Case Study

Repertory Grids

Abstract: Employability is an issue which is often referred to in the design and marketing of higher education courses, with many institutions providing awards or content said to enhance student employability. A recent systematic review of the literature regarding employability suggests that when people talk of employability, they may not always be conceptualising it in the same way. This case study outlines how a repertory grid technique was deployed to understand the personal theories of employability held by individuals involved in the recruitment and selection of employees into companies and/or the teams within companies. This research represents one part of my PhD research project which aimed to develop a comprehensive conceptualisation of employability which can be utilised to inform the contribution made by higher education to employability development. This case study offers a realistic account of the process undertaken to utilise repertory grids as a strategy of inquiry, the strengths and weaknesses of applying this method and some of the challenges of applying this within a research setting.