Ian P. Herbert, Andrew T. Rothwell, Jane L. Glover, Stephanie A. Lambert
In the light of emerging challenges to traditional employment patterns, not least, global com-petition for ‘location free’ professional work, the Higher Education sector is facing increasingdemands for graduates to transition more effectively from education to work. Accordingly, thepaper draws on Bourdieu's account of practice and the process of ‘culturing’ to explore the application of those personal behaviours and dispositions that go beyond the observable knowledge and employ ability credentials that,typically,are conferred by a university degree.Of particular concern is the role of the shared service centre model in the elimination, automation and off-shoring of those entry-level tasks that, traditionally, have provided routes into professional ca-reers. Empirical findings suggest that the process of culturing could provide a game playing ad-vantage in securing graduate employment through the projection of work-readiness. A call is made for management educators,employers,government and professional bodies to think more creatively in fostering student behaviours and dispositions in work-based learning alongside,rather than at the expense of,developing intellectual skills andsubject knowledge.