Employability: an appropriate concept for the transition process

Before recommending improvements to the Canadian transition system, we must carefully examine the concept of employability (Figure 1). Both personal and labour market characteristics are determinants of an individual's employability.

In the upper corners of Figure 1 are listed characteristics that are not under the direct control of either the individual (upper left) or the employer (upper right). In the lower corners are characteristics that are the result of decisions made by the individual (left) and by the employer (right). We do not mean to imply that all decisions leading to an educational path, occupational experience, attitudes and behavior or personal and social relations are made by the individual free of constraints; however, the individual has more latitude to choose in these areas.