Challenges associated with employability capitals facing chinese international graduates in Australia

This study aimed to unpack the challenges facing Chinese international graduates in achieving positive employability outcomes and their responses to the challenges in the Australian labour market. It has been found that graduate employability is determined by the following capitals: human, cultural, social, identity, psychological, and agentic capitals. Many studies have explored the challenges facing international graduates in the host labour markets, but little is known about the challenges associated with the employability capitals listed above. This book chapter deploys a qualitative approach to explore the challenges associated with employability capitals facing Chinese international graduates in Australia and their responses to these challenges. Fourteen Chinese international graduates participated in in-depth interviews. The findings revealed that, first, challenges associated with the six capitals intertwined with each other; second, challenges worked as triggers for participants to develop and build capitals by exercising their employability agency; and third, the challenges faced by participants were temporary. This study argued that more research is necessary to explore how international graduates negotiate their long-term employability trajectories.