Skills to Pay the Bills: A Review of College Student Employability Literature

Research has shown that many U.S. college students do not graduate with employable skills beyond academic competency to facilitate their professional success post-graduation. Moreover, researchers have found that academic- and industry-specific knowledge alone is inadequate to help college graduates secure a job and meet the demands of the contemporary, nuanced, dynamic work environment. In addressing decreases in state and federal allocations for higher education and the added pressure to produce work-ready college graduates, institutions have grappled with how to enhance student workforce development and prepare students for the labor market. As a result, this literature review provides a comprehensive, global outline of both employability and career readiness literature to understand how these concepts have been defined and measured in the past, and how researchers view employability as fitting into a 21st century postsecondary student success initiative