ABSTRACT
This chapter reveals the extent to which employability should be understood as a gendered concept analyzing how employability is constituted and achieved over the entire life course. It discusses the conception of employability, notions of masculinity and gender, and Bourdieu's concepts of the field, habitus and capital. The chapter explores the biographical accounts of steelworkers who have recently experienced redundancy and who were struggling in relation to employability and employment. The analysis is structured around the key concerns that assist or constrain the search for employability, namely masculinity, identity and change competence. The chapter examines the role of labor market institutions in West Germany and the United Kingdom by arguing that they do not yet succeed in enhancing employability as they reproduce traditional gender roles, and formation of identity through employment. In West Germany, social partners created so-called transfer agencies to absorb mass redundancies by providing advice for outplacement and offering individual training as preparation for new job opportunities.
