Towards a new understanding of the role of higher education: Factors impacting the employability of Portuguese graduates

The current international socioeconomic context has been emphasising the need of a new set of individual competencies in order to succeed in the professional world. A new concept of employability has also emerged, with a person-centred approach, which reflects the need to deal effectively with career-related changes (Fugate, Kinicki, & Ashforth, 2004). In a psychosocial perspective, it is assumed an individual ability to adapt to social expectations and to behave according to the changing conditions (Savickas & Porfeli, 2012). On the other hand, the last decade represented a period of profound transformations in the European space of higher education, driven by Bologna guidelines. Higher education institutions are expected to adapt new ways of work organization, promoting new core competencies in future professionals. In this context, the paper will describe a research project which aims to identify and analyse the impact factors on the employability of Portuguese graduates, namely, individual characteristics, curricular experiences during graduation courses and also employer’s characteristics. This project represents an attempt to a closer and necessary articulation between higher education practices and labour market requirements.