FULFILLING FUTURE CAREER AMBITIONS · curriculum, enhancing student employability and responding to...

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FULFILLING FUTURE CAREER AMBITIONS

Employability Strategy 2018-2023

Webelieve in opportunities

Contents

Introduction 02

Strategic Context

• Changes in the Nature of Work 04

• The Policy Landscape 05

• Teaching Excellence & Student Outcomes Framework 05

• Graduate Outcomes 06

• Employer Engagement 06

• Work Experience 08

• Widening Participation 09

• Enterprise 09

Our Guiding Principles 10

Vision, Goal, Key Supporting Aims 11

Ulster University’s Employability Model

• Employability & Employment 12

• Supporting Employability 12

• University’s Framework for Employability 13

• Employability Engagement Model 14

• Employability Academic Support Model 15

Key Performance Indicators - Evaluating Our Success 16


01

Webelieve in opportunities


02

Introduction

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Employability at the Heart of the Student ExperienceAt Ulster University we have always placed employability at the heart of the student experience and provided all our students with the opportunities and support they need to develop into highly employable graduates. This new Employability Strategy describes our ambitions to further enhance and integrate our employability offering into the overall student experience over the next five years.


This Employability Strategy has been developed within the context of Ulster’s Five & Fifty strategic plan and vision (2016-2034), our Learning and Teaching Strategy (2018–2024), other related strategies and external drivers shaping employability and the future of work.

Ulster’s key mission and values are embedded in the strategy which provides a holistic approach to both realising and maximising students’ potential in all aspects of their university journey. The University’s core educational experience aims to ‘transform lives, develop skills, raise ambitions and prepare future leaders’. Employability is central to this experience and helps provide students with a high-quality, challenging and rewarding learning experience that equips them with the knowledge, skills, and confidence to develop workplace readiness, balanced with lifelong learning.

A key component of the Ulster University Learning & Teaching Strategy is an Integrated Curriculum Design Framework (ICDF) which is not only about subject content but also about guiding students

through a series of teaching, learning and assessment experiences towards the achievement of educational outcomes, including employability. This Employability Strategy aligns employability to Ulster’s ICDF with all key stakeholders including employers, professional bodies and alumni.

The Employability Strategy is premised on the belief that the development of knowledge, skills and attitudes for employability is best embedded within the curriculum and supported with access to impactful co-curricular and extra-curricular opportunities. An embedded approach avoids employability being viewed as a set of skills that are developed in isolation or alongside the students’ programme of study. This embedded model embraces a student-centric approach in which employability skills are inter-related and developed incrementally across the curriculum. Furthermore, this holistic approach fosters an independent mindset to learning and career management at an early stage of the student journey.

041 Universities UK August 2018 Solving Future Skills Challenges2 EPSC 2018 The Future of Jobs Report3 PWC 2017 The Workforce of the Future

Strategic Context

Changes in the Nature of WorkThe fourth industrial revolution is bringing about significant change in technology, the nature of work and the demand for higher level skills (Universities UK, 2018)1. In the future, graduates entering the job market will have both a larger number and a wider variety of different careers than previous generations (EPSC, 2018)2. The linear career path is expected to ‘cease to exist’ (PwC 2017)3, which will require future employees to be flexible, resilient, digitally capable and committed to lifelong learning as a fact

of working life. To be successful in the job market graduates must have the ability to manage their own careers. Universities must not only develop the skills that graduates need to succeed in the new world of work, such as career resilience and commitment to lifelong learning, but they must work with employers to ensure that programmes of study are relevant and align to the skills needs of the economy.

Supporting student employability and preparing graduates to be leaders in the 21st Century are challenges for the HE sector as institutions are increasingly being held accountable foremployment outcomes.

The marketisation of higher education has also become a feature of the sector, particularly over the past ten years. Prospective students place

employability provision high on the list of key considerations when choosing an institution and as such, Ulster University must continue to effectively integrate employability into the overall student experience if it is to continue to attract the most ambitious students.

Graduate employment and enhancing graduate skills to ensure a smooth and effective transition between university and business and wider economic environments has been a key theme of higher education policy in the UK over the past twenty five years.


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The Policy Landscape – Graduate EmployabilityThe challenges of the fourth industrial revolution are recognised in the ‘UK Industrial Strategy’ (HMG, 2017), ‘Graduating to Success - Higher Education Strategy for Northern Ireland’ (2012-2020) and in both the Northern Ireland ‘Draft Programme for Government 2016-21’ and ‘Economy 2030 – The Industrial Strategy for Northern Ireland’. The NI Industrial Strategy identifies a range of actions to be addressed if Northern Ireland is to achieve its ambition of a globally competitive economy which works for everyone. Pillar 2 of the strategy sets the agenda for ‘Enhancing Education, Skills and Employability’ with a key component of this pillar being a ‘pipeline of graduates who have the skills, knowledge and capabilities to excel’.

The Skills Strategy for Northern Ireland (DEL, 2011), ‘Success Through Skills – Transforming Futures’ also provides the strategic direction for skills which underpin the development of a workforce equipped to compete in the global economy in 2020.

Higher level apprenticeships (HLAs) are now available from Level 4-7 and offer qualifications at levels equivalent to HNC, foundation degree, honours degree and postgraduate level. The introduction in April 2017 of the apprenticeship levy has provided the opportunity for more employers to engage with HLAs.

The approach to HLAs in Northern Ireland (NI) is, however, very different from the model adopted in England, notably NI employers are paying the apprenticeship levy but are unable to access the funds to pay for training. Where degree level apprenticeships have been developed by the universities, these have been in response to specific skills gaps in collaboration with large employers who have driven the initiative using their own HR functions to recruit and support the apprentices. There is clearly the potential for increasing the proportion of employers engaged with HLAs in Northern Ireland.

This Employability Strategy has been informed by and takes cognisance of these developments.

Teaching Excellence and Student Outcomes FrameworkThe UK Government’s HE Policy aims to increase the level of competition in the sector, using the market to drive improvement in quality. Central to this policy is giving students an informed choice (through the Key Information Set and League Tables) as to which university and course is best for them. In 2017 the Teaching Excellence and Student Outcomes Framework (TEF) was introduced to provide a resource for prospective undergraduate students to judge teaching quality in universities and to increase the importance of teaching excellence when rating institutions. The introduction of TEF has provided

an increased focus on institutional and subject level performance across a number of strategically important areas of work, including employment and employability. By including employability in the TEF, the government is signalling that it expects higher education institutions to raise their efforts to develop ‘work-ready’ graduates and help them transition into the kind of work to which their knowledge and skills most closely match.

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Graduate OutcomesIn 2017 the Higher Education Statistical Agency (HESA) launched the Graduate Outcomes survey as a replacement for the Destination of Leavers from Higher Education (DLHE) survey. The new Graduate Outcomes survey is a national survey capturing information about the activities and perspectives of graduates 15 months after they finish their studies. All graduates who completed a course will be asked to take part in the survey to help current and future students gain an insight into career destinations. The survey is also of national significance as it allows policy makers, researchers and others to understand the higher education sector and the graduate labour market.

The Graduate Outcomes survey timing, moving from 6 months to 15 months post-graduation, means that the University has a longer window in which to support graduates to secure graduate level employment. This, however, will require Ulster to significantly extend and expand the support it gives to students after they graduate if positive results are to be achieved at a sector level for the Graduate Outcomes Survey.

Employer Engagement Ulster University recognises the centrality of employer engagement in the design and delivery of the curriculum, enhancing student employability and responding to local and national demand for skills. The University’s innovative and distinctive approach to employer engagement and business partnerships supports institutional priorities, the Northern Ireland Programme for Government and relationship building with local, national and international business. Given the distributed nature of our four campuses the

University is uniquely placed to fully engage with, and deliver, direct meaningful impact across the business community in Northern Ireland.

This Employability Strategy will look to further increase the level and quality of coordinated engagement with local, national and international employers.

Strategic Context



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Work ExperienceWork Experience is increasingly valued by employers, with 59% of employers rating it as one of the most important factors when recruiting graduates (CBI/Pearson, 2017)4. Work experience complements the development of transferable skills and positive attitudes to work. It also improves a student’s opportunity to gain a professional/managerial job on graduating (BIS, 2013b)5.

Ulster University, in the development and delivery of its portfolio of programmes, has always sought to provide graduates with the knowledge, skills and confidence to take on challenging graduate-level jobs and then to contribute to the further development of their chosen profession. Integral to this has been the opportunities afforded to our students to undertake work-based and /or work-related learning either as an integral part of their course of study as a coterminous award, or short-term internships. Currently the University has one of the largest work-based learning programmes in the UK.

Traditionally Ulster University has placed a high value on partnerships and links with business, industry, the public sector and not-for-profit sectors. The research evidence is compelling in terms of the positive impacts of both placement and international work experience in enhancing graduate employability. A challenge for the University is to develop a wide range of work-based learning models that are innovative, economically sustainable and have an international dimension. This Employability Strategy supports the further expansion of innovative regional, national and international work experience/work-based learning models and opportunities.

4 CBI/Pearson 2017 Helping the UK to Thrive: CBI Pearson Education & Skills Survey5 BIS 2013b Learning from Futuretrack: The Impace of Work Experience on Higher Education Student Outcomes

Strategic Context



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EnterpriseEmbedding enterprise education into the student learning experience will be a key enabler of this Employability Strategy. Enterprise competencies will be useful to those in employment, or those who become self-employed and work on a freelance or consultancy basis (QAA, 2018)6.

Given the broad portfolio of Ulster’s subject provision and the regional infrastructure of start-up, microenterprise and small business sectors, it

is important that we adequately prepare students for alternative career options and develop their confidence to take entrepreneurial activity to the next level. Enterprising competencies, such as teamwork, creative thinking, problem-solving and commercial awareness, are essential skills that have been identified by employers as key priorities.

6 QAA 2018 Enterprise & Entrepreneurship Education: Guidance for UK Higher Education Providers

Widening ParticipationUlster University is a sector leader in widening access to higher education, with the Institution consistently attracting students from socially and economically disadvantaged backgrounds. The Five and Fifty Strategy emphasises Ulster’s commitment to continue to attract these students and provide them with an outstanding educational experience. However, institutional data and wider research highlights that students from Widening Participation (WP) backgrounds are significantly less likely to achieve positive employability outcomes compared to their non-WP counterparts.

The University has demonstrated its commitment to improving outcomes for WP students through the implementation of an Office for Students funded project. This national collaborative project, entitled ‘Levelling the Playing Field through Work-Based Learning’, involves scaling-up a range of employability interventions that aim to increase work-based learning uptake for WP students and have a subsequent positive impact on their graduate employment outcomes. This Employability Strategy will build on and further develop our support for WP students and graduates to ensure they have positive graduate outcomes.

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• The development of our students’ employability is a university-wide responsibility shared by academic staff, professional services staff, the Students’ Union and students themselves.

• Academic and professional services work in partnership, to make the best use of expertise and resources for the benefit of all our stakeholders.

• We place employability at the heart of the student experience, both within and outside the curriculum, and provide our students with the opportunities and support they need to develop into highly employable graduates.

• We draw upon the experience and expertise of our alumni and employers to support and develop excellent employability practice and achieve positive employment outcomes.

• Every student and graduate is provided with equal access to employability support and development.

• Focused and targeted support is provided to students most in need including, for example, mature students, student from a widening participation background and those with a disability.


Our Guiding Principles


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Vision

Goal

To provide a holistic, student centred approach to employablity to enable students to develop, articulate and evidence the knowledge, skills and attributes needed to make a successful transition from university to the next stage of their career

Fulfilling Future Career Ambitions

Key Supporting Aims

1 To further develop and enhance Ulster University’s role as a sector leader for graduate employability that is transparent to both potential and current students, other stakeholders and influencers.

2 To utilise the Integrated Curriculum Design Framework (ICDF) to embed employability and enterprise in all programmes of study.

3 To increase the opportunities for all students to gain local, national and global work experience, through student placements, internships, work-based projects and work- related learning, and, where appropriate, for those experiences to be assessed and accredited.

4 To increase the level and quality of coordinated employer and alumni engagement to support student/graduate career development and employment.

5 To develop and provide access to opportunities which engender a culture of enterprise, innovation and entrepreneurship by our students and graduates.

6 To actively promote, support and enhance student employability as delivered through a range of curricular, co-curricular and extra-curricular activities and associated Ulster EDGE and EDGE Excel Awards.

7 To support students and graduates, from all backgrounds, ages and those with a disability in developing career readiness, resilience and self-management and provide access to a parity of provision for all to employability and career development opportunities and services.

8 To support graduates in making a successful transition to the next stage of their career.

Employability and EmploymentEnhancing employability is an Ulster University priority. Our ambition is to be a sector leader in the provision and support of student and graduate employability.

In light of government policy and changes in the future of work, the university needs to develop further its provision for graduate employability and employment, and in doing so acknowledge the distinction between

employment and employability. Whereas employment is generally understood to mean having a job or being self-employed, employability means possessing the skills and qualities which will facilitate and enhance one’s chances of gaining a job or self-employment.

Supporting EmployabilityTo effectively address employability in course design and the broader student experience all stakeholders, including academic and support staff, professional services, employability staff and employers, have a role to play in embedding employability and collectively should be involved in doing so.

It must be recognised however, that the University cannot make students employable and that students themselves have a responsibility for developing their

own employability. The University will support students in managing this responsibility by providing access to opportunities within and outside their programme of study for the development of employability skills and by working in partnership with the Students’ Union to better appreciate the student perspective. This Employability Strategy therefore promotes the principles of inclusion and collaboration as key to achieving a joined-up approach.

This strategy adopts the AdvanceHE view of employability as:

‘providing opportunities, to develop knowledge, skills, experiences, behaviours, attributes, achievements and attitudes to engage graduates to make a successful transition and contribution; benefitting them, the economy and their communities’. (HEA 2015)7

7 Higher Education Academy 2015 Framework for embedding employability in Higher Education

Employability is therefore not simply about getting a job but embraces the development of:

1 Employability skills and attributes;

2 Career planning and management skills;

3 A capacity of deep learning, reflection and action planning; and

4 A positive attitude towards lifelong learning.

Employability is about how individuals engage with opportunities, reflect and articulate their skills and experiences and apply their personal and academic learning in work situations.

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Ulster University’s Employability Model



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The Employability Framework is supported by an Engagement model and Academic Support model.

The University’s Framework for Employability

Employability Framework

The complexity of employability and the variety of effective and legitimate approaches taken to embed it in our curricula underscores the fact that there is no ‘one size fits all’ approach. Embedding and enhancement have to be undertaken with reference to curricula context, and without prejudicing the subject-specific and disciplinary dimensions of learning.

The University has developed an innovative and comprehensive employability framework that can be woven into the fabric of the curriculum, the students’ learning experiences, and our co-curricular and extra-curricular provision. The framework creates an ecosystem of multiple, interconnected employability activities which faculties, schools and programmes can use to plan, develop and deliver their own student-centred approaches to employability.

EXTRA AND CO-CURRICULAR OPPORTUNITIES

AND THE STUDENT EXPERIENCE

EMPLOYER ENGAGEMENT

AND MEANINGFUL NETWORKS

EMPLOYABILITY SYSTEMS AND

SUPPORT

GRADUATES AND

ALUMNI

EMBEDDING EMPLOYABILITY IN THE CURRICULUM

• Integrated Curriculum Design Framework

• Work-Based and Work-Related Learning

• Employability Partnership Agreements

• Employability Research

• Career Management Skills

• EDGE and EDGE Excel

• Work Experience and Volunteering

• Employability and Careers Hub

• On Campus Opportunities

• Student and Graduate Recruitment

• Professional Bodies and Employer Networks

• Outward Mobility

• Employer Advisory Boards

• Employability Portal (Staff and Students)

• Student Employability Journey

• Employability Data Dashboard

• Careers, Information, Advice & Guidance

• Technically Mediated Services

• Graduate Outcomes and Alumni Networks

• Employability Support for Graduates

• Postgraduate Provision and Life-long Learning

• Alumni Mentoring

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Ulster University’sEngagement Model

• Programme Design & Development

• Work-based/Work-related learning

• Outward Mobility

• Employer & Alumni Engagement

• Employability Modules

• Co-curricular/extra-curricular activities (EDGE Award)

• Career & Enterprise Development

• Careers Advice & Guidance

• Employability Research

• Signposting

EmployersStudents/Graduates

• Graduate Opportunities

• Presentations and Workshops

• Placements/Internships

• Work Experience

• Recruitment Events

• Input to Programme Design, Development & Delivery

• Sponsorship

• Employer Advisory Boards

• Student-led employability activities

• Personal Career Planning

• Employability Skills Development

• Opportunity Awareness & Action Planning

• Events & Workshops

• Placement/Work Experience

• EDGE/EDGE EXCEL

• Alumni Mentoring

• Programme Design & Development

• Careers Connect/Recruit

• Employability Portals (Staff & Students)

• HEAR/Gradintel

• COGNOS

• Graduate Outcomes Data

• Employer database

• Employability Journey Data

• Placement & Work Experience Data

Systems & Data

University Staff

EngagementModel


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Employability – Academic Support Model

SupportingAcademics in the Recognition

& Enhancement of Employability within the

Curriculum

Engagingwith Employers & Professional

Bodies Employability/Placement

StaffTraining

Employability Conference/

Events

Graduate Destinations

(GO)

Accessing Employability

Resources & Services(Employability Portal

Recruit)

Internships & Work Experience

Programmes

HigherEducation

Achievement Record(HEAR)

Enterprise& Entrepreneurship

Skills for21st Century

Student/Graduate Outward

Motability Work Opportunities

Employer Events & Fairs

CareersGuidance Service

AccessingAlumni/Alumni

Mentoring

NetworkingEvents

EDGEAwards

DeliveringEmployability

Modules

Employability Research

Accessing, developing &

disseminating best practice examples

from existing programmes

Utilising ICDF to embed employability

& enterprise

Models of work-based/ work related

Learning

Integrating enquiry based learning

Integratingco-curricular

activities

Understanding & accessing Employability

Services(Staff Employability

Portal)

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The Employability Strategy will be supported and monitored by the Employability Sub-committee, chaired by the Director of Employability & Careers Development, and whose membership will include representatives from Faculties, Professional Services Departments and the Students’ Union.

It is expected that the Employability Strategy will be reflected within Faculty and Professional Services planning processes and action plans in order that all appropriate areas within the institution develop

a robust evidenced based approach to supporting student employability and are accountable for their part in its delivery.

To ensure effective implementation of the strategy it will be important that it is reflected in other institutional strategies when they are introduced and/or reviewed.

Key Performance Indicators - Evaluating our Success:



Indicative Performance Measures for the Strategy

University Profile

• Establish Ulster University as a leading HE institution for student and graduate employability.

• Meeting or exceeding the HESA PI for employability.

• 80% of all graduates and 76% of full-time undergraduates gaining professional/managerial jobs or undertaking further study.

Curriculum

• Employability and enterprise embedded in all programmes of study as demonstrated through the evaluation and re-validation processes.

• Develop programmes that are informed by employers’ requirements both nationally and internationally.

Employability Support

• Recognition that employability is the responsibility of the whole university through Faculty and Professional Service processes and action plans.

• Foster and further enhance the development of active internal and external partnerships to support student & graduate employability.

• Increase the number of student-led career enhancement activities.

Career/Employability Development

• Provide an employability offering that enables students from all backgrounds, ages and those with a disability to increase in confidence, discover and action their career goals as evidenced by the outcomes of the Student Employability Journey questionnaire, the Graduate Outcomes Survey and NSS.

• Increased student engagement in career development learning and employability activities reflected in high student satisfaction and better impact measures.

• Increased engagement with co-curricular and extra-curricular activities with the aim of 50% of full-time undergraduate students gaining the Ulster EDGE Award.

Employer Engagement

• Increased graduate employer engagement measured through the numbers and range of opportunities for students and improved reputation measures in relevant metrics.

• Increased opportunities through the University’s alumni network, building on existing mentoring and engagement programmes, to connect more students with appropriate individuals and opportunities.

• Increased participation of employers in Faculty/School/Programme Advisory Boards.

Work Experience

• An increase in the range and availability of work experience and placement opportunities for students and graduates.

• Increased numbers of students undertaking international work experience.


For information on this strategy contact the

Employability & Careers Directorate on:

T: 028 9036 6983

E: [email protected]

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