Employability and Disability (National Teaching Fellowship Scheme project) Feb 2009- Jan 2011

1. Employability and Disability(National Teaching Fellowship Scheme project) Feb 2009- Jan 2011 Employability/PDP conference Jan 14 2010 Dr Val Chapman [NTF] Director Centre for Inclusive Learning Support

2. Project Team • Dr Val Chapman (NTF), Principal Investigator, University of Worcester (UW) • Rachel Gallagher, Project Manager (UW) • Judith Waterfield, University of Plymouth (UP) • Dr Phil Gravestock, University of Gloucestershire (UG)

3. Main beneficiaries of project: • academic staff • employers • primarily disabled students (but of interest and use to ALL students) • work-based mentors/link tutors • careers staff • disabled graduates

4. As a result of this project we envision: • university staff (academic and careers) feeling more confident in their inclusive practice, and in enabling disabled students to develop, and evidence, their employability skills and attributes • the enhanced employability of disabled students • disabled graduates getting more/better jobs • employers drawing on a wider pool of graduate talent

5. Aspirational goals: • The stigma associated with ‘disability’ in employment is reduced • Greater equity in employment of disabled graduates across the employment sectors • Better informed employers about disability in general • Employers show more awareness about the capabilities of those currently at the bottom of the ‘league table’ in terms of perceived employability • Employers become more confident and proactive in encouraging disclosure

6. Aspirational goals: • Disabled graduates become better able to market themselves to employers • Disabled students and graduates have a better understanding of their legal rights and obligations in education and employment • Disabled students/graduates recognise their strengths and understand how to accommodate and further develop those employability skills/ attributes that are affected by their impairment(s)

7. Aspirational goals: • SMEs feel more confident in employing disabled graduates • University staff have a better understanding of their legal rights and obligations • University departments feel more confident and capable in arranging and managing work placements for disabled students

8. Activities to date: Project Management • Appointment of project researcher/coordinator, Feb 09 • Appointment of Project Manager Sep 09 • Project team meetings x 5 • Steering group meetings x 2 • UW’s ‘Employability Officer’ co-opted onto Steering Group • VC’s membership of UW’s Employability Working Group • External evaluator for the project appointed (attends all SG meetings)

9. Activities to date: Establishing the context • Review of literature completed – will be reviewed and updated in year 2 • Audit of resources - ongoing • Audit of institutional contexts (employability) conducted • Membership of ‘Employability Development Group’ (comprised of [mainly] careers staff and others with a commitment to/interest in employability in the sector)

10. Activities to date: Website/resource development • Appointment of IT consultants • Service level agreement negotiated with Information and Learning Services • All possible urls bought for the ‘usemyability’ website • Project website established and populated with the information available to date http://www.usemyability.org • Development of technical infrastructure for web resource - ongoing • Training for project staff provided on use of CMS • Monthly stats reports on Website usage

12. Activities to date: Dissemination • Chapman, V. (2009) ‘Employability and Disability’, Teaching Learning and Assessment, 34-36,Leeds Metropolitan University, April. • Embedded link to ‘usemyability’ on SCIPS website • Article in the UW Newsletter and ‘allstaff’ email • Email to relevant jiscmail groups • Project posters • Project leaflets • Promotion at conference presentations • Leaflets distributed at conferences attended

13. Research • Review of Literature • First draft completed June 09 – to be reviewed and updated in 2010 • Perceptions of employability: • Disabled students in UG, UP and UW • Careers staff in UG, UP and UW : focus group/ telephone interviews • Employers • Locally (Worcestershire, Plymouth and Gloucestershire) through focus groups and telephone interviews • Nationally through the Bristol Online Survey (BOS)

14. Key findings so far – from the literature: • Employers want graduates with ‘oomph’ and ‘nous’; they value personal attributes and general employability skills as much as the specific skills needed to fulfil their particular roles • Many confuse ‘employment getting’ with ‘employability’ • Gaining employment at a level commensurate with their qualifications is as important an issue for graduates as gaining employment

15. Key findings so far – from the literature: • There is no agreed definition of employability • A hierarchy of impairments exists in terms of appeal to employers – those with mental health difficulties are deemed least attractive • Subtle discrimination remains an obstacle to disabled people gaining/succeeding in employment

16. Perceptions of employability

19. Employers’ survey • Bristol Online Survey: • distributed to 272 employer groups • 22 employment sectors • respondents: n=42

30. Future activities: • A project update on the website, Jan 2010 • Interviews withacademic staff, Feb 2010 • BOS surveyofWork-based mentors/link tutors, Jan 2010 • Completion of a body of scholarly knowledge 30/06/10 • Completion of the web based resource 30/06/10 • Publish data set of existing resources that support students in developing their employability skills), Nov 2010 • Case studies of good practice in text format supplemented by video vignettes, Nov 2010 • Dissemination – ongoing

31. Questions