Feb 2007 - Volume 6 Issue 1
Employability Special Issue

Editorial by Liz Burd
University of Durham

It is clear, from examining the learning and teaching strategies of a range of universities within the UK , that they place great the importance on employability within their respective institutions. There are many drivers that contribute to the focus which these institutions place on the employability prospects of their graduates. These include pressures from government and the use of graduate employability rates as indicators for university league tables. This Special Issue covers a topic often referred to as the ‘employability agenda'; a topic that has engaged academics in debate for many years. It is clear that higher education has a huge part to play in the advancement of the national economic interest and has a duty to society to produce useful graduates. It is, however, upon the actual definition of ‘useful' that the academic debate is centred. Those involved in the debate will know that there is significant disagreement between academia and industry on the required skill sets of students. Furthermore, it is clear that small to medium enterprises have differing sets of requirements for fresh graduates from those that are the typical requirements of large international concerns. Universities, therefore, now find themselves presented with a major challenge in fulfilling the needs of their graduates who themselves also have a wide variety of interests and aspirations.

Knight and Yorke ( 2003) identify four ways of enhancing employability of students:

1: work experience
2. entrepreneurship modules
3. careers advice
4. portfolios, profiles and records of achievement

This Special Issue contains four selected papers focusing on the above topics.

The issue of work experience is given broad consideration in two papers covering experiences within two academic institutions who use real-life case studies and work-based learning. Hamblin and Stephens from Loughborough University present a paper entitled ‘Creating real-life case studies that embed employability skills in library and information science curricula' which describe the LIMES Project which has resulted in the creation of real-life case studies. This paper gives an excellent account of how they enable employability skills within their curricula to provide students with realistic industrial experiences. Kerins from the University of Chester in his paper entitled ‘Collaborative initiatives and work-based learning opportunities: a case study' continues the theme of work experience. He provides an interesting experience report on how interdisciplinary collaboration has been used to enrich students' work-based learning opportunities.

The issue of enterprise is taken up by Stevenson from Lancaster University in his paper on ‘Embedding Hands-on experience with ERP systems into university courses: aligning academic and industrial needs'. Here he describes the use of a simulated enterprise resource planning system to enable students to participate actively in enterprise planning. Further, this paper engages in an interesting discussion of some of the challenges presented by incorporating the new material within the curriculum.

Finally Johnson and Brierley from the University of Bolton broadly cover the issues of career guidance and the role of new technologies in recording and promoting student learning. In their paper entitled ‘Personal technologies in teaching professional dispositions in information technology', they highlight their experiences of using new pervasive technologies within a career development module. For instance they provide an overview of how technologies such as Voice-over-IP are used to interview students.

Overall, this Special Issue provides an interesting set of ideas which may invigorate the academic community to review its current approaches and commitment to the employability agenda. I am sure that everyone will find something of practical application to take away from this volume.

This issue also includes two further submissions to ITALICS. Stone from Loughborough University discusses the development and use of JASPER, a JavaScript proof editor to support students in applying equational reasoning and the comprehension of mathematical expressions. In the final paper of this issue Doloi from the University of Melbourne Australia , presents a useful model for the planning and delivery of distance learning courses that aims to educate professional project managers across various project management disciplines.

References:

Knight P.T. , Yorke M. , ‘Employability and Good Learning in Higher Education', Teaching in Higher Education, Vol. 8., No 1., 2003 pp 3-16

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