1. From induction to ‘internship’: embedding employability through ‘appropriate challenges’
Identifying who we are and that we are all inducting our students into professions, whether that is over a 3 year UG degree or a 1 year PG degree
Having a clear expectation that our students will enter a profession has consequences for our approaches for embedding employability into our programmes.
Helena Knapton (Faculty of education),
Alice Diver (faculty of arts and sciences),
Richard Kitt (faculty of health and social care),
Senior teaching and learning fellows, edge hill university

2. Employability and professional status:
Starting from pre-induction to a preparedness for the early stages of their chosen profession
‘Belongingness’ (Yorke, 2016) is key, developing a community of practice
Profession-relevant tasks and assessments;
The ‘right level of challenge’ (Eraut, 2007: 418)
Reflective practice
Whilst recognising that not all of our students will enter the profession that they trained for, there still needs to be the development of skills that are transferable into other contexts and so our approaches cannot act as a barrier to other professions.
(What Do Graduates Do?’ HECSU/AGCAS (2012) available at
However, there is a clear imperative to prepare them for joining professions that are widely publicised for the level of stress and workload associated with them – and for nursing and teaching challenges to their status. Therefore our starting point is to incorporated approaches that will enable them to develop a community of practice which are embedded within a sense of ‘belongingness’ as key to successful outcomes – including retention and subsequent employment. The high levels of graduate employability, with 95% in nursing for the last 2 years, and 88% in secondary education.
Frame employability as requiring complex learning, to meet industry-led ‘policy aspiration[s]’.
The usual modalities for enhancing employability (work experience, entrepreneurship modules, careers advice and portfolio evidence to record achievements) may have limits in terms of effectiveness and validity. (Knight and Yorke, 2003)

3. Induction ? Pre-arrival task
Law – short essay responding to an ethical question, or about a high profile legal case
Secondary education – bespoke target setting, developing a ‘community of practice’
Nursing - engaging with personal tutor
LAW E.g. write a word answer to a problem question or short essay question, e.g. Legal Ethics, or a recent Supreme Court case. Requires ‘non-googled’ legal research – serves as ice-breaker, - helps them meet fellow suffering LLB students in Halls, or on social media - introduces them to EHU [programme leader, module leader] – reinforces that this very competitive profession requires a LOT of reading, resilience, and adherence to deadlines.
SECONDARY EDUCATION: Target setting in feedback following interview -
Facebook group, creation of sub-groups
Portfolio building
Observational experience
Subject knowledge enhancement
NURSING

4. Professional partnership (Belonging)
Prior observational/ work experience/ evidence of awareness of expectations
Professional practice/ placements: becoming a member of a department/ team
Working with partners to enhance delivery, e.g. pupil/ student workshops
Legal clinic in Year 3, dealing with real cases
‘Universities are an integral part of the skills and innovation supply chain to business. However, this supply chain is not a simple linear supplier‐purchaser transaction; it is not the acquisition of a single product or service. This supply chain is multi‐dimensional, it has to be sustainable, and it has to have quality, strength and resilience. These attributes can only be secured through close collaboration, partnership and understanding between business and universities.’
Wilson (2012: 2)

5. Profession-relevant tasks and assessments
Law – tasks to mirror the challenges of the workplace
Secondary education – synthesis of teaching practices and academic underpinning to inform and enhance their practice
Nursing – transition points between academic levels with input from professionals to make those links between training and professional expectations
LAW Have UG tasks mirror the challenges of the professional workplace (Driffield et al, 2011:1)
Frame employability as requiring complex learning, to meet industry-led ‘policy aspiration[s]’.
Level of challenge
Year 1 – Basic Legal skills – [e.g. legal research, groupwork, verbal arguments, role play client care, etc]
Year 2 – Advanced Legal skills [e.g. Ethics essay, formal Moot, drafting legal opinions, negotiations – tight deadlines, heavy workloads – no extensions….]
Year 3 – Law Clinic -competitive, optional module – [70% grade overall in year 2, to be eligible to take this module]
Secondary education: bespoke to the subject area - subject knowledge, planning teaching and assessment – scheme of work and rationale, enterprise event planning, delivery and evaluation – appropriate for Bus Ed, not for other subject areas
Nursing – transition points…

6. The place of reflective practice
Have students reflect upon why they have chosen a particular career or learning pathway. (Jones and Higson, 2012)
Reflective practice integral with both nursing and education:
Reflection on practice with every nursing placement – prepares them for their future career with the requirement to revalidate their professional qualification with 5 reflections every 3 years
Reflection both an academic and professional requirement in teacher education where students have to show competency against the Teachers’ Standards and ability to continuously improve.
Remember that ‘employers want graduates who present convincing evidence that they have both personal qualities and complex achievements that bode well for workplace performance.’ (Knight and Yorke, 2003:4)

7. Employability and professional status:
Starting from pre-induction to a preparedness for the early stages of their chosen profession
‘Belongingness’ (Yorke, 2016) is key, developing a community of practice
Profession-relevant tasks and assessments;
The ‘right level of challenge’ (Eraut, 2007: 418)
Reflective practice
Whilst recognising that not all of our students will enter the profession that they trained for, there still needs to be the development of skills that are transferable into other contexts and so our approaches cannot act as a barrier to other professions.
(What Do Graduates Do?’ HECSU/AGCAS (2012) available at
However, there is a clear imperative to prepare them for joining professions that are widely publicised for the level of stress and workload associated with them – and for nursing and teaching challenges to their status. Therefore our starting point is to incorporated approaches that will enable them to develop a community of practice which are embedded within a sense of ‘belongingness’ as key to successful outcomes – including retention and subsequent employment. The high levels of graduate employability, with 95% in nursing for the last 2 years, and ?? in secondary education.
Frame employability as requiring complex learning, to meet industry-led ‘policy aspiration[s]’.
The usual modalities for enhancing employability (work experience, entrepreneurship modules, careers advice and portfolio evidence to record achievements) may have limits in terms of effectiveness and validity. (Knight and Yorke, 2003)

8. From induction to ‘internship’: embedding employability through ‘appropriate challenges’
Identifying who we are and that we are all inducting our students into professions, whether that is over a 3 year UG degree or a 1 year PG degree
Having a clear expectation that our students will enter a profession has consequences for our approaches for embedding employability into our programmes.
Helena Knapton (Faculty of education),
Alice Diver (faculty of arts and sciences),
Richard Kitt (faculty of health and social care),
Senior teaching and learning fellows, edge hill university