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Employability & Student Success – what really matters?

Employability & Student Success – what really matters?. Doug Cole, Head of Student Success doug.cole@advance-he.ac.uk. Context. Learning from the research in employability?.

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Employability & Student Success – what really matters?

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  1. Employability & Student Success – what really matters? Doug Cole, Head of Student Success doug.cole@advance-he.ac.uk

  2. Context

  3. Learning from the research in employability? • Despite the use of the term ‘employability’ at the highest level, it still remains a contested term used in a range of contexts (Hillage & Pollard, 1998). • Philpott (1999) describe employability as a ‘buzzword’ which is often used but which is interpreted in a number of ways. • Gazier, (1998:298) (Cited in McQuaid & Lindsay, 2005:197) states employability is ‘a fuzzy notion, often ill-defined and sometimes not defined at all.’ • Williams et al. (2015) highlight the definition of employability has evolved over the years and still continues to be contested. • Language is key • How do we ensure ‘our labels’ bring people together rather than divide them?

  4. Employability – what is it? Examples of models in the literature and more are emerging: • Career Edge model - Dacre Pool, L. & Sewell, P. (2007) • USEM model - Knight, P. & Yorke, M. (2004) • Career Adaptability - Savickas, M.L. (1997) • Graduate identity – Holmes, L. (2001) • Graduate Capital Model – Tomlinson, M. (2017) • Employability 2.0 connectedness model – Bridgstock, R. (2016) • SOAR model – Kumar, A. (2007) I am not aware of any institution globally that utilises a single model to inform their approach to employability.

  5. HEA Embedding Employability in H.E Framework (2015) – An integrated and embedded approach • Key considerations • Creating a integrated, systematic, comprehensive and consistent approach at an institutional level • Bringing staff, industry and students together as part of the curriculum design process from the outset • Embedded in curriculum design processes • Supporting an effective assessment policy • Wider impact on the student experience / retention and attainment • Staff CPD, HR and Marketing https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ffNbi4qZg4w

  6. What works? Synergies Maximising student success is not simply a ‘nice thing to do’. It is a key element of institutional competitiveness in a higher education world that is increasingly characterised by business principles, in which teaching quality, student satisfaction and the achievement of graduates are core to institutional success. Supporting Student success: strategies for institutional change. What works? Student retention & success programme Summary Report by Thomas, Hill, O’Mahony and Yorke (2017:2)

  7. Learning & teaching for….. Source: Jackson, N (2008) • What Works 1? Found that: It is the human side of higher education that comes first – finding friends, feeling confident and, above all, feeling part of your course of study and the institution – that is the necessary starting point for academic success. (Thomas et. al 2017:3) • Further highlighting more common ground • How prepared are we to act on this? • Joined up current thinking? Developing smarter approaches?

  8. Theory to practice?1. Using the HEA Student Success Framework as a series of conceptual lenses?2. 3 stage process for a systematic, integrated institutional approach to student success – what really matters? Student Success Framework HEA (2016)

  9. Stage 1Design principle 1: Engaging with Constructive Alignment (Biggs, J. & Tang, C. 2011) Source http://www.teaching-learning.utas.edu.au/unit-design/constructive-alignment

  10. Stage 2 Design principle 2: Lifewide Learning – ‘Bringing the outside in’ FUTURE formal education o t h e r CPD Lifelong learning: All learning activity undertaken throughout life family / home interests/ hobbies work PRESENT Lifewide learning: All learning and personal development that emerges through activities in the multiple contexts and situations we inhabit contemporaneously at any point in our life, with the aim of fulfilling roles and achieving specific goals, and continuously developing knowledge, understanding, skills, capabilities, dispositions, values and meaning within personal, civic, social and/or employment-related contexts. PAST Adapted from source: Jackson, N. (2008)

  11. Stage 3:Cross thematic focus areas for student success, Cole, D. (2018, unpublished)

  12. Points for reflection • Are programme teams, students, industry & other stakeholders speaking the same language in relation to employability & student success? • What are we currently using as a point of reference for ongoing development across multiple strategic priorities? • Are we using the research to inform our practice? • With multiple strategic priorities and pressures (including TEF), are we doing enough to spot the synergies and finding smarter ways of working, at scale? • How does learning and teaching, employability and student success align at your own institutions? • Who leads these areas of work and have theygot the resources required?

  13. References • Biggs, J., & Tang, C. (2011). Teaching for quality learning at university (4th ed.). Berkshire, England: McGraw-Hill Education. • Bridgstock, R. (2017). Graduate employability 2.0 model. Retrieved from http://www.graduateemployability2-0.com/model/ • Dacre Pool, L., & Sewell, P. (2007) The key to employability: Developing a practical model for graduate employability. Education + Training, 49(4), 277-289. • Hillage, J., & Pollard, E. (1998). Employability: Developing a framework for policy analysis (Research Brief No. 85). London, England: Department for Education and Employment. • Jackson, N. J. (2008). The lifewide curriculum concept: A means of developing a more complete educational experience? (SCEPTrE paper). Retrieved from http://lifewidecurriculum.pbworks.com/w/page/17243455/A%20more%20complete%20education • Knight, P., & Yorke, M. (2004). Learning, curriculum and employability in higher education. London, England: Routledge Falmer. • Kumar, A. (2008). Personal, academic and career development in higher education – SOARing to success (London & New York) Routledge. • McQuaid, R. W., & Lindsay, C. (2005). The concept of employability. Urban Studies, 42(2), 197-219. • Philpott, J. (1999). Behind the ‘buzzword’: Employability. London, England: Employment Policy Institute. • Savickas, M. L. (1997). Career adaptability: An integrative construct for life-span, life-space theory. The Career Development Quarterly, 45(3), 247-259. • Thomas, L., Hill, M., O’Mahony, J., Yorke, M. (2017) Supporting student success: strategies for institutional change. What works? Student retention & success programme. (London) Paul Hamlyn Foundation • Tomlinson, M. (2017). Forms of graduate capital and their relationship to graduate employability. Education + Training, 59(4), 338-352. • Williams, S., Dodd, L. J., Steele, C., & Randall, R. (2015). A systematic review of current understandings of employability. Journal of Education and Work, 29(8) 877-901.

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