Social sciences and humanities employability culture and public policy challenges: The international context and the state of play in Greece

This paper seeks to emphasize the key aspects of the relationship between social and humanities sciences and employability culture by: a) examining global trends, shifts, practices, and challenges, b) honing in on the Greek context, and c) assessing pertinent factors at the University of Crete. The objective is to pinpoint effective approaches, as well as the prevalent global difficulties and obstacles, while also evaluating the present state of play concerning employability culture of graduates in the social and humanities sciences and the possible effects on their future perspectives. Employability culture will be compared and analyzed in contrast with employment in order to show the differences between the two terms and their outcomes in society. By thoroughly investigating empirical data and relevant public policies, we analyze the employment landscape for these graduates and their employability profile. Consequently, drawing from international experiences, we aim to provide valuable insights and policy recommendations aimed at easing the integration of graduates into the labor market and addressing societal issues such as unemployment, employment insecurity, and vulnerability. These insights are developed by examining the various facets of social sciences and humanities graduate employability culture and the relevant public policies designed to enhance it. This analysis is motivated by the requirement to conduct research, establish an empirical foundation, and document the various aspects and potential pathways for a seamless transition and integration of graduates in social and humanities sciences into the labor market in Greece. Also, contrasting the employability culture with full labour market integration goal, we aim at showing the vulnerability and insecurity culture in a well educated part of the society. This necessity stems from the current lack of similar analyses and empirical data on this subject. It is undeniable that the financial crisis had a substantial impact on labor markets in Eurozone maber states, including Greece, leading to heightened levels of unemployment and underemployment or precarious employment, and a notable decline in the employability of graduates, particularly those in social and humanities sciences. Simultaneously, fresh issues and hurdles are arising as a result of the health crisis and the subsequent economic recession, which notably impact or have the potential to impact already vulnerable societal groups, including women, and young individuals, as well as employment sectors such as those in social and humanities studies. The proposed study aims to provide a concise exploration of the primary theoretical foundations concerning the employability culture of recent graduates, with a special emphasis on those in the fields of social and humanities sciences. Secondly, we will focus on the global landscape, examining critical factors related to the integration of social and humanities science graduates into the labor market. Drawing from the empirical data, comprehensive assessment of the international and Greek contexts will be conducted, leading to policy recommendations aimed at enhancing acceptable labor integration of social and humanities sciences graduates into the Greek labor market.