ENHANCING STUDENT EMPLOYABILITY:
Higher Education and Workforce Development
Ninth Quality in Higher Education International Seminar in collaboration with
ESECT and The Independent. Birmingham 27th-28th January 2005
Embedding employability: a holistic approach
Fiona Drew and Gudrun Myers, Faculty of Organisation and Management
Sheffield Hallam University
Theme 1: Embedding and enhancing employability
Abstract
The language courses at Sheffield Hallam University embed fully all the elements
of the University's Employability Framework. These cover pedagogical aspects
which are clearly articulated in all relevant programme documentation and which
have the central aim of stimulating ownership of the learning process among
students. Further embedding occurs via our team approach to preparation of the
students before they travel overseas, the support which we offer students while
they are studying or working overseas and via a number of debriefings and
assessments following their return. In addition, the last few years have seen a
number of initiatives aimed at promoting staff engagement in enhancing
employability, including allocation of formal roles, participation in relevant funded
projects and the nomination of leaders for specific innovative developments, such
as the use of digital technology to enhance language learning. This paper will
attempt to demonstrate, by use of specific examples, how the framework is
embedded throughout the courses and how it enhances student employability.
1. Introduction
This paper aims to show how to the "Languages plus" programme which is
delivered at Sheffield Hallam University integrates and embeds the institution's
employability framework. The "Languages plus" programme is a four year
undergraduate programme in which students are offered the opportunity to study
two foreign languages, one of them post A level and one of them ab initio. The
languages currently offered are French, German, Spanish and Italian. The study
of the foreign languages occupies two thirds of the student's total programme of
study and the remaining third of the programme is made up of study of a
business related subject from which students can choose International Business,
Marketing, Tourism or e-commerce. This choice of subject combinations and the
opportunity to study 2 languages (one post A level, the other ab initio) with 18
months of mandatory and assessed study and work experience abroad is
extremely unusual in UK Higher Education and has meant that, since the
introduction of this new programme, recruitment to our courses has remained
stable in terms of student numbers. Each year, the programme recruits a total of
60-80 students, giving a total of approximately 300 students across all four
years. Figure 1 provides a visual overview of the course structure and content.
1
Figure 1:
Course structure and content
Level 6: UK
12 months
Assessed work
placement abroad
12 months
Accredited
ERASMUS study
6 months
Levels 4 and 5:
UK
18 months
Post A/AS Level Post A/AS Level International
Language
Language
Business Studies
or
Marketing
ab initio
Tourism
Language
e-commerce
2. Integrating and Embedding Employability
The Sheffield Hallam University employability framework defines employability by
specifying seven essential curriculum features. These are: 1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
Progressive development of autonomy
Skills development
PDP
Real world activities
Reflection on use of knowledge and skills
Career management skills
Work-related learning
The languages courses have fully embedded and integrated all of the features
outlined above and have been able, as a result, to achieve excellent outcomes in
terms of student employability. For our graduates this means that they will have
acquired subject knowledge and expertise in two languages and one nonlanguage subject together with subject specific and transferable key skills in
areas such as communication, teamwork, problem solving, time management,
working across cultures, etc. They will also have developed their self-belief
through the successful completion of a series of carefully graded challenges posed
by the course curriculum. And last but not least they will have developed into
reflective practitioners, who can identify their own strengths and weaknesses,
2
and through appropriate action, influence their career path by identifying relevant
employment opportunities and the necessary self-development.
2.1. Learning Outcomes
The curriculum design and content is lively and varied. The challenge for the
students is at the correct level.
Guides provided for each module ensure students are aware of assessment
procedures and marking criteria used. The practice of stating learning outcomes
and marking criteria is in my view excellent.
External examiner comments – 2004
Our approach to the embedding and integration of employability skills is based on
a very co-ordinated approach which takes as its starting point the clear
articulation of learning outcomes at all levels of study. The learning outcomes of
all modules (language and relevant business units) have been determined in such
a way that they achieve meaningful horizontal as well as vertical integration.
This means that modules complement and reinforce each other across each level
of study, as well as allowing for progressive development of students' knowledge,
skills and level of autonomy as they advance through their course resulting in a
holistic programme design whose defining elements are closely interlinked and
cannot be disaggregated. Furthermore, careful explanation of relevant
documentation and regular reference to it in classroom sessions as well as its use
by students when working away from the classroom combine to stimulate a
feeling of ownership of the learning process among students.
The main mechanisms by which coherence on the "languages plus" routes is
achieved are: the preparation for the 18 month study and work period abroad,
the use of portfolios, the use of real world activities as the basis of assessed
course and exam work, the use of final year modules as vehicles for the
integration and application of previous learning, a tailor-made approach to PDP,
appropriate supporting staff structures and a culture of active evaluation and
review. In order to benefit optimally from their study and work placement abroad
students do not only need to be prepared linguistically and culturally, but must
also develop their language learning skills and a sense of confidence that they are
sufficiently prepared to live, study and work in a foreign country. Preparation in
all these areas starts from day one. Figure 2 provides a visual representation of
the discussion that follows.
Figure 2:
Integration and embedding of the SHU employability
Framework
3
Level 6
Placement
Level 5
Level 4
R
E
F
L
E
C
T
I
O
N
High level
language
skills
Synthesis
Critical
evaluation
Experiential work-based learning
Cross-cultural experience
A
U
T
O
Skills
development
HE
World of
Work
Skills
development
Cultural
Background
N
O
M
Y
2.2. Portfolio practice
The portfolio is obviously underpinned by a well resourced learning centre
and the language learning/portfolio guide which staff have produced to
enable learners to produce an effective portfolio is the best of its kind
which I have seen across the sector.
External examiner comment - 2001
As part of the language skills modules the languages programme requires the
students to submit a portfolio of language related exercises at all levels of study.
Via the portfolio, the course team endeavours not only to enhance the student’s
linguistic ability, but also to develop the student’s awareness of his/her strengths
and weaknesses as a learner. This process of learner development consists of a
number of steps. Each student starts by completing an individual needs analysis
and then formulates an action plan of how he/she intends to improve in terms of
linguistic competence. At the end of each semester, having completed the
language tasks they have selected themselves, the learners reflect on their
progress and make the necessary adjustments to their action plans. The
language portfolios, which form part of the students' official diet of assessed
work, are marked for content (50%), degree of independence (20%), level of
planning and reflection (20%) and the overall quality of presentation and
organisation (10%). A student in the upper second range, for example, would be
characterised by the following descriptors.



Content: The tasks chosen are generally at an appropriate level for the
stage of study, are relevant to the needs analysis and action plan and
completed to a high standard. There is some evidence of follow-up work
and of progress made.
Independence: A substantial degree of initiative and some originality is
evident in the choice of materials. Appropriate resources and activities
have been selected and exploited.
Planning and reflection: There is clear evidence of the learner’s ability to
identify needs and to plan work accordingly. There is evidence of
reflection. The tasks have been completed fairly regularly.
4
A further significant feature of the portfolio is that the students are required to
build links between their non-language modules and the languages studied by
developing the appropriate lexis and register of their specialist field. In other
words, through the choice of texts appropriate to their non-language subject the
learners will be able to acquire the relevant vocabulary and also become familiar
with the particular ways in which different types of text are written, cf. the
academic style of writing on marketing versus practical examples of marketing
texts aimed at promoting a particular product or service. This gives students an
ideal opportunity to integrate the study of the foreign language with the study of
their business subject.
The effectiveness and success of the portfolio element rest to a large extent on
staff commitment with regard to maintaining and constantly updating existing
banks of suitable learning materials in the Language Learning Resources Centre
as well as in the university’s Adsetts Learning Centre. The whole process is
further enhanced by the teaching and learning opportunities offered by digital
technology.
2.2.1. Placement diary
The encouragement to establish effective learning habits and to develop reflective
skills via the portfolio also prepares students for the requirements of the
placement diary. Whilst on work placement abroad students record on a weekly
basis the tasks they have been completing for the company, observations about
how their department/section/company functions and significant events both in
terms of the business world as well as those of the wider society. The diary
forms the basis of the placement report, whose purpose it is to help the students
to draw together their experience of living and working in a foreign country and
to reflect on their professional and personal development. The placement report
as well as the employer’s, visiting tutor’s and student’s own evaluations are
subsequently used to determine whether the student has successfully completed
the placement period and can move into the final year of study.
2.3. Assessment via increasingly more demanding real world activities
A wide range of tasks is tested with a good mix of coursework, oral and
written assignments, blackboard exercises and exams. Students are
challenged at appropriate levels. The better students are able to prove
themselves and weaker students are “stretched” to reach high potential.
Many of the skills that are practised by the students in their classes are
good communication ones that can be usefully transferred to other areas
of learning.
External Examiner comments - 2003
Within the language skills modules students are required to undertake, in addition
to the portfolio work, a number of further language skills assessments, all of
which are related to the world of work and increase in difficulty and the level of
challenge throughout the course. At level 4, for example, assessed tasks include
the oral presentation of a product or service, whilst at level 6 students engage in
detailed and complex business negotiations conducted in the target language, as
well as liaison interpreting and written translation.
5
Bespoke content modules, Business, Society and Culture 1, 2 and 3, aim to
familiarise students with the political, economic, social, technological and
environmental issues of their target language countries. This consists of a
general introduction at level 4 and the specific study of the higher education
sector and the world of work at level 5. As in the language skills modules the
target language is the medium for teaching, learning and assessment. All
assessed work in the content modules closely focuses on the preparation of the
students for placement abroad, e.g. the production of a written CV, the
completion of a job/placement interview, the oral presentation of information
gathered on the town/region where they will be undertaking their ERASMUS
study, as well as the schooling in some of the likely tasks students may need to
undertake while on placement, such as providing written and oral summaries of
English texts/communications in the target language.
Comments from our placement companies, including Iberia, Ernst & Young,
Desert Rose among others, confirm that our students are well-prepared and
culturally competent in the business environment. They further acknowledge that
the students bring cultural diversity to the workplace and share fresh ideas and
practices.
2.4. Personal and Professional Development Review (PDR) and Student
Support
Going abroad to live, study and work is a daunting undertaking for anybody and
students often have doubts about whether they will actually have the required
courage and spirit of enterprise to cope. This is why the languages team have
adopted a tailor-made personal development review (PDR) system. This system
means that students on the “languages plus” routes are grouped together and
tutored by a member of the languages team. During the first year, apart from
inducting students into the university and their chosen course, PDR sessions also
serve as a platform for disseminating information about the ERASMUS study
semester and the work placement. The information provided by tutors is
complemented and, more importantly, verified by final year students, who are
invited to specially organised sessions. The second year PDR tutors are also the
placement co-ordinators, who maintain the links with our placement companies
abroad. This means not only that students have access to the specific knowledge
that these members of staff have about the various companies in question, but
also that students, by now well-known to the languages staff, can be carefully
matched in terms of their own strengths and aspirations to a company’s specific
requirements and demands. A further element in the preparation for the work
placement is the ERASMUS semester. The period of study abroad allows students
to acculturate and to get their first taste of living abroad, whilst still being tied
into the supportive network provided by our partner institutions.
Students continue to be supported whilst on placement via telephone and e-mail
and, crucially, are visited at their placement company by a member of the
languages staff, normally a colleague teaching in the relevant language area, and
thus well equipped to resolve any difficulties the student may be encountering.
The purpose of the visit is to check that the student has settled in, is functioning
within the work environment and is given appropriate tasks. Feedback from both
the student and employer are taken into consideration and any areas of potential
disagreement or unhappiness can be addressed. The visit also provides an
opportunity for the tutor to give feedback and comment on the placement diary
and its content.
6
2.5. Final Year Synthesis, Critical Evaluation and Incorporation of the
Placement and Academic Experience
The third stage in developing the students' employability skills is the final year of
study at Sheffield Hallam University. All Level 6 language modules incorporate an
assessed element which specifically requires the students to reflect on their
placement experience and gives them the chance to debrief. Within the Business,
Society and Culture 3 module students prepare and deliver an oral presentation
where they link their placement company and their own experience whilst there
with one of the major themes of the module content, e.g. the effects of
globalisation on VW at Wolfsburg as experienced and observed by the placement
student in the light of theory and developments world-wide. In this way the
learners have a vehicle for integrating their personal and professional experience
with the achievement of the following outcomes, namely to:
1
Demonstrate a critical understanding of how companies behave in the
Target Language business environment and apply this knowledge and
understanding to analysing and discussing authentic case studies
2
Demonstrate a thorough understanding of the way in which the business
and political context of the Target Language country/ies affects the conduct
of business in that country and elsewhere
3
Demonstrate the ability to analyse specific issues of relevance to the
students' specialisms and to apply the outcomes of this analysis to a range
of problem-solving activities concerned with the social, political and
business environment of the Target Language country
The second of the final year language modules, the International Consultancy
Project (ICP) takes this approach one step further by providing the students with
an opportunity to apply the linguistic and cross-cultural competence and expertise
gained during their previous academic study and the work placement abroad in a
real life situation by undertaking a group consultancy project for a local/regional
company or organisation. The underpinning rationale for the International
Consultancy Project is to integrate the student into the local/regional economy by
providing a service which local businesses will find valuable. It is hoped that, by
undertaking such a project, students will be able make the appropriate
connections between their studies and the world of work, thereby further
enhancing their employability skills. In preparing for this project, a survey was
undertaken with local SMEs in order to ascertain whether they would welcome
this type of initiative and the response was universally positive.
In terms of the specific employability skills that the ICP aims to develop and
enhance the module specification states that on completion of the module
students should be able to
1. analyse, synthesise and make decisions regarding complex open-ended
situations and formulate appropriate strategies to deal with them
2. analyse and compare, if applicable, cross-cultural differences in the
business environment and to communicate those differences appropriately
3. work effectively as a member of a group in order to fulfil the project brief
4. to evaluate and reflect on their own performance with regard to



defining objectives and determining strategies
communication skills
teamwork
7




time management
language skills
intercultural communication
creative thinking
2.6. Team Approach
No programme of study can be successful without the support and commitment
of staff. The embedding of employability skills on the “Languages plus” courses
benefits greatly from the team approach that has been adopted with regard to
the preparation of the students before they travel overseas, the support which we
offer students while they are studying or working overseas and via a number of
debriefings and assessments following their return. The allocation of formal roles
with specified timetable allowances plus a number of initiatives aimed at
promoting staff engagement in enhancing employability, including the
participation in relevant funded projects and the nomination of leaders for specific
innovative developments, such as the use of digital technology to enhance
language learning enable us to operate a sophisticated system of liaison and coordination between academic staff with responsibility for ERASMUS exchanges,
those colleagues responsible for overseas placements and those engaged in new
developments.
2.7. Quality Maintenance and Enhancement Mechanisms
Our approach to integration of employability skills is further characterised by the
continuous dialogue which we engage in with all the stakeholders in the
“languages plus” programme. These include our ERASMUS partner institutions,
our employers abroad, our students and staff, and, since the introduction of the
International Consultancy Project, also local/regional employers. Reviews are
carried out regularly and formal and informal feedback is collected. A good
example of this is the gathering of feedback on our placement activities, which
occurs via the continuous liaison activities between the placement co-ordinators
and the overseas employers, the placement visit – involving feedback from both
students and the employer and the annual feedback forum for returning students.
The findings allow us to make informed changes about necessary changes for
subsequent years. These specific review activities are further supported by the
production of formal written Annual Quality Reviews at the subject, course and
placement level, all of which produce action points for further enhancement and
innovation.
3. Concluding remarks
In summing up it is worth stating that the languages team view the three broad
areas of the “Languages plus” courses, namely the preparation for the placement,
the placement experience itself and the post-placement debriefing, synthesis and
critical evaluation of the students overall academic and work-related experience
in the final year, as the crucial stages in the development of employable
graduates. Throughout these stages reflection is seen as one of the main
mechanisms for the students to become increasingly more autonomous and
critical and aware of their own skills and levels of competence. Concomitant with
the learners’ progress along the continuum of autonomy and increased levels of
skill and competence, support is offered in inverse proportions so that by the final
year the students are in a position to advise and reassure their colleagues in
years 1 and 2 regarding the ERASMUS and placement period abroad, and,
significantly, have the competence and confidence to undertake real-life work in
8
the form of the International Consultancy Project. It is hoped that the
development of reflective practice and the nurturing of a spirit of enterprise will
not only support our graduates in finding appropriate and personally and
professionally fulfilling employment, but will also allow them to play a part in the
innovation and the establishment of new practices in the world of work that they
will be entering.
Our experience has been that on returning from a period of 18 months spent
abroad our students have begun to develop into mature and confident learners
who are able to identify their own employability outcomes, which they have
applied on the course as well as during their placement period. These include,
among others, team/group work, leadership, negotiation, and working under
pressure. The experience of studying and working abroad, combined with the indepth study undertaken in the final year of the course, means that our students
are extremely successful in obtaining first destination employment in a field of
their choice.
The last word should really go the students. One of our graduates sums up her
experience as follows:
‘I chose to study at Sheffield Hallam because the course combination of
International Business and German was the best I could find at any
university. I wanted to combine studying with learning on the job, and to
improve my German by living in Germany. Living, studying and working
in Germany was my most enjoyable time. I had time to travel around
Europe on the weekends and meet lots of different people. At the end of
it all I feel I have a very sound grounding in international business both
from learning the theory and seeing business in action during my
internship at DaimlerChrysler. Additionally, I am now fluent in German
and my degree qualification appears to be very attractive to top graduate
recruiters.”
9