Dr Debbi Marais
Employability
‘a set of achievements –
skills, understandings
and personal attributes that make graduates
more likely to gain
employment and be
successful in their
chosen occupations,
which benefits
themselves, the
workforce, the
community and the
economy’
www.abdn.ac.uk
Link with Retention
• How does enhancing employability improve
retention?
• For Postgraduate students - Non-progression
main reason for discontinuing
• Proven relationship between learning and
employability
• skills that facilitate learning such as being able to
analyse data, solve complex problems and to
communicate effectively, can also enhance an
individual’s employability
• Improving chances of progression = better
student retention
www.abdn.ac.uk
Why postgraduate?
• PGT students - unique group
• Short intensive period of study
• Diverse graduate/professional backgrounds and
nationalities
• Previous experience and skill levels
• Educational experiences
• English language proficiency
• Induction programmes
• To ease the transition of international students
into new learning environment
• Not individualised or reflective in nature
www.abdn.ac.uk
Aim
• Develop an online
resource to extend
employability
provision for PGT
students
• self-awareness
employability
questionnaire on
MyAberdeen
• individualised
feedback and links
to supportive
employability
resources
www.abdn.ac.uk
Process
1. Skills Audit
• Self-assessment
• Tailored feedback
• Signposting to supportive resources
2. Reflection
3. Articulation
www.abdn.ac.uk
1. Skills Audit
• Self-assessment of employability skills
based on HEA employability profile for
Health Studies & UoA Postgraduate
Attributes
Academic
Excellence
Critical Thinking
&
Communication
Learning &
Personal
Development
Active
Citizenship
www.abdn.ac.uk
1. Skills Audit
• Complete prior to self-assessment
questionnaire
• Existing non-credit bearing courses
• Academic writing skills (AW1001)
• Summarising a given text in ≤150 words within 1
hour
• Different article extracts for different programmes
• Assessed by Programme Coordinators using
standardised rubric ito accuracy of summary AND
language (grammar, punctuation and spelling)
• Skills info (SK5003)
• 50 Questions regarding basic IT skills required (email, Excel, PowerPoint, Word, internet)
• Yes (score 1), No (score 0) or Unsure (score ½)
• Psychometric testing – Profiling for success
www.abdn.ac.uk
Profiling for Success
• University Careers Centre acquired via the
‘Profiling for success’ website
• Freely available to registered students
• 4 identified for I-SEE
•
•
•
•
Abstract reasoning skills
Numerical reasoning skills
Verbal reasoning skills
Type Dynamics Indicator Form
• ~10 min each
www.abdn.ac.uk
Feedback
• Academic writing skills
• CAS uploaded in MyGrades with standardised
feedback and signposting to either online support
(CAS 6-8) or SLS language workshops (CAS <6)
• IT Skills
• Score (/50) in MyGrades automatically
• Automated feedback of ‘correct’ if answered YES
and signposting to specific online guides and
page reference for specific section if
NO/UNSURE
• Psychometric testing
• Score and individualised feedback emailed to
student from website
www.abdn.ac.uk
1. Skills Audit
• Self-assessment Questionnaire
• Provide scores from various sources for:
• Academic writing skills; IT Skills; Abstract,
Numerical and Verbal reasoning skills and
Personality Typing results
• Self-rating of:
• Communication skills/academic writing (essays,
exams, oral and poster presentations, publications,
referencing)
• IT skills (basic word processing, TurnitInUK, track
changes, data base search)
• Group work
• Personality typing (awareness of strengths and
weaknesses)
• Social/civic responsibilities/engagement
www.abdn.ac.uk
Feedback
• Self-assessment questionnaire
• Automated and Individualised
• Best responses as correct
• Identifying development areas
• Signposting for links to supportive employability
resources
• Online
• Workshops/courses within the University
www.abdn.ac.uk
2. Reflection
• Record progress in e-portfolio
• Directions on how to create own e-portfolio
provided
• Reflect on progress using a checklist
•
•
•
•
After 6 months
Identify development areas
What has been done?
What do you plan to do?
www.abdn.ac.uk
3. Articulation
• CV template
• Supportive documentation with tips
• Link to Career Services
www.abdn.ac.uk
Implementation
• Division of Applied
Health Sciences
PGT students
• 2013/14 academic
year
• As a Compulsory
non-credit bearing
induction course
41 MSc students
Nursing/Midwifery
Public Health
International Health
Economics of Health
Human Nutrition
10
14
4
8
5
www.abdn.ac.uk
Progress
45
40
3
2
4
7
1
14
35
9
30
7
25
20
36
36
E-mail
reminders
7
15
25
10
13
5
0
Academic
IT skills (15 Oct)
writing (5 Oct)
On time
Late
Skills Audit
(2 Nov)
No progression
Checklist (1
Mar)
Non-completion
www.abdn.ac.uk
Academic Writing scores
• N=38
CAS 9-11
19%
CAS 6-8
13%
CAS 1820
27%
• CAS Range - 6 to 20
• Mean Score – 13.95
• 5 Below CAS 9
[Signposted to
Online Resources]
CAS 12-17
41%
Not reported accurately in Skills Audit
-12 Unanswered and 7 Don’t know
www.abdn.ac.uk
Rating of English Language
Language Rating
25
• Poor self-rating
• Excellent [8-20]
20
• Good [6-17]
15
• Average [9-14]
10
• Poor [20/unanswered]
5
0
www.abdn.ac.uk
IT skills
• N = 37
• Range 21 – 50 (/50)
<25, 2
26-34, 1
• Mean score – 43.38
• 27 >40 score
• 3 poor skills
>35, 34
Not reported accurately in Skills Audit
-9 Unanswered and 7 Don’t know
www.abdn.ac.uk
IT Self-rating
25
20
• Poor self-rating
• Excellent [>48]
• Good [19-50]
15
10
• Average [32-43]
• Poor [25]
5
0
www.abdn.ac.uk
Self-confidence
Response to questions
18
16
14
12
10
8
6
4
2
0
Teamwork
17.2
17
16.8
16.6
16.4
16.2
16
15.8
15.6
15.4
Group
Prefer on own
www.abdn.ac.uk
• 4 unanswered
Strengths and
weaknesses
• 3 Don’t know and 5
unanswered what
friends and peers
would describe
• 6 unanswered
Personality typing, 2
can’t find, 5 only 1
letter
Self-rated Leadership
25
20
15
10
5
0
www.abdn.ac.uk
Challenges
• Not accurate selfreporting / don’t
remember
• Poor self-rating
• Not understanding
feedback
www.abdn.ac.uk
Checklist
Possible Development Area
Communication
IT
Active
Citizenship
UK CV
Yes
Attended/ No but
Done
support
Oral
12
9
2
Verbal reasoning
12
9
1
Written
11
9
1
PP
11
8
1
Posters
12
6
1
Word
8
6
0
Excel
7
4
0
www
5
5
0
e-mail
6
6
1
Literature search
7
7
2
Referencing
11
10
1
Attributes
7
4
0
3
1
2
www.abdn.ac.uk
Checklist vs Skills Audit
Possible Development Area Yes
Oral
CommuniVerbal reasoning
cation
IT
UK CV
12
Skills Audit
3 Never, 11 classmates/lay audience, 17
Nervous public speaking
12 25 Below/Average
Only 2 published, 5 poor/average language
skills
Written
11
PP
11 15 irregular/never used
Posters
12 21 never
Excel
7 7 identified
e-mail
6 2 identified
Literature search
7 4 identified
Referencing
11 3 identified
3 18 Don’t have
www.abdn.ac.uk
What did the students think?
• Do you think I-SEE had any
impact?
• What did you find most
helpful?
• [prompts for specific stages in
the process – skills audit,
reflection and articulation]
• What did you find least
helpful?
• What do you think could
help or be added?
• How can we improve
engagement?
• Do you think
improvements/development
should be on your own
initiative or followed up by
programme coordinators?
7
7
MSc
Nursing/
Midwifery
MSc
Human
Nutrition
5
MSc Public/
International
Health
19
30-60 min depending on time
available to students
www.abdn.ac.uk
Impact of I-SEE
It was helpful
• Initial responses
fairly
to thisto
I already havewere
a job and
a unsure
mesome
but I wasn't
question
- a so
lotI did
of not
shrugging
and
head
career,
see the
really sure what it
use of it for me - it was a bit
shaking
was for, perhaps if
of a waste of time for me we knew earlier
but I can see it can be useful
• Students seemed divided according
to their
on, we would
have
for others who have not had
previous
exposure
or experience
(local
vs
taken
part more.
this at
undergraduate
level.
international students)
This is needed in
the ‘real world’
so everyone
should do it
Not a total waste of time as
it did reaffirm what I
already knew, but perhaps
more useful to others who
have not done this before.
www.abdn.ac.uk
Comments on usefulness
• Responses differed between
• International and Home students
• English home language speakers or 2nd language
• Practical problems with MyAberdeen
• MyGrades, e-portfolios and submitting
• Online support (guides) not helpful
• Improve engagement
• Explaining aim overall and for each assessment
• Better timing of assessments (course workload)
• Reflection least useful
... in the real world this is
what you need to do
(reflect) ...
www.abdn.ac.uk
Improvements
• Introductory session
• Importance of I-SEE
• Use of MyAberdeen especially Mygrades, eportfolios
• Timing of assessments
• Induction week
• When needed
• Workload of courses taken into consideration
• Rather all do together at one time for checklist
• Additional
• Interview skills
• Using social media to market yourself
• Career information eg. Job adverts
www.abdn.ac.uk
Improvements
• Incorporated into Generic Skills Course
• Some sessions less useful/superficial, some very
useful but opinions differ between students – should
be tailored to previous exposure and skill levels
• Prevent overlap
• Support in terms of workshops / presentations rather
than online support
• Provide an opt-out for students who do not
want to complete
... actually I
suppose it is really
• Own initiative or not?
our own
responsibility ...
www.abdn.ac.uk
Way forward
• Improvements as suggested by
students where possible
• Extend to College PGT programmes
and PGR students
• Staff engagement
www.abdn.ac.uk
Acknowledgements
• HEA – Individual
Teaching
Development Grant
• Support from
colleagues in the
DAHS & CLSM
Graduate School
• Research assistant
– Ettienne Marais
www.abdn.ac.uk