Date post: | 07-Jan-2017 |
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Education |
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Dr Sue Bartlett
& Professor Helen Williams
Cardiff Business School
Background & programme structure
Rationale
Linking theory and practice
Story so far:
Demand
Student outcomes
Student views
Employer views
3 year programme
Incorporates a 20 week paid work placement in
semester 2 of second year which:
Is assessed and contributes towards the final award
Is aligned with the academic programme of study
Involves a competitive application process
Demand from students for placements
Make our students more employable
Add real-world relevance to the degree
Closer contact with the employer
community
Theory and Practice of Managing People
Theory and Practice of Organisational Behaviour
Theory and Practice of Marketing & Strategy
Describe the corporate culture in operation in your
placement company.
Critically evaluate the role of people management
practices and leadership behaviours in developing
and sustaining this culture.
Programme has grown from 10 students in 2014
to 26 students in 2016 even though eligibility
numbers have remained constant
Number of employers has grown from 7 to 15
Positive employability outcomes:
2015 graduates – 90% have graduate jobs
2016 graduates – 80% have graduate jobs:
JP Morgan; PwC; Mazars; Admiral; Renishaw;
Deloitte; Accenture; Nestlé
Around 25% remain with their placement provider
Integrated degree
First class - 44%
2.1 - 56%
Traditional degree
First class - 9%
2.1 - 62%
Year 1 average - 64%
Year 2 average - 66%
Year 3 average - 67%
Year 1 average - 65%
Year 2 average - 70%
Year 3 average - 67%
I have matured immensely, particularly due to
the realisation that my actions would impact
not only myself but also Deloitte and/or the
company which I was auditing. Taking part in
this programme has arguably been one of the
most rewarding experiences and periods of my
life thus far.
It helped me learn to speak
and behave professionally.
I definitely feel more confident going into
the workplace and I think this showed when I
had interviews. It also gave me lots of great
examples to talk about, especially with the
competency interviews, and I have no doubt
that it definitely helped me get a graduate
job.
It gave me an understanding of
things that I wanted to get out
of a job, areas I wanted to go
into and areas that I have ruled
out as a career.
It gave me the confidence to apply for more
opportunities. This is because the skills I
developed on placement gave me the
confidence to believe that I could do a good
job in these various opportunities.
University can be quite overwhelming at times especially when it's not exactly where you want to be, but the work placement allowed for the knowledge we had learnt about in lectures to help make informed decisions on the work placement. Also the same the other way around, I learnt valuable examples on the work placement that I was able to reintegrate back into my studies.
It was unnatural at times to apply the
organisation to assignment titles, which felt
like they were designed retrospectively in
order to satisfy academic/university standards
rather than being the best use of our time or
the best way to extract thought or conclusions
about the experience and how this related to
our course.
I would definitely say that it helped in the sense that
you could relate to issues after seeing them first
hand, and this then helped with the overall
understanding of the concept. However, I wouldn't
say that it necessarily helped achieve a higher grade
because lecturers don't like it when we bring our own
opinions and real life examples into answers, and
they prefer when we argue it from an academic
perspective, so it's very limited in how you can use
the experience.
We have found the students to be very enthusiastic and all have made a great contribution during their
time with us. I am delighted to have been able to utilise the programme as a talent pool for future
graduate recruitment. (Arriva Trains)
Admiral is a keen supporter of the 'Integrated Placement Programme'. The students who
worked here have shown great commitment, demonstrated a high level of professionalism, met the business challenges we have set them
and their standards of work have been outstanding. It's also an opportunity for
Admiral to 'talent spot' and make the students aware of the opportunities we have to offer.
The placement student undertook a benchmarking exercise; discovered valuable points about the industry
and about our business that has allowed us to transform the way in which we operate and in turn create
more wealth for the organisation.
Positive impact on employability
Great feedback from employers
Benefits of linking theory to practice are
tenuous