1. Embedding employability in the student lifecycle
Professor Rosalind Foskett

2. External drivers for change
Increasing competition for good students
Student fees and ‘value for money’ judgements
Changing patterns of student employment and unemployment
HEFCE/Research Councils emphasis on employer engagement in funding decisions
League table positions
Bologna process identifies employability as a key factor in curriculum design and university experience

3. Internal drivers for change
Aspiration to provide top quality education for all students
LTA Strategy identifies employability as a key theme:
“development of strong employability, entrepreneurial and creative skills in our graduates”
Emerging Research and Knowledge Transfer Strategy identifies links between enterprise, entrepreneurship and employability
Issues of retention and progression

4. Graduate Prospects University Rank in league table
% Graduate employment
Warwick
13th
79.2
Aston
17th
78.1
Birmingham
39th
72.7
Keele
47th
70.4
Staffordshire
56th
69.0
Worcester
59th
68.2
Coventry
62nd
67.5
Birmingham City
67th
65.7
Gloucester
75th
64.2
Wolverhampton
89th
60.9
Good University Guide 2010; Times online

5. Graduate Employability
Employability skills include:
Cognitive skills - higher level intellectual or academic skills (eg interpreting, analysing, researching)
Key skills – personal skills and qualities which are generic to a range of both academic and employment settings (eg enterprise, criticality, teamwork, communication, planning and organising)
Career Management skills – skills required to manage career development (eg self analysis, networking, self reliance and reflection)
Enterprising Attitudes – personal qualities to spot opportunities and have the skills to act on them.

6. Employability of Graduates
The University, its Institutes and Services should develop mechanisms for engaging with employers to broaden their understanding of the value of our programmes and our graduates through:
Fostering and developing professional networks (eg through use of alumni, employer fora and partnership)
Engaging employers in the curriculum (eg through membership of programme development teams, validation panels and curriculum review)
Developing the knowledge of employers of the work of students and staff (eg internships, placements, project work, and knowledge transfer activity)

7. Definition of Employability
Graduate Employability
Employment of Graduates
Cognitive Skills
Key Skills
Career
Management Skills
Fostering Professional Networks
Engaging
employers in the curriculum
Developing
employers’ knowledge of the University
Enterprising attitudes

8. An employer perspective KPMG

9. KPMG: So what do we look for?
Business Focus
Taking Responsibility
Motivation and Resilience
Continuous Learning
Building Relationships
Communicating
Problem Solving
Organising and delivering quality
Acting with Integrity

10. What’s on an employers wish list?
I don’t want you to train students to be accountants
17% of our intake are accountancy and finance
I do want you to provide them with new learning opportunities and the skills to reflect on those experiences
Group projects
Live case studies
Presentation opportunities
Work experience
Exposure to employers
Preferably within the curriculum but bolt on is better than nothing

11. A research perspective

12. The Project The project aimed to:
map the provision of credit-bearing careers education within UK HE and FHE institutions and to produce a fine-grained typology for this provision;
identify the nature and characteristics of the provision; and
identify, through a number of vignettes, examples of interesting and innovative practice of credit-bearing careers education in higher education institutions.

13. Typology Factors Policy frameworks Funding drivers QA/QE Devolution of
political power
Macro-level
Micro-level
Type of integration
Disciplinary integration
Optionality
Personnel involved
Institutional focus
Institutional type
Institutional history
Institutional policy
Discipline autonomy
Resource allocation
Meso-level

14. Credit-bearing careers education
Type 1: Standalone, generic unit
Complete free-standing unit of largely generic careers education, as part of HE programmes (e.g. A career development unit)
Type 2: Integrated, generic, intra-unit provision
Generic careers education integrated into programmes as part of units (e.g. PDP integrated into the programme offer)
Type 3: Integrated, discipline-specific, units
Provision tailored to target disciplines and integrated into programmes as an entire unit (e.g. The Professional Engineer)

15. Credit-bearing careers education
Type 4: Integrated, discipline-specific, intra-unit provision
Provision tailored to target disciplines and integrated into programmes as part of a unit (e.g. Programme of career development within a discipline)
Type 5: Fully integrated provision
Provision fully integrated into, or mapped onto units of HE programmes (e.g. accredited WBL programme; all staff/all units/all students/all programmes embed careers education)

16. Employability Life-cycle
Personalised
Careers
account
Applicant portal
Freshers’
Fair
Website
New
Students
Open Days
Prospective
Students
Video-
Streamed
events
Institute
induction
Campus
Events
Volunteering
Alumni
Case
Studies
Careers
Advisory Service
Clubs and
Societies
Podcasts
Existing
Students SU
activities
Job Shop
Interview
rooms
Seminar
space
Student enterprise
activities
Bespoke
Institute Events
Lifetime UW
membership
Employers
Graduate
Internship
Alumni
Business
Development
Office
Work-based
learning
Employability-
Focused
curriculum
Institute-
Employer links
Careers
network
Subject Sell
sheets
On-campus
recruitment
Leavers’
Pack

17. Example: Within recruitment
Does the programme publicity give details about possible employment opportunities for graduates of the course?
Does the programme publicity identify the employability skills that a student will gain from the programme?
Do you talk about employability at Open Days and recruitment events?
Do student employment profiles feature in publications or as posters within your Institute?

18. Example: Curriculum
How has the curriculum development process been informed by employers?
Is the issue of employability addressed in the rationale for the programme?
Are the employability skills identified clearly in the module outlines and the programme specification?
Could careers education and employability skills be embedded in the curriculum and attract credit?
Have you considered including opportunities for work-related learning in your programme?
Have you considered the issue of employability in relationship to the diversity agenda

19. Example: Alumni
What mechanisms do we have to support leavers in their transition to life post-University e.g. ‘Out’duction schemes, graduate salaried interns?
What information/support can be provided as on-going support e.g. Leavers’ packs, sell sheets, lifetime
How do we integrate the alumni process with employability e.g. Alumni providing help ‘in kind’; relationship marketing
How do we ensure that alumni links feed into employer links for the Business Development Office?

20. Thank you for listening