Graduate Employability Measuring Success Dr Lorraine Dacre

Graduate Employability Measuring Success Dr Lorraine Dacre Pool, CPsychol, FHEA University of Central Lancashire Views are my own

In this session Graduate employability – a slippery concept. One definition and one model. Some examples of measurement tools. Some successes. Conclusions.

So what exactly is graduate employability? There is a reason why it is called a slippery concept! Is it just about being able to gain a ‘graduate’ job? What is a ‘graduate’ job? If a graduate is unable to secure a ‘graduate’ job on completion of their studies have we as employability developers failed?

The Big Issue! Employment and employability are not the same (but the two concepts are often conflated). Maybe because they both begin with ‘employ’! If a graduate gains a graduate position do they have ‘employability’? – possibly but not necessarily If a graduate does not gain a graduate position does that mean they don’t have ‘employability’? – possibly but not necessarily.

Some thoughts on this issue ‘Employment and employability are not the same thing. Being employed means having a job, being employable means having the qualities needed to maintain employment and progress through the workplace.’ (Lees, 2002, p 3) ‘Employability is not just about getting a job; it is about developing attributes, techniques, or experience for life. It is about learning, and the emphasis is less on “employ” and more on “ability” ’ (Harvey, 2005, p 13) ‘We interpret “employability” in terms of a graduate’s suitability for appropriate employment. It is quite different from actually getting an appropriate job, which is dependent on factors such as the state of the economy and patterns of discrimination in the labour market’ (Yorke & Knight, 2007, p 158).

It is employers who convert graduate employability into employment We, as employability developers have no influence over: Type of HEI attended Student location and mobility Subject of study Previous work experience Age Ethnicity Gender Social Class (Harvey, 2001)

A quote from 2001 – have we moved on since then? ‘Given the range of independent factors that impinge on the recruitment process and the tenuous link between employment and employability-development opportunities offered by institutions, it is rather surprising that intelligent people have rushed to use employment rates of graduates as measures of the employability-development impact of institutions. In part, in the UK, there has been political pressure to produce an ‘employability performance indicator’ and the clear preference is a simple quantitative measure based on outcomes, irrespective of whether it actually measures anything that the institution can directly affect.’ (Harvey, 2001, p 105)

Some further thoughts It may be tentatively concluded that as with many of the achievements valued by society, graduate employability is something that resists reliable and valid measurement in this value added way and that attempting to measure it in this fashion is a somewhat pointless exercise. (Yorke & Knight, 2006) However developing models and tools to enable students/graduates to engage with the idea of employability and reflect on their strengths and areas for improvement is a worthwhile endeavour. Self-evaluation is likely to be the most useful way of approaching this task.

There are some published measures of self-perceived employability out there Berntson & Marklund (2007), De Vos & Soens (2008) and Rothwell & Arnold (2007). Examples of items: ‘My competence is sought-after in the labour market’ (B&M) ‘I believe I could easily obtain another job that would give me a high level of satisfaction’ (DV&S) ‘If I needed to I could easily get another job like mine in a similar organisation’ (R&A)

Futuretrack A longitudinal study following all who applied in 2005/6 for a full-time place in HE. Latest figures released in November 2012 (stage 4). Graduating into one of the worst recessions in history: – 75% thought they had learned skills that employers seek – 78% thought their skills would help them get work – 70% were happy with their future career options – 96% would do it all again! Provides evidence of the value of studying for a degree. (Futuretrack – Kate Purcell, Peter Elias et al from Warwick Institute for Employment Research)

One definition of graduate employability ‘Employability is having a set of skills, knowledge, understandings and personal attributes that make a person more likely to choose, secure and retain occupations in which they can be satisfied and successful.’ (Dacre Pool & Sewell, 2007; 2012)

The CareerEDGE Model of Graduate Employability Career Development Learning Experience (Work & Life) Degree Subject Knowledge, Understanding and Skills Generic Skills Emotional Intelligence

The Employability Development Profile (EDP) Uses CareerEDGE as a practical framework to structure discussions around employability issues with students. EDP – a brief questionnaire that encourages students to identify their employability strengths and areas for improvement. It also encourages them to think of evidence to support their strengths and develop an action plan for making improvements.

The Employability Development Profile (EDP)

Some ways we have used the EDP In face-to-face meetings with students so they can be directed to services/modules/workshops that will be useful to them. As part of Career Development Learning taught modules. During employability workshops with groups of students. In lecture theatres (including large cohorts up to 150 students) with individual feedback via email. As a way of identifying useful employability related activities for embedding into the curriculum. To evaluate employability interventions (note – care needed with interpreting the data). As part of personal tutorial sessions – a framework for discussions around employability.

Measuring some aspects of employability development Career Development Learning – Used the EDP pre and post module (Planning Your Career) and found significant increases for the CDL items. (Dacre Pool, Qualter & Sewell, Exploring the Factor Structure of the CareerEDGE Employability Development Profile due to be published in Volume 56 Issue 4 of Education Training 2014).

Emotional Intelligence An intervention designed to enable students to learn more about EI as an area of academic research but also to develop their own EI ability and confidence. Taught as a semester long elective module (could also be taken as part of an employability award) – one class weekly, with activities to complete out of the classroom. Assessed through an essay on EI and graduate employability (so the students engage with the academic research and gain a good understanding of the importance of EI in the workplace) and a reflective EI journal. Students took EI tests and were given one-to-one feedback on the results.

Measures used in the evaluation Mayer-Salovey-Caruso Emotional Intelligence Test (MSCEIT) pre and post taught module (this is an ability measure – not self report) Emotional Self-Efficacy Scale (Kirk et al, 2008) Control group on unrelated elective modules took the tests at the same times

Results The EI students showed statistically significant increases in their ability to understand and manage emotions (as measured by the MSCEIT). The EI students showed highly significant increases in their emotional self-efficacy (or their confidence in their EI ability). Full details of the study published in the journal Learning and Individual Differences. (Dacre Pool & Qualter, 2012)

Conclusions Measuring our success as employability developers is tricky and complex (not least because the concept itself is tricky and complex). It is possible to measure some aspects of employability development. Although it is difficult, we do need to continue to try and provide evidence for the impact we have on our students’ employability development. But reliance on DHLE figures for this purpose is unlikely to be a helpful way forward.

If you are interested in using CareerEDGE or the EDP please contact me at [email protected]