The Career Development Learning Needs
of Foundation Degree Students
14th December 2007
Laura Dean
Senior Lecturer
Employability Office
Leeds Metropolitan University
EMPLOYABILITY
Employability Office Activities
Work with academic staff to:
Plan and develop
PDP and
employability
inputs
Incorporate
work-related
learning into the
curriculum
Career
development
sessions for
students
Staff development
Workshops and
resources
EMPLOYABILITY
How did we Conduct Research
• Interviewed
– 18 students
– 14 staff members
• Conducted two focus groups with students
• Ran card sort task with fifty FD tutors
EMPLOYABILITY
Are FD Students Different?
• Diverse group
• Differing destinations
“The middle class students are quite strong and confident in
being able to network, but the working class students don’t
really know what is expected of them.”
• Study in a different environment
• Study in a different way – why?
EMPLOYABILITY
Don’t intend to be different in the end
• 83.1 % intend to continue onto an Honours Degree
• 75 % intend to stay with either their current college or
awarding institution.
(Purcell et al, 2007)
“Many of the students who applied for the foundation
degree route also applied for the BA”
• Many moving physically to a new environment
• Large minority moving to a new institution completely.
EMPLOYABILITY
What Issues did Tutors See?
EMPLOYABILITY
Transitioning
• “Quite a high proportion of the students have done quite
practical courses such as national diplomas and stuff, so
they are quite practical when they are coming on to the
course.”
• “I think we have been wrestling with this for a few years
now… when they are required to do things like their
dissertation, that they haven’t really had to do a substantial
piece of writing before, so that’s an issue.”
• “So yes they do come in with that kids or reticence that “Oh
my God, I’ve never done this kind of work before.”
• Concern centres on academic differences
EMPLOYABILITY
What Issues did Students See?
EMPLOYABILITY
They get some CDL already
• “[PDP is good because] it makes you address your strengths
and weaknesses”
• “I think skills audits and stuff in PDP are good and help with
what you’re doing.”
• “It [self awareness] is [built into the course] but I don’t find it
that helpful. Its okay for the eighteen nineteen year olds, but
for mature students they have already been through a lot of
this stuff in life. “
EMPLOYABILITY
What are the Implications for
Resources
EMPLOYABILITY
Staff Say:
• “It’s not just about being able to write a good CV, it’s about
real life and having that drive and awareness of the market”
• “If you want them to do the exercises is to make it part of the
criteria in assessment and engage them that way.
Encourage them to do it week by week, then reflect and
relate it to day to day”
EMPLOYABILITY
Students Say
• “I would use a web chat thing because … you get an answer
back – though it would be nice to sit and talk to somebody.”
• “They can delve deeper into what you want to do.”
In describing what they liked about a particular careers service
• “They email as well …. Its like having a real person. “
• “Like a forum, where you have a subjects and everyone
writes in – I’d find that useful.”
• “I think its always better to sit with someone.”
EMPLOYABILITY
Travelling to Resources
• “Never”
• “NEVER!”
• “I didn’t know we could”
EMPLOYABILITY
Careers Service Use
• 2 % used careers adviser
• 20 % used tutor
• 45 % relied solely on prospectus
(Purcell et al, 2007)
• “We all have full time jobs”
• “We are not looking to leave the service”
• “Its like when you were at school a teacher would tell you you would end
up being a no good road sweeper or something”
• “It seemed my mum was the best person to talk to”
EMPLOYABILITY
Content of Resources
• Work life balance
• Progression
“Well the main thing was that Leeds Met don’t actually do a
follow up course.”
• Transition
[The transition] was very difficult at first, but gradually as its
going its getting better, I don’t know about the top up
though”.
EMPLOYABILITY
Style of Resources
• Second Life
• Facebook
• Networking Sites
Chat Boards
• “Doesn’t have to be real time”
• “I don’t work normal hours so that [asynchronous
communication] would be better”
Emails
EMPLOYABILITY
Style of Resources Continued
• Referencing
“If you access something for info you are not that bothered, if its
an academic tool that’s different. “
• Simple/simplistic
“Got to be simple to read. I turn off if I don’t find it easy to
understand”
• When looking at Destinations site
“I think it looks pleasing to the eye, but plain English it is not!”
• Foundation Degree specific
EMPLOYABILITY
Summary
• Interactive resources
• Simple to use, even if less comprehensive
• Badged as foundation degree resources
• Covering: work life balance, decision making and
transitioning
EMPLOYABILITY
Employability is
… social engineering – 2 strongly agree, 1 agree
“At government level we strongly agree but from a group
perspective this isn’t how we view employability and PDP”
… extracurricular activity – 2 strongly agree.
… covering key skills – 1 strongly agree, 2 agree
… benefiting from part time casual and voluntary jobs – 2
agree, 2 strongly agree
…. Encouraging involvement in student clubs and societies.
– 2 agree.
EMPLOYABILITY
References
HEFCE (2007), Foundation degrees: Key statistics 2001-02 to 2006-07
HEFCE 2007
East Midlands Development Agency (2005) Moving forward with
Foundation Degrees: Researching employer demand for foundation
degrees in the East Midlands. Loughborough University: East Midlands
University Association.
Purcell, K., Elias, P., Adam, D., Behle, H., Ellison, R., and Nick Wilton,
Applying for Higher Education – Career Choices and Plans Preliminary
Findings from the Wave 1 investigation of the ‘class of 2006’ applicants
for Higher Education who applied through the Universities and Colleges
Admissions Service to study on full-time courses [Internet], HECSU
(2007)
http://www.prospects.ac.uk/downloads/documents/HECSU/FUTURETRA
CK/Futuretrack%20Applying%20for%20HE1.pdf. [accessed 8 December
2007]
EMPLOYABILITY
The Career Development Learning Needs
of Foundation Degree Students
14th December 2007
Laura Dean
Senior Lecturer
Employability Office
Leeds Metropolitan University
EMPLOYABILITY