Future Directions Conference, Aberystwyth, April 2014
Developing graduate attributes
and skills across the institution
Dr Stephen Bostock
Head of the Centre for Learning,
Teaching and Assessment
Glyndŵr University
Development of GAs and Skills
- the territory
• Graduateness – what is it?
– QAA, NQF level descriptors
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The employability agenda, employers’ views
Key skills, transferable skills, employability skills
Graduate attributes
Within or outside programmes/disciplines?
Extra-curricular, co-curricular activity
Extra-curricular awards, employability awards
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Example 1: Keele University
www.keele.org.uk/distinctive
• 2004: 10 employability skills
– Initially 9, plus languages later
– Numeracy becomes optional
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Embedding activities, to a degree.
2009: 10 graduate attributes
A mapping between them
Embedding GAs but skills not emphasised
New extra-curricular workshops on soft skills
Extra-curricular award KUSP accredited by ILM
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Keele U.: “The Distinctive
Graduate” - 3 dimensions
• Employability: our graduates will be sought after
for employment, in whichever career they chose.
• International perspective: in a global society
and economy, our graduates will be able to thrive
in and promote a multicultural environment.
• Sustainability: our graduates will understand the
implications for our society of the ways in which
they study, work and live - both now and in the
future.
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Keele U.: top level summary of
graduate attributes
• Make a difference in my communities
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leadership
communication
care and respect for others
community spirit
• Make the most of my potential
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active learning
reflection
self-development
self direction
integrity
• Make sense of my world
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breadth of knowledge and thinking
perspective
scholarship
enquiry and problem solving
independence of thought
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Keele: the 10 capabilities (GAs)
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An open and questioning approach to ideas, demonstrating curiosity, independence of thought
and the ability to appreciate a range of perspectives on the natural and social worlds
An appreciation of the development and value of your chosen subjects of study, awareness of
their contexts, the links between them, and awareness of the provisional and dynamic nature of
knowledge
Information literacy: the ability to locate, evaluate and synthesise large amounts of frequently
conflicting information, ideas and data
The ability creatively to solve problems using a range of different approaches and techniques,
and to determine which techniques are appropriate for the issue at hand
An appreciation of the social, environmental and global implications of your studies and other
activities, including recognition of any ethical implications
The ability to communicate clearly and effectively in written and verbal forms for different
purposes and to a variety of audiences
The knowledge, skills, self-confidence and self-awareness actively to pursue your future goals
The ability and motivation to participate responsibly and collaboratively as an active citizen in
the communities in which you live and work
A professional and reflective approach, including qualities of leadership, responsibility,
personal integrity, empathy, care and respect for others, accountability and self-regulation
The flexibility to thrive in rapidly changing and uncertain external environments and to update
skills and knowledge as circumstances require
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Example 2: Glyndŵr
http://glynfo.glyndwr.ac.uk/mod/resource/view.php?id=2260
In 2013, consolidating previous ideas:
• 6 graduate attributes
• 10 key skills supporting them
• 59 example learning outcomes
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6 Glyndŵr Graduate attributes
students are provided with opportunities to develop as expert, enterprising, professional,
independent lifelong learners with an international and future-oriented perspective.
1. Expert with a well-structured and detailed knowledge of their subject, and associated
skills and attitudes, informed by an understanding of how knowledge in their subject is
developed and its current limits.
2. Enterprising with the ability to identify or create opportunities and take advantage of
them to launch new and imaginative ventures for economic or social development in
the prevailing context
3. Professional with professional attitudes and behaviours in working environments.
4. Independent thinkers with the self-confidence in their personal abilities, based on
self-knowledge, to be able to develop, hold and communicate an independent view
5. Lifelong learners with the curiosity and ability to develop intellectually and as a whole
person in any employment, academic or social context, and to respond positively to
innovation and change
6. With an international and future-oriented perspective with an insight into, and
concern for, the global and sustainability implications of their subject area and their
personal actions, and an ability to adapt to different international &cultural contexts
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Glyndŵr key skills (clusters)
1. Written, oral and media communication skills
2. Leadership, team working and networking skills
3. Opportunity, creativity and problem solving skills
4. Information technology skills and digital literacy
5. Information management skills
6. Research skills
7. Intercultural and sustainability skills
8. Career management skills
9. Learning to learn
10.Numeracy
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Example Intended Learning Outcomes
As a Glyndŵr Graduate I am able to ...
1. Written, oral and media communication skills
a) Communicate my ideas effectively in writing in different
formats and lengths, for different purposes and audiences,
including specialist and general audiences, with clear
composition, appropriate vocabulary, and correct grammar
and spelling.
b) Critically review my own written work to ensure its
effectiveness
c) Cite my sources appropriately.
d) Make presentations that communicate information, ideas
and arguments effectively to a variety of audiences, such as
to large and small groups, in formal and informal situations.
e) Design and use appropriate visual aids to deliver or enhance
a presentation, such as slides, handouts, posters,
photographs or videos.
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S.C.Barrie (2004)
A research based approach to generic attributes policy
Found much commonality between institutions.
Summarised policy statements as a hierarchy of 3 layers:
– 3 Enabling attributes of scholarship,
global citizenship and lifelong learning
– 5 Translation level attributes of
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Information literacy
Intellectual autonomy
Communication skills
Ethical, social, professional understanding
Research and inquiry
– Each with more specific skills
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Multiple layers of graduateness
• Attributes, capabilities and skills are all relevant and
serve different functions
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Aspirational, cultural
Development of personality
Guiding curriculum design from programme to module
Assessing and certificating student abilities in programmes
and extra-curricular awards
• How much should be common to an institution, how
much personal?
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How can the existence of such attributes or skills
outcomes be audited, supported and validated?
At Glyndŵr, in progress
• Now part of programme validation process
• Mapping the attributes and skills to programmes
• Offering support to fill any gaps
• Treating key skills outcomes like any discipline
ILO in module specification and assessment
• A consistent personal development process
- PDP needing support from ‘personal tutoring’
• and maybe an extracurricular award.
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Simple mapping in programmes
For each of 10 key skills programme leaders asked:
A. Where in the programme will this be taught or
supported (if at all)? Give module code or element of
the co-curriculum.
B. Where do students have the opportunity to practise
and develop this skill?
C. Where in the programme will this be assessed for a
grade (if at all)?
D. What potential developments are there within
programme to support students developing this skill?
E. Is external input or support needed to address a gap
or a development? E.g. Careers Centre, library, CLTA
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Are there graduate attributes distinctive
to HE in Wales?
WG policy statements
– Skills that respond to local needs, employability,
that employers value, for jobs & growth
– Employability , (environmental) Sustainability,
Enterprise & Entrepreneurship, Welsh language &
culture
– “supported to be internationally mobile”
– Level 2 Essential Skills: Communication, Application
of Number and ICT
Skills and Employability Action Plan for Wales, For our Future, Policy Statement on Higher
Education June 2013, Policy statement on skills 2014
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Is this portfolio of attributes and
skills realistic for all students in
Welsh universities?
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How universal can
attributes and skills be?
Generic, transferable
Specialist, discipline,
subject, programmebased
For all students
Graduate attributes like Foundation in a
Glyndŵr’s
discipline
Key skills like
Glyndŵr’s?
The problem of
Institutional
embedding
positioning
For some students
Personality traits
Options
Entrepreneurship
Projects
Individual choice,
Customer focus
Research
discipline lenses
Numeracy?
Placements
Modern language?
Overseas study/work
Work experience?
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Global graduates?
• Do we (and our students) want global graduate
attributes in Welsh HE?
• Do our international students want them? (Or
want Western, or UK, or Welsh attributes? And
that’s why they come to us.)
• If we want ‘Global graduates’, what attributes are
those?
• Global employability: do we note the needs of
overseas employers …
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Employability Skills Salient to Chinese
Marketing Employers (Heffernan 2010)
Dimensions of Employability Sub-Dimensions (i.e. Attributes)
1. Executive Ability - a. Problem Solving, b. Creativity
2. Communication - a. Information collection and analysis
b. Persuasive ability c. Information transfer
3. Desirable Persona - a. Reliable b. Trustworthy
4. Working Enterprise - a. Achievement oriented, b. Diligence
5. Professional Knowledge
- a. External awareness, b. Subject knowledge
6. Adaptive Skills a. Stress management b. Flexibility to change
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Classification of Employability for
Graduates ( Li et al, 2005)
Inner quality
Deal with work
Social skills
- Honesty and
integrity
- Hardworking
- Devoted to work
- Responsibility
- Initiative
- Ambition
- Analyzing and
judging
- Logic thinking
- Problem solving
- Independency
- Adaptability
- Handle change
- Learning
- Team working
- Expression
- Leadership
- Social activity
- Organizing and
coordinating
- Interpersonal
skills
- Entrepreneurship
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Conclusion: issues
• Levels of detail useful for different purposes
• Institutions cannot be very different in outputs in
if we all prepare global graduates
• Incompatible employability requirements in
countries and sectors
• Implementation: embedding in programmes,
customisation by disciplines, ownership by
students
• Certification: H.E.A.R., extra-curricular awards
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