What Dimensions for Learning Really Matter for Future Graduates? Research, Strategy and Practice

Developing graduates for a complex future world is a global challenge. As part of this education has a responsibility to help prepare learners for life after graduation, but what learning really matters in order to deliver on this?

Employability and career readiness as areas of work are a strategic priority in the UK for the vast majority of universities and colleges. This challenge is often articulated in terms of knowledge and skills, the skills gap being cited by the British Government since the 1960’s as a key responsibility for the Higher Education sector. Sixty years on there are still questions around whether British universities are producing graduates with the skills employers want. This raises questions around whether Universities are actually focusing on the right targets and reflecting on what really matters in terms of learning for all graduates?

Informed by a body of research, in this session I argue against the focus on skills and present an alternative narrative, articulated in the form of a new taxonomy for learning called Employability Redefined. This work has potential value across a range of agendas including employability, career readiness, retention, progression, attainment, mental health and wellbeing.

Throughout the session I will share our experiences of seeking to embed this potentially integrated approach in practice through a series of pilot projects here at Nottingham Trent University.

Graduate Work Readiness Across Asia

This presentation will draw on a recent project to discuss the obstacles and challenges to the transition from graduation to regular employment across selected Asian countries. Those who have invested in human capital acquisition through formal education (technical and university) anticipate that completing their programs and receiving their formal qualifications will serve as a formal pathway into job entry. However, the evidence is that graduates are finding it increasingly difficult to transition from tertiary education qualifications into a regular job. Many obtain jobs, but not in the occupations for which they received their qualifications, others transition into those occupations for which they are qualified but cannot access an ongoing or full-time job. The key question discussed include: why does there appear to be major problems in moving from graduation into regular employment? What is the nature of these obstacles? What explains these obstacles? Are these obstacles persistent, or are they linked to significant structural adjustments such as technological change and globalization? How can policy makers and key institutions linked to the training and education system address these challenges? How are these challenges being addressed through public policy across Asia?

Biography

Dr. Doug COLE

Doug has fifteen years’ experience in leading learning and teaching in Higher Education, prior to this having spent over a decade in industry working with a range of sports organisations in the UK, Beijing, Hong Kong and Bangkok.

Doug is currently Deputy Director of Employability at Nottingham Trent University, having spent three years previously with the Higher Education Academy, focused on developing strategic approaches to learning for employability and student success with institutions across UK and globally. Doug is a Senior Fellow of the Higher Education Academy and an Honorary Fellow of the Institute of Enterprise and Entrepreneurs.

Professor John BURGESS

Dr. John Burgess is currently the Professor of Management at the Centre for Organisational Change and Agility of Torrens University (Australia). His research interests include new forms of work, labour regulation, precarious employment, and changing workforce composition. He has secured research funding to examine skill shortages and employee retention in the South Australian local government sector. In addition, Professor Burgess currently supervises PhD students for research in multiple areas, namely the career development in the Australian film industry, leadership development in the Indian IT sector, the retention of trainee teachers in the Western Australia school’s sector, and the barriers to women transitioning from the informal to formal sector jobs in rural Java (Indonesia). Professor Burgess’s recent publication on gig work can be found in the International Journal of Human Resource Management and the Journal of Industrial Relations. In 2022, he also edited a book titled “A Field Guide to Managing Diversity, Equality and Inclusion in Organisations” by Edward Elgar Publishing.