Learning for Leaving the Employability factor in HE

Learning for Leaving – the Employability factor in HE

What is Employability? “A set of achievements – skills, understandings and personal attributes – that makes graduates more likely to gain employment and be successful in their chosen occupations, which benefits themselves, the workforce, the community and the economy”. Knight and Yorke, 2003 “A lifelong, complex process that applies to all students, whatever their course, personal situation or mode of study” Higher Education Academy, 2013

Why Employability? • Onset of tuition fees / recession • Return on investment required (parents / students) • Research important, but other factors becoming increasingly so: • Student satisfaction • Employability • Increasing competition between HE providers • Policy changes pushing for integration of employability in HEIs “A common theme across HE policy and funding throughout the UK is the need to ensure that graduates are prepared for, and able to contribute to, the economy and society. The development of graduates with relevant attributes, skills and knowledge has placed graduate employability at the centre of the HE agenda. ” The Higher Education Academy

The Employers Perspective CBI / EDI Education and Skills survey, May 2011: • 82% employers (businesses) consider employability skills to be the most important consideration when recruiting graduates • 70% of employers (businesses) believe university students need to do more to make themselves more effective employees CBI survey (2011) of employer satisfaction with graduates’ employability skills: • 44% of employers were not satisfied with level of Business and Customer Awareness skills of graduates • Self-management and teamwork skills also identified for improvement • In comparison, only 5% were not satisfied with their IT skills (95% satisfied / very satisfied)

The Students Perspective Connor et al (1999) conducted survey of school pupils to discover their motivation to attend university. The most important reasons given (in addition to “to study a subject that really suits me”) were: • to have a professional career • to improve my job prospects • to gain entrance to a well-paid career CBI / NUS survey of 2, 614 students in 71 universities (2010): • 79% cited their most common reason for going to university as being to improve job opportunities • 57% of students asked for universities to do more to help them understand employability skills • 66% of students wanted support in developing employability skills

History of Employability • Modules on career development learning well-established in the USA in the 1970 s (Watts, 1977; Folsom & Reardon, 2003) • UK employability came to fore in late 1980 s / 1990 s as result of the Enterprise in Higher Education Programme (Ball & Butcher, 1994; Watts & Hawthorn, 1992) • Followed by government-funded programme focussing on career management skills (Hustler et al, 1998) • “Transdisciplinary skills” identified by Jackson and Ward (2004): • lie outside core academic subject in HE • relate to successful application of subject-specific skills within context of employment • include communication, planning and interpersonal skills

History of Employability • Paper by Birmingham City University’s Educational Staff Development Unit (Embedding PDP and Employability, 2008) – “lecturers are best positioned to influence students and should therefore drive the employability factor in HE” • The Wilson Review (2012): • Stressed the importance of business / HE provider collaboration for developing key skills and knowledge for employment • Acknowledged that HE providers have central role in providing : • high-level skills • a world-class research base • a culture of inquiry and innovation • HE providers recognised as important part of supply chain that supports business growth and economic prosperity • Emphasised importance of work experience to enhance graduate skills and ensure smooth transition to work

Models of Employability • USEM (Knight & Yorke, 2003) Knight and Yorke’s USEM Model (2004) - Understanding, Skilful practices, Efficacy beliefs, Metacognition

Models of Employability Dacre Pool and Sewell’s Career. EDGE model (2007)

Models of Employability • CBI skill sets (2011) CBI / NUS (2011) student-focused publication “Working towards your future: making the most of your time in higher education”

Identified Employability Skills Hawkins and Winter (1997) identified range of skills required to have a sustainable career: • • • Self-awareness – able to identify skills, values, interests and personal attributes Self-promotion – able to define and promote own agenda Exploring and Creating Opportunities – able to identify, create, investigate and seize opportunities Action Planning – can plan and implement a course of action Networking – able to define, develop and maintain a support network Matching and Decision Making – can match opportunities to core skills and knowledge; can make informed decision Negotiation – can negotiate a psychological contract; able to reach win/win agreements Political Awareness – understands hidden tensions and power struggles in organisations Coping with Uncertainty – able to take risk; can adapt goals to changing circumstances Development Focus – committed to lifelong learning; can learn from mistakes Transfer skills – able to apply skills to new context

Identified Employability Skills The Dearing Report (1997) identified set of key skills relevant throughout an individual’s lifetime: • • Communication Numeracy IT “Learning how to learn” The report recommended that the provision of these skills should be come a central aim for Education. Hillage and Pollage (1998): • • identified one element of employability as being “deployment” – “the extent to which individuals are aware of the skills and experience they have and how they can use this” emphasised the need for sustainable employment

Identified Employability Skills Transferable skills sought by employers, as identified by the Pedagogy for Employability Group (2004), based on 25 yrs research: • • • • Imagination / creativity Adaptability / flexibility Willingness to learn Independent working / autonomy Working in a team Ability to manage other Ability to work under pressure Good oral communications Communication in writing for varied purposes / audiences Numeracy Attention to detail Time management Assumption of responsibility and for making decisions Planning, coordinating and organising ability Ability to use new technology

Identified Employability Skills The 10 most important skills and capability sought by employers when recruiting new graduates: • • • Communication skills Teamwork Integrity Intellectual ability Confidence Character / personality Planning and organisational skills Literacy (good writing skills) Numeracy (good with numbers) Analysis and Decision-making skills Council for Industry and Higher Education “Graduate Employability: What do employers thinks and want? ”, 2008

Integrating Employability in HE • Traditional career development – PDPs, Careers Advice, CVs, attitudinal work, emotional intelligence • Work Experience / Placements • Entrepreneurship provision / business start-up support • Transferable, employability Skills • stand alone courses / modules / workshops (accredited) • skills integrated in existing course curriculum

Employability Case Studies • The Alverno approach, Milwaukee's Alverno College • The Bath Award • The York Award • Swansea Employability Award

The Alverno Approach • Adopted by Milwaukee's Alverno College for women (USA) • Employability integrated through the whole curriculum • Each student required to demonstrate eight broad abilities at progressively more complex levels during their time of study • Abilities included: Ø Communication Ø Analysis Ø Problem solving Ø Valuing in decision-making Ø Social interaction Ø Global perspectives Ø Effective citizenship Ø Aesthetic responsiveness

The Bath Award • Developed by Students Union & Careers service at University of Bath • Supported by Santander • Piloted in 2008/09, went live in 2009/10 • Students have to undertake minimum of 100 hours extra-curricular activities (volunteering / work-experience) • Must submit evidence of skills development and employability in six of the following areas (4 from core, 2 optional): • Core - Teamwork; written communication; verbal communication; problem solving • Options - Leadership; commercial awareness; digital practice; sport • Bath Award appears on student’s Degree Transcript

The York Award • Certified programme of transferable skills training and experiential learning • Run in partnership with public, private and voluntary organisations • Provides students with recognition for activities not recognised through traditional degree programmes • Students must plan and pursue active programme of personal development in skills that will help them success in life after university • Skills include: • Commercial Awareness – the law of ideas, business ethics etc. • Personal Effectiveness – project management, networking, marvellous meetings, presentation skills etc. • Some courses delivered by external organisations, e. g. Pw. C deliver “Putting skills to work” (presentation skills, team working, commercial awareness, role of consultancy teams) • Work experience, involvement in clubs/societies and voluntary work also included

Swansea Employability Award • Run by Careers and Employability Service • Works in partnership with academic staff • Recorded on Degree Transcript • 2 main modules: • Learning about yourself - personality type / learning styles/creating CV and covering letter etc. • Getting experience – work experience, volunteering , positions of responsibility, mock interviews etc. • Focuses on careers, placements and developing entrepreneurship • Talks, events, appointments with career advisers etc. More focus on identified transferable skills - compulsory?

The Role of ASP • Current Courses / Workshops Ø Memory Skills (Study Hacks) Ø Presentation Skills Ø Report Writing Ø Critical Thinking Ø Literacy and Grammar Ø Listening Skills Ø Reading Skills Ø Public Speaking Ø Time Management Ø Communication Skills Ø Learning to Learn • Future Courses / Workshops Ø Project Management Ø Creative Thinking Ø Problem Solving Ø Numerical skills (CAS)

ASP – working with Colleges • ASP lecturers appointed as co-ordinators for individual colleges • Standard Workshops / Courses available for individual students to enrol on via Black. Board • Bespoke Workshops / Courses / Modules • Developed specifically at the request of a college, e. g. Public Speaking (School of Management) • Standard courses can be tailored to meet specific needs • Can form part of a credit-bearing module • Example – working on modules with Co. AH, to be delivered over 3 year period • Contact e. stratton@swansea. ac. uk for further information

Academic Success Programme (ASP) – working collaboratively on Employability • Working with Employability Champions in each college • Collaboration on the Swansea Employability Award • Working closely with Swansea Employability Academy (Careers)

Swansea Employability Academy – working with Colleges 24

How we can help you…. • Curriculum – role of Careers Advisers as ‘consultants’ to Colleges • HEA - Cole and Tibby Employability 2013 framework • Enabling employability, embedding the SEA award • Training Personal Tutors 25

My perspective • Its about skills + …………the X Factor……. • What is this X factor? • How can we help students to develop this X factor? 26

What does a growth Employability Mindset consist of? • Confidence – to take on and succeed in challenging tasks • Resilience – not only to bounce back from obstacles but to flourish • Optimism about achieving your goals • Perseverance – and a flexible attitude towards goals

A Way Forward - Recommendations Association of Graduate Recruiters Manifesto 2015: • Calls for employability skills to be embedded in all levels of education • Recommends better enterprise education in schools and universities • Encourages stronger partnerships and engagement with employers • Recommends that students are proactive in seeking out work experience and actively engage in activities that boost employability skills • Separately identifies responsibilities of government, employers, educators and students • Educators’ role – “to embed work-related learning across institutions in course design and through student support services” Encourage Colleges to work with ASP and SEA to further embed the employability factor in SU

Any Questions

Contact Details: Anna L. Prytherch Academic Success Programme Lecturer Academic Success Programme, Centre for Academic Success Swansea University, Singleton Park Swansea SA 2 8 PP Email: a. l. prytherch@swansea. ac. uk Web: www. swansea. ac. uk/ASP