Work readiness: definitions and conceptualisations

Abstract

There is growing evidence about the importance of establishing clarity around the ‘work readiness’ concept. A conceptual understanding of its meaning, structure, and components, as well as the essential characteristics for developing and assessing work readiness (WR), is not well established. This conceptual paper examines how WR can be articulated with greater clarity for furthering research in the field. It critically reviews the literature to provide comprehensive insights on its meaning, structure, and components around three questions: How is WR defined? What constitutes WR? And how can it be conceptualised? Graduate WR is theorised as a set of multi-dimensional constructs of cognitive and non-cognitive skills evolving in an environment driven by three approaches: demand-, equilibrium-, and supply-oriented, each guided by three types of definitions: organisational-, process- or outcome-based. The structure consists of WR skills organised hierarchically into three-order skill levels. This paper integrates WR components into a comprehensive three-dimensional conceptual model which researchers can use to construct their conceptualisations.