ABSTRACT
There is an on-going debate within both the academic and policy communities concerning notions of what constitutes ‘employability’ and the types of skills and competencies required to compete in the changing labour market (Campbell, 2000). The issue of employ-ability is currently high on the agenda of the UK government. For example, at the 2003 Urban Summit in Birmingham, the Chancellor of the Exchequer announced a raft of initiatives designed to enhance the employability and employment prospects of individuals in disadvantaged and excluded communities. Similarly, Peck and Theodore note that
Employability … is the new buzzword in labour market policy circles … this heavily loaded keyword has been afforded a prominent position in [the] recent European employment and social policy guidelines (Peck and Theodore, 2000, p. 729).