Phoenix, October 2019 - Supporting International Students

Phoenix ISSUE 158 OCTOBER 2019

SUPPORTING INTERNATIONAL STUDENTS Sea change: investing in international students The global classroom Cross-cultural integration for international student success

Phoenix is the AGCAS journal

University students face many hurdles in their transition to employment and the world of work.

These can include a lack of career direction, the need to increase their self-confidence and self-awareness, and the ability to distinguish themselves at interview and demonstrate their employability.

USE WISELY

USE MORE

Realised Strengths

Unrealised Strengths

Strengths you use and enjoy

Strengths you don’t use as often

USE WHEN NEEDED

USE LESS

Learned Behaviours

Weaknesses

Things you do well but may not enjoy

Things you find hard and don’t enjoy

For your FREE Profile enter PHOENIX in the redeem box at www.strengthsprofile.com

Strengths Profile helps students focus on what they want to be known for, choose careers they love and narrate their authentic strengths story.

The University of Warwick partnered with Cappfinity to design two career planning workshops that integrated Strengths Profile.

• Two groups of 15 students completed the pilot: second and final year students with no clear career plans • Workshops were delivered to help the students focus on understanding their strengths to inform their career development • 20% of participants specifically attributed their success at securing a placement to their Strengths Profile workshop • Strengths Profile workshops increased students’ confidence in attending interviews from 50% to 70%

The entire Careers Team are now trained as Strengths Practitioners and to date have engaged over 1300 students through one-to-one debriefs and strengths workshops.

“

The Profiles and workshops have proved to be a valuable addition to our work. Strengths Profile provides the language for students to articulate their skills, motivations and strengths authentically and with increased confidence to recruiters.

Anne Wilson

Head of Careers The University of Warwick

October 2019

CONTENTS

SUPPORTING INTERNATIONAL STUDENTS 5

SEA CHANGE Investing in international students

6 THE GREAT WALL OF CHINESE STUDENT ENGAGEMENT Newcastle University

8

STRENGTH IN NUMBERS Midlands International Group

9 ENHANCING INTERNATIONAL STUDENT SUPPORT THROUGH COLLABORATION University of Portsmouth

10 HELPING INTERNATIONAL PGTS GET A HEAD START University of Bristol

12 INTERNATIONAL EMPLOYER ENGAGEMENT: SIX MONTHS IN University of Leeds

14 NORTH AMERICAN CAREER COMMUNITIES University of St Andrews

16 WECHAT THEREFORE WE ARE The University of Edinburgh

18 THE GLOBAL CLASSROOM Delivering remote careers guidance internationally

20 INTERNATIONAL NOTTINGHAM

Collaborate, engage, inspire

21 SUPPORTING INTERNATIONAL POSTGRADUATE TRANSITIONS King’s College London

22 BRIDGING THE GAP: LOCAL BUSINESS ENGAGEMENT FOR INTERNATIONAL STUDENTS University of Dundee

23 GLOBAL GRADUATES WITH A GLOBAL MINDSET IN A GLOBAL MARKET UCLan

30 SUPPORTING STUDENTS TO STEP OUTSIDE THEIR COMFORT ZONE Enhancing cross-cultural understanding

31 AGCAS INTERNATIONALISATION TASK GROUP Sharing best practice

PLUS 32 AGCAS AWARDS FOR EXCELLENCE 2019 WINNERS

24 CROSS-CULTURAL INTEGRATION FOR INTERNATIONAL STUDENT SUCCESS University of Bath

26 IMPLEMENTING AN INTERNATIONAL CAREERS STRATEGY Imperial College London

28 WHAT DO UK-EDUCATED CHINESE AND HONG KONG GRADUATES DO? University of Warwick

34 A WEALTH OF AGCAS RESOURCES AT YOUR FINGERTIPS

35 ROLE MODELS AND REPRESENTATION: RESEARCHING WOMEN IN STEM

36 RESEARCHER’S DIGEST 38 PROSPECTS: SUPPORTING AND PROMOTING HE CAREERS SERVICES

Phoenix is the digital journal of AGCAS, the Association of Graduate Careers Advisory Services. It is published three times a year.

To find out more about AGCAS, see www.agcas.org.uk Design and production, Marcom (Marketing Communications) Ltd tel. 01225 481734 www.mar-com.net

PHOENIX EDITORIAL GROUP Francesca Bauer Editor, AGCAS

Suzie Bullock Careers Adviser University of Leeds

Jenny Hammond Employability Adviser Liverpool John Moores University

Lisa McWilliams Head of Careers and Employability Keele University

Holly Seager Information and Guidance Coordinator The University of Manchester

Ellen Shobrook Educational Development Coordinator University of Birmingham

Maxine Sims Bristol PLUS Award Manager

message from the

EDITOR

SUPPORTING INTERNATIONAL STUDENTS

F

or far too long, the pursuit of UK graduate employment has been challenging for international students.

This issue of Phoenix, which is timely given the recent post-study work visa announcement, shines a spotlight on the delivery of bespoke careers and employability support to a diverse international student cohort. [The student data included within each article indicate the numbers, or approximate numbers, of enrolled full and part time international students during the 18/19 academic year.]

What becomes clear over the following pages is the longstanding commitment of AGCAS members throughout the UK to support the success of international students as they prepare to transition from higher education into employment, either in the UK, their home country, or elsewhere.

We should feel collectively proud of the varied examples of great practice featured here.

Those that aim to enhance international students’ career management, employability skills and English language competency. Those that involve collaboration between other institutions in the same region to deliver an enhanced package of support beyond what each individual institution could achieve on its own. Those that are measuring impact and further refining their offer to maximise success in reaching their target audience, some through deploying new technology.

Those that involve working with employers to help them understand complex visa rules and to champion international student talent. And there is also the crucial work of the AGCAS Internationalisation Task Group, which keeps members up to date with legislative changes, signposts to resources and identifies and shares best practice.

But this is just the start. We all know that international students bring cultural and academic diversity and vibrancy to university campuses across the UK. There are many benefits to the integration of home and international students while studying. However, there is still much more to be done to support international students to gain graduate work in the UK for longer, and with increased success. How can we soften the blow for the earlier cohorts (those graduating before the summer of 2021) not covered by the recent post-study work visa announcement?

How can we ensure international students are able to make the most of their UK experience?

This is why we are delighted to be delivering a research project on behalf of Universities UK International (UUKi), with support from UKCISA, which explores how higher education institutions support international graduate employability, through the provision of careers and employability services, and work with UK-based employers to promote and facilitate access to international student talent. The research will identify a baseline of good practice and a set of recommendations, but we want to go much further. The findings will act as a springboard to set the future policy agenda and identify where further improvement and support is required in direct response to Action 5 of the Government’s International Education Strategy, launched earlier this year.

We can all – as practitioners, institutional leaders, sector bodies and government – work together to enhance the UK’s offer to international students. It’s all about making a difference. #WeAreInternational

University of Bristol

Gemma Green Head of External Relations, AGCAS

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SUPPORTING SUPPORTING INTERNATIONAL INTERNATIONAL STUDENTS STUDENTS

Sarah Cooper, Careers Consultant at the University of Bristol Careers Service, outlines how careers and employability professionals should respond to the reintroduction of the post-study work visa to add weight to the sector’s commitment to international student support.

sea change: INVESTING IN INTERNATIONAL STUDENTS

T

he new graduate route for international students has been widely celebrated and should be a contributing factor to achieving the ambition set out in the International Education Strategy to attract 600,000 international students to study in the UK by 2030.

Just as important, in my view, is Secretary of State for Education Gavin Williamson’s recent call for greater transparency on international student outcomes. I have recently written about how such a spotlight could – and should – lead to more investment in specialist employability support for international students. So, what should our response, as professionals, be to these potentially seismic changes?

MEASURING OUTCOMES First, a united push for international graduate destinations to be given weight in the Teaching Excellence and Student Outcomes Framework (TEF). Without an external benchmark, we lack the powerful internal lever we need to release funding. Domestic undergraduates will always be prioritised under the current system. Perhaps you think it’s workable, or undesirable, to use TEF as the enabling vehicle? So, what would be better?

Let’s talk about this. Let’s engage with policy makers; let’s be voices of influence – in sector forums, on social media.

We need to keep making the financial case internally. As well as highlighting the need for an external metric that brings with it profile and weight, we must continue to make the ethical and business arguments.

The latter is obvious; it doesn’t make good

business sense to recruit students and then not use a sensible proportion of that fee income to ensure they can make the most of their UK experience. Eventually, if the experience doesn’t match the perception, prospective students will look elsewhere.

MEETING DIVERSE NEEDS The ethical argument, I suspect, is made less frequently. But, really, as the people whose jobs it is to help students – all students – become everything they can be, the principle of fairness, above anything else, should compel us to act. International students have specific additional needs just as widening participation students do. We have funding that facilitates access and participation, which in many universities supports dedicated posts, and a plethora of initiatives such as internship and mentoring schemes. However, there is no such funding pot for international students unless we do the right thing and make this available ourselves out of fee income.

LET’S BE PART

A WIDER SEA CHANGE IN HOW

OF

WE SUPPORT OUR INTERNATIONAL STUDENTS

We should be rightly, collectively, proud of the examples of great practice that feature in this issue of Phoenix, but they are often testament to the efforts of highly committed staff who go above and beyond to make

a difference. We have to question whether this is sustainable. Very few universities have student or employer-facing staff solely focused on international students and overseas markets. Beyond this, and to extend the WP analogy, our international student body is rich in diversity, both in terms of ethnicity and cultural heritage: students come from a wide range of socioeconomic backgrounds; many are only here because of scholarship funding; some have a disability; some are mature students.

Why aren’t we interrogating – and meeting – needs at this level?

SEA CHANGE Let’s be part of a wider sea change in how we support our international students.

As ministers have recently highlighted, and we all already know, employability and wellbeing are interlinked. Students coming from overseas face additional challenges of getting to know our culture, making friends, and understanding different teaching methods. They often feel the burden of high family expectations. How well students navigate this has an impact on the headspace they have for exploring career paths, getting work experience, and engaging effectively in the recruitment process. And how well students do the latter directly affects how they feel about themselves.

With the zeitgeist finally shifting in their favour, now is the time to urge our senior leaders to fully invest in international students. /in/sarahacooper @coopersaraha

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the great wall of CHINESE STUDENT ENGAGEMENT

Total number of FTE undergraduate and postgraduate international (non-EU) students:

Total number of Chinese students (the cohort featured in this article):

1,819

4,699 Chinese students make up a large proportion of the international student body at UK universities. Helen Atkinson, Careers Consultant, outlines the work Newcastle University has undertaken to enhance Chinese student employability through the creation of a bespoke career development programme.

A

n old Chinese proverb states: “Pearls don’t lie on the seashore. If you want one, you must dive for it”. Chinese students in the UK may find this adage rings true, particularly when it comes to securing graduate employment opportunities.

Increasing numbers of Chinese students studying at UK universities (106,530 in 2017/18), coupled with tighter immigration policies, has resulted in 80% of Chinese students returning home in the months following graduation. According to the British Council, a record 8.2 million students were also expected to graduate from Chinese universities last year, meaning competition for graduate roles in China is fierce. The pursuit of graduate employment is particularly challenging for students on one-year master’s programmes, where adjusting to life and study in the UK coincides with peak graduate recruitment windows in the UK, as well as back home.

BESPOKE SUPPORT In response to these challenges, we decided to enhance our careers support for Chinese students by developing a series of bespoke workshops, to help students develop strategies and skills to better plan for their career and make effective job applications in both

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China and the UK. Institutional student data enabled us to justify this selection since, in 2018/19, Chinese students represented 41% of all international student numbers and 8% of the university’s overall student body.

After much research and planning, our first China Career Gateway programme was born. This ran as a six-week pilot during the autumn, open to all undergraduate and postgraduate Chinese students, as well as other students interested in working in China. We deliberately pitched the programme this way to capture the attention of the many Chinese students we encountered who were eager to work in the UK, as well as those intent on returning home. The sessions covered a broad range of topics, including key features of the UK and Chinese graduate labour markets, UK and Chinese CV writing, and developing professional English skills for the workplace. Insights from organisations with China labour market expertise, such as the British Council and China Higher Education, were also drawn upon and a session on Chinese recruitment processes was delivered alongside staff from LockinChina.

MEASURING IMPACT As this was a new initiative, we needed to be creative in our marketing to ensure it reached our target audience. By recruiting a Chinese student marketing intern, we were able to set up a WeChat group and used this to promote the programme to students in Chinese, which was highly effective. We also developed specific imagery that would clearly identify our offering on promotional materials. China Career

China Career Gateway helped me gain a deeper understanding of both the UK and Chinese job markets... I didn't consider job hunting before, but this programme propels me to start thinking about my career path.

THE PROGRAMME ALIGNS CLOSELY

WITH THE UNIVERSITY’S

GLOBAL STRATEGY TO PROVIDE THE QUALITY OF EXPERIENCE WHICH BOTH ATTRACTS AND SUPPORTS INTERNATIONAL STUDENTS

Gateway was also introduced to academic colleagues in schools with high Chinese student populations.

Overall, 220 students participated. The initial response has been very positive, with 100% of survey and focus group respondents telling us the programme made them feel more prepared for the UK and Chinese labour markets.

Evaluating the long-term impact of China Career Gateway remains a challenge. Given the programme is still in its infancy, it is too early to measure how it influenced approaches to career planning and making applications. This may be difficult data to obtain, especially if Graduate Outcomes continues to target only a 25% response rate from international students.

We have been pleased with the initial response to China Career Gateway and the programme will now run as an annual initiative.

However, there is no room for complacency and we will continue to work hard to ensure the programme remains relevant.

profiles provide first-hand insight into Chinese recruitment processes and tangible ways for Chinese graduates to share experiences. An ‘alumni takeover’ of our WeChat group later in the year has also been planned, to allow students to connect with recent alumni and discuss their career experiences.

We are also considering how the programme can be used at the other end of the student lifecycle, in collaboration with the university’s International Recruitment Team. We are eager to ensure the programme is promoted during recruitment talks and pre-departure briefings as a key part of Newcastle’s offer for Chinese students.

The programme is firmly on the radar of our Pro-Vice Chancellor Global, and aligns closely with the university’s global strategy to provide the quality of experience which both attracts and supports international students.

Finally, as the programme only runs for a short period during the autumn term, we have also been developing online masterclasses to provide insight into the Chinese labour market, which students across our UK and overseas campuses can access throughout the year at their convenience.

Although creating, promoting and delivering a new programme at our busiest time of year was a challenge, China Career Gateway has enabled us to enhance our understanding of the Chinese labour market. More importantly, our Chinese students now feel empowered to kick-start their graduate career.

/in/helenatkinsonprofile

ENHANCING DELIVERY One way we have been trying to achieve this is by partnering with the university’s alumni team, NU Advancement, to gather written and video profiles from recent Chinese graduates, focusing on the challenges graduates faced in securing employment. This is something programme participants told us they would like to see more of. The

helen.atkinson1@ncl.ac.uk @helen_a23 www.ncl.ac.uk/careers/events/workshops/ china-career

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SUPPORTING INTERNATIONAL STUDENTS

strength in numbers: MIDLANDS INTERNATIONAL GROUP The Midlands International Group (MIG) is a collaborative, cross-institutional group of 15 universities combining the knowledge and expertise of careers and employability professionals to create events and resources for international students. Kathryn Doerr and Michele Zala, Careers Consultant/Manager at Nottingham Trent University and members of MIG, chart how the group’s work has evolved and expanded over the years.

MIG began as the East Midlands International Students Working Group in 2004, comprising 8 universities with a mission to promote the employability agenda for international students across the region and explore international opportunities for home/EU students. At that time, the international employability climate was vastly different, with the two-year post-study work visa and more accessible funding for international students. In 2013, the group welcomed universities in the West Midlands to share knowledge and expertise more widely, a move which has proved to be hugely beneficial to all its members.

TAILORED EVENTS MIG, and its previous incarnation, have provided the region with a wide range of events, including The China Event (2009), The India Event (2010) and Develop Your Global Career (2014), which attracted 500 international students. Through these events,

closer working relationships were developed with organisations such as ACCA, AISEC, British Council, Global Career Company and BUNAC, as well as immigration solicitors, and employers. In addition to the benefits international students gained from attending these events, they also strengthened the knowledge, skills, resources and confidence of careers and employability professionals working with international students.

WEBINAR REACH Following MIG’s success within the region, we successfully bid for UKCISA project start-up funding to launch an innovative programme of 15 webinars, sharing resources regionally and nationally to reach more international students. MIG has successfully offered an annual webinar series, with 10-15 webinars per year and participation from over 800 international students over the course of three years of delivery. Our evaluation showed that 100%

MIG member institutions: Aston University, University of Birmingham, Birmingham City University, Coventry University, University of Derby, Keele University, University of Lincoln, Loughborough University, University of Leicester, De Montfort University, University of Nottingham, Nottingham Trent University, University of Northampton, University College Birmingham, The University of Warwick

Examples from the MIG webinar series include:

A global mindset Making the most of your time in the UK Global CVs and personal branding Tier 5 visas and alternative options Working as an entrepreneur in the UK after study International business etiquette: Fitting in and getting on Get the edge in your graduate job market back home

of students would recommend the webinars to colleagues, with students commenting that “e-presenters and global speakers responded well to students’ questions in the virtual environment”, and that it had been “the best information received since starting university”.

International Careers Consultants have found that the webinar programme not only provides valuable resources for international students, but it also raises the profile of the international careers and employability offer within their own university, increasing attendance at local events and generating requests for careers advice.

Because of MIG, universities in the region can increase their international student provision by sharing resources, knowledge and expertise, collaborating on international events and webinars, and delivering streamlined communications. As a group, we deliver far more for our international student population than each university could achieve on its own.

midlandsinternationalgroup.org.uk

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SUPPORTING INTERNATIONAL STUDENTS

enhancing international student support THROUGH COLLABORATION

TALENT POOL Partly funded by UKCISA, the International Student Talent Pool aimed to find paid work opportunities for international students in the local area. Working collaboratively with our employer engagement colleagues, with our international office, and with an adviser within the Department of International Trade (DIT), we networked with a wide range of employers, promoting the skills of our international student body. In total, 24 students were placed into a variety of different positions, ranging from short-term internships to ongoing part-time roles. One surprising outcome was the genuine demand from local businesses to employ those with language skills, in particular Mandarin. We have been encouraged by local businesses’ ability to recognise the added value that international students can bring to business operations.

WE HAVE BEEN ABLE TO

BUILD BESPOKE AND CLEARLY DEFINED PROVISION FOR OUR

INTERNATIONAL STUDENTS Janet Woolnough, Careers Adviser and Luke Hahn, Information and Employment Adviser at the University of Portsmouth Careers Service, outline a new collaborative approach to meeting the needs of international students through working with key stakeholders across the university.

T

he University of Portsmouth Careers Service typically sees more engagement from the international cohort than from our UK students.

We recently recognised that we weren’t offering a targeted or tailored services for these students, and also that the confidence of colleagues - either when supporting the international cohort or dealing with queries around global job search – was not always high.

We began to approach key individuals around the university about what we felt was a gap in our provision, and found that there was a common desire to enhance the employability support for international students from a wide range of stakeholders – senior academics, placement managers, representatives from the International Office and the Students’ Union.

A formal cross-university International Student Employability Working Group was established, which was sponsored by one of the university’s pro-vice chancellors. The group ran for a year and supported the development of three key initiatives.

GLOBAL JOB SEARCH Another aspect of our work was the provision of online global job search tools. Having researched kite-marked resources used by other university careers services, we made some recommendations and subscribed to GoinGlobal (receiving 50% funding from our international office for this resource). We also partnered with the EFMD Global Talent Platform and LockinChina, who provided us with their portal for labour market information, graduate jobs and internships across China. By working with relevant academics we have been able to ensure the jobs advertised on our China board are relevant to the skills and experience of our students.

EVENTS PROGRAMME We also developed an events programme specifically for international students and those with an interest in working globally. This included external speakers from recruitment agencies and employers who focus on returnees in key global markets, international alumni who have achieved success in the UK graduate labour market, and visa talks from the advice team in our International Office.

BESPOKE PROVISION The working group provided a really useful forum to better understand the needs of international students from a range of perspectives, building the confidence of careers staff in their ability to effectively support this cohort. Through the introduction of the three new initiatives outlined above, we have been able to build bespoke and clearly defined provision for our international students, significantly enhancing their experience with the Careers Service. janet.woolnough@port.ac.uk luke.hahn@port.ac.uk

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helping international PGTs GET A HEAD START Ellen Grace, Faculty Employability Consultant at the University of Bristol Careers Service, reflects on changes made to a co-curricular employability unit to enhance the early engagement of international PGT students.

International PGT students in the School of Economics, Finance and Management (the cohort featured in this article):

1,207 Total number of FTE undergraduate and postgraduate international (non-EU) students:

4,481

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A

t the University of Bristol, we recognise that early engagement with career planning is key to helping students to get to where they want to be when they graduate.

For international students, adjusting to academic study and life in the UK can be overwhelming and thinking about a ‘career’ will not be at the forefront of their minds.

GETTING A HEAD START This is particularly true for our international PGT students. We have approximately 2,260 at Bristol, and over half of these are within the School of Economics, Finance and Management, with the majority coming from China. The early recruitment window for large employers and the challenges of securing visa sponsorship mean that those who aspire to work in the UK need to be informed and prepared to apply for opportunities in the first weeks of their course. The complexity of the Chinese labour market and the importance of professional connections and relevant UK work experience means that, for those who intend to return home, getting a head start is key.

DEVELOPING TAILORED PROVISION The challenge for us is developing timely, tailored provision that students can engage with early enough so that they make the most

of their time at university. One opportunity we have to do this is through a non-credit bearing employability unit, Professional Studies. Historically delivered as three twohour sessions, it aims to introduce career planning and basic skills in job searching, CVs and applications, and interviews.

However, in delivering the unit in 2017/18, I observed low levels of engagement and evidence that students had not progressed in their stage of career planning over the course of the autumn term. The size of the cohort and resource available required teaching groups of up to 350 students, with limited opportunities to apply learning.

THIS RESULTED

IN A MORE

INDEPENDENT AND FLEXIBLE LEARNING EXPERIENCE THAT

STUDENTS COULD EASILY FIT AROUND THE DEMANDS OF THEIR ACADEMIC STUDIES A BLENDED APPROACH Recognising the importance of the unit to the effective early engagement of this cohort, I redesigned it for 2018/19. I realised that much of the information and advice could be delivered online, just as effectively. Using Blackboard I designed an online course consisting of articles, videos, short quizzes and reflection exercises and divided the content into shorter, more accessible chunks.

This resulted in a more independent and flexible learning experience that students could easily fit around the demands of their academic studies.

Higher-quality experiences in the classroom, through the delivery of a short introductory session and two interactive workshops (on researching employers and CV shortlisting), complemented the online elements and offered the opportunity to apply learning and skills essential to career planning. The size of the cohort meant that small group seminars were not feasible. In order to facilitate and encourage active learning and group work I made simple changes to the teaching environment – seating students on round tables – and used online polls and feedback questions through TurningPoint.

STUDENT ENGAGEMENT A core aim was to better integrate and increase engagement with our enhanced central careers provision for international students. Through Blackboard I embedded relevant new resources, such as overseas labour market factsheets, and included central talks and workshops as optional parts of the unit. Rather than attempt to cover everything, the unit was now a gateway to all our other specialist provision.

The changes made led to a significant improvement in student engagement during the group sessions, seen in the levels of active participation I observed and students’ answers to feedback polls and questions. It also led to increased engagement with career planning and the Careers Service beyond the unit, with 84% agreeing in the evaluation

that they were ‘Motivated to think more about [their] future career’. Attendance at central careers fairs increased from 25% in 2017/18 to 31% in 2018/19, and at central talks and workshops from 16% to 26%. The number of students who completed our employability award – the Bristol PLUS Award – almost tripled, with 92 completers compared to 35 the previous academic year.

ADDRESSING CHALLENGES Only a small proportion of students completed all the online activity, and participation in this declined over the course of the term. We know that the co-curricular model means that engagement will continue to be a challenge, as students prioritise their academic studies. There are also limitations in its current form on how far we can tailor the unit by discipline.

In 2019/20 we will continue to work with academics to raise awareness of the unit, enhance communication and encourage students to complete it. We are also making some changes to build on the progress made and to sustain engagement throughout the term. This includes adjusting the balance of face-to-face and online activity and running the unit on Careerhub, which will enable us to track progress, target reminders and create a more tailored and personalised learning journey for international students.

/in/ellen-marie-grace/ ellen.grace@bristol.ac.uk

A CORE AIM WAS TO BETTER

INTEGRATE AND INCREASE ENGAGEMENT WITH OUR ENHANCED CENTRAL CAREERS PROVISION FOR INTERNATIONAL STUDENTS PHOENIX OCTOPHOENIX OCTOBER BER 2019

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SUPPORTING INTERNATIONAL STUDENTS

WHILE WE KNOW THAT AROUND 85% OF INTERNATIONAL STUDENTS

RETURN TO THEIR HOME

international employer engagement: SIX MONTHS IN

Jan Spalek, International Employer Engagement Manager, and Marc Steward, Careers Consultant, at the University of Leeds, outline how the Careers Centre has been leading the university’s international engagement agenda.

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COUNTRIES, MANY WOULD PREFER TO STAY

Total number of FTE undergraduate and postgraduate international (non-EU) students:

9,421

T

he University of Leeds has seen a 99% growth in international students since 2012 and our total number is set to increase to more than 11,000 by 2023/24. The Careers Centre is used by an ever-increasing number of international students, who come from more than 140 different countries.

International activities are already embedded in existing central provision and have grown organically, driven by the volume of international students, as well as the increasing range of opportunities abroad. However, provision for international students has traditionally been an add-on, led by several proactive members of staff, rather than a standalone service with dedicated resources.

Although this has resulted in some excellent examples of international student engagement, employer-focused trips to China, more than 100 dedicated workshops and employer-led sessions, there is a need to further expand the portfolio of resources aimed at international students.

In April 2019, the Careers Centre created a new role, International Employer Engagement Manager, to undertake an overview of existing international activities and to lead on the international engagement agenda. After an initial mapping exercise, we identified several priorities – and learned lots of lessons.

campus events, virtual webinars and to gain ‘a foot in the door’.

We hope that this ‘capacity building’ approach will result in an increase in promoted opportunities in China, a range of dedicated employer-led events on and off campus, exclusive China-based events and, crucially, improved graduate outcomes for all students.

This strategy will then be replicated for other international markets.

OPPORTUNITIES IN THE UK ‘Should I stay or should I go?’ is a rhetorical and practical question many of our international students pose to themselves, and to our careers advisers. While we know that around 85% of international students return to their home countries, many would prefer to stay.

After all, UK work experience is highly valued by overseas employers.

We have identified that many local, regional and national employers don’t fully understand the complexities of student and post-study visas, so we have compiled some basic facts and figures and shared this information with our employer networks, who now have a better understanding of how to tap into our international student talent and navigate the complex visa rules. The return of the revamped poststudy work visas is, of course, very welcome but, until then, we are working with UK-based employers to consider how they are going to sponsor our international students.

WITH STUDENTS COMING FROM MORE THAN 140 COUNTRIES, WHERE DO YOU EVEN START TO DEVELOP INTERNATIONAL EMPLOYER CONNECTIONS?

WHO IS THE SERVICE FOR? International employability is an important campus-wide theme at the university and we must remember to include all stakeholders, not ‘just’ international students. We have developed a holistic approach to identify opportunities for both international and UK/EEA students.

This means we are always tuned in to discuss Tier 2 jobs or summer vacation placements when approaching all UK-based employers.

Equally, we always look for opportunities abroad, not just for returnees, but also any students interested in global experiences, internships or placement years abroad. We have branded all international work opportunities and events abroad as Global Careers to make it easier for students to identify what is out there. March 2020 will see a month-long international employability theme hosting at least 30 separate events.

INTERNATIONAL EMPLOYER ENGAGEMENT With students coming from more than 140 countries, where do you even start to develop international employer connections? We decided to prioritise our largest international cohort: the university has more than 5,000 Chinese students, comprising 55% of the overall international student cohort. To try to penetrate the Chinese labour market, gather employment data and systematically identify where and how we can engage, we are carrying out overseas international employer visits (using 51 job, LockinChina and China-Britain Business Council trips) and undertaking online research, as well as upscaling previous external and internal contacts. We are also working with our alumni. With 250,000 alumni, our priority is to identify and engage with those within the top 100 employers in China for on and off-

PROMOTING SYNERGY With eight faculties and more than 35 departments at the University of Leeds, the number of people involved in international employability is huge, with many examples of amazing work taking place in this space. However, this is not yet fully coordinated, well-promoted or joined up. To promote synergy, we are organising cross-faculty meetings and starting an international employability working group.

We are standardising the provision of advice, improving branding and promotion of events, and sharing best practice to motivate colleagues to replicate success. We are also forming a partnership with the Leeds City Region Enterprise Partnership, which brings businesses to Leeds as well as helping businesses to export. Such businesses will benefit hugely from the unique skillsets, competencies and knowledge our international students can offer.

We have achieved a lot in the first six months and are looking forward to continuing working with our stakeholders to create international opportunities for all our students. /in/Jan Spalek J.Spalek@leeds.ac.uk /in/Marc Steward M.A.Steward@leeds.ac.uk

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SUPPORTING SUPPORTING INTERNATIONAL INTERNATIONAL STUDENTS STUDENTS

NORTH AMERICAN CAREER COMMUNITIES

Kristyn Emmer, North American Opportunities Manager in the Careers Centre at the University of St Andrews, urges universities supporting North American students to consider a communities approach to their work to better support this cohort.

Total number of FTE undergraduate and postgraduate international (non-EU) students:

3,106

International students from North America (the cohort featured in this article):

1,728

didn’t realise until I moved to Scotland that North Americans talk to everyone.

We are generally known as loud and extroverted in nature, even though many of us aren’t. In short, we are well-networked individuals and career development has everything to do with knowing someone to get you to where you want to go.

CULTURAL CHANGE In a former role in Colorado, USA, I was responsible for a cultural change from a careers service that was largely based on programme of study to one that was organised by industry or sector area and where career development became everyone’s responsibility. From this, Career Communities were born: industry-focused communities of students, faculty staff, alumni, parents and employers who collaborated to share information on career trends, developed connections with one another, and offered assistance to clarify career aspirations. North American parents serve as particularly important stakeholders in the communities equation, as they are generally invested in their children’s career prospects.

WHAT’S TO KNOW? As we think about serving North American students as a cohort, a good place to start is knowing how to differentiate between your

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Canadian, American and Mexican students.

There are differences in language, space and location and the way they relate to the workplace. All these countries, given their size, offer a wide mix of subcultures that impact career development. It is important to spend some time learning these common differences. The second key aspect is to know who your North American students are. If they are traversing an ocean for their educational experience it is likely they come from privileged, and often high-powered and highly-educated, backgrounds. With the rise in career registration data, finding out where your students want to go, what they want to do, and how ready they are to get there is becoming easier.

NORTH AMERICAN PARENTS SERVE AS PARTICULARLY

IMPORTANT STAKEHOLDERS

IN THE COMMUNITIES EQUATION, AS THEY ARE GENERALLY INVESTED IN THEIR CHILDREN’S CAREER PROSPECTS

THE COMMUNITY APPROACH

SHIFTS OUR BOUNDARIES AS CAREER PROFESSIONALS WHAT DOES A COMMUNITY LOOK LIKE? At the University of St Andrews, we have a variety of ways we build a career community for our North American students, which is about 20% of our student population. It is our goal that every student wishing to return to North America for work or further study has a network to lean on in their development and transition. To facilitate this, we are working closely with our Admissions and Alumni units to gain insights into target recruitment markets and build relationships with alumni groups. We are also developing a Parents’ Network to harness the energy and resources from parents of North American students.

For our events, we run the North American Career Series, ensuring someone from North America joins us either in person or by video to deliver these sessions. And, finally, we make significant use of Graduway, which we call Saint Connect, our online, global St Andrews community that allows students, parents, and alumni to make more informal connections with one another.

SHIFTING BOUNDARIES The community approach shifts our boundaries as career professionals, but ultimately helps us steward our limited time, energy, and resources more effectively to serve our students. However, building a community has come with its fair share of challenges. These are the lessons I learned along the way: 1. Bias My North American background is much different than most of the students I work with here at the university. I soon realised I had a particular bias and bent for what ‘North American careers’ looked like. This meant I had to do a lot of listening to my students

to learn what their culture actually was, and what their needs were, to serve them appropriately.

2. Assumptions One of the biggest assumptions I have had is that parents know how to get started and involved with careers work because they are so well-networked. However, when I received many critical emails about how things could be done better, I realised that they also needed guidance and direction on how they can be great community members.

3. Change management Working in a community approach is a shift for our sector, one that democratises the expert role into the hands of many. When I started my communities endeavour, I didn’t appreciate fully what that meant to my colleagues and how much it would change the way they worked. /in/kristynemmer/ Kme20@st-andrews.ac.uk

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SUPPORTING INTERNATIONAL STUDENTS

WeChat THEREFORE WE ARE

Simon Raeside, Employer Engagement Adviser at the Careers Service, and Stella Wang, Student Development Manager in the Business School, both based at the University of Edinburgh, share their experiences and takeaways from their humble foray into WeChat land in an effort to better support Chinese students.

Total number of FTE undergraduate and postgraduate international (non-EU) students:

14,665 Total number of Chinese students (the cohort featured in this article):

4,280 16

PHOENIX OCTOBER 2019 2019

W

e would be surprised if you’d worked with China and not encountered WeChat.

Not so much because of what it is - at one level, a messaging app beguilingly familiar to users of platforms such as WhatsApp and Facebook - but because of where and how it is used.

It is everywhere and for everything. The allsinging, all-dancing, private public space, where you chat with friends, catch up on news, shop, share, manage life admin. You name it and you can probably do it through WeChat.

WE EMAILED 300 CHINESE STUDENTS INVITING THEM TO

JOIN A CAREERS WECHAT GROUP –

WITHIN FIVE MINUTES IT WAS FULL

It is a universe of its own making and it contains multitudes. Literally, apps within the app, for example, banking, gaming, mapping, ride-hailing. And it’s more than the ecosystem. It’s the embodiment of an attitude, a heady mix of the direct, fast-paced, instantly gratifying, ultimately disposable, with the enduring lure of uncovering life changing significance just around the corner.

A land where emoji artists of the floating world ply their wares, where you can be anything and a different thing in every space, your name a unique string of custom characters. So, the possibilities are vast.

WE SET OUT As beginners, we set ourselves the modest aim to explore how we could use WeChat to better support Chinese students from across the university and specifically those returning to China. Our intentions were to: • help Chinese students engage with the Careers Service and their own career development; • share China-related information and opportunities; • follow Chinese employers and receive recruitment activity updates.

/in/xingyue-stella-wang-a6b765a4 xingyue.wang@ed.ac.uk /in/simon-raeside-54908523/ simon.raeside@ed.ac.uk

In June 2018 we emailed 300 Chinese students inviting them to join a Careers WeChat Group. Within five minutes it was full. We made the first of many discoveries: contrary to popular myth, our Chinese students read their emails and a group has a nominal capacity of 100, after which people need to be invited individually. So, our journey began in a spirit of ‘accept and build’, which we have learned to embrace throughout the endeavour.

Before we could get to this point there were only one or two practicalities to arrange. We recruited two Chinese students to help us get it up and running and to be our eyes and ears in WeChat, responsible for uncovering, reviewing and sharing content with the group in Mandarin. We also had to upgrade the Careers Service mobile phone to something with a colour screen.

Probably the biggest hurdle was mustering our confidence to give it a go. Luckily, our experimental attitude was one the students didn’t seem to mind too much, despite being accustomed to slicker operations.

WE ADAPT We have been rolling with it since then.

The initial group was only intended to test the

IN PRACTICAL TERMS, WE NEED TO WORK MORE EFFICIENTLY BETWEEN OUR EMAIL-DOMINATED, DESK-BASED WORLD AND

THE MOBILE WORLD

OF WECHAT

water, at most as a stop gap until we had a public WeChat account in place.

When it became clear this was a long way off, we changed tack and invited students to be our friends.

In January 2019 we emailed nearly 4,000 Chinese students. Throughout the second semester we accumulated more than 1,000 friends in discipline-based groups.

We posted content twice a week and were upfront about the constraints of being unable to respond individually – this was never intended to be an enquiries management system. Overall, more than 70% were satisfied with the service and they have been willing to offer frank feedback, which has not been the case in other spaces.

WE GO ON We are going to continue along broadly similar lines for another year, despite the awkward workarounds necessitated by using a private account in this way. We remain hopeful about establishing a public account but, in the meantime, there’s enough to be getting on with. We want to encourage more participation and sharing within the groups and develop them as a peer support space.

In practical terms, we need to work more efficiently between our email-dominated, desk-based world and the mobile world of WeChat, including how we align WeChat with other processes in the Careers Service and Business School. And there are whole new areas to explore. We are now connected with our first group of Chinese alumni on WeChat, which potentially leads to questions around their ongoing support needs and opportunities for future engagement.

Our experiences so far have shown us that WeChat is the medium of choice, both for Chinese employers sharing recruitment information and for Chinese students – so we’re going to keep trying.

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SUPPORTING INTERNATIONAL STUDENTS

the global classroom: DELIVERING REMOTE CAREERS GUIDANCE INTERNATIONALLY

support to distance and flexible learners. This new support would build on the success of existing employability initiatives, such as the Business Placements programme, which was shortlisted for a National Undergraduate Employability (NUE) award in 2019.

Using my experience as a Senior Careers Consultant and an instructor on the AGCAS award-winning Enhance Your Career and Employability MOOC back in 2014, I reflected on how to best use the digital landscape to successfully support students who were literally based all over the world. We wanted to provide careers resources that would be relevant to a diverse range of students, irrespective of their cultural context and local labour market, whilst also facilitating opportunities for both individual and group careers learning. Many of these students, such as the Global MBA cohort, are already experienced professionals, who have had international careers, so providing opportunities for peer-to-peer learning was also important.

One year and 184 remote consultations, 18 webinars and oodles of interactive online resources later, I can share my experience of how we can support our internationally-based students in their careers and employability learning.

UNIVERSALITY OF CAREER ISSUES

Laura Brammar, Senior Careers Consultant at The Careers Group, University of London, describes how she works remotely and digitally with students based in various international locations. Here, Laura discusses common threads to the careers support requested by distance and flexible learners and highlights how careers professionals need to be aware that assumptions of individualistic career choice do not always translate to local contexts.

Y

ou will never meet them in person. Many of them may never meet each other. They are based all around the world and will never even visit the campus, but they are eager for careers and employability support.

Who are they? They are some of the 50,000 distance and flexible learners studying with the University of London, who are based in 190 countries around the globe. Some are studying for University of London degrees, at both undergraduate and postgraduate level, at affiliated teaching centres, such as the Singapore Institute of Management. Others are independent learners working through their online courses on an individual basis.

NEW SUPPORT In early 2018, after extensive discussions between Education Consultancy colleagues in The Careers Group and staff in the University of London Student Experience team, it was agreed that we would offer a fresh programme of careers and employability

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PHOENIX OCTOBER 2019

From being unsure about career values to wanting to find a more challenging role, there are many careers-related issues that apply across different countries and continents. Rather than being overwhelmed by the sheer diversity of internationally-based students, we can be confident that many aspects of career development are universal and that clients, wherever they are based, can benefit from provision of information, advice and guidance. Delivering a webinar on imposter syndrome, for example, led to a lively discussion with students across Asia and Africa sharing strategies on how to tackle this phenomenon.

CONTEXT MATTERS But not everything is universal and we need to be reflective practitioners when we make assumptions about careers-related expectations and opportunities. One Gulf-based female student faced real challenges launching her accountancy career due, in part, to the gender restrictions in place within certain professions in her country.

A law student described his frustrations with the systemic corruption he faced within his workplace, region and, as he saw it, national systems.

WHAT UNITES THIS INCREDIBLY

DIVERSE STUDENT COHORT

IS THEIR EXPERIENCE OF SHARING A VIRTUAL AND GLOBAL EMPLOYABILITY CLASSROOM

Our western-based ideas of career choice as an individualistic exercise is just one perspective; we need to remember that some international students are much more familiar with power structures or cultural expectations, which might influence or even shape ideas of career direction.

evaluation data illustrates that the clients have also found the one-toone guidance interventions via digital platforms to be effective, with 9 out of 10 recommending the service. The interactive group webinars I deliver (twice a day to cover multiple time zones) have also been well received by international students with 92% reporting that the webinar format was appropriate and 90% stating that their ‘confidence in this topic has increased’ after the webinar.

DIGITALLY UNITED

DISTANCE DOESN’T MATTER I used to be very cynical about the efficacy of remote delivery of careers guidance. The thought of individual sessions delivered via phone or video call, such as Skype, always seemed inherently ‘less’ to me than the ideal scenario of a one-to-one client meeting in a sound-proofed room. Even the phrase ‘remote delivery’ brought to mind images of being strapped to a headset, dealing with query after query, like some sort of guidance battery hen. Yet, clearly, with this cohort of internationally-based students, remote delivery was the only option. Indeed, through my work with international distance and flexible learners I have been forced to challenge those assumptions and accept that I misjudged the potential of the format. Moreover, the

The reality is that international students who have engaged with this provision, from Myanmar to Moldova, have only been able to access careers and employability support due to its remote nature. Indeed, what unites this incredibly diverse student cohort is their experience of sharing a virtual and global employability classroom.

Looking forward, we are expanding this provision with the development of an online employability module. I’d be keen to hear from any colleagues who are willing to share their thoughts and experience of remote careers and employability provision to distance and flexible learners.

/in/Laura Brammar laura.brammar@careers.lon.ac.uk @laurabrammar

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19

SUPPORTING INTERNATIONAL STUDENTS

INTERNATIONAL NOTTINGHAM – COLLABORATE, ENGAGE, INSPIRE Teresa Corcoran, Postgraduate Careers Consultant at Nottingham University Business School, outlines the creation and delivery of collaborative events between the University of Nottingham and Nottingham Trent University, designed to share knowledge and resources to better support international cohorts.

A

s a member of the Midlands International Group (MIG), which has had a clear focus on supporting international students since 2004, I met Kathryn Doerr, Careers Consultant at Nottingham Trent University (NTU). Our shared interest in supporting this cohort led to conversations about how we could work collaboratively across our two institutions, in order to build a regional community of support for international students.

WE WORK COLLABORATIVELY ACROSS OUR TWO INSTITUTIONS TO BUILD A REGIONAL COMMUNITY OF SUPPORT FOR INTERNATIONAL STUDENTS

We focused our efforts on creating two events, with each institution taking turns to host. The first event aimed to engage international students hoping to work in the UK, and the second those seeking work overseas. We wanted to provide an opportunity for students to develop their confidence in networking skills by encouraging them to create connections outside their own university environment.

Total number of FTE undergraduate and postgraduate international (non-EU) students: University of Nottingham:

7,035 20

PHOENIX OCTOBER 2019

EVENT 1: WORKING IN THE UK (DELIVERED AT NTU) Nottingham-based Law firm, Paragon Law, delivered advice on the legal aspects of working in the UK under various visa streams. As many of our international students are budding entrepreneurs, we invited colleagues from The Hive (NTU) and The Ingenuity Lab (UoN) to provide an overview of their programmes and services for International students.

We promoted a Nottingham-wide enterprise competition, and a UK-based international entrepreneur shared their experience of operating a business in the UK. In addition, we had a guest speaker from Student Circus, which supports students in identifying Tier 2 sponsored graduate roles and internships in the UK. The session concluded with a panel Q&A featuring legal experts, international entrepreneurs, and students who had achieved their ambition of working in the UK.

EVENT 2: WORKING OVERSEAS (DELIVERED AT UON) Students participated in career planning activities, and were encouraged to reflect on how their employability skills have been developed throughout their time in the UK, and were supported in articulating their value to potential employers. Students also gained insights into the skills overseas employers value from UK-educated returnees, based on recent research conducted with overseas employers.

We also provided an overview of the specific tools available at each institution to support global career planning, including GoinGlobal (NTU) and Passport Career (UoN).

Students were guided through the process of how overseas labour market information could help them to plan their careers overseas whilst still in the UK. This session featured guest speaker David Gee, Director of GradLink UK, who provided information and insights about how this platform can support students with their overseas job search.

Working collaboratively as institutions has allowed us to share resources and work smarter, and meant that our guest speakers could see a higher volume of students and therefore gain more exposure and value per visit. Both events were well attended by between 130 and 150 students. Feedback from participants was overwhelmingly positive, with many commenting that they had been inspired to utilize the resources and advice outlined in the sessions.

We have valued the opportunity to work collaboratively and share our knowledge in order to better engage and support Nottingham’s international student population. We will continue to deliver and develop this programme of collaborative activity in 2019/20.

/in/teresa-corcoran Nottingham Trent University:

3,599

teresa.corcoran@nottingham.ac.uk @TeresaCareers

SUPPORTING SUPPORTINGINTERNATIONAL INTERNATIONALSTUDENTS STUDENTS Total number of FTE undergraduate and postgraduate international (non-EU) students:

7,382 Robin Yu, Lead Skills Tutor, Rupinder Morrow, Senior Careers Consultant, and Cristiane Lima, Project Officer, outline collaborative activity between the Business School and Careers and Employability at King’s College London to offer international students tailored and connected employability and language support.

supporting international POSTGRADUATE TRANSITIONS n September 2019, King’s launched a new package of support to enhance international students’ career management, employability skills and English language competency.

The initiative is being piloted in three MSc Finance programmes, which have large numbers of international students enrolled, the majority of whom are from China. Although they are academically very strong and able to evidence employability skills, the growing trend towards an increasing use of strength-based assessment has meant that students need to go further to demonstrate their commercial awareness and analytical skills. This is particularly true when faced with business immersion exercises, video interviews and situational judgement tests.

PRACTICE MAKES PERFECT We have created a five-week masterclass programme covering each stage of the selection process. This includes the UK and global graduate markets, with examples often drawn from China, and aims to provide a sound understanding of timelines, recruitment practices and growth areas. It also affords students ample opportunity to practise difficult parts of the selection process and help them understand what success looks like in these different markets.

Alongside the masterclasses, we have developed an accompanying 20-week

English for Successful Careers programme.

This focuses on students’ spoken language, particularly their fluency, pronunciation and range of expression. A challenge international students often face is demonstrating a significantly higher standard of English to prospective employers in their home country; there is clear value in offering additional opportunities to practise and apply English in non-academic contexts.

DEVELOPING CAREER READINESS Students are also encouraged to apply for a new King’s Experience Award, which focuses on developing a global mindset and key employability skills. Feedback from employers operating in China and the UK, and from focus groups with Chinese students, has helped create a list of specific skills that are critical to students’ competitiveness in the jobs market, which have been mapped on to the award. Through participation in individual and group tasks and self-assessment

THERE IS CLEAR

VALUE IN OFFERING INTERNATIONAL STUDENTS ADDITIONAL OPPORTUNITIES

TO PRACTISE AND APPLY ENGLISH IN NON-ACADEMIC CONTEXTS

International students in the Business School:

1,699

quizzes, students will track the development of their career readiness. Focus is placed on understanding the social, cultural and economic context they operate in. Ultimately, students will be required to confidently articulate their unique set of skills and devise a successful plan outlining the next steps for their careers.

CULTURAL DIFFERENCES To earn the award, students must write a reflective piece on their experiences and the cultural differences between the UK and their home country’s job markets and expectations around job applications. In addition to offering students a further opportunity to practise writing in English, this places focus on the application procedure and will help ensure more students are preparing earlier than is often the case.

We will monitor student engagement with this new package of support, seek student feedback and ask them to reflect on their learning. We will measure success and then consider expanding this offering to international students across the whole of the King’s Business School degree portfolio.

rupinder.morrow@kcl.ac.uk robin.yu@kcl.ac.uk cris.lima@kcl.ac.uk

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SUPPORTING INTERNATIONAL STUDENTS

Caroline Smith, Careers Adviser, and Karen Hall, Employer Engagement Officer, both based in the School of Business at the University of Dundee, are part of a dedicated team who provide support and opportunities for international students. Here, they outline an initiative to bridge the gap between internships and dissertations by offering students practical business experience within an academic context.

bridging the gap:

International students in the Business School (the cohort featured in this article):

LOCAL BUSINESS 500+ ENGAGEMENT FOR INTERNATIONAL STUDENTS ost of the international master’s students in the School of Business want to secure work experience in the UK. However, sourcing large numbers of internships in a small city is a challenge. In 2017, there were just under 300 international students in the School. A limited number were able to do an eight-week internship or, alternatively, students could go down the traditional master’s dissertation (desk-based) route. Our number of international students has now risen to over 500 and there remains a strong need to increase our offering of professional work experience for this cohort to meet their expectations.

MIND THE GAP Students come to our School from a variety of academic backgrounds, with varying experience and communication skills, to study business-related programmes. Many international students want the business experience, and the opportunity to develop professional connections, but don’t yet feel confident to complete an internship. We needed to fill the gap. In 2018, we piloted the Applied Consultancy Projects (ACP) as an alternative, supported and structured way for students to gain experience.

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PARTNERSHIP APPROACH The ACP allows a large number of international master’s students to engage with businesses in a controlled way. They are given live business questions to answer, and the chance to meet with the company (on campus and on site) to get a feel for what they do, whilst also supporting each other to tackle the challenge. Students work as a group, but submit their findings individually as credit-bearing reports (instead of a more traditional dissertation).

MANY INTERNATIONAL

STUDENTS WANT

THE BUSINESS EXPERIENCE

BUT DON’T YET FEEL CONFIDENT TO COMPLETE AN INTERNSHIP As this was a new initiative, we approached local companies with whom we had trusted relationships and who were open to developing the programme with us in the long term. We delivered workshops on professionalism and consultancy skills to students to support them in preparing for the experience and to develop the skills they would need to be effective.

ADDRESSING CHALLENGES What we found is that students were vague about their areas of business interest. There was also a lack of understanding about their

Total number of FTE undergraduate and postgraduate international (non-EU) students:

2,000

role as ‘consultants’ and how they could be creative in their solutions. Some students also lacked the confidence to ask questions.

We found that in order to progress we had to take a step back. Between the first and second year we decided to work with fewer companies but increased the number of business questions offered. This approach has allowed us to respond to individuals but grow the project in line with our increasing number of students. For 2020, the initiative will be renamed, and we will create supporting brochures and processes to avoid confusion between the options available. We have also asked recent graduates to take part in a video to help demystify the project for incoming students.

We have realised that the earlier the students receive the details of their project, the more time they have to truly understand the questions and to work closely with our partners to provide valuable input. We also need to provide more whole team support sessions, including to academics, while students are undertaking their projects. This approach will ensure our academic staff are included from start to finish, in order to help international students better understand the application of the academic side of their master’s to real life business questions. c.v.smith@dundee.ac.uk k.m.z.hall@dundee.ac.uk

SUPPORTING INTERNATIONAL STUDENTS

WHILE INTERNATIONAL STUDENTS

COME TO THE UK WITH INSIGHTS

INTO

THEIR OWN COUNTRY, THIS DOESN’T

global graduates with a global mindset IN A GLOBAL MARKET Total number of FTE undergraduate and postgraduate international (non-EU) students:

3,370 Dr Elizabeth Dinse, Careers and Graduate Employability Adviser at the University of Central Lancashire (UCLan), unpicks ‘global’ terminology and highlights some of the ways universities can prepare their international students to demonstrate ‘global graduate’ capabilities.

G

lobal graduate employability has been a hot topic for a number of years. An increasing number of employers are seeking graduates with a ‘global mindset’.

But what do these terms mean? How are employers using this terminology and what do they expect international students to evidence during the recruitment process? Furthermore, how can we as careers and employability professionals prepare international students to demonstrate they are a ‘global graduate’? And does everybody understand or use the same frame of reference?

GLOBAL GRADUATE OR GLOBAL MINDSET? According to Global Graduates into Global Leaders (2011), for a student to be a global graduate they need to possess a range of knowledge, competencies and key attributes. Some are these we are familiar with, such as team working, collaboration, adaptability, flexibility, resilience and self-awareness. Others are not as straightforward to understand or evidence; while ‘global knowledge’ and ‘cultural agility’ are clearer in their meaning.

The report states that a global graduate is “one that combines an openness to and awareness of diversity across cultures and markets with a propensity and ability to see common patterns across countries and markets”. However, to muddy the waters a little, some employers

NECESSARILY MEAN THEY UNDERSTAND HOW TO CONVEY THEY MAY BE A GLOBAL GRADUATE state that they are looking for global graduates with ‘global acumen’ (PWC) with the “ability to work with people who are different, collaboration skills (cross border), fresh ideas and open-minded approach, embracing change and uncertainty, ability to consider situations from different perspectives and cultural awareness”.

WHY DO OUR STUDENTS NEED A GLOBAL MINDSET? The Case for Cultural Fluency for International Careers (2017) states that a global mindset is vital as the modern workplace is increasingly globalised, competitive and concerned with international exchange and communication. Employers need employees who have intercultural competence and experience, as well as language skills. Employers seek employees from diverse backgrounds who can work with their international client bases, understand international perspectives, work with people from different cultures and backgrounds and grasp how international business interconnects and operates both across the globe and in the UK. This is reinforced by reports like Future Work Skills 2020, which looks at ten skills for the future workforce, such as cross-cultural competency.

However, according to Helping the UK Thrive (2017), the annual CBI Education and Skills Survey, 39% of employers surveyed were dissatisfied “with the levels of international cultural awareness demonstrated by graduate level applications and employees”.

DEVELOPING TARGETED SUPPORT The University of Central Lancashire (UCLan) welcomes students from 120 different countries. We need to be mindful that while international students come to the UK with insights into their own country, and invariably with additional languages skills, this doesn’t necessarily mean they have a wider cultural awareness, or understand how to convey they may be a global graduate. Last year we delivered Becoming a Global Graduate, a half-day interactive event, which aimed to develop students’ global career awareness and encourage engagement in a culturally vibrant learning environment. The event included presentations from international and UK employers and a series of activities to develop understanding and expectations of the global skills required through a range of cultural and business scenarios.

We hope to build on our offer through the creation of new resources, such as skills dictionaries and case studies, to help students develop their knowledge and gain a better understanding of being a global graduate with a global mindset in a global market. /in/drlizdinse edinse@uclan.ac.uk

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SUPPORTING DISABLED STUDENTS

Cross-cultural integration FOR INTERNATIONAL STUDENT SUCCESS Total number of FTE international (non-EU) students in the School of Management:

2,941 Caroline Baldwin, MSc Careers Manager, provides an overview of how the University of Bath have set up and integrated international student support for students in the School of Management.

W

e have seen the popularity of our MSc courses increase over the last 10 years, growing from 200 students on two courses in 2011, to 14 courses with a cohort of around 700 students. Our largest groups of international students are from China, India and Thailand.

TARGETED PROVISION

We face two key challenges working with this cohort. Firstly, in ensuring they make the most of all the opportunities offered as early as possible in their MSc year, especially since international students may be less familiar with university structures and local labour market opportunities and timings. Secondly, in integrating meaningful work-based learning into a one-year programme, especially when international students are often not able to undertake summer internships due to visa restrictions.

To address these challenges, we established faculty-based careers provision specifically for MSc students within the School of Management. Careers staff have a dual role: to provide student

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PHOENIX OCTOBER 2019

support and to engage with employers in the UK and globally.

Our activities include integrating corporate engagement, skills development and experiential learning into the courses with a mix of credit-bearing and extracurricular activities.

WORK IN THE UK Many of our international students are interested in working in the UK for a short period before returning home. Careers support is embedded into the curriculum with timetabled workshops starting in week one. Attendance is consistently high at around 95%. This has been beneficial to prepare international students for autumn graduate opportunities. We maintain a database of UK employers who sponsor work permits for graduates and regularly invite Tier 2 sponsoring recruiters to participate in our activities. This year, we also ran a small but successful Summer Careers Fair targeting international students.

We invited employers who offer six-month internships starting in October, when international students can work full time on their Tier 4 visa, as well as companies offering Tier 2 sponsorship.

WORK OUTSIDE THE UK Throughout the year, we run workshops, webinars and company presentations to support graduate opportunities outside the UK. Global recruiters and alumni share their insights at an International Careers Week to ensure international students maintain labour market information in their home country. The university careers team has organised careers fairs in China, which provide fantastic opportunities for our returning students to reintegrate with the local labour market.

We also regularly organise career-focused alumni events outside the UK. These are great networking and knowledge sharing activities for

A NUMBER OF THE EXTRACURRICULAR ACTIVITIES WE OFFER ARE DESIGNED TO

PROMOTE INTEGRATION

BETWEEN INTERNATIONAL AND UK STUDENTS our alumni and also help the careers team to stay updated with global recruiting trends and strengthen links with our international alumni.

CORPORATE CONTACTS Most of our courses have an employer-based assessment within the programme. These include group consulting projects and individual company sponsored dissertations. The careers team sources these, allocates students into teams, and organises training to support the students. For international students these opportunities provide easy access to gaining UK-based corporate experience without the pressure of applying, or finding a group to work with. This is often the first time our international students have used their business skills in a UK corporate context and are able to realise how valuable their academic knowledge is in the business world.

CROSS-CULTURAL INTEGRATION A number of the extracurricular activities we offer are designed to promote integration between international and UK students. As part of the MSc Induction Week, all students take part in our Big Team

Challenge, with tasks set by employer contacts who may be seeking student insights into how to better target a global millennial audience for their recruitment process, products or services. This offers the opportunity for international students to start working with their new peer group right from the start, for them to get a taste of the challenges facing UK companies, and to see how their international outlook and knowledge can play a part in helping to answer those challenges.

We also organise our Future Business Challenge week with guest speakers and two days of company visits. We mix nationalities and programmes into teams to ensure diversity and varied perspectives.

Each team visits companies with different business models to discuss the challenges they face. We find this is particularly useful for international students to enhance their understanding of the range of company cultures, values and business models in the UK. To complement these activities, our Student Experience Team organise a peer-led Conversation Club, Global Networking workshops and volunteering projects to promote cross-cultural integration amongst all students.

We consider it a huge advantage for UK and International students to share their MSc year together. This global experience provides opportunities for peer-to-peer learning and knowledge sharing, which enhances the employability and global mindset of all students.

We believe this leads to engaged and happy students, who become fantastic global ambassadors for us as alumni. /in/caroline-baldwin-09381510/ c.p.baldwin@bath.ac.uk

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SUPPORTING INTERNATIONAL STUDENTS

implementing an international CAREERS STRATEGY

Total number of FTE undergraduate and postgraduate international (non-EU) students:

5,000+

Following a review of student backgrounds and employment outcomes at Imperial College Business School, Executive Director of Careers Lisa Umenyiora established an international careers strategy to support the needs of international students. Here, Lisa provides an insight into two key initiatives set up to support Chinese students and students wanting to work in the Asia Pacific region.

International students in the Business School (the cohort featured in this article):

1,193

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ne year into my role, I was in a fortunate position: I had a fantastic team, our new sector-aligned delivery was working well, student feedback was positive and our employment rates were above 90% for almost all programmes at the Business School. However, with Imperial’s status as one of the most international universities in the world, we were concerned that we weren’t providing sufficient support to our international students or those looking to have an international career.

Following a review of our students’ employment outcomes, we established that over 50% gained work outside the UK after their programme. It was clear we needed to establish an international careers strategy to support our students seeking employment globally, whether that be back in their home country or elsewhere.

THE WHOLE CAREERS TEAM HAS

INCREASED ITS UNDERSTANDING

OF THE APAC RECRUITMENT MARKET, TRENDS AND TIMELINES AND WE HAVE ADAPTED

STUDENT SUPPORT ACCORDINGLY STRATEGIC GOALS

When looking at where our alumni are working, it became apparent that China and the Asia Pacific (APAC) region should be a top priority. We needed to increase our employer interaction in the region and better understand the Chinese recruitment market and processes. We also wanted to reach out to alumni to support their career progression and involve them in our plans, something that aligned with the School’s wider strategic goal of increasing engagement with international alumni. As part of the strategy, two initiatives we identified as being key included

introducing both a China-based careers consultant and a London-based Mandarinspeaking careers consultant.

Given its status as an international capital of finance and start-ups, many of our Chinese students aim to work in the UK and only move to plan B (returning home) at the end of their programme if their UK job-hunt has not been successful. This means that, because of the recruitment timeline in APAC, students often have to wait 6-12 months to find and start a new role after their programme has finished.

A number of students from APAC were using external paid services to support them in their job hunt and recruitment preparations. We felt it was important to provide this support through the Careers Service.

SPECIALIST ROLES If you haven’t experienced working in or with China yet, let me warn you that it can be a complex process. Crucially, unless your organisation has a China-based office (which Imperial does not) you are not permitted to directly hire or pay a Chinese national long-term. Working with Imperial’s legal and financial teams, we mapped out the options for the China-based role: set up a Chinabased office; pay a Chinese national through an intermediary company; or recruit an expat living in China. Making extensive use of my network, I was introduced to an expat who had lived in the APAC region for a number of years, was moving to China, and who worked in the HR/careers space.

The London-based careers consultant focuses on current students who wish to work in the APAC region. A requirement of the role was to speak fluent Mandarin to review Chinese CVs and hold mock-interviews.

Other responsibilities include holding workshops to explain the APAC recruitment process and timeline, and to encourage students to apply early for APAC-based roles.

MEASURING IMPACT While it is still too early to assess the full impact, we have already seen early benefits from the introduction of these roles. For instance, we have posted over 70 APAC job opportunities in a six- month period, compared to just a handful previously.

Top tips for implementing an international careers strategy 1) Don’t underestimate the amount of time it will take to set up seemingly simple processes or recruit positions overseas.

2) Work your professional and alumni networks to find the skilled staff you need.

3) Use employer presentations via webinars to increase awareness of relevant overseas companies.

4) Recognise there is a limit to what you can do. Draw on other online resources to support your strategy, including Student Circus, Going Global, and LockinChina.

These were advertised via WeChat as we quickly identified the importance of China’s largest messaging app.

We have interacted with over 45 APAC companies, both through the China-based consultant and via visits we made to the region. We have increased our oncampus engagement with APAC offices of international companies thanks to the work of our employer relations team, and this activity alone has led to over 15 job offers. We also held our first alumni careers workshops and networking events in China, which received positive feedback and were well attended.

It has taken time, and we have faced unexpected challenges along the way, but our international careers strategy has been well received and we have seen increased engagement amongst international students with Careers. The whole team has increased its understanding of the APAC recruitment market, trends and timelines, and we have adapted student support accordingly.

We still have a way to go but we have made an encouraging start.

/in/lisaumenyiora l.umenyiora@imperial.ac.uk LisaUmenyiora

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SUPPORTING INTERNATIONAL STUDENTS

what do UK-educated CHINESE AND HONG KONG GRADUATES DO? Esther de Perlaky, International Employer Liaison Manager at the University of Warwick, provides a snapshot of the findings from a three-year trend analysis of UK-educated Chinese and Hong Kong graduate outcomes.

CHINESE GRADUATES Using HESA's Destinations of Leavers from Higher Education (DLHE) data, we analysed outcomes from 6,635 UK-educated Chinese students, representing around 7% of the UK total. From the sample, 28% were studying at undergraduate level, 69% at postgraduate taught and 3% at postgraduate research.

The data confirms that the majority of Chinese undergraduates go on to further study, with an equal 85% of both male and female undergraduates pursuing this route. Following further study, data reveal that 71% of male and 67% of female postgraduates are in work six months after graduation, while 9% of male and 7% of female postgraduates opt for further study (chart 1).

When we look at occupations, more than 90% of UK-educated Chinese students entered professional, technical or managerial employment after graduating.

The top four industries in 2016/2017 were: • Financial and Insurance activities (10% of male graduates and 16% of female graduates) • Professional, Scientific and Technical activities (6% of male graduates and 11% of female graduates) • Education (4% of male graduates and 10% of female graduates); • Information and Communication (4% of male graduates and 5% of female graduates).

One of the key outcomes from this research is the evidence of the mobility of UK-educated Chinese students. From the data set, 90% of graduates were in graduate jobs in China and 8% were in a graduate-level role in the UK.

CHART 1: Chinese Graduate Destinations – Postgraduate Taught

ONE OF THE KEY OUTCOMES OF THIS RESEARCH IS THE EVIDENCE OF THE MOBILITY OF UK-EDUCATED CHINESE STUDENTS 28

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CHART 2: Hong Kong Graduate Destinations – Undergraduate

HONG KONG GRADUATES For the third year of the study, we compared and contrasted UKeducated Chinese and Hong Kong graduate destinations data.

The Hong Kong sample size consisted of 675 graduates; while smaller than the Chinese sample, this is sufficient to draw out key trends.

When we compare the Chinese graduate sample with Hong Kong graduates, an interesting contrast emerges: the data show that 73% of Hong Kong students study an undergraduate course in the UK, with 27% studying a postgraduate course. For Chinese students these figures are reversed.

Again, there is a very positive employability picture for Hong Kong graduates at undergraduate level: 43% of male and 47% of female graduates are in a graduate-level role six months after graduation; and 46% of male and 40% of female graduates go on to further study (chart 2). Combined, these figures show that around 90% of Hong Kong graduates are either in a graduate role or undertaking further study six months after graduation.

At postgraduate level, the data show that 75% of male and 80% of female postgraduates are in work six months after graduation.

Analysing the country of employment for Hong Kong graduates, 62% were working in Hong Kong and 29% were in a graduate-level role in the UK. This study provides a consistent message that a UK education enables international graduates and postgraduates to gain graduatelevel jobs, in key industries, after graduation. Combined with the recent announcement about reinstating post-study work visas for international students, the positive trends revealed through this study reinforce the attractiveness and value of choosing to study in the UK. Find out more about this research project

esther.de-perlaky@warwick.ac.uk

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SUPPORTING INTERNATIONAL STUDENTS

supporting students TO STEP OUTSIDE THEIR COMFORT ZONE

R

Fiona Corby, Careers Consultant at the University of Reading, calls for increased opportunities that lead to better integration of home and international students, both in the curriculum and through career development work.

ecently I conducted a workshop and, in order to get back to the Careers Centre, I decided to take a short cut by walking through a small student seating area.

I was expecting to hear loud animated conversations but was surprised to witness virtual silence. I am working on a university campus where there are over a hundred languages being spoken and endless opportunities for cultural exchange and, yet, I observed a quiet zone.

What’s going on here?

SHARING GOOD PRACTICE Each year, the university holds a summer conference to encourage the sharing of good practice and provide opportunities for informal exchanges so we can learn from one another and develop our approaches to learning and teaching. The 2019 event focused on globalisation in the curriculum. To set the scene, the conference opened with an overview of our global strategy and comprised short presentations and a marketplace.

Different departments talked through various approaches, which varied enormously. For example, if we look at globalisation in Meteorology, this really is about storm chasing in Oklahoma. For the School of Languages and Literature, on the other hand, globalisation refers to an intensive language module through the university-wide language programme, which for some students who have never left the UK before encompasses a two-week placement in France. It was interesting to learn, in both cases, how students develop outside their comfort zone. Another initiative allows international students to undertake research projects/dissertations focusing on the indigenous literature of their own country. Not only does this make students feel highly valued but it also enables us to enhance cross-cultural understanding.

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INDIVIDUALISM V COLLECTIVISM One challenge facing all disciplines is the lack of student integration. When it comes to working in smaller groups, home students stay with their peers as do international students. We are aware of this polarization and we need to identify ways to encourage greater collaboration. We acknowledge that students learn collaboratively and individually. Our curriculum is both diverse and inclusive, but much of the career development work we undertake in relation to self-awareness focuses on ‘the individual’.

Conversely, many of our students will be part of a culture which represents collectivism. By individualism, we mean the belief that the individual has the right to their own opinion and decisions are made on an individual basis, influenced by their beliefs and values.

Collectivism, on the other hand, stipulates that the group forms opinion and the group make all decisions. Admittedly, there is some overlap.

However, are we doing our students a disservice by focusing on individualism when they are entitled to explore collectivism if they are to flourish in the world of work and further learning? The concern is that many recruiters anticipate that students are gaining wider cultural understanding when, in fact, they remain within their comfort bubble.

HOME AND INTERNATIONAL STUDENTS WORKING TOGETHER HAS GREAT POTENTIAL TO BE ENRICHING AND

NEEDS TO BE FOSTERED

Social media use raises further concerns since students, on the whole, stick to their online social groups and do not diversify. Not only is social media stifling integration of home and international students but this also impacts on traditional and widening participation cohorts.

Students working together has great potential to be enriching and needs to be fostered. We all have a role to play in coaxing students out of their silos. /in/fiona-corby-32382915 f.j.corby@reading.ac.uk

SUPPORTING INTERNATIONAL STUDENTS

Abi Gaston and Esther de Perlaky, Co-Chairs of the AGCAS Internationalisation Task Group, provide an overview of the work of the group and the support available to AGCAS members working with international students.

AGCAS INTERNATIONALISATION TASK GROUP

T

he AGCAS Internationalisation Task Group supports careers professionals to work effectively with international students at UK universities.

We seek to keep AGCAS members up to date with legislative changes around recruiting international students in the UK and to identify and share best practice in supporting international students.

We also support central AGCAS research and responses to government consultations that relate to international students. We are currently contributing to a collaborative piece of research between UUKi and AGCAS, the findings of which will be launched early in 2020.

Many AGCAS member services have anything from zero to a small handful of people dedicated to supporting international students. This means that delivering student support and innovating provision can

sometimes feel like it’s being done in isolation, and often without much funding behind it.

As numbers of international students at our institutions grow, and the landscape changes with the reintroduction of the post-study work visa, we believe that connecting professionals across services to support and learn from each other is a key part of our role as a task group.

We do this through the delivery of training events, via our LinkedIn group and by sharing resources through the AGCAS website.

1. TRAINING We deliver an annual training event to provide professionals with the insights and networks that they need to do their job. The last two events have supported over 110 careers professionals and featured a wide range of speakers from external organisations such as UUKi, UKCISA, and the British Council. Keep an eye on the AGCAS website for our next event.

2. COMMUNITY We have an active LinkedIn Group for AGCAS members working with non-UK students and graduates, with a particular focus on international student career development. This is a great place to ask your questions to the community and share tips and insights on a regular basis.

3. RESOURCES Our task group page on the AGCAS website is packed with resources, including: • A guide for employers recruiting international graduates • FAQs for careers practitioners working with international students • Case studies of good practice across the UK • Cultural awareness workshop resources • Links to information on working in China and India • Reports on international student destinations If you interact with international students on a regular basis then we would love you to make the most of the ways in which we can support you. Get involved in our training, join our community and familiarise yourself with our resources. We have also found that regional groups set up and managed locally can be incredibly helpful for sharing and collaboration.

We are always keen to be working in the most effective way for AGCAS members, so if you have ideas of things we can be doing to help you, then do get in touch.

Contact the Task Group

View the Task Group’s resources

Join the AGCAS Internationalisation LinkedIn Group

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AGCAS AWARDS FOR EXCELLENCE 2019 winners

Strategic Innovation Award winner Ulster University (presented by David Shull, Handshake)

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Building Effective Partnerships Award winners Newcastle University and the University of Liverpool (presented by Mike Grey, Gradconsult)

Congratulations to this year’s winners!

Read more about the award winning projects and initiatives on the AGCAS website Outstanding Newcomer

Dr Rachel Shannon, Ulster University

Significant Contribution – Individual

Samantha Brown, BPP University

Supporting Student / Graduate Employability

University of Leicester

Sponsored by

Sponsored by

Sponsored by

Research Informed Practice

Significant Contribution – Group

John Roberts Memorial Award

University of West London

Goldsmiths, University of London

Anne Delauzun, University of Reading

Sponsored by Sponsored by

Strategic Innovation

Building Effective Partnerships

Sponsored by

Sponsored by

Ulster University

Newcastle University and University of Liverpool

Significant Influence Award winners Eluned Jones, Clare Rees, Andrew Whitmore, Shelagh Green (presented by Bob Gilworth, AGCAS President, centre)

Significant Influence

Andrew Whitmore Claire Rees Eluned Jones Shelagh Green

Significant Contribution – Individual Award winner Samantha Brown, BPP University (presented by Sachin Jaswal, ProjectSet)

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TEACHING CONTENT

Sarah Nichols, AGCAS Publications Officer, outlines the wide range of AGCAS publications available and looks at how these are being used by members to support their work with students and graduates.

A WEALTH OF AGCAS RESOURCES AT YOUR FINGERTIPS AGCAS produces a wealth of resources in collaboration with AGCAS members and with our partners, Prospects and GTI Media.

But what are these resources and how can you make the most of them in your work?

JOB PROFILES By the end of 2019, AGCAS will have 500 Job profiles produced in collaboration with Prospects. These cover a range of roles that new and recent graduates are most interested in. Profiles provide information about qualifications and other entry requirements, salaries, work experience, vacancy sources, professional development and career prospects.

WHAT CAN I DO WITH MY DEGREE? The 100 titles in the WCIDWMD? series, also produced in partnership with Prospects, provide an overview of the different options open to current students and graduates from particular degree subjects. They highlight the skills gained through study, provide examples of typical jobs and give statistics on what graduates have gone on to do six months after graduation.

Claire Guy, Co-Chair of the AGCAS Curriculum Design Task Group and Careers and Employability Consultant at the University of Plymouth, uses these resources daily in her work. She explains: "It is a rare occasion that I carry out a guidance interview without showing a student how they can use the Job profiles and WCIDWMD? titles to advance their own career management. I have also found them an invaluable resource in my embedded curricular approaches, using them to inform curriculum planning and to influence and persuade academics.”

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This series, produced in partnership with GTI Media, includes Routes into Teaching, Getting a Teaching Job, Teaching in the Nations (Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland) and Education Alternatives.

The publications have been broken down into bite-sized, easy-todigest articles on TARGETjobs.

The information from the teaching publications is also used in the annual TARGETjobs Teaching publication, available in hard copy at most AGCAS-member careers and employability services, and online as a digital magazine.

Paul Barnes, Chair of the AGCAS Teaching and Related Professions Task Group and Careers Adviser at the University of Portsmouth, explains how they can be used: “The teaching guides are both very detailed and versatile and can be incorporated into workshops and presentations in careers services or in academic departments. They can also form the basis of staff training on routes into teaching.”

QUALITY All new Job profiles and WCIDWMD? titles are thoroughly researched and written by HE careers professionals, usually AGCAS members.

Each publication is given an in-depth update every two years by experienced AGCAS editors to ensure they remain relevant. The teaching publications are updated on an annual basis by the AGCAS Teaching and Related Professions Task Group, who use their expertise to ensure that the information is accurate, reliable and reflects the current routes into teaching.

A FINAL WORD There is an AGCAS publication for many occasions as Miguel Rodriguez, Careers Adviser at the University of St Andrews, reminds us: “We have all been in that situation where a switched-on student catches us off guard… A couple of seconds and sweat drops later, you remind yourself that you have AGCAS on your side, smile at the student, and invite them to explore the high-quality AGCAS resources available to them.”

Having researched and written a number of AGCAS publications I know how much time and effort goes into making them up to date and accurate. It's great to have a reliable resource that I have confidence in using with academics and students.

Claire Guy, Careers and Employability Consultant, University of Plymouth For the full range of resources produced by AGCAS in partnership with Prospects and GTI Media, see www.agcas.org.uk/Agcas-Publications.

publications@agcas.org.uk

Amy Haworth, Careers Adviser at the University of Birmingham, worked with colleagues in the School of Biosciences to undertake research into gender differences in the career aspirations of students. This mutually-beneficial collaboration has helped to strengthen relationships with academics and raised greater awareness of the work of Careers Network.

role models and representation:

RESEARCHING WOMEN IN STEM

A

ccording to HESA, undergraduate bioscience courses do not face the same gender issues in attracting female students as other sciences, with a 63% female population (2016/17). However, a deeper dig reveals that there are gender-related career retention issues for the sector and we all have a part to play to close this ‘leaky pipeline’. Women in scientific careers (2014) clearly showed that women were paid less, awarded fewer grants and were more likely to leave the profession than their male counterparts. Furthermore, according to the Society of Biology only 15% of bioscience professors are female.

STUDENTS ENTER UNIVERSITY WITH

GENDERED CULTURAL INFLUENCES TAKING ACTION As the lead careers adviser for biosciences at the University of Birmingham, I was introduced to Dr Juliet Coates, Head of the School of Biosciences Equality and Diversity Committee. We discovered a mutual interest in supporting the equality and diversity agenda, in line with the Athena SWAN Charter. We discussed the issues facing women in STEM careers and set out to discover whether there was anything happening at undergraduate level that

was dissuading women from entering the profession. We devised a survey, which was distributed in undergraduate tutorials.

KEY FINDINGS Key findings over the first three years of the survey showed that: • All genders identified considerably more pre-university male scientific role models than female role models; students enter university with gendered cultural influences that may influence the possible futures that they envisage for themselves.

• Female undergraduates became less positive about entering a scientific career over the course of their studies, whereas males become more positive about the sector.

• The lack of female academic role models was clearly having an impact on the perceptions of the profession by female undergraduates.

WIDER REACH These findings provided the basis for our work and resulted in several interventions, including a focused tutorial programme and work with the WISE Society to deliver inspiring careers talks raising the profile of diverse women in biosciences.

The research contributed to the School of Biosciences successfully retaining their Bronze Athena SWAN award. However, the impact of our research has had a far wider reach across the department. The tutorial programme raised awareness of equality and diversity for both students and staff and

has provided us with a forum to tell students about unconscious bias. It has also led to equality and diversity teaching becoming more embedded across the undergraduate and postgraduate biosciences curriculum, and resulted in efforts to raise the visibility of female role models in the School.

FUTURE PLANS Subsequent years of survey results show a slight shift towards more positive perceptions of roles for females in science and academia. We hope to continue this trend. We have now extended the survey to postgraduate students too. An additional project is to develop visually-appealing career timelines for university staff and alumni (of all genders and a range of backgrounds) who have gone on to work in scientific careers so that students can gain access to a range of current role models with whom they can identify.

Working collaboratively on this project has strengthened relations between Careers Network and academics by allowing greater insight into the priorities and constraints that each other faces. It has also further raised the profile of Careers Network across the School, resulting in a high number of tutor referrals to the careers service as well as further collaborations where our priorities align.

/in/amylhaworth/

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RESEARCHER’S DIGEST

01

Dr Julia Yates, Senior Lecturer in Organisational Psychology at City, University of London, shares her latest digest of careers-related research.

WORK AND MENTAL HEALTH

Redekopp, D. E., & Huston, M. (2019), The broader aims of career development: mental health, wellbeing and work, British Journal of Guidance & Counselling, 47(2), 246-257.

With the increased focus on mental health across universities at the moment, this paper provides a timely summary of the links between work and mental health, focusing both on the positive impact that work can have on mental health, and the negative impact that mental ill health can have on people’s career development. The authors identify that, on balance, work has a positive impact on people’s mental health because it allows for access to social support and financial resources, offers a structure to people’s days, and can give or increase our sense of purpose. There is also a good link between ‘person fit’ at work and mental health, which means that people in jobs that are suited to them, in terms of skills, values and level of challenge, are more likely to be mentally healthy than those who are not. The authors make the point that pretty much any support that career practitioners give could be considered a mental wellness intervention, because everything that we do to support people finding suitable and meaningful work is likely to offer a boost to their mental health. One challenge for us though is that people suffering from mental ill-health are less likely to seek out career support and less likely to be able to capitalise on the support they are offered, reminding us of the importance of making a concerted effort to market our services to all.

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02

EMPLOYERS’ VIEWS OF CV EVIDENCE

Stout, S. M., & Olson-Buchanan, J. B. (2019), It’s All Greek to Me: Recruiters’ Perceptions of Résumé Items, Journal of Career Development, 46(4), 366-380.

It has been a source of frustration for me for some years how little support the research community gives to work with CVs. It is probably the most common query we have within university careers services, and there is next to nothing published about how best to manage a CV session, and very limited empirical evidence that shows what actually makes one CV more successful over another. Here is one study that does offer some interesting evidence about how recruiters feel about the different activities that might be recorded on a CV. The paper focuses on traditional campus-based society involvements (such as sports teams and fraternities and sororities) and more directly workrelated activities which take place off campus. In previous research, from 20 or so years ago, the evidence suggested that these kinds of activities were all of interest to employers. However, employers’ opinions may have shifted a bit in the last couple of decades. In this study, employers (150 recruiting managers in the US) seemed to be far more impressed with the applied, off-campus activities. They felt that practical work experience was likely to predict better technical skills and stronger overall employability, and found that study abroad, internships and mentoring were seen as the most impressive of all experiences. These findings make it even more crystal clear that we desperately need more empirical evidence in this area. Do let me know if there is anyone out there who wants to collaborate on a research project on this topic!

03

04

Clayton, K., Wessel, R. D., McAtee, J., & Knight, W. E. (2018), KEY Careers: Increasing Retention and Graduation Rates With Career Interventions, Journal of Career Development, 0894845318763972.

Carpentier, M., Van Hoye, G., & Weijters, B. (2019), Attracting applicants through the organization's social media page: Signalling employer brand personality, Journal of Vocational Behavior, 115, 103326.

I do like an article that offers some clear evidence of the value of our work. This paper offers some compelling evidence that an early career intervention for university students helps with retention from the first to second year, and improves the students’ chances of graduating.

At the heart of the success of the intervention is the importance of students understanding why they are studying. The careers sessions encouraged first years to think clearly about why they were studying and where it might lead them, and this helped to motivate them throughout their degree courses and made them better able to cope with setbacks during their time at university. The careers education programme that was offered to the students was quite long – perhaps longer than many of us could easily manage within our institutions.

The authors weren’t explicit about the number of hours of engagement, but there were six ‘modules’ in the programme, which might suggest a substantial input. Nevertheless, the findings are impressive, with participants in the programme 15% more likely to graduate than non-participants (after controlling for other factors). I was interested to note that the intervention itself didn’t seem particularly cutting edge, drawing on a traditional trait and factor matching approach. This puts me in mind of studies I have read elsewhere that suggest that the actual nature of the intervention doesn’t really matter – what matters is that the students have some focused time to think about their careers.

We all know how important it is for graduate recruiters to promote their firms and their vacancies to potential applicants and we know that they use a range of different methods to try and make the right impression on the right students. In this study, the authors invited some final year undergraduates to look at the social media of a number of different organisations and examined their perceptions of the attractiveness of the organisation, and asked them how likely they were to recommend the organisation to their friends. The findings indicated that the students assessed the employers based on three criteria: how warm the organisation was, how competent it seemed and how attractive overall they thought it was. They authors found that when the students got the impression that they were communicating with an actual person who was personal, friendly and sociable they felt that the organisation was warm and attractive. They also found that a social media page that was highly informative and packed with relevant information led the students to think the firm was competent.

Participants also reported that they were much more likely to recommend an organisation if they felt it was warm and competent, so employers would be well advised to make sure that their social media presence is both personal and relevant.

MEASURING THE VALUE OF EARLY CAREER INTERVENTIONS

GRADUATE RECRUITMENT THROUGH SOCIAL MEDIA

If you would like further details about any of the research featured in this issue, please email Julia.yates.1@city.ac.uk PHOENIX OCTOBER 2019

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SUPPORTING INTERNATIONAL STUDENTS

PROSPECTS: SUPPORTING AND PROMOTING HE CAREERS SERVICES

Jayne Rowley, Chief Executive of HECSU Prospects, outlines how new media initiatives are underpinned by sector expertise.

T

he government’s recent International Education Strategy outlines its ambition to grow the numbers of international students choosing UK universities to 600,000 by 2030. It sets out actions to work with the sector to identify and share good practice in how universities effectively support international students into employment and further study, both here in the UK and when they return home. Furthermore, Universities UK International (UUKi) has released its first International Graduate Outcomes study. Exploring the career outcomes of a large sample of international graduates who studied in the UK, it shows that they go on to successful and satisfying careers, and that the majority view their UK degree as a vehicle for their success.

EXPERT INFORMATION Whether students are domestic or international our vision is to guide all of them to a brilliant career. This is achieved in partnership with careers service colleagues as together we strive to provide students with expert careers information, advice and opportunities that ultimately lead them to a bright future. Each year HECSU Prospects invests in funding new careers content, written

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by the careers community for the careers community and produced in partnership with AGCAS. We want to ensure that we reach and engage as many students and graduates as possible with our content, regardless of where they are or where they are going on their career journey. This means finding creative ways to harness new media opportunities and technologies.

fairs. Re-launched in the spring with support from many careers services, its success led to a further virtual fair in October. As well as connecting students and graduates with employers, this platform offers a valuable opportunity for them to ask questions and gain advice from careers advisers. I’d like to thank those careers service volunteers whose contributions have made these initiatives possible.

IMMERSIVE CONTENT

QUALITY SERVICES

With two-thirds of our graduate audience valuing careers information delivered in an audio or podcast format we have just launched Future You, the careers podcast from Prospects. Users can tune-in via their favourite podcast app to find inspiring advice and in-depth insights from careers advisers, employers and peers.

Future You is helping young people to take the next steps in their journey, whether they already have a detailed career plan in place or if they're not quite sure where to turn next.

This approach is also reflected in our latest video content, which covers a range of issues from what to do after graduation to managing wellbeing. Available through social media channels, the videos are working hard to raise awareness and extend our reach, and are a key engagement tool for the careers content on Prospects.

Another exciting way for us to engage students and graduates with careers advice from you is through our new wave of virtual

All of our new media initiatives are helping to boost access and awareness of the fantastic content that we publish in partnership with our careers colleagues, so we were delighted for its quality to be recognised by the Office for Students. We were approached to support their new information website, DiscoverUni, which replaces Unistats, ensuring that any signposts to careers advice and information are directed to prospects.ac.uk.

The high quality of careers information is testament to the close relationship that we have enjoyed with AGCAS for nearly five decades. It is fantastic to get the opportunity to spend time together at the Annual Conference and this year was no exception as our team thoroughly enjoyed the inspiring three-day event in Manchester. We received some lovely feedback from delegates, who told us how much they valued services such as Luminate and Planner. Our announcement that we have worked with AGCAS to publish 12 regional labour market reports in a regional edition of What Do Graduates Do? also went down well.

Everything we do is about supporting and promoting the exceptional work of careers services. Together we deliver the definitive source for the guidance, support and opportunities that students and graduates need to advance their careers and be the best they can be at home and abroad.

VIEW PHOENIX THEMES AND ISSUES Phoenix

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NEXT ISSUE FEBRUARY 2020

ISSUE 154 JUNE 2018

BIG DATA Opportunity knocks with better data Using data to enhance partnership working Data visualisation through cross-service collaboration

Phoenix ISSUE 155 OCTOBER 2018

REGIONAL COLLABORATION

ARTICLE DEADLINE

Phoenix is the AGCAS journal

Monday 6 January 2020

Beyond the campus boundary

DOWNLOAD the Phoenix article submission form

Mapping the regional impact of an anchor institution The graduate retention challenge

Phoenix Phoenix is the AGCAS journal

ISSUE 156 FEBRUARY 2019

SUPPORTING DISABLED STUDENTS What Happens Next?

Key trends in the destinations of disabled graduates A collaborative approach to supporting autistic students Preparing disabled students for the Fourth Industrial Revolution

Phoenix ISSUE 157 JUNE 2019 Phoenix is the AGCAS journal

ACADEMIC ALIGNMENT Employability?

Isn’t that what Careers do?

A joint approach to curriculum design and development Raising graduate outcomes through academic partnerships

Phoenix is the AGCAS journal

THIS ISSUE INCLUDES CONTRIBUTIONS FROM THE FOLLOWING INSTITUTIONS: Imperial College London

University of Bath

University of Nottingham

King's College London

University of Birmingham

University of Portsmouth

Newcastle University

University of Bristol

University of Reading

Nottingham Trent University

University of Central Lancashire

University of St Andrews

The Careers Group, University of London

University of Dundee

University of Warwick

The University of Edinburgh

University of Leeds