Factsheet: Embedding Employability in the Curriculum
Introduction
It is important that we provide opportunities for students to develop professional graduate skills and attributes during their study.
The University Careers Service provides excellent support for students but we should also embed professional skills development within the curriculum. As well as subject specific skills and knowledge, these could include:
- Communication skills
- Team working
- Lifelong learning
- Resilience
- Commercial awareness
- Analytical skills
Choose teaching and assessment activities that provide opportunities to develop these skills. Industrial links can prove useful as a source for guest speakers and real world problems for final year projects.
As well as providing opportunities for students to develop graduate skills in the curriculum it is important that we enable students to articulate the skills they are developing as they move through their programme. This can be done by providing details in course unit descriptions and encouraging students to reflect on their development using learning logs or personal development plans.
These videos describe two examples of existing initiatives that develop students’ professional graduate skills and attributes:
Where can I learn more?
Here are some models that you may find useful for embedding employability skills in the curriculum:
- Advance HE:
- Knight and Yorke (2003) USEM Model – Knight, P. and Yorke, M. (2004) Learning, Curriculum and Employability in Higher Education. London: Routledge Falmer.
- Dacre, Pool and Sewell (2007) CareerEDGE model – Dacre Pool, L. & Sewell, P. (2007) The key to employability: developing a practical model for graduate employability. Education & Training. 49 (4), 277-289.
