Cognitive mapping the topic of employability

Cognitive mapping the topic of employability

Joseph Kim-keung Ho

Independent Trainer

Hong Kong, China

Abstract: The topic of employability in the subject of human resource management is complex. By making use of the cognitive mapping technique to conduct a brief literature review on the employability topic, the writer renders a systemic image on the topic of employability. The result of the study, in the form of a cognitive map on employability, should be useful to those who are interested in the topics of cognitive mapping, literature review and employability.

Key words: employability, cognitive mapping, literature review

Introduction

As a topic in human resource management, employability (CSR) is complex. It is thus useful to employ some learning tool to conduct its study, notably for literature review purpose. For a teacher in research methods, systems thinking and management, the writer is specifically interested in finding out how the cognitive mapping technique can be employed to go through a literature review on  employability. This literature review exercise is taken up and reported in this article.

On the cognitive mapping exercise for literature review

Literature review is an important intellectual learning exercise, and not just for doing final year dissertation projects for tertiary education students. On these two topics of intellectual learning and literature review, the writer has compiled some e-learning resources. They are the Managerial intellectual learning Facebook page and the Literature on literature review Facebook page. Conducting literature review with the cognitive mapping technique is not novel in the cognitive mapping literature, see Eden and Simpson (1989), Eden, Jones and Sims (1983), Open University (n.d) and the Literature on cognitive mapping Facebook page. In this article, the specific steps involved in the cognitive mapping exercise are as follows:

Step 1: gather some main points from a number of academic journal articles on employability. This result in the production of a table (Table 1) with the main points and associated references.

Step 2: consolidate  the main points from Table 1 to come up with a table listing the cognitive map variables (re: Table 2).

Step 3: link up the cognitive  map variables in a plausible way to produce a cognitive map (re: Figure 1) on the topic under review.

The next section applies these three steps to produce a cognitive map on employability.

Descriptions of cognitive map variables on the employability topic

From the reading of some academic articles on employability, a number of main points (e.g., viewpoints, concepts and empirical findings) were gathered by the  writer. They are shown in Table 1 with explicit referencing on the points.

Table 1: Main points from the employability literature and referencing

Main points from the employability literature	Referencing
Point 1: "In recent years a number of models of employability have been proposed. Whilst these models go some way towards capturing  the meaning of this elusive concept of employability, they are either too elaborate to be practically useable or too simple to do justice to this multifaceted issue".	Pool, L.D. and P. Sewell. 2007. "The key  to employability: developing a practical model of graduate employability" Education + Training 49(4), Emerald: 277-289.
Point 2: "For many people employability is simply about getting a job".	Pool, L.D. and P. Sewell. 2007. "The key  to employability: developing a practical model of graduate employability" Education + Training 49(4), Emerald: 277-289.
Point 3: "[Hillage and Pollard, 1998] In simple terms, employability is about being capable of getting and keeping fulfilling work. More comprehensively employability is the capability to move self sufficiently within the labour market to realise potential through sustainable employment".	Pool, L.D. and P. Sewell. 2007. "The key  to employability: developing a practical model of graduate employability" Education + Training 49(4), Emerald: 277-289.
Point 4: "They "[Hillage and Pollard, 1998] propose employability consists of four main elements.. "employability assets", consists of their knowledge, skills and attitudes..... "deployment", including career management skills, ... "'presentation" is concerned with "job  getting skills".... the personal circumstances (for  example family responsibilities) and external factors (for example the current level of opportunity  within the labour market)".	Pool, L.D. and P. Sewell. 2007. "The key  to employability: developing a practical model of graduate employability" Education + Training 49(4), Emerald: 277-289.
Point 5: "Although the term employability has been in the spotlight since  the 1990s, it is not exactly new.... the first publications date from the 1950s...".	Forrier, A. and L Sels. 2003. "The concept employability: a complex mosaic" Int. J. Human Resources Development and Management 3(2): 102-124.
Point 6: "In the 1980s.... It [employability] was considered a means of achieving flexibility  within organisations....   Since the 1990s... it is now mainly considered an alternative to job security... The literature on employability now focuses primarily on the individual's ability to maintain a job in the internal or external labour market".	Forrier, A. and L Sels. 2003. "The concept employability: a complex mosaic" Int. J. Human Resources Development and Management 3(2): 102-124.
Point 7: "The employability of individuals may apply to the internal labour market within the organization, internal employability, to the external labour market, external employability or to both".	Forrier, A. and L Sels. 2003. "The concept employability: a complex mosaic" Int. J. Human Resources Development and Management 3(2): 102-124.
Point 8: Employability is "the individual's ability to fulfill a variety of functions in a given labour market" [Thijssen].	Forrier, A. and L Sels. 2003. "The concept employability: a complex mosaic" Int. J. Human Resources Development and Management 3(2): 102-124.
Point 9: Employability can be defined  as "the skills, qualifications and attributes that enable workers to access their perceived 'right job'".	De Bruin, A. and A. Dupuis. 2008. "Making Employability 'Work'" The Journal of Interdisciplinary Economics 19 (4): 399-419.
Point 10: "Employability.... need not necessarily translate directly into employment in terms of attaining the right job. Despite possessing skills, qualifications and personal and other positive attributes, workers' perceptions of a right job may not necessarily  align with labour market requirements".	De Bruin, A. and A. Dupuis. 2008. "Making Employability 'Work'" The Journal of Interdisciplinary Economics 19 (4): 399-419.
Point 11: "'socio-medical' employability ... considered such physical factors as strength and vision alongside social  factors like qualifications....    'manpower policy' employability .. was particularly concerned with aiding disadvantaged groups into work.... 'flow employability' .... focused on collective and external factors to do with both employment and unemployment.....  'Labour marker performance' employability has an outcome orientation focusing on labour market performance over time, taking account of hours worked and hourly earnings. 'Initiative'  employability centres on skills, qualifications and social networks; ...  'interactive' employability takes a broader view that still encompasses initiative employability but places it in the context of labour market characteristics".	De Bruin, A. and A. Dupuis. 2008. "Making Employability 'Work'" The Journal of Interdisciplinary Economics 19 (4): 399-419.
Point 12: "[The employability literature has] been shifted away from one of the state's obligation to provide an economic environment conducive to employment, to an obligation on the part of "responsible citizens" to 'lift themselves' up to  be employable...".	De Bruin, A. and A. Dupuis. 2008. "Making Employability 'Work'" The Journal of Interdisciplinary Economics 19 (4): 399-419.
Point 13: "...investment in employability specifically in marketable skills and talents, self-presentation efficacy, actual levels of skills, knowledge and experience, will  go a  long way in addressing the problem caused by creative destruction".	Pruijt, H. 2013. "Employability, empowerment and employers, between debunking and appreciating action: nine  cases from the ICT sector" The International Journal of Human Resource Management 24(8), Routledge: 1613-1628.
Point 14: "Employability can be defined as empowerment in matters of career development".	Pruijt, H. 2013. "Employability, empowerment and employers, between debunking and appreciating action: nine  cases from the ICT sector" The International Journal of Human Resource Management 24(8), Routledge: 1613-1628.
Point 15: "The concept of employability has a strong normative content. It figures in a discourse  that can be seen as inducing people to feel individually responsible for macro-economic problems".	Pruijt, H. 2013. "Employability, empowerment and employers, between debunking and appreciating action: nine  cases from the ICT sector" The International Journal of Human Resource Management 24(8), Routledge: 1613-1628.
Point 16: "A focus on employability skills alone will not give engineers the capacities required to reflect critically on the structure of work and the manner in which the rewards of productive activity are distributed".	Conlon, E. 2008. "The new engineer: between employability and social responsibility" European Journal  of Engineering Education 33(2): 151-159.
Point 17: "Because employability may refer to both workers' employability and the employability-enhancing policies or practices, it is necessary to be explicit about the meaning attached to the term".	Fleischmann, M., F. Koster and J. Schippers.  2015. "Nothing ventured, nothing gained! How and under which conditions employers provide employability-enhancing practices  to their older workers" The International Journal of Human Resource  Management 26(22), Routledge:2908-2925.
Point 18: "...knowledge about which employability-enhancing  practices are valuable for older workers is limited. A reason for this is that there seems to be little agreement among researchers as well as policy makers regarding which practices stimulate older workers' employability".	Fleischmann, M., F. Koster and J. Schippers.  2015. "Nothing ventured, nothing gained! How and under which conditions employers provide employability-enhancing practices  to their older workers" The International Journal of Human Resource  Management 26(22), Routledge:2908-2925.
Point 19: "Higher work capability is found to increase  the active participation of older workers in the labour force or to delay their retirement".	Fleischmann, M., F. Koster and J. Schippers.  2015. "Nothing ventured, nothing gained! How and under which conditions employers provide employability-enhancing practices  to their older workers" The International Journal of Human Resource  Management 26(22), Routledge:2908-2925.
Point 20: "...the most highly employable applicants [for a medical internship at Swedish hospital] successfully prove that they possess both forms of capital [economic and cultural capital]. These forms of capital are thought to involve sorting mechanisms in the process of recruitment as recruiters infer the desired attributes of applicants from a written application and a job interview".	Lindberg, O. 2013. "Gatekeepers of a profession? Employability as capital in the recruitment of medical interns" Journal of Education and Work 26(4): 431-452.
Point 21: "The importance of employability, irrespective of its historical origins and its subsequent unfolding within individual countries, is an issue of central concern to most, if not all higher education systems in Europe".	Sin, C. and G. Neave. 2014. "Employability  deconstructed: perceptions of Bologna stakeholders" Studies in Higher Education, Routledge: 1-16.
Point 22: "Research literature review two contrasting  constructs that attend employability: first, personal characteristics that enable individuals to secure and maintain employment, hence an individual responsibility; second, a complex construct encompassing the wider personal, social, economic, and labour market circumstances".	Sin, C. and G. Neave. 2014. "Employability  deconstructed: perceptions of Bologna stakeholders" Studies in Higher Education, Routledge: 1-16.

With a set of main points collected, the writer produces a set of cognitive map variables. These variables are informed by the set of main points from Table 1. These variables are presented in Table 2.

Table 2: Cognitive map variables based on Table 1

Cognitive map variables	Literature review points
Variable1: Factors that promote employability practices	Point 5: "Although the term employability has been in the spotlight since  the 1990s, it is not exactly new.... the first publications date from the 1950s...". Point 6: "In the 1980s.... It [employability] was considered a means of achieving flexibility  within organisations....   Since the 1990s... it is now mainly considered an alternative to job security... The literature on employability now focuses primarily on the individual's ability to maintain a job in the internal or external labour market". Point 21: "The importance of employability, irrespective of its historical origins and its subsequent unfolding within individual countries, is an issue of central concern to most, if not all higher education systems in Europe".
Variable 2: Improved knowledge on the employability concept	Point 1: "In recent years a number of models of employability have been proposed. Whilst these models go some way towards capturing  the meaning of this elusive concept of employability, they are either too elaborate to be practically useable or too simple to do justice to this multifaceted issue". Point 2: "For many people employability is simply about getting a job". Point 3: "[Hillage and Pollard, 1998] In simple terms, employability is about being capable of getting and keeping fulfilling work. More comprehensively employability is the capability to move self sufficiently within the labour market to realise potential through sustainable employment". Point 14: "Employability can be defined as empowerment in matters of career development". Point 17: "Because employability may refer to both workers' employability and the employability-enhancing policies or practices, it is necessary to be explicit about the meaning attached to the term". Point 22: "Research literature review two contrasting  constructs that attend employability: first, personal characteristics that enable individuals to secure and maintain employment, hence an individual responsibility; second, a complex construct encompassing the wider personal, social, economic, and labour market circumstances".
Variable 3: Improved knowledge on the employability approaches	Point 4: "They "[Hillage and Pollard, 1998] propose employability consists of four main elements.. "employability assets", consists of their knowledge, skills and attitudes..... "deployment", including career management skills, ... "'presentation" is concerned with "job  getting skills".... the personal circumstances (for  example family responsibilities) and external factors (for example the current level of opportunity  within the labour market)". Point 7: "The employability of individuals may apply to the internal labour market within the organization, internal employability, to the external labour market, external employability or to both". Point 11: "'socio-medical' employability ... considered such physical factors as strength and vision alongside social  factors like qualifications....    'manpower policy' employability .. was particularly concerned with aiding disadvantaged groups into work.... 'flow employability' .... focused on collective and external factors to do with both employment and unemployment.....  'Labour marker performance' employability has an outcome orientation focusing on labour market performance over time, taking account of hours worked and hourly earnings. 'Initiative'  employability centres on skills, qualifications and social networks; ...  'interactive' employability takes a broader view that still encompasses initiative employability but places it in the context of labour market characteristics". Point 12: "[The employability literature has] been shifted away from one of the state's obligation to provide an economic environment conducive to employment, to an obligation on the part of "responsible citizens" to 'lift themselves' up to  be employable...". Point 15: "The concept of employability has a strong normative content. It figures in a discourse  that can be seen as inducing people to feel individually responsible for macro-economic problems".
Variable 4: Effective employability practices	Point 10: "Employability.... need not necessarily translate directly into employment in terms of attaining the right job. Despite possessing skills, qualifications and personal and other positive attributes, workers' perceptions of a right job may not necessarily  align with labour market requirements". Point 13: "...investment in employability specifically in marketable skills and talents, self-presentation efficacy, actual levels of skills, knowledge and experience, will  go a  long way in addressing the problem caused by creative destruction". Point 16: "A focus on employability skills alone will not give engineers the capacities required to reflect critically on the structure of work and the manner in which the rewards of productive activity are distributed".
Variable 5: Positive outcomes of real-world employability practices	Point 9: Employability can be defined  as "the skills, qualifications and attributes that enable workers to access their perceived 'right job'". Point 19: "Higher work capability is found to increase  the active participation of older workers in the labour force or to delay their retirement". Point 20: "...the most highly employable applicants [for a medical internship at Swedish hospital] successfully prove that they possess both forms of capital [economic and cultural capital]. These forms of capital are thought to involve sorting mechanisms in the process of recruitment as recruiters infer the desired attributes of applicants from a written application and a job interview".
Variable 6: Learn from experience of employability practices	Point 18: "...knowledge about which employability-enhancing  practices are valuable for older workers is limited. A reason for this is that there seems to be little agreement among researchers as well as policy makers regarding which practices stimulate older workers' employability".

The next step is to relate the cognitive map variables to make up a cognitive map on employability. The cognitive map and its explanation are presented in the next section.

A cognitive map on employability and its interpretation

By relating the variables identified in Table 2, the writer comes up with a cognitive map on employability, as shown in Figure 1.

Figure 1 covers three types  of variables:

Promoting factors on employability: This covers variable 1 (factors that promote employability  practices).

Employability theories: These include variable 2 (improved knowledge on the employability concept) and variable 3 (improved knowledge on the employability approaches).

Employability feedback loop: They comprise variable 4 (effective employability practices), variable 5 (positive outcomes of real-world employability practices) and variable 6 (learn from experience of employability practices).

These cognitive  map variables, six of them altogether, are related to constitute a systemic image of employability. The links in the cognitive map (re: Figure 1) indicate direction of influences between variables. The + sign shows that an increase in one variable leads to an increase in another variable while a -ve sign tells us that in increase in one variable leads to a decrease in another variable.  If there no signs shown on the arrows, that means the influences can be positive or negative. Readers are referred to the Literature on employability Facebook page for more  information on the topic.

Concluding remarks

The cognitive mapping exercise captures in one diagram some of the main variables involved in employability. The resultant cognitive map promotes an exploratory way to study employability in a holistic tone. The experience of the cognitive mapping exercise is that it can be a quick, efficient and entertaining way to explore a complex topic such as employability in human resource management. Finally, readers who are interested in cognitive mapping should also find the article informative on this mapping topic.

Bibliography

1.      Conlon, E. 2008. "The new engineer: between employability and social responsibility" European Journal  of Engineering Education 33(2): 151-159.

2.      De Bruin, A. and A. Dupuis. 2008. "Making Employability 'Work'" The Journal of Interdisciplinary Economics 19 (4): 399-419.

3.      Eden, C. and P. Simpson. 1989. "SODA and cognitive mapping in practice", pp. 43-70, in Rosenhead, J. (editor) Rational Analysis for a Problematic World, Wiley, Chichester.

4.      Eden, C., C. Jones and D. Sims. 1983. Messing about in Problems: An informal structured approach to their identification and management, Pergamon Press, Oxford.

5.      Fleischmann, M., F. Koster and J. Schippers.  2015. "Nothing ventured, nothing gained! How and under which conditions employers provide employability-enhancing practices  to their older workers" The International Journal of Human Resource  Management 26(22), Routledge:2908-2925.

6.      Forrier, A. and L Sels. 2003. "The concept employability: a complex mosaic" Int. J. Human Resources Development and Management 3(2): 102-124.

7.      Lindberg, O. 2013. "Gatekeepers of a profession? Employability as capital in the recruitment of medical interns" Journal of Education and Work 26(4): 431-452.

8.      Literature on cognitive mapping Facebook page, maintained by Joseph, K.K. Ho (url address: https://www.facebook.com/Literature-on-cognitive-mapping-800894476751355/).

9.      Literature on employability Facebook page, maintained by Joseph, K.K. Ho (url address: https://www.facebook.com/Literature-on-employability-880896718687768/).

10. Literature on literature review Facebook page, maintained by Joseph, K.K. Ho (url address: https://www.facebook.com/literature.literaturereview/).

11. Managerial intellectual learning Facebook page, maintained by Joseph, K.K. Ho (url address: https://www.facebook.com/managerial.intellectual.learning/).

12. Open University. n.d. "Sign graph" Systems Thinking and Practice (T552): Diagramming, Open University, U.K. (url address: http://systems.open.ac.uk/materials/T552/) [visited at April 10, 2017].

13. Pool, L.D. and P. Sewell. 2007. "The key  to employability: developing a practical model of graduate employability" Education + Training 49(4), Emerald: 277-289.

14. Pruijt, H. 2013. "Employability, empowerment and employers, between debunking and appreciating action: nine  cases from the ICT sector" The International Journal of Human Resource Management 24(8), Routledge: 1613-1628.

15. Sin, C. and G. Neave. 2014. "Employability  deconstructed: perceptions of Bologna stakeholders" Studies in Higher Education, Routledge: 1-16.