Abstract
Emergency management has been a college degree one could seek for more than three decades; hundreds of degree programs now exist and are producing thousands of graduates each year. Many scholars believe that the subsequent job placement of program graduates should be purposefully examined, as job placement is an established concern to those involved in emergency management higher education. As of now, however, this has not been carefully considered by scholars within that field. In fact, as of the spring of 2019, there has been no empirical research on this or the related topic of employability of emergency management graduates. Research on both is critical, and this manuscript seeks to develop an initial theoretical framework to facilitate research on topics related to the employment of graduates from these programs. This framework is rooted in dialogues within the greater emergency management community as well as in the scholarship outside of emergency management. Keywords: emergency management student, emergency management degree, jobs, employment, career, job placement, employability