Students’ perceptions of employability within their degree programme: highlighting the disparity between what academics believe is included and the student experience

C. Yvette Wharton, Anne Janet Horrocks

    Research output: Contribution to conferencePaper

    Abstract

    Equipping students with appropriate skills to enter the workforce is increasingly seen a requirement of university education. However, little has been done to assess the student perspective as to how they believe employability skills are included or developed. Through an audit of employability skills within modules and focus group interviews with students this study examined the difference between what academics believe is included and students perceptions of employability. Students acknowledged a number of employability skills that were developed but suggested limited sources for this occurring. Strong emphasis was placed on living away from home, work placement, and practical classes as being the main source of development. The audit revealed that academics believe there are extensive opportunities for augmenting employability skills. These findings suggest that more needs to be done to communicate to students how the varied types of curriculum activities enhance employability skills.
    Original languageEnglish
    Publication statusPublished - Jun 2015
    Event2nd International Conference on Enhancement and Innovation in Higher Education - Crowne Plaza Hotel, Glasgow, United Kingdom
    Duration: 9 Jun 201511 Jun 2015
    Conference number: 2nd
    http://www.enhancementthemes.ac.uk/events/previous-conference

    Conference

    Conference2nd International Conference on Enhancement and Innovation in Higher Education
    Country/TerritoryUnited Kingdom
    CityGlasgow
    Period9/06/1511/06/15
    Internet address

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