Employer perspectives on a broader curriculum and graduate attributes

1. Employer perspectives on a broader curriculum and graduate attributes Tony Donohoe, Head of Education Policy

2. Outline • Business Context • Employers’ view – IBEC Survey 2010 • National Strategy for Higher Education • Employability skills and attributes • PhD skills • Five Minds for the Future • Impact on curriculum, pedagogy and learning environment • Education for employment v good student learning

3. Post industrial concerns • Globalisation • 75% of world’s population does not speak English • End of US global economic dominance • Pervasiveness of technology • Complex and dynamic markets • Respond to customers, governments, markets, economic and social instabilities • Growth of services • 70% of employment and 40% of exports • Sustainability is a growing concern

4. IBEC Survey 2010 • Majority of respondents said they had no difficulty in recruiting suitable graduates from Irish HEIs (74.6%). • Most employers who had difficulty highlighted problems with the engineering-related disciplines • Employers were less satisfied with graduate’s ‘ability to work autonomously’ • Employers are now expecting higher education institutions to embed generic or employability skills more fully into their curricula. • 38% of respondents have informal or ad hoc college placement procedures in place in their organisations.

5. IBEC Survey 2010

6. National Strategy for Higher Education to 2030 • Integrating research with teaching learning • Parity of esteem between roles • Clear routes of progression • Work/service placements acknowledged through accreditation or diploma supplement • Flexible routes of progression within and across HEIs • National framework for RPL • First year experience • Induction and preparation programmes • More interdisciplinary learning opportunities

7. National Strategy for Higher Education to 2030 • Generic skills • Explicitly address skills required for workplace and engagement in society • Ensure alignment between learning outcomes, pedagogy and assessment • Review quality assurance frameworks • Develop guidelines to support National Framework of Qualifications • Review of external examiner system

8. National Strategy for Higher Education to 2030 • Engagement with wider society • Encourage greater inward and outward mobility of staff and students between HEIs, business, industry, the professions and wider community • Respond positively to the continuing professional needs of the wider community • Recognise civic engagement of students through programme accreditation • Encourage involvement of wider community in a range of activities including programme design

9. Vitae (UK) Report –ranking of skills for PhDs • Data analysis • Problem solving • Drive and motivation • Project Managing • Interpersonal skills • Leadership • Commercial awareness

10. The entrepreneurial skill-set • Self-confidence • Strategic thinking • Cooperate for success • Ability to plan work, organise tasks and communicate decisions • Project development and implementation • Team-building and attribution of success • Recognition and proactive orientation to change and innovation • Risk assessment and foresight activity with regard to market changes and opportunities

11. Gardner’s Five Minds for the Future • The Disciplinary Mind • mastery of major schools of thought • The Synthesizing Mind • ability to integrate ideas from different disciplinesor spheres into a coherent whole • The Creating Mind • Capacity to uncover and clarify new problems,questions and phenomena • The Respectful Mind • awareness of and appreciation for differences among human beings and human groups. • The Ethical Mind • fulfilment of one's responsibilities as a worker and as a citizen.

12. Employability • A richer construct than ‘skills wish-list’ • A set of achievements, understanding and personal attributes helps students to realise their potential • Meets corporate expectations • Supports values of citizenship • Helps produce learning that will shape the future • Should be located in an academic context • Not inimical to the values and practices of the academy • Implications for pedagogy, learning environment and assessment

13. Impact on learning environment • Employability – not a stand-alone ‘bolt on • Learning not just tied to instruction • Inter-disciplinary teaching • Active learning • Problem-based learning • Reflective learning • Team development • Work experience modules & materials • Work-based projects

14. Promoting employability • Explain what we mean by ‘employability’ to teaching colleagues and students • Write employability into programme specifications • Audit and promote employability • Not ‘one-size fits all’ • Tuning existing curricula • Use a variety of assessment methods • Help students to translate their achievements into ‘employer-friendly language

15. How business can do more • Support case for realistic funding models • Provide more guidance on the content of courses and the nature of employability skills • Provide opportunities to undertake real-life projects and provide undergraduate work experience • Seek to work with HEIs as a core part of their innovation activity • Seek to engage with the HE system to develop and help finance bespoke training provision for employees • A national graduate internship scheme

16. What will success look like? • Stronger business-university partnerships in which employers’ needs and HE outcomes are aligned • A sustainable and more efficient HE sector with the right incentives to deliver high-quality teaching and research • Business taking a more active and integral part in developing students’ skills and experience of the work of work • A richer experience for students