1. Facilitating Undergraduate Employability
TLC Careers and Skills Action Team
Véronic Bézaire, Christine Laurendeau,
Andrew Speirs, Bruce Tsuji

3. Employment rate - 2 years post graduation
Employment rate around 90% after 2 years is fairly high BUT how does employment relate to field of study? No clear answer available; self-reported data
Source: OIRP 2016/17; MAESD University Outcomes data, based on 2013 graduate cohort

4. Employment rate related to degree skills
Rate of employment related to skills developed in university is lower in social sciences, humanities, other arts and sciences, biological sciences (for ON and CU)
Examples of skills given on survey instrument: critical thinking, analytical, communication, problem solving
Source: OIRP Dec 2015, using MTCU Ontario Graduates Survey Data

5. Problem: Reality vs. Perception
Disconnect between
Skills acquired in university
Skills students realize they have acquired
Consequences
Difficulty in marketing their skills
Difficulty in finding employment

6. The Journey

7. Employability tool: cuPortfolio
Carleton’s electronic portfolio system
Enables students to
Reflect on learning and skills acquired
Discuss learning with peers/coaches
Showcase work

8. Numerous groups tackling employability
Career Services
Strategic Transformation Group & Employability
Carleton Leader
Individual Instructors …
Career services: many types of services….
STGE: Strategic Transformation Group & Employability
Carleton Leader:
Individual Instructors work with Career Services to incorporate employability and career skills in their courses
… not meant to be an exhaustive list… there are likely other groups working on employability

9. General employability skills
Fundamental
Communication
Information management and analysis
Problem solving
Personal management
Teamwork

10. Developing employability skills
First year seminars
Classroom employability courses:
PSYC  3802 Transition to Career
ECON 3920 Professional Practice of Economics
ECOR 4995 Professional Practice …
Co-op
Placements
We explored how employability skills are integrated in curriculum
The most common approach is through experiential learning: first year seminars, capstone courses, co-op, unpaid placements; in a career setting or setting and work dynamics are mimicked
Another approach, far less common, are classroom courses dedicated to employability skills and career transition
PSYC 3802 [0.5 credit] Transition to Career Examines traditional and current models in career psychology. Topics may include the concepts of change and transitions, self-assessments, vocational psychology, and workplace onboarding. Students will have the opportunity to examine their personal and professional transition from university to the work world. Prerequisite(s): third or fourth year standing in Psychology. Lectures and seminars three hours a week.
ECON 3920 Professional Practice of Economics
Development of skills used by professional economists, including writing professional documents such as policy briefs and memos, data visualization, communication of economic ideas in non-technical terms, presentation skills, and team-based problem solving. Prerequisite(s): ECON 2030 with a grade of C+ or higher, ECON 2103 with a grade of C+ or higher, ECON 2210 (or equivalent) with a grade of C‐ or higher, and ECON 2220 (or equivalent) with a grade of C+ or higher.
Seminars three hours a week.
ECOR 4995 [0.5 credit] Professional Practice Presentations by faculty and external lecturers on the Professional Engineers Act, professional ethics and responsibilities, practice within the discipline and its relationship with other disciplines and to society, health and safety, environmental stewardship, principles and practice of sustainable development. Communication skills are emphasized. Precludes additional credit for MAAE 4905, CIVE 4905, SYSC 3905 or ELEC Prerequisite(s): fourth-year status in Engineering. Lectures three hours a week.
Capstone courses

11. Impact of employability course
Self-awareness of employability skills
Field or skill-related employment
6 mo yrs
First, we would like to explore the impact of the course on two parameters:
self-awareness of employability skills
field or skill-related employment rate
We would do this by surveying students after completing PSYC 3802, and after graduation
For comparison purposes, we would also survey, at the same time points, a control group of PSYC students who were never enrolled in PSYC 3802
Assessment of employability skills would be done using the Conference Board of Canada ‘employability skills list formulated as statements to be rated on a Likert scale
Field or skill-related employment would be assessed at 6th and 2 years post graduation; how to assess it may prove challenging

12. Group Exercise General employability skills:
Fundamental: Communication; Information management and analysis; Problem solving
Personal management
Teamwork
What additional skills would be valuable in a career transition course in your discipline?