A Model of Graduate Employability

& An Employability Impact Measure

Peter Sewell

Futures

ESCALATE Conference

2nd June 2009

In this presentation I will…

Introduce you to the new model of graduate employability

Explain how the model can be used in a practical way

Introduce a measure of Employability impact

For some, it is simply about ‘getting a job’.

Graduate first destinations statistics.

Increasingly being used interchangeably with ‘enterprise’

which in turn is confused with ‘entrepreneurship’.

What is employability?

Yorke & Knight’s (2004) USEM model

Understanding

Skills (or Skillful practices)

Efficacy beliefs

Metacognition

Models of employability

“Employability is having a set of skills, knowledge,

understanding and personal attributes that make a

person more likely to choose and secure occupations in

which they can be satisfied and successful.”

(Dacre Pool & Sewell, 2007)

Employability – a definition

The essential components of graduate employability

Reflection and Evaluation

Providing students with the opportunities to gain the

necessary skills, knowledge, understanding and

attributes is obviously important, but so too is providing

opportunities for reflection on and evaluation of the

learning experiences that have taken place.

Personal Development Planning.

Model Components

CareerEDGE a new model of graduate employability

(Dacre Pool & Sewell, 2007)

Reflection and Evaluation

Se

lf-Effic

acy

Employability

Career Development Learning

Experience (Work & Life)

Degree Subject Knowledge, Understanding & Skills

Generic Skills

Emotional Intelligence

CareerEDGE - The Key to Employability

Se

lf-Con

fide

nce

Se

lf-Este

em

CareerDevelopmentLearning

Experience(Work & Life)

DegreeSubject Knowledge, Understanding & Skills

GenericSkills

EmotionalIntelligence

Being used as the model to inform the new ‘Futures’

programme at UCLan

The framework for our contribution to the UCLan-SIFT project

Contributing framework for the Pan-European EU funded FS-

Biotech Employability Project

The development of an employability measurement tool

Future developments…

Allows the student and their counsellor to:

Identify development needs

Track progress

Allows tutors and managers to assess the impact of employability

development activities within a course or module

This in turn can help to compare the effectiveness of particular

programmes

The Employability Development Profile

Designed for:

Ease of use

Brevity

Clarity

The Employability Development Profile

Employability Development Profile

Bennett, N; Dunne, E & Carré , C (1999). Patterns of core and generic skills provision in higher education, Higher Education, Vol 37, pp 71-93.

Dacre Pool, L & Sewell, P (2007). The Key to Employability. Developing a practical model of graduate employability. Education + Training, Vol 49, No 4, pp 277-289.

Goleman, D (1998). Working with emotional intelligence. Bloomsbury, London.

Hillage, J & Pollard, E (1998). Employability: Developing a Framework for Policy Analysis. Research Brief No 85. London, Department for Education and Employment.

Knight, P & Yorke, M (2004). Learning, Curriculum and Employability in Higher Education, RoutledgeFalmer, London.

Mayer, J D, Salovey, P & Caruso, D R (2004). Emotional Intelligence: Theory, Findings and Implications. Psychological Inquiry, Vol 15, No 3, pp 197-215.

Pascale, R (1995). In search of the new employment contract, Human Resources, November/December, pp 21-6. Cited in RothIll, A & Arnold, J (2007), Self-perceived employability: development and validation of a scale. Personnel Review, Vol 36, No1, pp 23-41.

Rajan, A; Van Eupen, P; Chapple, K & Lane, D (2000). Employability: Bridging the Gap Between Rhetoric and Reality, First Report: Employer’s Perspective, Create Consultancy/Professional Development Foundation, London. Cited in RothIll, A & Arnold, J (2007), Self-perceived employability: development and validation of a scale. Personnel Review, Vol 36, No1, pp 23-41.

The Pedagogy for Employability Group (2004). “Pedagogy for Employability”.

References & further reading