1. Enhancing Employability for Student Success
Edinburgh Napier University’s Graduate Employability Project
Fiona Wager

2. Edinburgh Napier University in context ...

3. Overview Introduction to the Graduate Employability Project
whole institutional approach to enhancing student success in terms of graduate employability since 2013
project context, aims, objectives, activities
monitoring and evaluation approach
Project outcome data
Key messages and lessons learned

5. Graduate Employability Project
Established in 2013
Three year funding from Scottish Funding Council
Whole institutional approach to enhance student success
Aim to improve graduate employability of our Scottish domiciled students and in particular MD20 students
Cross-institutional project to increase student participation in employability activities and develop skills and attributes relevant to the workplace
‘Stand Out from the Graduate Crowd’

6. Five distinct but inter-related activity ...
Enhanced Student Employability Development
Faculty-based Employer Relations Units (Curriculum Development)
Employer Relations Units (Non-credit bearing work-related experiences)
Student Mobility
Monitoring, evaluation, review & dissemination
... clearly linked to project outcomes

7. Key Objectives
More students into employment, particularly professional/managerial
Embedding outcomes and evaluation focus: tracking specific groups, eg MD20/40; demonstrating ‘additionality’
Balance between innovation and ‘doing more of what we know works’
Extending number and variety of opportunities, including work-related and mobility opportunities
Embedding partnership working approaches

8. Exemplar initiatives and activities
Careers guidance
Placement preparation and support
Employer Mentoring, employer events and networking
Embedded Confident Futures workshops
Global Mobility opportunities
Recruitment Assessment Centre Experiences
Skills Passport

9. Achievements
 Increased graduates entering employment and further study (95% DLHE outcome target achieved)
 Increased graduates entering professional/managerial employment over project timeframe (79%, 4% below target)
 Increased graduates entering professional/managerial jobs in SMEs (28%, 3% above target)
 Increased number and diversity of students participating in mobility programmes (66% increase in Scottish domiciled student participation over project timeframe)
Met or exceeded most targets
Step change in the visibility of employability
Enhanced Curriculum Development activity
New opportunities for students
Increased employer engagement
Increased student participation
Expanded employer mentoring and student mobility
Embedded evaluation and tracking of cohorts

10. Outcome data – key points
Considerable correlation between participation in employability activities and degree classification (progression and degree outcome data)
Positive impact of participation in employability activity on likelihood of graduates being in a professional/managerial job six months after graduating (DLHE)
Participation in certain types of employability activity had a significantly more positive effect (eg Confident Futures: double the odds of graduates being in a professional/managerial job, even after controlling for all other variables) (DLHE)

11. Lessons Learned Large, complex projects take time to bed in
Governance arrangements key
Outcomes focused approach
Innovation and creativity
Additionality through increased opportunities
Engagement through embedding employability within the curriculum
Cross-institutional ‘collaboration enabler’

12. Finally …
Project funding re-energised our employability agenda and led to better student outcomes
Our challenges are to:
maintain momentum on graduate employability post project; and
ensure long term sustainability in terms of impact, resource, activities and mind sets

13. Contact details Fiona Wager Project Evaluation Officer,
Market Intelligence, Planning & Business Intelligence
Edinburgh Napier University