This chapter aims to place the employability related outcomes of this study in the context of other current
employability studies. For this purpose, seven recently published employability studies were selected from
a range of contexts and with different methodological approaches.
Within the literature there is a distinction made between employment skills and employability skills. The
former are limited to a specific profession or discipline (sector skills) while the latter are ‘transversal’ and
apply to all professions. These skills go by other names such as ‘soft’, ‘generic’ or ‘transferable’ (Jones,
forthcoming). The Higher Education Funding Council for England (HEFCE) defines employability skills
as follows: “The transferable core skills that represent functional and enabling knowledge, skills, and
attitudes required in today’s workplace. They are necessary for career success at all levels of employment
and for all levels of education”. (http://www.hefce.ac.uk/glossary/).