Case studies of employability practice
Employability component:
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Reflective practice in the curriculum
Developing graduate attributes in the curriculum
Employer engagement & work-related/based learning
Careers education, information, advice and guidance (CEIAG)
The student experience: employability in the co and extra-curriculum
Other (field trips/industry events)
Please use this form to record case studies of employability practice articulating the activity
undertaken and the impact it has had or is having on the employability of students.
Case study
School: Arts & Humanities
Division: Literature &
Course: Mlitt in Publishing
Languages
Studies
Lead contact and contact details: Frances Sessford (frances.sessford@stir.ac.uk)
The Mlitt in Publishing Studies has been established for over 40 years and has a global reputation
for the quality of its teaching and research. The course equips graduates with a mix of academic,
research and practical skills comparable with one year’s actual work experience in the industry.
In the modules, students have the opportunity to learn about all aspects of the publishing
industry, including:
 marketing
 commissioning and editorial
 roles and workflows
 intellectual property law and contracts
 design and production
 digital publishing
 business and management skills
 cultural and social perspectives in publishing
Our Spring module, ‘Publishing In The Workplace’ requires students to undertake a work
experience placement. Module coursework includes an assessed presentation and reflective
journal on the student’s learning and their impact in their role. This year, several current students
secured a placement at HarperCollins Publishers in Glasgow and some have been retained.
Students are encouraged to gain work experience at any time during their studies. The course
leaders maintain strong industry links between the programme and the industry and we circulate
frequently opportunities for work experience at publishers known to us, both in Scotland and the
rest of the UK. Work experience has recently been offered to our students by Canongate Books,
Floris Books, Freight Press, Neil Wilson Publishing, Glasgow Women’s Library, Publishing Scotland
and Alban Books. Over the years several of these placements have turned into permanent roles.
An extremely important part of the course is the visiting speakers programme. Each week,
industry professionals come and speak to the students about their route into publishing, their
current roles and how students can best prepare themselves for a job in publishing. Recent
speakers have included personnel from Cengage Learning, Oxford University Press, Canongate
Books, Publishing Scotland, Creative Scotland, and Edinburgh University Press. We also welcome
authors, agents, booksellers and especially small independent publishers; indeed, we emphasise
Case studies of employability practice
to students the entrepreneurial nature of publishing and we train students in the skills needed for
setting up their own businesses.
Our Industry Advisory Board consists of industry professionals from a range of publishing
companies, including Oxford University Press, Floris Books, Taylor & Francis and Publishing
Scotland. The members ensure that our course is fit for purpose and that best industry practice is
maintained. They are also another valuable source of work experience opportunities.
The lifeblood of publishing is its people, nourished by an essential network of knowledge, contacts
and links. We train our students in social media tools and techniques and strongly encourage them
to have an online presence by way of blogs, LinkedIn, Twitter and Facebook in order to establish
their professional profile and to make contact with other industry professionals. Students are also
encouraged to attend and participate in (often as volunteers) a range of industry-facing events
such as the Publishing Scotland conference, London Book Fair, Edinburgh Book Festival, and
Stirling’s own Bloody Scotland festival of crime-writing (in which the University plays an important
part). These all present excellent opportunities to make contact with industry professionals and to
find out more about the business.
Our proactive approach to obtaining as many potential opportunities as possible for our students
frequently pays dividends in that alumni often return to speak to current students and make us
aware of further job opportunities.