Leeds University Business School
Embedding Employability into the
Curriculum: Building in Middle Class
Advantage?
Julia Clarke, Raphael Hallett and Greg Miller
April 2014
The University
• Large Russell Group University
• Commitment to widening participation – aspiration
raising and enabling access
• “committed to identifying the best possible applicants
regardless of their personal circumstances or
background.”
• Alternative access scheme for those “who may not be
able to demonstrate their talents through grades alone”.
Leeds University Business School
University Developments
• Employability as a core curriculum thread
• Broadening opportunities within the curriculum
• Co-curricula opportunities
• One-to-one personal tutoring model
Leeds University Business School
Key Performance Indicators
• Degree Classifications
• Retention Rates
• Graduate Destinations
Positive destinations (Further graduate-level study or
Graduate Employment) for UK Domiciled First Degree
leavers
Leeds University Business School
Institution
DLHE Positive Destinations
Leeds University Business School
Leeds University Business School
Problems with using DLHE
• Non-response bias
• Only 6 months after graduation
• Significance at programme level
• Managerial approach
Leeds University Business School
Some moral issues
"Like Churchill said:
“We are for the ladder. Let all try their best to climb."
(Cameron in theTelegraph, 2012)
• Oiling the wheels of social reproduction?
• Increasing the social capital gap?
• Strengthening construct of the ideal graduate?
• Discourse of employability – “oven-ready” graduates
Leeds University Business School
The “No Escape” Model
• Good practice – no additional workload, no
stigmatization, reaching the hard to reach
• But can we level the playing field whilst ignoring the
starting lines?
Leeds University Business School
Mind the Social Capital Gap
“When I came to university I didn’t know anyone who was
in business at all. My background did not really
accommodate for networking as such so that was a major
benefit for me, just getting to know somebody who could
give me a bit of advice outside of an academic setting,
being relevant to the workplace as such.”
(Second Year Student)
Leeds University Business School
Closing the Social Capital Gap
Leeds University Business School
Maintaining the Social Capital Gap
Leeds University Business School
Widening the Social Capital Gap
Leeds University Business School
“another guy who did Access to Leeds but who is
significantly better off than I was when I came because he
knows people and his parents are actually quite well to do.
I don’t know how he came through Access to
Leeds..…there’s another girl who’s borderline between
getting maintenance grants and not so on paper she looks
like she should fit in that other category and yet she doesn’t
because she doesn’t actually know anyone.”
(Second Year Student)
Leeds University Business School
“My parents are teachers so there is no other way that I
would have got to speak to somebody who reports to board
level of a major plc.”
(Second year student)
Leeds University Business School
Moving Forward
• Tread carefully but purposively
• Thinking about the purposes of higher education – metacognition vs employability skills
• Educating the employers
• Recognising engagement is not the same as belonging
• Channelling energy and ability at the level of the
individual
=> Qualitative approaches to help understand complexity
and context
Leeds University Business School
A Way Forward?
“… I just want to show to employers that I’m willing to go
the extra mile and I don’t just study, there’s so many other
things that I want to include. I think, I’m paying for my
tuition at university, so I want to make the most of it and the
way to do that is not just to study but to make the most of
everything else that’s on offer.”
(Second Year Student)
Leeds University Business School