourse served as a response to demands for increased university accountability toward students seeking post-graduate employment but also recognized that ultimately it was the responsibility of students to develop their employability. A critical examination of employability reveals this to be a paradox of accountability where the promotion of student employability provides universities with the opportunity to distance themselves from the responsibility for students obtaining jobs after graduation. It emphasizes a “no guarantees” employment culture (Hallier, 2009) and encourages students to accept the responsibility of managing their own futures by developing career identities, personal adaptability, and human and social capital (Fugate, Kinicki, & Ashforth, 2003). Advising students in effective career planning is a complex matter where multiple facets of students’ lives and identities intersect to create individualized conceptions of success, career, and the role of work in their lives. The career coaching model utilized by the center in this study requires practitioners to employ discursive strategies to promote student motivation and confidence (Orem, Binkert, & Clancy, 2007). Informed by literature on the concepts of socialization, meaningful work, employability, empowerment, and the appreciative coaching model, this study provides an understanding of how organizational members of a UCC promote employability through discursively engaging students’ preconceived notions of work and need, assisting them in preparing for their vocational futures, and constructing action plans to help them advance toward established goals. Interviews with staff of the UCC, participant observations of UCC events, and a textual analysis of the UCC’s website and related career documents and artifacts were used to examine the conceptualization of career and the employability value of career planning.
    URI
    http://hdl.handle.net/1808/19044
    Collections
    • Communication Studies Dissertations and Theses [275]
    • Dissertations [4454]

    Items in KU ScholarWorks are protected by copyright, with all rights reserved, unless otherwise indicated.


    We want to hear from you! Please share your stories about how Open Access to this item benefits YOU.


    Contact KU ScholarWorks
    785-864-8983
    KU Libraries
    1425 Jayhawk Blvd
    Lawrence, KS 66045
    785-864-8983

    KU Libraries
    1425 Jayhawk Blvd
    Lawrence, KS 66045
    Image Credits
     

     

    Browse

    All of KU ScholarWorksCommunities & CollectionsThis Collection

    My Account

    Login

    Statistics

    View Usage Statistics

    Contact KU ScholarWorks
    785-864-8983
    KU Libraries
    1425 Jayhawk Blvd
    Lawrence, KS 66045
    785-864-8983

    KU Libraries
    1425 Jayhawk Blvd
    Lawrence, KS 66045
    Image Credits
     

     

    The University of Kansas
      Contact KU ScholarWorks
    Lawrence, KS | Maps
     
    • Academics
    • Admission
    • Alumni
    • Athletics
    • Campuses
    • Giving
    • Jobs

    The University of Kansas prohibits discrimination on the basis of race, color, ethnicity, religion, sex, national origin, age, ancestry, disability, status as a veteran, sexual orientation, marital status, parental status, gender identity, gender expression and genetic information in the University’s programs and activities. The following person has been designated to handle inquiries regarding the non-discrimination policies: Director of the Office of Institutional Opportunity and Access, IOA@ku.edu, 1246 W. Campus Road, Room 153A, Lawrence, KS, 66045, (785)864-6414, 711 TTY.

     Contact KU
    Lawrence, KS | Maps