investigating attitudes and approaches to employability rehana ladha therese svensson university of...

Investigating attitudes and approaches to employability

Rehana LadhaTherese Svensson

University of East London10th September 2013

Overview

• Identify students’ approaches to employability • Understand why students engage or

disengage with employability services• Share areas of good practice to enhance

engagement

Employability and Enterprise Team www.uel.ac.uk/eet 2

Our Context

• East London/Thames Gateway• 60%+ BAME students• 55% mature students• 40% lower socio-economic groups• 81% from the London area• 50% from East London


What does Employability mean to you?


• The ability to:-• Get a job• Keep a job• Progress in a job• Get a better job• Get a different job• Create your own job

What is Employability?


UEL Research Internships • A 10 week scheme where students work on a real

research project • Opportunities are provided for students to present

their findings through various channels• Typically students are paired with academics rather

than support services


Employability and Enterprise team Research Objectives (EET)

• Identify the rationale for students’ decision to engage or disengage with EET services

• Understand students’ attitudes and understanding of employability

• Investigate students’ satisfaction levels with the service and any improvements to be made

• Investigate academics’ attitudes to employability


Data Collection

• Qualitative and quantitative research (June/July 2013)• Focus groups and case studies, 25 students/graduates

in total• Clipboard survey with, 150 students/graduates• Diverse representative samples (BME, Male, Female)


What do you think students’ employability expectations are?

(Group discussion and feedback)

GTI media research (January 2013)

•Responses from 2,300 students at 125 universities •Very similar survey conducted six years ago with 2,500 students•Over a third of respondents believe that the university has the MAIN responsibility for preparing them for working life

Students’ employability expectations at UEL and nationally?

“Unrealistic employability expectations”Degree=job

“More alumni contacts and

networks”

“Incorporating employability skills

as key learning outcomes in core

academic programmes”

“Services tailored to their degree/career

or sector choice”

“Employability emails specific to my area of study

and interest”

“More support for humanities subject

support rather than business

subjects”

“Further develop links with the

Students’ Union and student societies”


Academics’ attitudes to employability

Employability and Enterprise Team www.uel.ac.uk/eet

“Get s tudents to start thinking about

employability as soon as they arrive at university” EET

road map

“Create more links with

recruitment agencies/job outcomes”

“Hold employability

conferences for staff/students “

“Employability should be

delivered by industry experts”

“Core Employability skills should be part of several modules “

“Course specific Linked-in groups”

12

It’s your turn…(20 minutes)Discuss the points below and draw pictures to present your findings to the rest of the

groups?

• Why do you think students engage/disengage with Careers Services/Employability Teams ?

• How can we enhance student engagement? What works?

(one person will feedback for the rest of the group)

• Employability and Enterprise Team

www.uel.ac.uk/eet 13

Reasons for not engaging?


Reasons for not engaging (National Survey)

36% of respondents said the following:• 52% not yet got round to it• 37% too little time• 23% I don’t know where it is on campus• 12% opening times and events inconvenient

for me• 18% I don’t think it could help me• 11% I don’t know how to access its website


Reasons for non-engaging UEL students

58 % of the sample said their reasons for not engaging were:•48 % do not know the location of services•40 % were not aware or sure•28 % lack of time•21 % not yet got around to it•16 % do not think it will be helpful•8 % because times are inconvenient


Quotes on reasons for not engaging

• “Because they do not offer specialist career guidance in my field”

• “ Focusing on university workloads, so did not think about using the services”

• “Not aware of services”


Reasons for engaging


Reasons for engaging

42 % of the sample said their reasons for engaging were:•51 % to find a job•27 % for personal/ skill development•21% for opportunities•19 % to network with employers•11 % for career recommendations•11 % for business advice and start ups

19

Quotes on reasons for engaging

- “ I think that it will help me develop and improve my skills and it will be an opportunity for me to get a job”

- “ For internships and voluntary work experience”

- “End of my degree looking for work”


How can we enhance engagement?

• Engage with students from their first year (Core lectures/induction videos/self assessment checklists/prescriptions/student roadmap)

• Empower academics to enhance students’ employability

• Provide a flexible service• Employability champions• Increase social media presence• Services tailored to degree/career choice


Recommendations

• University employability strategy=service impact= invincible

• Location and visibility is key • How you market your services is crucial• Practical skills sessions and interventions


investigating attitudes and approaches to employability rehana ladha therese svensson university of...

Documents

employability employability

students union

students decision

research internships

quantitative research

feedback gti media research

east londonemployability

interestmore support