Employability and motivation: which motivational theories are most appropriate?

Remedios, R ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-7717-6421 and Sewell, P, 2024. Employability and motivation: which motivational theories are most appropriate? Higher Education, Skills and Work-Based Learning, 14 (4), pp. 908-919. ISSN 2042-3896

Preview

Text 2248745_Remedios.pdf - Accepted version Download (330kB) | Preview

Abstract

Purpose: A range of models of employability implicitly or directly identify potential drivers of motivated behaviour related to engaging in employment-related outcomes whilst acknowledging that employability is also about developing life skills. Motivational theorists suggest that tasks engaged for external purposes, e.g. working towards an employment-related goal, are experienced differently than (those same) tasks engaged in for less external reasons, e.g. the desire for knowledge. Whilst there are excellent examples of the use of motivational theory in some models of employability, sometimes the evidence is either outdated, incorrectly interpreted or fails to use the most appropriate motivational theory. The aim of this paper is to bring to attention several prominent motivational theories and some key evidence that seems most pertinent across models of employability.

Design/methodology/approach: As this was a non-empirical design, the approach did not fit any research design methodology or structured, systematic or meta-analysis review. The paper outlines a series of arguments by reviewing in detail several theories of motivation and mapping them against current models of employability.

Findings: From a theoretical point of perspective, it is suggested that Expectancy Value Theory needs to be considered when creating models of employability. It is also suggested that motivation for employment-related tasks is probably extrinsic, though evidence suggests that forms of extrinsic motivation can also be motivationally adaptive. Several models posit self-efficacy as a driver of motivated behaviour, but the evidence suggests a clear and consistent interactive relationship between subjective task value and self-efficacy, suggesting that self-efficacy is only a useful predictor when value is high.

Practical implications: Whilst the aim of models of employability is to improve our understanding of the predictors of employability behaviours, the practical consequence is the development of appropriate curriculum. Understanding which features of employability create adaptive and maladaptive motivation should help educators create curriculum that produces optimal engagement and performance.

Originality/value: Models of employability are mostly created using bodies of extant evidence. In this paper, we have tried to identify where some of the interpretation of the evidence has been more or less appropriate. We hope that ideas and evidence in this paper will allow theorists, where appropriate, to re-develop their models.

Item Type:	Journal article
Publication Title:	Higher Education, Skills and Work-Based Learning
Creators:	Remedios, R. and Sewell, P.
Publisher:	Emerald
Date:	9 August 2024
Volume:	14
Number:	4
ISSN:	2042-3896
Identifiers:	Number Type 10.1108/heswbl-03-2024-0067 DOI 2248745 Other
Rights:	© 2024, Emerald Publishing Limited. This AAM is provided for your own personal use only. It may not be used for resale, reprinting, systematic distribution, emailing, or for any other commercial purpose without the permission of the publisher.
Divisions:	Schools > School of Social Sciences
Record created by:	Jonathan Gallacher
Date Added:	17 Oct 2024 14:32
Last Modified:	17 Oct 2024 14:32
URI:	https://irep.ntu.ac.uk/id/eprint/52434

Actions (login required)

Edit View

Statistics

Views

Downloads