In Studying Politics, is There a Need to Emphasise Employability?

Abstract

This Panel is going to focus on the issue of employability. Underpinning this Panel is the question as to whether the academic skills which are developed through study are sufficient for future employment. Not all politics students are going to enter academia. To what extent might academia be in something of an ivory tower, by assuming academic skills are sufficient for the workplace? Alternatively, there is the opposite view: that focusing on a range of other skills undermines the importance, and even the integrity, of academic study. It may actually be that a blend of the ‘academic’ and the more ‘practical’ skills is what is needed. A further perspective raises the extent to which students are becoming more utilitarian – looking for those modules which can aid in their career development. This Panel seeks to explore the extent to which employability might need to be embedded in a politics curriculum. Papers from all sides of the debate are encouraged.

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