Embedding Employability Everywhere: ‘forcing’ and ‘fostering’ the development of career management and life skills in our business studentsLord Ashcroft International Business SchoolAnglia Ruskin UniversityDr. Sally Everett (Deputy Dean) & Michael Jones (Student, BA (Hons) Business Mgt.& Leadership)

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Outline of session• Context and background to strategy• Consultation and development• Portfolio of employability initiatives• Work placements on all courses • Employability Weeks (week off curriculum)• Career Management and Employability module• LAIBS Intern Scheme • Outcomes and evaluation

Context and the need for intervention• Declining student numbers in business courses

• DLHE outcomes – high salary, only 33% graduate level (2012/13)

• Weak employer and industry links – employers requesting skills

• NSS, SES and ISB feedback for career support

• Perceived low levels of student confidence and skills (we’re not them up the road!)

• Knight and Yorke (2003:2) “The complexity of employability and the variety that exists in curricula in UK higher education mean that no single, ideal, prescription for the embedding of employability can be provided.

Consultation exercise and development

• Advisory Board established – business leaders• Employer Forum and breakfast meetings• Student Focus groups set up to inform new courses• Alumni engagement and consultation• Staff meetings at both campuses

StudentEmployability

Work placements

Employability Weeks

Career Management

module

Intern Scheme

Employer Forum and

Advisory Board

Practice based

assessments and events

Work placements• Reapproved all courses in 2013 to provide work placements on all UG courses and some PG

• Work placement team - one manager, one admin• 56 registered in the first year of approval, 121 in second year (400% increase from one course)

• ‘Opportunity’ for placement, not a given….

Employability Weeks – Level 4 & 5• Week 7 (Camb), and Week 8 (Chelm) for all• External speakers and workshops by industry• Employability Champions in each department• Developed with Employability Service• On both campuses to over 282 students (some non attendance although compulsory)

Career Management & Employability– L6

• Core module at Level 6 on all courses• Subject level department leaders and Deputy Dean• Natwest (Interviews),IBM (Assessment Centre)• Portfolio (CV, Skills Audit, LinkedIn) each week• Institute for Leadership & Mgt certificate via assessment• Business Fair: 498 students cross campus (79% student increase on last year).

LAIBS Intern Scheme •Launched March 2014 extra-curricular programme, ran again 2015 and 2016

•Selective, cross campus programme open to students

•35-40 Interns selected from 90-110 applications via interviews

•Allocated a personal business mentor from the external business community;

•Programme of ‘soft-skill’ professional training

•Work experience at events, supporting academics or in external business.

•Interns receive a certificate, hoodie and a reference from the Dean.

•‘Senior Interns’ are appointed to support the new Interns - aspirational

•Awards evening and recognition

What Mentors say…“ he became so much more

confident in the months that I mentored him. This continued during his time as a Summer

intern where he was exposed to the wider business and senior

stakeholders”“She can take on challenges and come out on top and is involved in more activities and interests than seems

feasible, while at the same determined to excel in her studies and grades.

Working with her has been as rewarding as I had hoped. I feel inspired by her

attitude and character”

“She is super-bright, hard-

working and so easy to engage

with...I know she will be a big

success in future”

“It is rare to find someone so

strongly focused & motivated”

There were a number of things that struck me immediately when I visited the LAIBS Internship Programme: the degree of enthusiasm and buy-in from staff and interns, the coherence of the offer – both in terms of the range of skills and the core motivational skills, the thoroughness of the support which dealt with students immediate needs and their long term planning.The programme is really elegant in its design – “using one vehicle to address several needs”. These needs are broadly employability and engagement issues. What had not occurred to me until the Interns themselves spoke was how far this programme, apparently relatively small in initial number, has the scalable capacity for massive impact through peer advocacy and ambassadorship.

Dr. Andy Salmon, PVC and Dean- ALSS

Evaluation and Outcomes• Two Intern graduates returned as Mentors and Alumni re-engaged (6 mentors

previous students)

• Chelmsford’s pass 89%, (mean mark of 60.8%), Cambridge, pass rate 90% (mean mark 64.6%). Module evaluations Cambridge at 7.8, West Anglia 8.1, Harlow 7.7, and UCP 8.4 (ARU avg. 7.5)

• NSS was 72.6% (2013), up to 87.6% (2014), and again to 87.8% (2015)

• Students getting graduate jobs with international companies and their mentors

• DLHE improvements , long way to go – 2013/14 up 20.5% from 2012/13 (now graduate level jobs 60%)

• Not all staff are convinced….!

What we have learnt….and do differently…

• One size does not fit all (students and staff!)• Peer-influence mechanism improves engagement for all students

• Mentors from business sectors• Mixture of forcing and fostering is effective• Business engagement, student engagement• It’s about student attitudes – not grades• Multi-campus identity – work to do

Questions…?