Embedding Career Development Learning in the Curriculum
Across the University, collaborations between Career Services and academic staff are providing students with opportunities to build their employability.
You have no doubt heard discussion of the role of higher education in developing graduate employability, but are we all on the same page about what employability is, what its elements are, and how they work together to create positive outcomes for graduates?
Employability is not the same as gaining employment. In the academic literature, employability is defined as the achievement of a set of understandings, skilful practices, and personal attributes, which make it more likely for a graduate to successfully transition to employment and to contribute in ways that benefit themselves, the workforce, the community, and the economy1.
Students at Adelaide are offered many opportunities to build employability. Research shows, however, that employability development within the curriculum has the greatest impact2. Our focus here is on some of the many ways in which just one element of employability development, Career Development Learning (CDL)3 has been embedded within courses and programs.
In the Faculty of Arts, final year Bachelor of Media students prepare to put their best foot forward in searching for employment with support from academic staff, Career Services, and the innovative use of technology. They participate in a 2-hour session on effective strategies for sourcing jobs within their industry. Then as part of their assessment, they assess and develop their resumé using VMock, an AI tool which provides feedback on, and grades, resumés.
‘We talk about resumés in class’, says Dr Kathryn Bowd, School of Humanities, ‘However, the instant feedback and benchmarking that VMock provides means they can work on their resumés knowing that the outcome will look professional and will highlight their skills and knowledge’.
First year engineering students in the Faculty of Engineering, Computer and Mathematical Sciences get off to a great start with sessions on maximising employability, occupation awareness, and the importance of work experience. All students are required to undertake the CareerEDGE+ Profile assessment4 and record their results in MyUni.
Students respond very positively to the panel event organised in collaboration with Career Services staff, shares Course Coordinator, Rebecca Birzer. ‘Graduates and honours students talk about their experiences in industry placement and the discussion points reinforce learning outcomes and key concepts from the course’.
In the Faculty of Health and Medical Sciences, students in the Public Health program have the opportunity to undertake an internship that both provides work experience and develops crucial career building skills. The students participate in sessions on identifying employment options and learn how to articulate their skills via various channels to create a competitive edge. They are also assessed on the quality of their resumé and cover letters.
‘Collaborating with the Career Services team has been fantastic for this program’, says Associate Professor Sharyn Gaskin, School of Public Health. ‘It provides my students with additional skills aimed at gaining employment after graduating, including how to articulate their worth and ‘sell’ their internship experience to future employers’.
One of the many options for students in the Faculty of the Professions is to take the final year course, Graduate Career Readiness with its comprehensive approach to developing employability. During industry visits students can learn about workplace etiquette, problem solving, time management and the importance of creativity in the workplace from industry professionals. Melissa Connor, Coordinator of the course, says ‘This course develops students’ skills in life-long learning as well as providing the opportunity to build peer networks to help each other navigate the graduate recruitment process’.
‘This course has boosted my confidence in interviews, networking and job-related tasks’ - GCR student
Academic and Career Services staff support final year Doctor of Veterinary Medicine students in the Faculty of Sciences to prepare for the challenges of interviewing. The students take part in an interactive preparation session during their transition to the Veterinary Profession course, before practicing and self-assessing an online video interview through the Vieple platform, thereby experiencing an increasingly common part of the application process.
‘With the help of Career Services, we also cover writing CVs and cover letters, assessing employability, negotiating contracts, accepting offers, and overseas opportunities’, explains Dr Bridgette Shackelford, School of Animal and Veterinary Sciences.
To facilitate an institution-wide approach to the design, mapping, and evaluation of employability development activities, the Graduate Employability Framework has been developed, and was endorsed by the University Education Committee (meeting 2/20). The Framework defines employability and its elements, with a particular focus on impactful learning activities within the curriculum including a broadened conceptualisation of WIL.
As demonstrated in the examples above, the way in which employability development is embedded within academic programs needs to be determined at a local level to accommodate disciplinary differences. Further, the Framework enables the extraction of employability development within the existing curriculum and aids in making it explicit, rather than requiring extensive additions.
Look out for opportunities to learn more about the Framework and to contribute to the development of practical tools for putting the principles into action promoted through the Learning and Teaching News.
If you have more good practice examples of employability development within the curriculum which we could highlight in future editions, please get in touch.
Thank you to the Faculty staff, academic staff and the Employability and Career Services teams for providing the content for this article.
1 AdvanceHE (2015). Embedding employability in higher education. Retrieved from https://www.advance-he.ac.uk/guidance/teaching-and-learning/embedding-e….
Bennett, D. (2018). Embedding employABILITY thinking across Australian higher education. Canberra: Australia. Retrieved from https://developingemployability.edu.au/wp-content/uploads/2018/10/Devel….
Yorke, M. (2006). Employability in higher education: what it is-what it is not (Vol. 1). York: Higher Education Academy.
2 Bennett, D. (2018). Embedding employABILITY thinking across Australian higher education. Canberra: Australia. Retrieved from https://developingemployability.edu.au/wp-content/uploads/2018/10/Devel….
Pegg, A., Waldock, J., Hendy-Isaac, S., & Lawton, R. (2012). Pedagogy for employability. Advance HE. Retrieved from https://www.advance-he.ac.uk/knowledge-hub/pedagogy-employability-2012.
3 CDL provides students with the skills, knowledge, attributes, and attitudes to manage their professional lives.
4 CareerEDGE+ is an online self-assessment tool on the Abintegro platform aligned with the CareerEDGE model of employability developed by Dr Lorraine Dacre Pool and Dr Peter Sewell.