why don’t they see the benefit? encouraging students to undertake placements, internships &...
DESCRIPTION
Presentation at the HEA-funded workshop 'Using active and experiential Learning to improve student employability in Business and Marketing'. This workshop was aimed at colleagues seeking ideas and advice about incorporating active and experiential learning into the marketing curriculum or wishing to improve upon current practice. The workshop identified various approaches which enable students to gain valuable employability skills and considered the benefits and disadvantages of these approaches. This presentation is part of a related blog post that provides an overview of the event: http://bit.ly/NanSOJ For further details of the HEA's work on active and experiential learning in the Social Sciences, please see: http://bit.ly/17NwgKXTRANSCRIPT
WOLVERHAMPTON BUSINESS SCHOOL
Why don’t they see the benefit? Encouraging students to undertake
placements, internships and volunteering
Charlotte Poole
WOLVERHAMPTON BUSINESS SCHOOL
Session outline
• What do we all want?• What we offer to Business School Students• What are the benefits of doing work experience• What does the research say?Outcomes• Share with each other how students are given
credit for work experience within the curriculum and ideas of encouraging more students to take up these options.
WOLVERHAMPTON BUSINESS SCHOOL
Employers say:
Year on year that graduates do not have the necessary skills to meet the needs of
business.
WOLVERHAMPTON BUSINESS SCHOOL
What students say:
WOLVERHAMPTON BUSINESS SCHOOL
What Universities want:
Seek to ensure that their graduates are equipped with the right skills, self awareness,
and business acumen employers want.
WOLVERHAMPTON BUSINESS SCHOOL
Work opportunities
Sandwich placement
A placement equivalent of a year’s academic study (45-52 weeks). Typically taken by undergraduate students as the penultimate year of their programme. All students have the option to add a 12 month work opportunity to their three year degree programme they are enrolled on.
Internships /Vacation placements
A short term placement opportunity usually offered and advertised by employers and through the school, although may also be secured through a speculative application. Taken by students at any level of study in a vacation time or part time during an academic year. Only final year Business Management or International Business Management can gain credits for there work experience through an option module called Business Internship Programme module.
Volunteering
Voluntary roles generally advertised by our Active Volunteers department. Taken by all students from all levels of study, completing a few hours per week or during vacation. Majority of our level 5 students have the chance to gain 30 hours of certified volunteering as it is integrated within a core module.
WOLVERHAMPTON BUSINESS SCHOOL
Work Opportunities
Employability and Enterprise Award
Employability and Enterprise Awards is a way for students to gain recognition for their skills and experience. All student have the opportunity to obtain an award. We have integrated the award criteria into the level 5 Entrepreneurial Creativity and Innovation module, as it includes activities which can be used as evidence for the award, the voluntary work can be used towards the numbers hours required for the award.
Semester or Year Abroad
When a student opts to study at an overseas HEI which has collaborative / reciprocal agreement with their home HEI, this could include a period of work or may be study only or both. This may be part of, or additional to, their degree e.g. ERASMUS scheme. We offer our students dual degree upon the complete of a years study at Metropolia University in Helsinki, this includes a minimum of a 6 months work placement.
WOLVERHAMPTON BUSINESS SCHOOL
• All students are encouraged to take up work opportunities.
• They are informed of all the benefits of doing work experience, for example:– it improves academic performance– it could fast track them onto the employers graduate scheme
• We do receive a good response from promotional activity, so why is it when students are asked to engage with the opportunities they lack commitment?
Getting the message across
WOLVERHAMPTON BUSINESS SCHOOL
The Press are telling us:
“
Record number of jobs are going to students with experience with employer”
(Mail online, 14 January 2013 )
WOLVERHAMPTON BUSINESS SCHOOL
The Graduate Market in 2013:The Times Top 100 Graduate Employers:
•Over half state “not very likely/not at all likely” to recruit a graduate with no work experience (irrespective of the academic results)
•36% of 2013 entry level vacancies will be filled by applicants who have already worked for the organisation as an undergraduate; in some sectors this is over 50%
WOLVERHAMPTON BUSINESS SCHOOL
Why don’t they see the benefits?We hear different reasons to why students do not go onto to do a placement. Some not uncommon to the reasons researched highlighted:
•Time pressures of applications,•Uncertainty of securing a placement, •Strong peer pressure to opt out, •Difficulties in finding a placement close to their university or parents home (Wilson 2012)
WOLVERHAMPTON BUSINESS SCHOOL
Discussion• What work options do you offer in your School or
HEI
• How can we get students to really understand and reap the benefits that override the barriers?
• What is the secret to making students commit to a work option?
WOLVERHAMPTON BUSINESS SCHOOL
References• CBI/NUS(2011) “Working Towards your future: making the most of your
time in higher education” Http://educationandskills.cbi.org.uk/reports
• Wilson.T (2012) “ A Review of Business–University Collaboration” https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/32383/12-610-wilson-review-business-university-collaboration.pdf
• High Fliers (2013) “The Graduate Market in 2013” http://www.highfliers.co.uk/download/GMReport13.pdf