Employability

This article looks at term-time employment amongst Britain’s undergraduates which is a growing phenomenon. However, it has received scant attention from government and policy makers and although there are numerous studies on the subject, few have explored the impact of term-time employment on students’ actual attainment and those that have are limited. This article attempts to fill that gap. Using data derived from 1000 students in six UK universities, it quantifies the impact of students’ paid work on their actual marks and degree results. It shows that irrespective of the university students attended, term-time working had a detrimental effect on both their final year marks and their degree results. The more hours students worked, the greater the negative effect. Consequently, students working the average number of hours a week were a third less likely to get a good degree than an identical non-working student. Available here

Castañeda Valle,R., Normandeau, S. and  González, G.R.(2015) Education at a Glance Interim Report: Update of Employment and Educational Attainment Indicators, Paris:OECD

This publication is based on 2013 data collected in the first half of 2014 by the OECD-INES Network on Labour Market, Economic and Social Outcomes of Learning. It is an update of the series published in Education at a Glance 2014: OECD Indicators, released in September 2014, and will be followed by the publication of 2014 data in Education at a Glance 2015: OECD Indicators. This Education at a Glance Interim Report presents updated data on three major topics: educational attainment, labour market outcomes, and the transition from school to work. Available here

CBI and Pearson (2016) The right combination: Education and Skills Survey 2016, London: CBI

This report highlights the skills employers are seeking in graduates. Available here

Edge Foundation (2015) The graduate labour market: an uncomfortable truth, London:Edge Foundation

This paper examines the graduate market and poses questions about its sustainability. Available here

Mourshed, M., Farrell, D. And Barton, D. (2012) Education to Employment: Designing a System that Works, Washington,DC: McKinsey Center for Government

Around the world, governments and businesses face a conundrum: high levels of youth unemployment and a shortage of job seekers with critical skills. How can a country successfully move its young people from education to employment? What are the problems? Which interventions work? How can these be scaled up? These are the crucial questions. In this report, MCG  attempt to answer these questions. Available here

MacLeod, D. and Clarke, N. (2009) Engaging for Success: enhancing performance through employee engagement, London: Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

This report sets out the evidence that underpins the fact that only organisations that truly engage and inspire their employees produce world class levels of innovation, productivity and performance. It sets out what government can do to help promote an understanding of just how much greater employee engagement can help improve innovation, performance and productivity across the economy. Available here

Neves, J. (2016)Student Engagement and Skills Development-The UK Engagement Survey, York: The Higher Education Academy

This report represents a national-level view of the findings, providing a comprehensive picture of how undergraduates engage with their studies, how they spend their time, and how their skills develop accordingly. Available here

Office for Students (2018) Analysis of degree classifications over time-Changes in graduate attainment, Bristol:OfS

This report sets out the results of our analysis of changes in the proportion of first and upper second class degrees awarded between 2010-11 and 2016-17. We report on how graduate attainment has changed with time and the extent to which these changes can be explained by changes in the graduate population. This analysis has been undertaken at both the sector level and, for the first time, at the provider level. Available here

Rich, J. (2015) Employability: degrees of value, Oxford: Higher Education Policy Institute

Enhancing the employability of graduates is a key aim of the new green paper on higher education. Yet it contains no proposals aimed directly at achieving it. This pamphlet starts by explaining why employability is not the same as employment. Employability is about securing a rewarding and fulfilling career, not just finding any work. How can students, universities and employers compare the employability skills on offer from different courses? The author argues for a new framework of employability embracing knowledge, skills and social capital. Available here

This guide discusses a number of issues that need to be taken in to account when attempting to embed employability into a curriculum. It is of value to colleagues who are designing new curricula or are considering how existing curricula can be developed to accentuate employability elements in their programmes. Employability is complex therefore no single ideal or prescription for embedding employability can be provided. The authors state that embedding employability has to be undertaken with reference to the curricular context therefore this Guide should be treated as offering a number of pertinent points which may be useful to those responsible for whole curricula or curricula components. They suggest that for the hard-pressed reader, the core features of this guide are in sections 4 to 8. Available here