Universities must look at local employment markets when building their graduates' skills
This article by , Lecturer in Social Policy, School of History, Philosophy & Social Sciences is republished from under a Creative Commons license. Read the.
Students are often reminded that a degree is 鈥渘ot enough鈥�, and that they will also need 鈥渆mployability skills鈥� 鈥� of personal attributes, discipline-specific knowledge and generic talents 鈥� to succeed after university. They are encouraged while studying to develop skills such as problem solving, self-management and the ability to work as part of a team.
All valid attributes yes, but this view is based on the idea that graduates are young and highly mobile. But the truth is that not all graduates will want to 鈥� or be able to 鈥� leave their university town or city, .
As Brexit looms, advocacy organisation Univerisites UK has suggested that increased local graduate retention could ease current and potentially upcoming . Yet the research to date shows that cities across the UK face a big challenge when it comes to graduate talent. In , only 58% of that year鈥檚 graduates went on to work in the area in which they took their degree.
One major hurdle to graduate retention comes down to the skills that local employers actually need from prospective staff. Just like it is not enough to have a degree, it is not enough to teach all graduates a generic skillset and hope for the best. Required skills can vary greatly from region to region, with some 鈥� like the ability to drive 鈥� proving pointless in areas with, for example, good public transport links. In north Wales, where I conducted my own into the issue of graduate retention, the most valuable skills for a graduate to have on top of their degree are access to local networks, having their own transport and Welsh language skills.
Staying local
Social contacts and contacts from former employment can help a graduate seeking to stay in their university town, but the close connections that come from going to school together and living in the same neighbourhoods are invaluable. When employers seek to fill vacancies, they can rely on who a candidate knows to infer the potential worker鈥檚 underlying ability.
That鈥檚 not to say 鈥渨ho you know鈥� is always better than 鈥渨hat you know鈥�. Not all members of a community will know the 鈥渞ight鈥� people who can provide access to employment opportunities after all. And graduates from low income backgrounds often find their contacts are limited because their parents have no experience of the graduate labour market and the types of roles that they would be applying for.
This kind of social capital can be developed both as a student and a graduate. I have been working with Sociologists Outside Academia, a group within the British Sociological Association, to design an . The aim of this curriculum is to equip students with the skills, knowledge and professional outlook required to improve workplaces, organisations and communities. One of our recommended assessments would see students working on a local community problem, with the opportunity to pitch a proposal to a client verbally and in writing.
After graduation from universities in Wales, there are schemes such as the Knowledge Economy Skills Scholarships (KESS 2), a project supported by European Social Funds (ESF) through the Welsh Government, led by 黑料不打烊. KESS 2 provides opportunities for graduates to build professional networks, and for funded PhD and research masters study in collaboration with an active business or company partner.
Language skills
Another skill of particular importance to the graduates I spoke to in north Wales was the Welsh language. in some areas of north Wales speak Welsh. And there is concerted action by the Welsh government to double the number of Welsh speakers by 2050.
On top of this, have stated that Welsh language skills (written and oral) were desirable for jobs in their companies. And that there is a in graduate occupations such as nursing and in the tourism industry.
While current graduates who went to school in Wales will have had some form of Welsh language education, not all would regard themselves as speakers of the language. And even among bilinguals, . Research has suggested that while bilingualism is not the preserve of elites, disadvantaged households in Wales may believe that their form of bilingualism is .
Many of my interviewees felt a lack of confidence in their Welsh skills. They felt that the Welsh they spoke at home was not the same as the more formal Welsh needed for employment purposes. There may be further problems too for those graduates of Welsh universities who did not go to school in Wales, and have had no Welsh language education.
Clearly, universities need to support their graduates by not just focusing on generic employability skills, but by looking at the regional economy. By taking into account what local employers might want from graduates, institutions can start to address the financial, academic and social hurdles that modern graduates, particularly those who have reached university through a non-traditional route, have to face.
Publication date: 4 October 2018