1. Employability across disciplines:
A roadmap for staff
Anna Rolinska, dr Heather Cleland-Woods, dr Matthew Barr
Project Leader: dr Maxine Swingler

2. Graduate Attributes & Employability Skills
a set of skills, understandings and attributes that are achieved over the course of a degree;
being prepared to engage in an ongoing process of professional and personal career development;
developing the ability to bring critical reasoning to bear, and applying these skills throughout and across the lifespan, not just within employment.

3. Related problems and challenges
Students’ lack of self-awareness
Varying levels of engagement within the student body
Recording and measuring
Transferring across domains
How GAs are articulated > university ‘speak’, up-to- date and still relevant?

4. Where am I now and where do I want to be?
2-year LTDF project
GAs as a narrative of the student experience in pre- honours classes
Focus on reflection and self-assessment
Interdisciplinary
Design/implementation/evaluation cycle

5. Reflective exercises - Arts

6. Practice/evidence-based Accessible, searchable, flexible
A Roadmap for Staff
2cd year of the Project
Interdisciplinary
Practice/evidence-based
Accessible, searchable, flexible
Internal/external resources
To support and inspire staff
Integrated into UoG webpages (LEADS)
Context and practicalities
Teaching intervention itself
Supporting documents

7. Context and practicalities Teaching intervention itself
Case Study approach
To get under the skin
To find out what really happens […] from the perspective of those involved
Context and practicalities
Teaching intervention itself
What?
So what? Now what?
What next?
Supporting documents

8. Case Studies
Reflection on GAs and goals ahead for Y2 students in Sciences
Reflection on GAs and goals ahead for Y2 students in Arts
Reflection on GAs through a PDP framework
Student Peer Mock Interviewing
Employability Accelerator
Alumni and student speed networking event
Bespoke ‘Planning for the Profession’ programme
Embedding graduate attributes within placement
Co-assessment of oral presentations

9. Case Studies at a glance
Disciplinary contexts: Science and Engineering, Arts, Veterinary Biosciences, Psychology, Earth Science, Accounting and Finance, Social Sciences, Environmental Science and Sustainability
Class size: Small and Medium
Purpose: Raising general awareness (1-8)
Pedagogical set up: standalone lectures/seminars (45-90 min), seminar sequences, wholly in class/mix (blended)
Little/some impact on curriculum redesign/staff workload
Collaborative/organised in conjunction with other agents

10. Case Studies – a variety of approaches
general awareness-raising initiatives focusing on reflection on GAs (1-3)
careers-led initiatives targeting the development of employability skills (4-7)
curricular initiatives related to work-based learning and placement (8-9)

11. Stakeholders’ reaction
‘I found the session quite helpful. I did already know most of it, to be honest, but it was good to refresh some things and to think about how to overcome weaknesses.’ [Student] 
I have improved my confidence, self-esteem and feel more able to advance further. Learnt that theory and reality don’t always coincide … I learnt that flexibility is essential. [Student]
‘students are universally positive about what they have learnt and mention the confidence they have gained from the experience’ [Staff]

12. Challenges and lessons learnt
Students’ perceptions of GAs: scepticism/complacency, variation within the student body dependent on demographics
Task design: engagement factor, real-life applicability, authentic tools, class interaction patterns (peer learning)
Organisation/logistics/timetabling/external stakeholders’ involvement

13. Conclusion
Confidence booster – pre- and post-activity comparative analysis
Increased accessibility and inclusivity
Collaborative approach
Questions: engagement and retention strategies, evaluation of impact on knowledge and skills acquisition and development, scaling up

14. https://glasgow.onlinesurveys.ac.uk/graduate-attributes-survey
Call for submissions
Online form:
Contact

15. Food for thought
How are you and your colleagues engaging your students with graduate attributes?
What language and terminology are useful in articulating the importance of GAs to students at the different stages of the study cycle?
Which time and contexts seem the most appropriate for the students to start engaging with GAs?