Creating and embedding an employer liaison group (ELG)
to enhance employability and higher level skills in science students.
EMPLOYER LIAISON: UNDERSTANDING EXISTING PRACTICE
The issue
Higher Education Institutions are large and complex organisations. It is safe to
assume that there are multiple initiatives focused on student employability, involving
employers/ professional support departments/ academic departments/ individual staff,
ongoing at any one time and that some of these might be relevant to setting up an
ELG. This is certainly the case at the White Rose universities that include Sheffield,
Leeds and York. Our first task was, therefore, to find out what was going on in our
University and our White Rose partners.
How to find out about existing employer engagement activities
Who we should contact was very much guided by our aim: to enhance employability
and higher level skills in Science students.
Stakeholders with responsibility to train or advise undergraduates are clearly the
academic staff in the appropriate departments and the Careers Services. Students
are the recipients of such efforts and their views are important too.
As a first step, the Heads of the relevant STEM subject Schools or Departments were
contacted by email with a letter of introduction from a member of the Faculty’s senior
management, the Director of Learning and Teaching, Professor Alistair Warren. A
copy of the letter is provided below as Appendix 1. If willing to participate, colleagues
were interviewed, either over the phone or face-to-face in Sheffield. In some
instances, there were additional staff charged with responsibilities relevant to our
survey to whom we were directed. . Careers Services staff with responsibility for the
relevant STEM subject areas were also interviewed. Obtaining students’ experiences
proved more challenging and we decided to contact the elected University of
Sheffield Students’ Union Sabbatical Officers initially, with others being involved later
on. Prior to contacting these groupings, a series of questions were drafted to guide
discussions and ensure the meetings ran smoothly. A copy of these questions is
provided as Appendix 2 below
Some quotes from academic staff to our survey:
“we would like to generate learning resources with industrial input”
“…employers could enthuse students about their subject and possible careers”
“[Students need to know] how to make themselves employable (what
employers are looking for) and that they need to start now even if they don’t
know what they want to do after their degree.”
“[it would be useful to] raise student awareness of timelines”
“there is a need for a more professional approach to help bridge the divide
between research and teaching”
Some quotes from Careers Service staff to our survey:
“students [are] putting off decision making”
“getting employers involved [is] key”
What did we learn?
The time and effort spent obtaining information regarding employer engagement
proved very useful to us in a number of ways:
 it confirmed that there was a gap in provision and the proposed remit of our
Employer Liaison Group would be useful to all the HEI stakeholders i.e. the
academics, Careers service and students
 it indicated to us the activities that were already ongoing in Sheffield and,
importantly, provided contacts, ideas and potential ways to disseminate our
own experiences
 it created greater awareness of our own project within our institution as well
as our White Rose partners, that would contribute to dissemination.
 That maintaining awareness of employer engagement is an important and
continuous process.
APPENDIX 1
Letter of introduction
Dear Prof of Department/School,
In the Faculty of Science, at the University of Sheffield, we are exploring employer
liaison activities in STEM subjects. This involves discussing current employer liaison
activities with Careers Departments and Heads of Academic Departments from a
variety of institutions in the Yorkshire region and I would welcome your help with this
project.
Therefore I would like to introduce to you Dr A. Organiser, who is the Project
Manager for this nationally supported STEM project. A. will be in touch with you
shortly to ask if you would be willing to cooperate in this project and, if so, to hold a
short interview with you. The results from this project will be anonymous and will be
freely available as a set of case studies about employer liaison activities. These will
be disseminated through the national STEM network, via web pages and through
seminars and presentations depending on demand.
I hope you will be able to provide the small amount of time required to support this
important and timely project. Please do not hesitate to contact either A. or myself if
you have any questions or comments
With good wishes
Yours sincerely
Signature
APPENDIX 2
Questions used to guide interviews with academic staff
1: How often do employers come in to interact with students on your degree
course(s) currently? This may be as part of the curriculum or otherwise.
What level? L1, L2, L3/ Per semester?/ Per year?/ Regular/ ad hoc basis?
Are there other staff that I should also talk to so as to get a full picture of employer
input?
1a: If employers came in, in what context did the employers interact with students on
your degree course?
Lecture/ practical/ small group work/ other?
1b: If the answer to question 1 was no, how would you like employers to engage with
students on your degree course(s)?
2: Is there any demand from employers to participate in teaching/ talking to students
on your degree? Are you ever approached by employers directly?
3: Does your Department/ Faculty/ School have an employer liaison group involving
employers/staff and students?
3a: If yes, how many employers/staff/students sit on the employer liaison group?
How often does it meet?
3b: If not, do you see a need for an employer liaison group to identify ways and
implement mechanisms to improve the learning experience and employability of your
students?
4: What type of events have been or do you feel would be useful/ be likely to be well
attended by students?
Open events/ practical sessions/ Sessions involving STEM subjects in the Faculty of
Mathematics and Physical Sciences?
5: Do the students have any opinions regarding employer engagement?
How would/do students raise these? student-staff committee?
6: Are there other Departmental/Faculty/School activities involving employers that
you feel would be useful to mention?
Questions used to guide interviews with Careers Services to establish
what institutions are doing currently.
1: Do employers contact the careers service to get involved with Departments of
STEM subjects (Maths, Physics, Chemistry for this study).
Interested in terms of recruitment/ getting involved with the course?
What level? L1, L2, L3/ Per semester?/ Per year?/ Regular/ ad hoc basis?
1a: If employers came in, in what context did the employers interact with students on
your degree course?
Lecture/ practical/ small group work/ other?
1b: If the answer to question 1 was no, how would you like employers to engage with
students on your degree course?
2: Is there any demand from employers to participate in teaching/ talking to students
on your degree? Are you ever approached by employers directly?
2a: If yes, did the employer come in? Please provide the employer name and contact.
3: Do you see a need for an employer liaison group to identify ways and implement
mechanisms to improve the learning experience and employability of your students?
3a: Would you be prepared to sit on an employer liaison group (3 meetings in a 9mo
period)? If not could you nominate someone else from the Dept that could be invited?
4: What type of events do you feel would be useful/ be likely to be well attended by
students?
Open events/ practical sessions/ Sessions involving STEM subjects in the Science
Faculty ie Chemistry, Physics, Maths?
5: Do the students have any opinions regarding employer engagement?
Could this be raised at the next student-staff committee? If yes, who should I send
the enquiry to and when would this be so that follow-up can be arranged?
6: Please could you share with me the names of the students on the student-staff
committee (Sheffield only)?
7: (Sheffield only) Are you aware of the Skills for Work Certificate and the Sheffield
Graduate Award? These are potential ways we could engage relevant employers eg
through provision of extra-curricular work experience.
8: Are the Skills for Work Certificate and the Sheffield Graduate Award promoted to
your students? How?
9: How many of your students enrol on the Skills for Work Certificate and/or the
Sheffield Graduate Award?