Abstract
This study investigates the phenomena of graduate employability from the perspective of the institutional leadership at the University of Oslo. There is more pressure on and expectations from the higher education institutions to respond to demands from the labour market. This study is situated in the context of institutional leadership departments at the University of Oslo, with an emphasis on leaders who are responsible for decision-making processes. The aim of this study is to investigate the interpretation of graduate employability at the University of Oslo and attempt to draw certain conclusions about what does graduate employability mean to those actors who are responsible for making decisions at the leadership levels at the university. The study is focused on the institutional perspective of employability also in relation to the government perspective. This study investigates where graduate employability is on the university agenda and how it corresponds between strategy and practice. This study is pursued as a qualitative research project and interviews were conducted for the purpose of collecting data. Considering the nature of the research, thematic analysis was chosen as a method for analysing data. Findings from the interviews show that graduate employability is highly on the university agenda even though clearer directions from the government are needed in respect to this question. Graduate employability has been mostly interpreted as the combination of skills, competences and knowledge which are relevant for the labour market. Interviewed leaders also pointed to the university strategy (University Strategy 2030) and its concept of sustainability as a long-term perspective on graduate employability. In addition, digitalisation, integrative approach and lifelong learning have appeared to be the most important aspects for meeting the unknown challenges in the future and maintaining good employability results. Graduate employability is a broad term and is characterized by a variety of definitions. The findings of this study show that in the context of the Norwegian higher education system and the University of Oslo, it can be identified as “arbeidsrelevans”.