Employability Skills at the University of Gloucestershire - Case Study Example

How at the of Gloucestershire can take full advantage of the opportunities offered to develop their employability skills? Introduction The rapid development of higher education participation in the United Kingdom and ever growing market competition faced by most employers has brought the UK universities under tremendous pressure of equipping its graduates with skills that are beyond academic learning and are not conventionally presented by means of specific degree and subject discipline. Presently, employment reports published by various employers’ association emphasise on development of various transferable and/or generic skills among graduates by universities (Easton, 2011). It was gathered that expectation of employers has shifted from academic result and degree to employability skills such as teamwork, leadership, positive attitude and motivation and relative work experience (Snowden, 2011; Mason, Williams and Cranmer, 2006). The UK job industry is evolving rapidly and drastic change has been observed in demand of skilled workforce in past few years. However, it was observed in surveys that UK universities are making very weak contribution in this regard. It was gathered that 50percent and above surveyed graduates alleged that their universities did not take sufficient measures to develop their employability skills (Weinstein, 2014). The UK universities make yearly contribution of £59 billion towards the economy and are essentially responsible for generating high skilled workforce, imparting non-academic skills such as innovation and training and raising standard of education (Snowden, 2011). The paper assesses and critically examines the opportunities that are being presented to graduates by University of Gloucestershire for developing their employability skills and recommendations have been provided accordingly. Employability skills Employability skills are referred to set of attributes that helps individuals to respond accurately to the changing environment of workplace and to make positive contribution towards organisational success and personal growth and development. Employability skills deliver benefits to employers as well as employees and include skills such as self-management, accountability, time management, team working, consumer awareness and awareness of business environment, problem solving, positive attitude, entrepreneurship, communication skill and analytical skill (CBI, 2009; Mason, Williams and Cranmer, 2006). Existing scenario in the UK education and employment sector Employers make heavy investment in developing skills among new recruits by means of training and development post joining. However, the level of basic expectations has increased over the years. Presently, they want individuals to acquire certain set of skill prior to entering the world of work. Employers have come to agreement that providing placement to university graduates benefits organisations as well as students. Direct recruitment from universities saves a lot of costs for employers with respect to external recruitment. Correspondingly, employers are coordinating with universities to provide facilities such as guest lecture, skill session, internship and workshops where management executives can share their experience and contribute towards skill development of students (CBI, 2009). Universities are making slow but significant effort to cope with the increasing pressure by incorporating various extracurricular elements in curriculum for skill training and development. A number of universities were observed to work with organisations so as to organise various campus workshops that deliver skill based knowledge to graduating students. Universities were also observed to introduce a series of courses and activities for improving and developing employability skills among students. These approaches comprise university based employability policy, situational role-play and learning sessions, a compulsory and vocational course for acquiring employability skills and personal development programmes (CBI, 2009). Notably, success of all these efforts significantly depends on students. The measures will be futile in achieving its objectives if students are not well motivated and interested. Students require taking initiatives on their part and coordinate the same with opportunities provided by universities and employers for gaining maximum exposure. Employability skill development at University of Gloucestershire The scope of skill development is essentially presented by an institution to its student. In the University of Gloucestershire several scopes and opportunities of employability skill development is provided to students, which are discussed as follows: Comprehensive degree and educational experience: Since its inception in 1843, the university has been highly versatile to changing need of education and has accommodated these changes to deliver graduates with high quality knowledge and skill. The institution not only provides academic degree to its students but also opportunity for volunteering, placement, work experience and apprenticeship under its degree plus programme. The university make considerable investment in providing innovative learning experience to its students by means of guest lecture sessions with industry leaders and professional guiding staff (University of Gloucestershire, 2015a). Job opportunities: The University presents its students with opportunities of online and offline job application and no discrimination are pursued in this regard. Students should make maximum utilisation of these opportunities to evaluate various organisations and offerings and apply as per their requirements. The university has three locations in England and as a result, students have opportunities to pursue rotational training at different locations (University of Gloucestershire, 2015b). Innovative learning outlook: The University has introduced the programme of active learning where learning and retention are placed above general teaching. Such efforts present students greater scope of skill acquisition and retention. The active learning project integrates various aspects such as learning communities, learning space and induction which present wide scope of skill (team work, team management and group learning) development for students (University of Gloucestershire, 2015b; 2015c). Opportunities beyond academic knowledge: Employers agree that time investment in extracurricular activities such as sport, music and art contributes towards skill development such as team management, motivation, accountability, time management and responsibility towards details. The University of Gloucestershire present various extracurricular opportunities and students should participate in those activities for developing their skills (University of Gloucestershire, 2015b; 2015c). Alumni feedback: Student survey and alumni feedback regarding the university suggest that over the years the university has become increasingly better at non-academic learning and training activities. Survey of 2014 suggests that trends in course teaching have improved marginally but learning resources and personal development has improved considerably. Additionally, moderate growth was observed in student union as well (University of Gloucestershire, 2015a; 2015c). According to CBI (2009), development of student union improves sense of responsibility among students and increases their participation in various events and management activities. The university has achieved outstanding response in various fields such as event management, architecture, fitness and sport therapy and correspondingly students should participate in all these areas for improving their knowledge and skills. Recommendations and conclusion The report is a critical analysis of employability opportunities that are presented by the University of Gloucestershire to its students. The main purpose of undertaking this research and assessment was the ongoing transformation in the educational sector with respect to employment. Presently, employers are exhibiting more interest in recruiting individuals who have greater set of acquired employability skills instead of those with outstanding grades and degree based qualifications. This transformation has affected universities and their teaching pattern. The change has equally affected students pursuing higher education and under graduation courses. It was gathered that that University of Gloucestershire has adopted sufficient measures to present employability skill development opportunities to its students. The institution has continuously updated its teaching system so that greater variation is accommodated. With respect to the opportunities, student participation plays an essential role in skill development. For students’ motivation, it is recommended that the university adopt measures such as leadership development, recommendations and referral and team participation so that students volunteer to take part in these programmes. Reflective piece on improving employability skills The current assignment has been one of the greatest opportunities for me to develop better understanding regarding employability skills and to work on my negligence and ignorance towards the opportunities that my university is providing me. In this reflective essay, I would like to discuss two factors: things that I have learned until now regarding employability skills and things that I would be learning in near future and method of acquiring this knowledge. In my understanding, employability can be improved by having good academic record and a set of hard skills and soft skills. The hard skills are generally technical, practical and discipline oriented knowledge while soft skills comprises generic skills such as teamwork, planning and organising, communication, self management, initiative and problem solving. I have so far developed communication skills by means of participation in group discussion, debates, speech, and elocution (Caspi, Roberts and Shiner, 2006). Self management in terms of time management was one of the skills that took me significant time to acquire. I realised that time management is essential for better performance. I also gained insight that time management was not possible with sudden effort. Consequently, I worked on small targets and slowly, I have mastered the skill. I have worked significantly on developing my technical skills as well. It was observation that most employers demand knowledge of basic Microsoft office products. With continuous effort and rigorous, I have successfully developed strong knowledge of working with word, power point and spreadsheet. MS excel is relatively complicate and I had to take help from the internet, my professor and colleagues to develop strong knowledge thereof. Problem solving and team management skills were relatively easy to acquire as I underwent several group activities and participated in events that required team effort. I also participated in several mock sessions of situational assessment where we were provided different situations that we had to resolve by using creative and practical ideas. These sessions also helped towards strengthening my communication skills. Another personal improvement was enhancement of my self-confidence. Since the university is open to international students, I am taking help of some students to learn one or two foreign languages. In my opinion, knowledge of foreign language is also considered by employers during the hiring process (Mroczek and Little, 2014). During this period, I realised that there are certain skills that require professional help. I am a moderately shy person and as a result, taking initiative and leadership development was quite difficult for me. I underwent vocational courses regarding personality development and also attended some workshops to develop positive attitude to take initiative, to plan and organise activities and events. I am presently working with the student’s union in several events so that I can develop my planning and organising skills (Hudson, Roberts and Lodi-Smith, 2012). I am yet to learn and develop a lot of skills and for that I believe I need to attend workshops on job placement and participate in internship programme. Networking and relationship building are some of my weak areas despite strong communication skills. I am planning to undertake some online courses for improving my soft skills so that I can effectively communicate my ideas to others and persuade them to participate in my idea development. I will be working on my listening skills for better understanding of others’ opinion and viewpoints. Reference list Caspi, A., Roberts, B.W. and Shiner, R. L., 2006. Personality development. Annual review of psychology, 56, pp. 454-700. CBI, 2009. Future fit. [pdf] CBI. Available at: [accessed 06 January 2015]. Easton, M., 2011. Graduating for the 21st Century. [online] Available at: [accessed 06 January 2015]. Hudson, N. W., Roberts, B. W. and Lodi-Smith, J., 2012. Personality trait development and social investment in work. Journal of research in personality, 46(3), pp. 334-344. Mason, G., Williams, G. and Cranmer, S., 2006. Employability Skills Initiatives in Higher Education: What Effects Do They Have On Graduate Labour Market Outcomes? [pdf] National Institute of Economic and Social Research. Available at: [accessed 06 January 2015]. Mroczek, D. K. and Little, T. D. (Eds.)., 2014. Handbook of personality development. New York: Psychology Press. Snowden, C., 2011. The Role of Universities in influencing tomorrow’s Economy– Graduate Employability. [pdf] University of Surrey. Available at: [accessed 06 January 2015]. University of Gloucestershire, 2015a. Why study at the University of Gloucestershire? [online] Available at: [accessed 06 January 2015]. University of Gloucestershire, 2015b. Job opportunities. [online] Available at: [accessed 06 January 2015]. University of Gloucestershire, 2015c. Teaching and learning innovation. [online] Available at: [accessed 06 January 2015]. Weinstein, G., 2014. Work-ready graduates. [online] Available at: [accessed 06 January 2015]. Read More