AGCAS Annual Conference 2023 programme - Keele University

AGCAS ANNUAL CONFERENCE Employability: Ethics and Evolution Keele University

20–21 June 2023

Conference sponsor

WELCOME TO THE AGCAS ANNUAL CONFERENCE 2023 This year we are holding a hybrid conference, with this event at Keele University followed by our online conference to continue the conversation. We’re really excited about this new approach, which reflects our conference theme of Employability: Ethics and Evolution.

This conference is an opportunity for HE careers professionals to discuss how we, as a profession, support our students and graduates when there is so much uncertainty facing the working world. Over both the in-person and online conference, we will consider how higher education careers and employability services adapt in the face of radical change.

This is our first face-to-face Annual Conference since 2019 and it is great to have the opportunity to catch-up and share knowledge in person. We are bringing you a fantastic programme of expert speakers who will be sharing their thoughts on how employability issues are affecting the sector.

On day one our focus will be on regulation and professional responsibilities and professional values, ethics and impartiality. We will hear from keynote speaker John Blake, Director for Fair Access and Participation, Office for Students, and we have a panel discussion on impartiality with Lizzie Mortimer, AGCAS Professional Standards Director, Kulvinder Birring, Director of Student Futures, Keele University and Pat Russell, Chair of the Institute of Employability Professionals.

On day two we move onto graduate careers in a hybrid world, with a keynote address from Dr Nalayini Thambar, Director of Planning, Performance and Strategic Change, University of Nottingham and Dr Helen Hughes, Associate Professor, University of Leeds. The theme for the afternoon is AI and technology in careers practice, and we will hear from keynote speaker Sue Attewell, Head of EdTech, JISC. Across each day, we also have a fantastic range of parallel sessions where you will learn from the experiences of your colleagues and look at ways to adapt working practices to best support students and graduates for the future. The conference also provides great opportunities for networking, including a new member networking session during the lunch break on day one. This is a great way to make contacts and learn how to make the most of AGCAS membership.

During the conference, we will be celebrating excellence and innovation in the sector with the AGCAS Awards for Excellence. As always, we received very strong nominations, so thank you to our judges who have had a very hard task in selecting the winners. Good luck to all the nominees.

Thank you to everyone who has contributed to organising this event, in particular our conference sponsor, Symplicity, and all our award sponsors and exhibitors. Do take the opportunity to visit the exhibition hall and learn about their latest initiatives.

I’ve had a busy and enjoyable first few months as AGCAS President and really value input and ideas from the membership. AGCAS’s strength is its members so please take the opportunity to catch up with me or one of the other Directors and let us know what you want from your professional association. We’ve just relaunched the AGCAS Strategy so do take the opportunity to review and share your thoughts. I hope you have an enjoyable and inspiring conference.

Paul Gratrick, AGCAS President

CONFERENCE PROGRAMME Tuesday 20 June

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CONFERENCE PROGRAMME

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Conference sponsor

CONFERENCE PROGRAMME Wednesday 21 June

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CONFERENCE PROGRAMME

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Conference sponsor

KEYNOTE SPEAKERS

Tuesday 20 June KEYNOTE Lizzie Mortimer AGCAS Professional Standards Director

KEYNOTE John Blake Director for Fair Access and Participation, Office for Students

John Blake is the Director for Fair Access and Participation. His role is to ensure universities and colleges are doing all they can to support learners from all backgrounds, especially the most disadvantaged, to access and succeed in higher education.

John took up his position at the Office for Students in January 2022. Prior to joining OfS, he was a senior leader and researcher in the schools sector, leading on public affairs and curriculum research and design for Ark, policy and strategy for Now Teach and History initial teacher education for the Harris Federation. He has also worked as Head of Education and Social Reform for the think tank, Policy Exchange, was a founder governor of Oak National Academy, and served as an advisor to the government on reforms to initial teacher training and continuing professional development.

Lizzie is Assistant Director of the University of Edinburgh Careers Service, providing strategic direction and oversight of key areas of activity; including student information and engagement, ED&I, digital and online presence, internships, work experience and on-campus employment. Following a degree in English Language, Lizzie took roles in TEFL, HR and recruitment, and Learning & Development before moving into Careers Guidance.

She has worked as a careers professional in higher education for over 15 years, first at the University of Glasgow, then at Edinburgh - where she led on a number of specialist projects and worked with a variety of academic caseloads before taking up her current role. She has served in various volunteer roles for AGCAS and AGCAS Scotland, including as member of the Phoenix Editorial Group, the Professionalism Working Party, and as a peer assessor for the AGCAS Quality Standard.

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KEYNOTE SPEAKERS

Tuesday 20 June

PANELLIST Kulvinder Birring Director of Student Futures, Keele University

Kulvinder has over 25 years of employability experience working across a range of higher education institutions, with 10 of those years at Deputy and Director level. Institutions have included City, Brunel, Kings, UCL, SOAS, Anglia Ruskin, LSBU and currently at Keele University, started there in January 2023.

Kulvinder has a wide wealth of experiences, knowledge and subject matter resulting from the institutions he has worked across, informing his approach as a leader, manager and practitioner. He has been privileged to manage and develop a wide range of employability initiatives, take part in enterprise, start-ups and externally funded schemes; supporting AGCAS, employers, sector organisations, professional bodies, giving an insight into stakeholder needs and the everchanging labour market.

Kulvinder's drive has always been to work in partnership with colleagues, leading them to develop wrap around employability services mapped to the student journey, helping students reach their goals, changing lives and the wider society.

PANELLIST Pat Russell Chair of the Institute of Employability Professionals

Pat is an employability professional with extensive career experience in the British civil service, notably in the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) and as Head of the Office for Disability Issues. She has policy and programme design expertise in welfare to work commissioned provision, was responsible for the DWP Commissioning Strategy in 2006 and was Deputy Director for both the Social Justice and Young People and Employment Divisions.

She was part of the Institute for Government’s innovative programme ‘Connecting Policy with Practice’, working with a range of central government senior officials and senior leaders from the local public and charity sectors.

Pat has also had experience in the private sector as Director for Work and Health at Advanced Personnel Management (APM), a company delivering innovation in employment activation services in the UK, Australia and New Zealand.

As an independent consultant, she worked with Local Authorities and in the charity sector, supporting organisations to develop strategic life skills support and new provision.

Pat became Chair of the Institute of Employability Professionals in 2017 helping to grow the organisation to one which now has members worldwide and which offers an extensive range of training and support to employability professional everywhere.

In her spare time, Pat volunteers as Chair of the Board of Trustees for Pawprint Trust, a small charity that supports young people by providing grants to enable them to experience new adventures.

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KEYNOTE SPEAKERS

Wednesday 21 June

KEYNOTE Dr Nalayini Thambar Director of Planning, Performance and Strategic Chnage, University of Nottingham Dr Nalayini Thambar is a Fellow of the Higher Education Academy and a qualified careers adviser whose career has included teaching, professional practice and leadership across all areas of student employability. Her primary research interest is the professional identity of Higher Education Careers Professionals. At Nottingham in the UK, China and Malaysia, Nalayini led the development of expert services so that students and graduates develop their employability skills, consider global graduate careers and secure fulfilling roles. As AGCAS Quality Director she led the establishment of the Membership Quality Standard and the mapping of Professional Pathways for all UK HE Careers Professionals. She is currently the Director of Planning, Performance and Strategic Change at the University of Nottingham.

KEYNOTE Sue Attewell Head of Edtech, JISC

ingirector ures, Keele

KEYNOTE Dr Helen Hughes Associate Professor, University of Leeds

Dr Helen Hughes is a Chartered Occupational Psychologist, and Associate Professor at Leeds University Business School. She specialises in the social dynamics of workplace relationships, as well as graduate employability and early career transitions to the workplace. She is passionate about translating high quality research into usable insights and strategies, working with partners such as Rolls-Royce, Jaguar-LandRover, The National Health Service, Leeds City Council, Atkins, and KPMG. She was an Investigator on the ESRC-funded project: “Adapting Offices for the Future of Work” project. Her research has been published in international journals and edited books, and has been featured by media outlets including the BBC, Forbes, the Financial Times, and the Telegraph, as well as radio and podcasts.

Sue has a strong background in tertiary education and skills having worked in the sector for the last eighteen years. She has a wealth of diverse experience having worked across charities, government agencies, local colleges, councils and LEPs. Sue previously focused on skills and economic development where the emphasis was on meeting the

needs of employers by building a skills pipeline responsive to future needs of employers and ensuring all individuals have the necessary skills and support to move into sustainable employment.

At Jisc as Head of Edtech, she is responsible for developing new products and services for the sector and overseeing the projects we are developing to achieve that vision. Sue co-leads the National Centre for AI in tertiary education where our aim is to support the AI maturity of our members. The centre focuses on developing the AI literacy and skills of members and supporting institutions to identify and adopt relevant products responsibly.

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PARALLEL SESSIONS

Tuesday 20 June 12:15–13:15

FREE CHOICE ON THE DAY A: Before, during and after the micro-placement: offering inclusive and accessible work experience Presenters: Amy Carpenter and Dr Laura Reeves, University of Suffolk. Room CBA1.098 ​Having received funding from TASO, University of Suffolk (UoS) conducted a pilot small ‘n’ evaluation to evaluate an intervention designed to widen participation (WP) in higher education. From our findings, it is evident that the microplacement scheme – from advertising to recruitment, through to a 30-hour placement and postplacement reflection - has had highly positive outcomes, especially targeting students within underrepresented groups. Notably, many graduates highlighted the long-term impact felt as a result of engaging in the scheme. Since launching in 2017, over 100 students – many from underrepresented groups – have now participated; placements have been offered in most university departments (academic and professional services), and several students and graduates were interviewed for this project. Join our interactive workshop to explore our findings, and then reflect on your own initiatives. How do your work experience interventions positively or negatively impact your WP students, from advert to reflection, and everything in between?​

B: Aston Global Advantage: levelling the playing field for MSc Business international postgraduate students Presenters: Elsa Zenatti-Daniels, Sarah Collins and Peggy Vazoura, Aston University. Room CBA0.060

​Over the past ten years, the Aston Global Advantage (AGA) module has been embedded in all our Masters’ degrees in the Aston Business School (ABS) at Aston University where 90% of our postgraduate students are international. Through this compulsory professional development programme, we embed and tailor our employability support and address issues specific to international students. We challenge perceptions, encourage reflective practice, and educate our students around ethical business practices. Last academic year, over 400 out of the 1200 Masters’ Business students secured work-based experience as part of the AGA, many of them in paid full-time roles. ​ e would like to share how the AGA has evolved over the years to create a more level playing field for our W international postgraduate students via an innovative employability programme, civic citizenship partnerships and sustainability awareness initiatives which have only been possible through the collaboration of ABS professional, academic and careers staff.​

C: Moving beyond deficit models: dismantling institutional barriers to employability development Presenters: Aranee Manoharan, King’s College London and Branden Grimmett, Emory University.

Room CBA1.102 ​This workshop will introduce participants to strategies that prepare diverse student populations for the future of life and work, with all its uncertainty, focusing on what career services can do to 1) identify the unique obstacles students from diverse backgrounds face and 2) address the structural inequities in the spaces they navigate. ​ oving from a deficit model to a hope-centred one, the presenters will facilitate participants through an interactive M exercise to explore how, considering their institutional and regional context, they can align resources to help students navigate an uncertain future, reducing anxiety and raising confidence through creating a collective culture of belonging.​ PAGE 9

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PARALLEL SESSIONS

Tuesday 20 June 12:15–13:15

FREE CHOICE ON THE DAY D: The ethics of big data in higher education careers and employability provision Presenter: Fiona Cobb, University of London. Room CBA1.099/CBA1.100 As ‘big data’ and methods used to predict student behaviours become more mainstream across the higher education sector, we are seeing significant benefits to the ways in which metrics and data are informing professional practice within higher education careers and employability services. There are also a range of ethical and social challenges that are posed that we must navigate in order to ensure we are delivering balanced, evidence informed practice to individual students. This session will unpack some of the key issues from research literature and policy around big data, predictive modelling and machine learning with a focus on the higher education careers and employability data context. We invite colleagues to join the conversation on key issues and practical solutions for ensuring we use these approaches in ethical and safe ways to enhance our careers and employability delivery, whilst protecting the individual data subjects, our students.

E: Graduate support in Wales: the value of national collaborations and localised approaches to graduate support (with the HEFCW Graduate Support Fund) Presenters: AGCAS Cymru and HEFCW. Room CBA1.103 As part of the Welsh Government’s Covid economic recovery plan, Welsh HEI’s were allocated HEFCW funds to support graduates from widening participation backgrounds through a rapidly altered and uncertain jobs market. Whilst all HEIs took differing approaches, they committed 1% of funds for collaboration at a strategic level and provided hybrid working opportunities. This collaboration meant that the funding could be spread across all HEIs, appealing to all graduates and utilising our networks across Wales as opposed to in isolation. Central to considerations were Welsh language and inclusivity to widen access to the programme.

T​ his panel will discuss differing approaches, the benefits, challenges and outcomes of this unique programme of graduate support. It will also explore the value and challenges of the collaborative element, discussing the events, programme delivered, the resources, and their outcomes. Finally, we will discuss the legacy of the project, and what comes next for graduates in Wales. ​

F: Co-ownership of careers: an evolved approach to working with academic career tutors and employability leads Presenter: Paul FitzGerald, University of Leicester. Room CBA0.061 ​Having academic colleagues who can champion all things careers from within their schools/departments can be hugely advantageous in engaging students and promoting relevant support. At Leicester we have developed a ‘Career Tutor Network’ that is enabling us (as a slightly devolved but still mainly central service) to support and engage students at a more school/discipline focused level. In this session, we will discuss: ​The evolving role of a ‘Career Tutor’ at Leicester and how they are supporting with ownership of, and accountability for shared institutional employability aims. ​How collaboration with Career Tutors can support the provision of much more targeted and tailored careers and employability provision (with examples of good practice). ​How an effective working relationship with Career Tutors can be essential to engaging students with the careers and employability support available.

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PARALLEL SESSIONS

Tuesday 20 June 15:45–16:45

FREE CHOICE ON THE DAY A: Seeking social justice: involving autistic students as partners in the design of tailored employability provision Presenters: Keren Coney and Jack Fitzpatrick, Liverpool John Moores University. Room CAB0.060 ​Recent studies on the destinations of graduates have found that of all disabled graduates, autistic individuals are least likely to be employed (Vincent 2020) and are often under-employed (Pesonen et al. 2021, Remington & Pellicano 2019). The disappointing outcomes for autistic people highlight the way in which these individuals are marginalised; clearly something should be done. In this session, a careers practitioner and an autistic graduate and collaborator will outline an innovative participatory project conducted at a UK university over the past two years that explored how to provide effective careers and employability support for autistic students. The impact of the project will also be described, including the ongoing ripple effect within the institution and beyond. Through hearing this account and through interactive elements of the session, participants will be encouraged to consider how they could introduce participatory work with students who are in danger of being marginalised – and in this way, seek to bring about social justice in their own institutions.

B: Towards an ‘empowered employability’ for graduates in turbulent times Presenter: Ellen Shobrook, University of Birmingham. Room CBA1.098 ​In response to a worsening cost of living crisis and rising inflation, 2022 and 2023 saw an unprecedented wave of strike action across the UK labour market - including in traditionally ‘graduate’ sectors such as healthcare, public sector and education. How far should HE careers services take responsibility for ensuring that graduates are truly prepared for the realities of the world of work, in terms of understanding their workplace rights and navigating complex financial issues such as pay and pensions? How can we empower our graduates to understand that they can have a say in shaping the future world of work – whether that is through individual career decision-making leading to broader social change, or ensuring that graduates are confident to speak up when experiencing (or witnessing) workplace injustices? And how do we balance this alongside the professional principle of impartiality? ​

C: The biased careers consultant: does the hat you wear matter?

Presenter: Emma Lennox, Queen's University Belfast. Room CBA1.099/CBA1.100 ​ ow much of yourself do you bring to work when engaging with students? With words like equality and impartiality H frequently being used, is it possible for a careers practitioner to be a complete blank canvas? Drawing on ideas of constructing identity alongside the Systems Theory Framework, this session will explore the findings of autoethnographic research, questioning if all students can or should be treated equally. The positives and drawbacks for the careers professional as an individual will be highlighted, as well as potential impacts on the students supported, and implications for practice. Attendees will be invited to reflect on their own professional practice as they navigate the balance between occupying various roles, delivering CEIAG with multiple different stakeholders in a variety of contexts.​

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PARALLEL SESSIONS

Tuesday 20 June 15:45–16:45

FREE CHOICE ON THE DAY D: Exploring the ethics of career mentoring for social mobility Presenter: Dr Tania Lyden, University of Warwick. Room CBA1.103

​Undergraduate career mentoring by employers and/or alumnus often have social mobility aims where mentors facilitate students, who may be underrepresented both at university and in professional careers, to identify and achieve aspirational career paths. This may also benefit the HEI involved through hopefully improved graduate outcomes.

How can the management of such schemes challenge our professional ethics, and in particular our impartiality and duty of care to students? How can we navigate these ethical dilemmas? Based on research, this workshop takes participants through relevant theory, and a model of career mentoring in HE and facilitates an analysis of the dilemmas involved whilst also presenting some best practice guidelines mentoring scheme managers could follow and an opportunity for the participants to extend and build on. ​

E: AGCAS Equality, Diversity and Inclusion (EDI) Survey: what do the results tell us about the profession?

Presenters: Tim Fletcher, AGCAS and Pauline Maden, AGCAS Equality, Diversity and Inclusion Advisory Group. Room CBA0.061 ​AGCAS aims to create an inclusive, resilient, and innovative community which support the HE careers profession and reflects the students we serve.

This interactive session will challenge if we are delivering this aim, introducing the results from the recent AGCAS Inclusivity Survey to pose the following questions: What do the results of the Inclusivity Survey mean for you as practitioners?

How diverse is your workplace?

How can AGCAS support you in promoting inclusivity, equality and diversity in your service?

F: Co-creation ethical dilemmas Presenter: Kelly Coles, University of Warwick. Room CBA1.102 ​As co-creation becomes more commonplace, the benefits of developing academic and extra-curricular activities with students as partners is becoming more commonplace. As more research demonstrates the positive outcomes associated with this approach to partnership, there are often barriers and limitations to this being truly equitable for all.

T​ his session encourages discussion to define where disparity outweighs the dividends. We explore the ethical and practical considerations of best practice and seek to generate a suggested guidelines for future practitioner use.​

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PARALLEL SESSIONS

Wednesday 21 June 11:00–12:00

FREE CHOICE ON THE DAY A: Learning from lockdown: a student-centred approach in a post-Covid world Presenters: Samira Dar, Daniella Barnicle and Adam Janickyj, Aston University. Room CBA1.102

​What have we learned from adapting to the impact of the pandemic on careers support? This panel discussion with Q&A will focus on the journey taken by the Careers and Placements team to remain student-centred in a rapidly changing HE environment. The panel will be Careers Consultants from the undergraduate, postgraduate and graduate teams at Aston.

The session will allow us to show what worked well, what didn’t work and how we have adapted since coming through the mainly hybrid environment and now, mainly face-to-face interactions. We aim to open up the forum so that practitioners can share their experiences of learning through this period and to look at how this can inform future practice.​

B: What do graduates do?

Presenters: Charlie Ball and Dee Jones, JISC. Room CBA0.061 ​Join Charlie Ball and Dee Jones of Jisc as they talk about the new Graduate Outcomes data, what it means for students, and how it fits in with the current picture of the graduate labour market. This is a chance for AGCAS members to talk directly to Jisc about how we can help you with data and insight over the coming year. ​

C: Supporting graduate transitions: notes from a year of change Presenters: AGCAS Graduate Transitions Task Group. Room CBA1.098 ​The past year has seen significant upheaval for the graduates that HE careers services support (from the cost-of-living crisis to the rapid ascension of AI in the workplace) and many HEIs have responded by creating specific teams and roles in their careers services targeted at supporting graduates to transition to the next stage of their careers. In this panel session, you will hear from careers professionals representing HEIs across the country who work directly with graduates, highlighting some of the key challenges of the past year and what initiatives have been put in place to support their graduates to manage their careers more effectively, from regional skills development campaigns, targeted marketing activity (via LinkedIn, emails, call-centres) and coaching interventions to dedicated conferences/events for final-year students and graduates. This session will feature a range of speakers and finish with a Q&A.​

D: “Why invest in people and let them go?” Changing employer perceptions of international graduate talent Presenters: AGCAS International and Employer Engagement Task Groups. Room CBA1.103 ​Promoting and delivering EDI in the workplace is a strategic priority and at the core of recruitment strategies for many graduate employers. However, this doesn’t always translate for international students seeking UK employment who can face barriers, as outlined in recent research from AGCAS and its International Task Group.

Join this interactive session delivered jointly by colleagues from the AGCAS Employer Engagement and International Task Groups. The session will focus on changing employer perceptions of international graduate talent, to level the playing field for our international students and enable UK employers to engage positively with our entire student cohort.

The session will outline: ​• How recent policy changes have increased interest in UK graduate employment among international students ​• How these changes have evolved the role of employer engagement teams ​• Tips for developing and building support with this agenda, in your institution and when working with employers​ PAGE 13

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PARALLEL SESSIONS

Wednesday 21 June 11:00–12:00

FREE CHOICE ON THE DAY E: Evolving digital skills for the creative industries: how do we support the sustainability of digital skills for creative industry learners?

Presenters: AGCAS Creative Industries Task Group. Room CBA1.080/CBA1.081 ​Skills for the 21st Century are synonymous with career management in UK universities. With the explosion of AI in the HE sector, coupled with increasing digital skills demands from employers, our task group will offer time for attendees to discuss some of these big digital skills questions from the perspective of the creative industries and through a lens of inclusive and accessible practice. Discussion topics will include: ​Are AI CV checking tools adequate to assess creative CVs? How are digital skills for the creative industries framed and what guidance is needed to support these?

Are digital skills for the creative industries seen as general transferable skills?

What do employers expect of student digital skills for the creative industries? Are they ahead, or behind the curve compared to our learners?

F: Past/Present/Future: where are we now, and where do we want to get to? A GTI supported research project focused on the evolving role of careers services and staff providing enterprise and entrepreneurship support to students Presenters: Helen Hook and the AGCAS Enterprise Task Group. Room CBA1.080/CBA1.081 In this session, members of the AGCAS Enterprise Task Group will share the preliminary findings from a GTI supported research project focused on the evolving role of careers services and staff providing enterprise and entrepreneurship support to students, building on earlier research carried out in 2018/19. The world has changed a lot since then, with Britain leaving the European Union and the Covid-19 pandemic, this latest research looks at whether these milestone events have had an impact on the higher education sector’s ability to support enterprise and entrepreneurship.

Following the presentation, participants will share reflections and ideas on how we best design and deliver enterprise and entrepreneurship training for careers education, information, advice and guidance (CEIAG) staff. Insights from discussions will help inform the design and delivery of future professional development/training opportunities.

G: Hybrid working and careers service practice: a brave new world or business as usual?

Presenters: Paul Charman and Pauline Maden, University of Nottingham, and Dr Helen Hughes, University of Leeds. Room CBA0.060 ​This workshop will focus on the work of careers and employability services in preparing students for the world of hybrid work. Drawing on the research of Dr Helen Hughes and Dr Nalayini Thambar, and our learning from the pandemic experience, we will: explore agile working from a company and student perspective, share our approaches to supporting students for hybrid working at the University of Nottingham and discuss the impacts this has for services as we manage tensions and expectations of students and employers. Our interactive workshop will provide lots of opportunities for discussion and sharing experiences as we explore the changing working landscape and approaches to supporting students to enter it.

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PARALLEL SESSIONS

Wednesday 21 June 13:50–14:50

FREE CHOICE ON THE DAY A: Advocacy matters: supporting underrepresented groups through the introduction of the Google initiative #iamremarkable Presenter: Emily Sandwell, University of Stirling. Room CBA0.061 Increased support for underrepresented groups is a focus in the University of Stirling Careers Service, recognising how intersectionality can shape the social perception around self-promotion and understanding how many underrepresented groups experience imposter syndrome. In response, Emily Sandwell, International Careers Consultant became an #IAmRemarkable Google facilitator and ally in supporting students. The #IAmRemarkable 90-minute workshop provides an inclusive space for students to build their confidence and self-promotion skills. This empowers students to not only celebrate their identity and achievements but acknowledge and celebrate the fact that individuals offer different experiences and perspectives. Through running these workshops, we’ve quickly seen the impact, and how scalable, adaptable and accessible the format is – delivering in-person and online, to students and graduates in Scotland and worldwide. During this interactive workshop you will hear all about how this initiative has impacted the work we do, challenged our own professional practice, and discover what makes you #IamRemarkable

B: The rise of robo-careers advice: leveraging chatbot technology for personalised and scalable careers education Presenter: Caroline Tolond, Arden University. Room CBA1.103 ​Providing a scalable, personalised careers offer in a 24/7 operating environment has always presented a challenge to careers teams. Technology is now at a tipping point​ as chatbots can now be created cost effectively without needing coding skills and can take advantage of the generative AI (e.g. ChatGBT-4) tools now available. We will showcase the Arden University public pre-entry careers chatbot provision, share our approach to developing the bot (including how we accessed funding to develop it), as well as provide insights into how clients are using it.

We will discuss how this technology could be implemented across the higher education sector with pre-entry, current students and alumni, how bot technology could respond to the accelerating pace of generative AI, and what skills we need to adopt as practitioners to embrace these new tools.

C: Are integrated virtual internships an effective way to remove barriers to work experience?

Presenters: Helen Wareing and Emma Hill, Edinburgh Napier University. Room CBA1.102 ​The best work experience programmes deliver great benefits to both the employer and student participants, but we know that many students face a range of barriers when it comes to accessing work experience. This session provides an opportunity to share views from around the UK and to hear the Edinburgh Napier University Student Futures team present their innovative integration of Forage virtual work experiences into Year 2 of the Employability Skills Programme (ESP) in The Business School. The integration of Forage has received positive feedback from students who have been able to identify skills developed and clarify their career direction. The Student Futures Team will discuss how integrating Forage enables students to overcome barriers to work experience. Participants will work together in small groups to critically reflect on the use of Forage at Edinburgh Napier University and to identify other ways of helping students overcome barriers to work experience.

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PARALLEL SESSIONS

Wednesday 21 June 13:50–14:50

FREE CHOICE ON THE DAY D: Are we nearly there yet? Continuous improvement of our employability integrated curricula: Manchester Metropolitan University’s approach Presenter: Lisa Law, Karen Butterworth and Angela Corbett, Manchester Metropolitan University.

Room CBA1.098 This workshop, led by the Curriculum Workstream at MMU, explores how we can continuously evolve our best practice in integrating employability learning and teaching within the academic curriculum. The session encourages open dialogue through a case study approach, enabling reflection over aspects of best practice: partnership working, integration of digital tools to enhance learning, and data to inform provision. This session will: ​Introduce Man Met’s Careers Course Review Tool as an example of a method to evaluate an institution’s existing embedded provision. With uncertainty in the economy, this tool ensures cycles of continuous improvement, informed by data on student need. ​Provide a case study where digital learning interventions are being used to enrich employability learning and teaching as part of an integrated employability curriculum ​Utilise MMU's approach to curriculum enrichment to engender discussion over best practice in this area and to enable delegates to reflect upon their own individual and service’s approach

E: Can you stop the ruthless robots?

Presenter: Marc Steward, University of Leeds. Room CBA1.099/CBA.100 ​This workshop propelled students into an interactive assessment centre activity through the use of VR headsets and augmented reality (with a suitably chilling soundtrack playing in the background). Participants are at an assessment centre in a robot manufacturing company. Suddenly, there is a malfunction on site and the robots have gone rogue and are heading for the venue of the assessment centre on the 30th floor of the building. Participants must think quickly as a team to choose ordinary office items to stop the rampaging ruthless robots.

T​ he aim of this pilot was to see how this type of technology could be used to benefit the students’ learning experience and how teaching activities within the university curriculum can evolve and mirror the technology used by employers to better prepare students for the future world of work. Positive student feedback means new ideas for VR/AR activities are currently being developed.​

F: ChatGPT applications for CEIAG: ethics and evolution of AI Presenters: AGCAS Student and Graduate Engagement Task Group. Room CBA0.060 ​This hands-on workshop will explore the potential of ChatGPT, an advanced AI language model, in enhancing career services for consultants, advisors, and officers. Participants will engage in activities demonstrating how ChatGPT can revolutionize CV writing, cover letter composition, interview preparation, LinkedIn advice, and career guidance conversations. The workshop will also focus on using ChatGPT as an engagement tool for students and graduates, empowering them to take charge of their professional development. Additionally, attendees will learn how to leverage ChatGPT for optimizing time and resource management in career services. By the end of the workshop, participants will be equipped with practical strategies to integrate ChatGPT into their daily work, ultimately leading to improved student engagement and more efficient use of resources.​

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