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

More documents

Recommendations

Info

Student Employability: A Network Imperative institutions in the Network are further down this path than others, as the entries on Unistats (www.unistats.direct.gov) testify, but the difficulties facing all, particularly in terms of quantifying value added, should not be underestimated. Practical approaches institutions might consider utilising to embed employability are, usefully, highlighted in the Teaching, Learning and Assessment of Generic Employability Skills report (CDELL, 2007), as well as the recent CBI/UUK report, March 2009 already noted, and these include: • Show students how the content and delivery of courses develops employability skills, such as the ability to work autonomously and collaboratively, and to communicate effectively • Use degree‐based work placements with business and other organisations as part of undergraduate and postgraduate programmes • Use both structured voluntary work and extracurricula activities to encourage reflective learning and to support the development and ethos of employability skills • Personal Development Planning should be used to integrate all the opportunities for students to develop their employability skills • Create a specific brand for employability skills, separate from the Careers Service to demonstrate the importance of transferable skills • Ensure leaders champion the importance to deliver students with employability skills. (CDELL, 2007, cited in UKCES, March 2010, p29) Liz Thomas and Robert Jones (February 2007), in particular, in their discussion of employability in the context of widening participation, emphasise that employability and progression issues need to be addressed throughout the student lifecycle, rather than towards the end of students’ programmes of study and they provide a useful table of the range of potential target groups in this specific context, that partners may find useful to bear in mind when reviewing their own provision. (See Appendix 2) It is interesting to note, too, that recent research (2006) from the National Institute of Economic and Social Research into the link between higher education employability initiatives and graduate labour market outcomes, (based on empirical research with 34 departments in eight universities), found a positive correlation between the use of structured student work experience and the ability of graduates, ‘firstly, to find employment within six months of graduation and, secondly, to secure employment in graduate‐level jobs’. (Mason et al, 2006), and this may be worth bearing in mind by partners. As survey data published by the Centre for Higher Education Research & Information (CHERI) at the Open University highlighted last year, the UK currently has one of the lowest rates of participation in work placements in Europe, at around 32%, as compared to France (84%) and The Netherlands (87%) (Brennan et al, April 2009, section 2.2, p18) and clearly there is scope for further development in this area, particularly, as it is recognised that students without relevant work experience can often find it difficult to find work in many sectors ‐ of the arts and cultural sector, for example (see Allen et al, September 2010). Likewise, given that many Level 3 courses, including the Advanced Diplomas, include work experience as a mandatory component, students may be hoping to further develop this aspect on progression and it is likely to become increasingly important that HE providers are able to meet such expectations. The CBI/UUK report, (March 2009) cited earlier, has highlighted the difficulties being experienced by some institutions across the sector, in terms of embedding workable employability policy and practice – approximately 16% of the 80 UUK member institutions who responded to the report survey, reported that they were experiencing ‘significant’ difficulties – and clearly these difficulties will not have become easier post Browne. Section 4 of the same report contains a number of case studies, exemplifying a range of approaches to developing practice at, for example, the University of Surrey; Goldsmiths, University of London; University of Exeter; Glasgow Caledonian University and Liverpool John Moores and the report lists the following key findings from them, which partners may find useful to note: Key findings from the case studies • Leadership at a senior level • Co‐ordination across the university – possibly through a team, including academic staff, whose role includes responsibility for engagement with employers to address employability issues, or the involvement of the Teaching and Learning Centre or equivalent • Close working with the students’ union and the careers service, where the work is not already led by the latter, but a recognition that employability cannot be delegated to the careers service and needs embedding in the curriculum or in special modules • Investment in methods to increase student participation, such as communication and marketing, or incentives – awards, certificates, or academic credits • The use of reflective learning, building on students’ personal development planning 4 • Additional effort to engage local and regional employers, regularly bringing them onto campus and involving them in core activities, as well as facilitating work placements • Student and employer feedback is an important measure of success, and the HESA figures for six month graduate destination were mentioned by every institution as a performance indicator – although all 4 Work to promote this aspect of student learning is being led nationally by The Centre for Recording Achievement, under the auspices of the HE Academy and their website: www.recordingachievement.org contains a wide range of information about current good practice across UK institutions. 5
Student Employability: A Network Imperative also said they would like to see measurements taken over a much longer period. (CBI/UUK, March 2009, p17) As partner entries on Unistats testify, a lot of good work is, currently, happening across the Network, and clearly there is scope both for partners to learn from each other and build on existing practice. • At City University, for example, students have access to a comprehensive database of volunteering opportunities and a pilot accreditation scheme recognises good practice in this area. There is also a professional mentoring scheme for students, who are supported by City alumni and others who are in established careers. • Kensington & Chelsea College offer innovative internships in fine art and photography, linked to the teacher training programme, and the HNC Millinery & Interior Design and HND Fine Art offer ‘live’ industry linked projects at Fenwicks and the Royal Borough of Kensington & Chelsea, respectively. • All London Metropolitan University students are offered an employability module in their second year and students taking an accredited course may engage with employers through work‐based learning. • At Middlesex University a specific set of University Graduate Skills is incorporated in all undergraduate programmes and all students have the chance to spend a year studying abroad as part of their degree. The University has also recently established an Incubator Centre and an Innovation Hub for students wishing to become self‐employed, to help students develop their business skills. • At the University of Westminster, the Talent Bank, an internal job agency matches students to paid, parttime and temporary work opportunities within the University, while an increasing number of courses include a work placement module, either as an option, or as a compulsory element. Career preparation and planning is often taught and assessed as part of students’ programmes of study. (Source: Unistats website: www.unistats.direct.gov.uk/, where full listings for each university/FEC with HE provision, are available) Such statements are, in most cases, necessarily very generic and discuss what is available to students across the university generally but, over time, in the context of new policy drivers, it is likely that partner institutions will need to engage in further work to identify what is being offered at individual course / programme level. 4. How Linking London can help This short paper has, hopefully, provided a quick update on the issue of embedding employability within HE level programmes, together with an indication of where the new policy agenda in this area is leading. As ever, the Linking London team is keen to help partners with practical solutions to help take practice forward, supported, if necessary, by development funding. To date, for example, development funds have been allocated to both City University (project completed July 2010) and, more recently, the University of Westminster (September 2010) to take forward work in this area (see FE to HE Transitions. Understanding Vocational Learner Experiences in HE: How can Personal Development Planning assist progression from access course into a career in nursing, mapping best practice? Rae Karimjee & Gill Craig, City University, and Skills Award, Career Development Centre, University of Westminster (Contact: Wayne Clark), available at: www.linkinglondon.ac.uk/casestudies Other ways in which the team can help include: • Help with employability audits, particularly for programmes which support progression from Level 3 to 4 ‐ see Employability self‐assessment at Appendix 3 • Health checks for course / programme employability listing(s) on Unistats • Help for HEIs with understanding specific Level 3 vocational curriculum and what students bring with them, in terms of generic core / work experience / wider competencies • Link meetings between network partners to articulate links between respective employability programmes at sending/receiving institutions (Levels 3 / 4 and 5 / 6) • Mapping of network employability provision under key strands e.g. work experience / PDP/ entrepreneurship / career planning etc; etc. • Development of case studies • Dissemination of development projects and outcomes • Updates via FE/HE Matters and the Linking London website re conferences / initiatives being offered regionally / nationally, in support of this agenda • Support with events / staff development workshops 5. Conclusion In many ways, although this new policy agenda creates new demands, the opportunities offered, thereby, for institutions to focus on creating their own individual branding should not be discounted. Employability profiles, in particular, offer opportunities to really make clear to students the kind of ‘value added’ that their university course / experience will offer. The recent report by Professor Graham Gibbs, former head of the Oxford Learning Institute, for the HE Academy, Dimensions of Quality (30 September 2010), has drawn attention to the value to students of information, such as class size, teaching staff, the quality and quantity of feedback etc, and it will be interesting to see what comes 6
Page 1 and 2: Student Employability: A Network Im
Page 5: Student Employability: A Network Im

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

Create successful ePaper yourself

Delete template?

Save as template?