LEAD FEATURE
FUTURE-PROOFING STUDENTS Over the past decade the term employability has become a buzz word in higher education and has been given several definitions. The Careers Service has adopted that proposed by Yorke in 2006 who defined it as ‘a set of achievements – skills, understandings and personal attributes – that makes graduates more likely to gain employment and be successful in their chosen occupation, which benefits themselves, the workforce, the community and the economy’. Employability is about being able to continually develop skills, knowledge and confidence through lifelong learning. As mentioned on page 10, one of the university’s strategic objectives is that all students should get the opportunity to do a work placement. Having undertaken a placement or any activity it is important that the learning outcomes are recorded and reflected upon and stored for future CVs and job applications. Students can be supported to do this through the new Graduate Toolkit materials that have replaced studentprofile as the university’s personal development planning. Students and staff can access materials such as learning logs and self-assessment sheets upon which they can record their employability development. It is also possible to store evidence online on studentfolio. During the academic year 2011–2012, the university, through the Employability and Enterprise Group, introduced new employability lead roles to raise the profile and quality of employability support for our students. They are a conduit for disseminating university policies and initiatives regarding employability, enterprise and best practice.
Academics who take on this role will encourage and support colleagues as they embed employability within courses. They will drive forward, within schools, the university’s initiatives on employability, including the new look career planning agreement which helps integrate employability and career planning within the curriculum.
EMPLOYABILITY LEADS IN ACTION The School of Sport and Service Management at Eastbourne has introduced an Employability Hub. The hub is led by principal lecturers Helen Atkinson and Rob Harley – assisted by Julie Gibson and Jan Adams. Their aim is to improve students’ employment prospects and help encourage enterprise, social engagement and employability amongst their students and alumni. With a large and important programme of formal placements to support, the Employability Hub will also work closely with careers and business development colleagues to maximise benefits to students. Helen is working with the Employability Hub team to prioritise their activities in consultation with academic tutors and course leaders in the school. They are starting with a review of their current position to understand where they are on employability across the school. So far this shows employability skills, work simulation or work experience are available in all courses.
The role of higher education is more than simply to provide fodder for the jobs market. It is to help individuals learn, reflect and grow, to develop a range of skills and attitudes for lifelong success. Helen Atkinson, Principal Lecturer
Once the review is complete, they will work with course teams to identify what employability means in each of their distinct professional domains and what priorities and challenges are facing them. The Employability Hub will then support the embedding of employability by course teams across the school. Working with other units within the school, such as learning and teaching, student experience, they will promote school-wide initiatives that facilitate retention, satisfaction and employability amongst their students.
The School of Sport and Service Management Employability Hub team (left to right) Rob Harley, Jan Adams, Julie Gibson and Helen Atkinson. u
12 Channel Magazine April 2013