1. Employability – what is it? Employability is a broader notion than employer engagement, it takes the student perspective The Writing Lesson, 1880 (w/c on paper) Waterford, Louisa Anne, Marchioness of (1818-91) © Bolton Museum and Art Gallery, Lancashire, UK

2. The Open University defines employability as: A set of achievements, understandings and personal attributes that support individuals in managing their careers.

3. Enhancing Employability 2: connecting learning, development and work COBE and CAS

4. Developing an approach for all OU students We need to consider: the diversity of our students – 80% in employment of some sort A changing age profile - New young undergraduate student numbers exceeded 15,000, making up 23.6% of the total intake in 2007/08 % of under 25s 10% students have disabilities an international community – what does employability mean for students in China, Africa, India?

5. Developing an approach for all OU students the diversity of national and international agendas : UK, EU and International contexts vary Scotland’s programme is looking at the skills needs of Graduates for the 21st Century Wales – SMEs, media, creativity and innovation Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland – employment and social cohesion China – a focus on English language

6. Our approach Orientation Development Articulation

7. CBI /UKK skills CBI/UUK Employability SkillsOpen University Undergraduate Levels Framework: Learning Outcomes Self Management Personal and Career Development Learning how to Learn Business and Customer Awareness Practical and Professional skills Teamworking Assessed in some courses and awards through professional practice. Problem solvingKnowledge and Understanding Communication and LiteracyKey skill – Communication Application of Numeracy Key skill - IT and numerical skills Application of information technology Key skill - Information literacy

8. Project outcomes An employability skills development policy for the whole university Whole Faculty/Programme approaches to the integration of skills with learning outcomes An on-line tool for career and personal development as an entitlement for all students Central, regional and national staff development activities to embed employability within OU systems

9. Questions What issues may arise for your faculty in devising your own interpretation of the OU UG levels framework? You might want to think about the issues linked to learner autonomy, articulating learning and skills, ICT, IL, accessibility, reflective learning terms of progression and engaging with the process of implementation. How might you begin to address these? Aspirational or actual reflection of existing practices. What resources would you need to help you to achieve this? From COBE, the library, guides, booklets, facilitated workshops etc.