Employability is a set of skills, knowledge and personal attributes that make an individual adapt to changes in the labour market. This study applies ‘Human Capital Theory’ (HCT) and the ‘theory of Interrole Learning Transfer’ (ILT) to examine factors which affect the attitudes, motivations and actions of learners towards their future employability. A qualitative approach enabled in-depth interviews with 36 participants drawn from academics, students, company managers and policymakers. Our findings reveal that there is a disconnect between the teaching of theoretical knowledge and employability skills. Higher education (HE) is presented to Nigerians as if young people must achieve a degree certificate to have a chance to succeed in life. Also, it appears that students have a notion that the certificate is enough to evidence ability. The findings lead to the development of ‘employability model’ which proposes that individual orientation and institutional factors determine the enactment of employability skills. © 2020 Informa UK Limited, trading as Taylor & Francis Group.
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