Student Employability: A Network Imperative - Birkbeck, University of ...

Student Employability: A Network Imperative
Lambert, Director General of the CBI, in his foreword to the
CBI/UUK report, March 2009, sees this as very much a joint
responsibility between universities and employers and
emphasises that more undergraduates should be given ‘the
opportunity to experience the world of work – through work
placements, summer internships and more contact with
business during their studies...’ The report goes on to
recommend that:
• Developing employability skills should be a core part
of a student’s university experience
and also, helpfully, articulates an important distinction that,
some may argue, has often confounded discussion of this
debate –
• Branding employability skills separately from the
Careers Service makes sure students understand it is
about acquiring and demonstrating transferable
skills, not just about getting a job.
(CBI / UUK, op cit, p6)
The report, which feeds back on three separate surveys of
students, employers and HEIs undertaken between autumn
2008 and early 2009, notes that, when recruiting graduates,
employers are increasingly looking for graduates with good
employability skills (78% of the 581 employers surveyed,
highlighted them as important). The CBI definition used here
incorporates: self‐management; team working; business and
customer awareness; problem solving; communication and
literacy; application of number; application of information
technology; a positive attitude and entrepreneurship / enterprise
(CBI/UUK, ibid, p8). Similarly, 54% highlighted the
importance of relevant experience of the workplace.
It may be significant to note here that the majority of the
880 students from the 20 universities surveyed as part of
this report, reported positively about the development of
their employability skills while at university, achieved either
through their own efforts or through their undergraduate
programmes. However, a significant number (38%) did not
feel that they had developed business awareness or
numeracy and, while 42% of students felt that skills
development had been explicitly addressed on their course
but more could be done, a further 28% felt that this was
something they would like to have been offered (ibid, p24).
As the report goes on to point out –
There is a(n)….unmet demand for special, stand‐alone
employability programmes (just 11% are currently
involved or expect to be ‐ but a further 35% would take
the opportunity if they could; internships (30% do so, 34%
would like the opportunity); short periods of work
experience (28% do, 33% would like) and sandwich years
(15% do and 23% respectively would like).
Despite this, the UK Commission for Employment and Skills’
(UKCES), March 2010 report on Employability Skills notes
that the research evidence regarding the employability of
graduates from UK universities, currently, is very positive ‐
Over four‐fifths of employers who had recruited
graduates in the past year reported that they were well
or very well prepared for work, suggesting that the
longer individuals stay in education, the better their
employability skills.
(UKCES, March 2010, p19)
UKCES (ibid, p15),also, cite the finding of the Department of
Innovation, Universities and Skills' (DIUS) 2008 report,
Higher Education at Work ‐ High Skills: High Value that ‘what
British employers want from graduates is generally what
they get.’ (DIUS, 2008, p14) but which highlighted areas of
concern, specifically –
That in some sectors there is a mismatch between the
needs of business and the courses provided by higher
education institutions and that graduate employability in
terms of ‘business awareness’ needs to improve.
(DIUS, 2008, cited in UKCES, ibid, p15)
2. The new policy drivers
Labour clearly took note of these concerns and, in its Higher
Ambitions paper, November 2009, took policy in this area a
step further by stipulating that, in future, all universities
would be expected to describe how they enhance students’
employability –
All universities should be expected to demonstrate how
their institution prepares its students for employment,
including through training in modern workplace skills,
such as team working, business awareness, and communication
skills. This information should help students
choose courses that offer the greatest returns in terms of
graduate opportunity.
(Higher Ambitions: The Future of Universities in the
Knowledge Economy, Executive Summary, 6, p13)
This demand was articulated within a strategy designed, in
particular, to expand access to HE from work‐based routes
and students from non‐traditional backgrounds, by making
more part‐time and flexible study routes more widely
available but it is significant that it was felt appropriate that
all subject communities should address this concern.
Higher Ambitions also called for a review of Teaching Quality
Information (TQI) to include student continuation rates and
employment destinations, as well as the results of the
National Student Survey, with the aim that for 2011/12
applicants, ‘All universities should publish a standard set of
information, setting out what students can expect in terms
of the nature and quality of their programme.’ (ibid, 12,
p17).
This work has been taken forward by UCAS and has involved
the expansion of the Unistats website, available at:
www.unistats.direct.gov. This website, which is aimed at
students, allows them to compare institutions and subjects
using feedback from some 220,000 students who respond to
The National Student Survey, each year. It provides
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