ABSTRACT
This chapter explores the case study of North Wales to argue that graduates need additional resources to successfully navigate a regional graduate employment field. Regional capital draws upon habitus, capital and field to argue that there are factors that may interact in complex and nuanced ways, in different geographical fields, to confer degrees of advantage or disadvantage on graduates in the labour market and beyond. The chapter argues that bilingual Welsh–English language skills, locally based networks and access to own transport are needed in order to gain graduate employment in the 'field' of North Wales. The Higher Education Funding Council for Wales's 2015 Insight into Employability conference stated that it was important for a graduate to have access to a driving license and a car. Interviews with employers and graduates referred to the need for local connections–whether it be family, friends or 'friends of friends'.
