How to Enable the Employability of University Graduates: (How To Guides)

Students invest significant resources in coming to university and universities play a crucial role in enabling their students to benefit from this investment and to be employable once they have finished their degree. Giving a platform to the debate about graduate employability from the student, university and employer perspectives, this innovative How To Guide explores the challenges associated with ensuring the employability of university graduates. In defining the nature of employability, the book discusses how the concept is a shared responsibility dependent on individual capabilities, the labour market and social capital. Considering what employers want from graduates, this book looks at how universities can provide strong graduate outcomes and inclusive career opportunities irrespective of student background. The book illustrates ways to embed employability across the curriculum, suggesting innovative approaches to careers guidance and specific employability initiatives, while upholding the benefits of entrepreneurial activities and widening participation opportunities. With insights from around the world, the book concludes by thinking about the institutional response to the challenges faced by the employability agenda, reflecting on how research has developed over the past 20 years. Interdisciplinary and comparative in scope, this book of international case studies of employability approaches across a wide range of educational institutions will prove an engaging resource for students and scholars of business, education management, and teaching methods. Its exploration of regulatory environments will also prove useful for policymakers working in education.

Table of Contents:
Contents: Foreword xvii Preface xix List of abbreviations xxiii PART I INTRODUCTION AND CONTEXT 1 Why employability matters 2 Saskia Loer Hansen and Kathy Daniels 2 Whose job is it to make a graduate employable? 13 Martin Edmondson 3 Employability: the student voice 24 Omolabake Fakunle and Yuchen Xiao PART II WHAT EMPLOYERS WANT FROM GRADUATES 4 Creating a new university to meet the employability challenge 36 Ross Renton and Fiona McGonigle 5 Developing employability skills through working in a law clinic 47 Kaye Howells and Sue Jennings 6 Problems delivering the skills employers want? Creativity – a case in point 56 Elaine Clarke 7 Mind the gap: employers’ and students’ perceptions of skills and knowledge needed by accounting graduates in Greece 67 Efimia Anastasiou, Siobhan Neary and Alison Lawson PART III EMPLOYABILITY AND THE CURRICULUM 8 Employer input to curriculum and assessment 79 Gillian O’Brien and Darren Siggers 9 Real work opportunities in the curriculum: three different approaches 89 Charles Hancock, Tracy Powell, John Day and Alison Lawson 10 Using a professional skills module to develop student confidence 100 Parminder Johal and Ruth Smith 11 Developing an ecosystem: employability skills and authentic assessments 109 Sarah Montano PART IV INNOVATIVE APPROACHES TO CAREER GUIDANCE 12 Using career pathways to tailor and personalise employability activities 118 Rebekah Marangon 13 The Career Studio: peer-to-peer support 127 Emma Moore and Paul Gratrick 14 Supporting employment outcomes for students from Asia 136 Louise Nicol PART V PRACTICAL EXAMPLES OF EMPLOYABILITY ACTIVITIES 15 Using social action to support skill development 149 Fiona Walsh 16 The Big Challenge: interdisciplinary development of employability skills 159 Valerie Derbyshire, Laurice Fretwell and Caroline Harvey 17 Modifying the journey to graduate employment through changes to work-based learning 168 Catherine O’Connor PART VI ENTERPRISE/ENTREPRENEURIAL OPPORTUNITIES 18 ‘One for all and all for one’: the 3Es (employability, enterprise, and entrepreneurship) 179 Emily Beaumont 19 BSEEN: extra-curricular enterprise and entrepreneurship support 188 Carolyn Keenan PART VII WIDENING PARTICIPATION 20 Employability monsters: breaking barriers to employability for widening participation students 198 Dawn Lees and Kate Foster 21 Supporting ‘first in family’ students: My Generation Career Coaching Programme 207 Heather Pasero 22 Unlocking the potential of under-represented students 215 Iwan Williams and Pamela McGee 23 Social mobility and London’s left-behind graduates 224 Emily Dixon PART VIII INTERNATIONAL STUDENTS 24 Using the net promoter score to understand international alumni satisfaction 234 Shane Dillon 25 Meeting the employability expectations of international students in transition to higher education in the UK 244 Victoria Wilson-Crane and Linda Cowan 26 How partnerships can make a difference to securing jobs for international students 253 Jacklyn Tubb and Caroline Fox PART IX INSIGHTS FROM AROUND THE WORLD 27 How England’s policy and regulatory levers have shifted accountability for graduate employment 263 Lizzy Woodfield 28 Approaches to developing graduate employability in Australia 273 Judie Kay and Sonia Ferns 29 Enabling employability in New Zealand 284 Brett Berquist 30 Lessons from Germany 295 Patrick Glauner 31 European University initiative in enabling student success 304 Renáta Tomášková, Ida Andersson-Norrie, Bice Della Piana, Anna Chudy, Melpo Iacovidou and Colombine Madelaine PART X INSTITUTIONAL RESPONSE 32 Global Professional Award: a three-year skills development programme 314 James Forde 33 An integrated institutional approach to employability 323 Dino Willox, Anna Richards and Madelaine-Marie Judd 34 A strategic institutional approach to employability 333 Susan Smith and Emily Huns 35 Student experience(s) and an integrated pastoral approach to employability 342 Matthew Vince and Thea Jones PART XI A FINAL REFLECTION 36 Reflections on 20 years of research on employability and its effect on policy and practice 351 Helen Higson Index

About the Author :
Edited by the late Saskia Loer Hansen, formerly Deputy Vice-Chancellor (International and Engagement) and Vice-President, RMIT University, Australia and Kathy Daniels, Honorary Professor, Aston University, UK

Review :
‘How to Enable the Employability of University Graduates is a comprehensive blueprint for enabling employability and improving student outcomes. The contributors suggest innovative approaches to embedding employability in the curriculum vis-à-vis strong graduate outcomes and inclusive career opportunities, understanding what employers want from graduates with a strong focus on developing employable graduates who continue to be useful in the long term.’ ‘A thoughtful and challenging compendium of insights into employability – a really important agenda for individuals, employers and policymakers alike. This book highlights research that we can all learn from and build on in pursuit of securing positive graduate outcomes for all.’ ‘How to Enable the Employability of University Graduates is a valuable and much-needed addition to the complex conversation around graduate employability. With its emphasis on shared responsibility and a genuine vision for improving graduate outcomes for non-traditional students, this book will appeal to practitioners, policy makers and students alike.' ‘The book provides valuable insights into developing student employability, paying due consideration to unlocking the potential of under-represented student groups. It recognises the need for future students to create work, exploring entrepreneurism’s fit with employability. The book should be an interesting read for researchers and practitioners in higher education, given the importance of graduate employability in the sector.’