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2020 | OriginalPaper | Chapter

7. A “T-shaped” Metaphor for Holistic Development: Entrepreneurial, Professional and Leadership (EPL) Efficacies Predict Self-perceived Employability

Authors : Kim-Yin Chan, Moon-Ho Ringo Ho, Regena Ramaya

Published in: Entrepreneurship–Professionalism–Leadership

Publisher: Springer Singapore

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Abstract

Today, tertiary educational institutions are especially concerned with the work-readiness and employability of their graduates beyond mere education for education’s sake. More than academic results, university graduates are expected to possess transferable skills, life-long learning and self-managing career skills and mindsets beyond their technical, vocational or professional knowledge and skills to navigate highly dynamic job/labor markets. Chan et al. (2012) first introduced the Entrepreneurial, Professional and Leadership or EPL framework using the “dimensions of boundaryless career space” as a heuristic to help individuals visualize how they can advance their careers simultaneously in E, P and L dimensions. This chapter suggests how the EPL framework can relate to the popular “T-shaped” metaphor in the popular human resources literature, where “T-shaped” is used to describe the need for both breadth (transferable) and depth (specialized/technical) skills needed for various reasons from collaboration to employability. We present empirical evidence to show how E, P and L efficacies contribute to the prediction of self-perceived employability in a sample of 5,874 university students, as a way to justify how individuals can think of developing their E, P and L skills to ensure employability in the future. We discuss how universities can provide future graduates with more holistic T-shaped EPL development for greater employability and career adaptability.

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previous chapter Operationalizing Developmental Readiness via Entrepreneurship, Leadership, and Professionalism Career Dimensions

next chapter Measuring Preference for Non-standard Work: Relationships with EPL Motivations, Efficacies, Perceived Employability, and Career Adaptability

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Title: A “T-shaped” Metaphor for Holistic Development: Entrepreneurial, Professional and Leadership (EPL) Efficacies Predict Self-perceived Employability
Authors: Kim-Yin Chan
Moon-Ho Ringo Ho
Regena Ramaya
Publisher: Springer Singapore
Book: Entrepreneurship–Professionalism–Leadership
Print ISBN: 978-981-15-3120-0

Electronic ISBN: 978-981-15-3121-7

Copyright Year: 2020
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-15-3121-7_7