Working in partnership to develop students’ employability

Many colleges and universities recognise they need to adopt a whole-institution approach to equip students with the skills, confidence and experience that today’s employers need. The Jisc Technology in Employability study [1] revealed a wide variation in institutional approaches to developing student employability and in increasing the opportunities made available to students to develop these skills through formal learning methodologies [2] . Some focus on helping students to prepare for and obtain jobs as an end-of-programme activity. Others treat employability as integral to curriculum design, delivery and assessment from the start of their learning programmes, to encourage student ownership of their ’lifelong employability’ and address perceived graduate skills deficiencies [3] . A similarly wide variation exists in the institutional adoption of technologies for employability. Some examples highlight applications that provide powerful benefits for students, institutions and employers, for example, where students are partnered with employers across the globe to identify and solve real-world problems. This is highly motivating for students, beneficial for employers and offers institutions efficient and cost-effective ways of providing authentic learning experiences. This workshop will explore how technology is supporting students to acquire the digital skills to effectively communicate, influence and engage with employers. We will also highlight the challenges associated with including employers in student-staff partnership working and give examples of how institutions are overcoming these challenges. The workshop will showcase current practice from members of the Jisc Change Agents’ Network [4] who have students actively working as partners on employability projects. Students from Birmingham City University (BCU) will contribute to the workshop by sharing their experiences of partnership projects such as the OpportUNIty: Jobs on campus [5] scheme that offers students the opportunity to fill part-time positions at the university and Graduate+ [6] , an undergraduate CPD programme. The ongoing development of practical and professional skills for BCU graduates is sustained by the partnership learning community [7] established through student engagement. Workshop participants will be encouraged to reflect on their own practices and identify practice points applicable to their own contexts. Hearing from students will stimulate questions and discussion. Participants will be challenged to identify one thing they will change as a result of their attendance at the workshop.  Feedback will be gathered using Padlet and Textwall. [1] Chatterton, P. and Rebbeck, G. (2015).  Technology for Employability: Study into the role of technology in developing student employability. Jisc: available online at https://www.jisc.ac.uk/rd/projects/developing-student-employability (accessed 4 May 2016) [2] Wilson, T. (2012). A review of business-university collaboration . BIS: available online at https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/32383/12-610-wilson-review-business-university-collaboration.pdf (accessed 4 May 2016) [3] CBI/Pearsons Education and Skills Survey (2015). Inspiring Growth . CBI: available online at http://news.cbi.org.uk/reports/education-and-skills-survey-2015/education-and-skills-survey-2015/ (accessed 4 May 2016) [4] Jisc Change Agents’ Network page available at http://can.jiscinvolve.org (accessed 4 May 2016) [5] Birmingham City University OpportUNIty: Jobs on campus website available at http://www.bcu.ac.uk/about-us/celt/student-engagement/student-employment-opportunity (accessed 4 May 2016) [6] Birmingham City University Graduate+ website available at http://www.bcu.ac.uk/student-info/why-study-at-bcu/bcu-graduate-plus (accessed 4 May 2016) [7] Flint, A., Harrington, K. and Healy, M. (2014). Engagement through partnership: students as partners in learning and teaching in higher education .  HEA: available online at https://www.heacademy.ac.uk/sites/default/files/resources/engagement_through_partnership.pdf (accessed 5 May 2016)