Sally Rumbles & Alex Tymon
University of Portsmouth
BMAF conference 2011
C.O.R.D. University of Portsmouth 2011
Better qualified
More relevant degrees
Better grades
Better educated
Contribute to society
Increased employability skills
A degree on its own is not longer enough
(Brown & Hesketh 2004, Moreau & Leathwood 2006, Tomlinson
2008)
Number of graduates has doubled since
1991
(Branine 2008, Rae 2007)
C.O.R.D. University of Portsmouth 2011
The philosophical argument
A threat to academic freedom
(
Kreber 2006, Moreau & Leathwood 2006)
The “Elitist” view
(Brown & Harvey 2004)
The economic argument
Funding issues, student number targets and widening
participation
(Kreber 2006, Rae 2007)
The willingness argument
Are HEIs willing and able to change the way they teach?
Post 92 Universities appear to be better at doing so
(Hefce 2001,
Harvey 2005)
The ability argument
Employability is better and more easily developed outside of
the formal curriculum
Work experience is what counts
(Hefce 2001, Doctorjob.com 2004, Yorke
2004, 2006, Andrews and Higson 2008)
The effectiveness argument
Employability does not necessarily lead to increased
employment
(Rothwell et al 2008)
C.O.R.D. University of Portsmouth 2011
Employability matters to us:
HEIs are increasingly expected and pushed to
provide “oven ready” employees
Increasingly we will be measured on
our employability statistics
By those choosing university
By funders of education
(DIUS 2008, T.H.E. Sept. 2010)
C.O.R.D. University of Portsmouth 2011
Introduction to the complexity of
employability
Group activity/discussion on the meaning
of employability
The student perspective
Research from Portsmouth
How can we develop the employability of
our graduates
Sharing ideas
Future directions
The hunt for the “Midi
-
Chlorians”
Plenary
C.O.R.D. University of Portsmouth 2011
“A contentious concept with a plethora of
misconceptions
” Harvey (2005:13)
Is it simply attractiveness to employers?
Is it just getting a job?
”a set of achievements, skills, understandings and
personal attributes, that make graduates more likely
to gain employment and be successful in their chosen
occupations, which benefits themselves, the
workforce, the community and the economy
(Yorke
2004:7)
Should the focus be on the EMPLOY or the ABILITY?
C.O.R.D. University of Portsmouth 2011
Define
an “Oven ready”
graduate
employee, who can
“Hit the ground
running”
(DIUS 2008)
Generic skills, Attributes, Characteristics,
Values, Competencies, Qualities,
professional skills, Abilities etc.
C.O.R.D. University of Portsmouth 2011
Perceived differently by different parties
(Hughes
-
Jones, Sutherland & Cross (2006)
The main interested parties:
Government
Society
Employers
HEIs
Students
Graduates
Current
Research available for all these groups with
the exception of current students
–
where it is
very limited.
C.O.R.D. University of Portsmouth 2011
Experience as an Admissions tutor
Experience encouraging the development of
employability skills at level 1
Personal tutoring level 2 students
Feedback from the placements office
Teaching “Career management” Unit at level 2
The Marmite unit!
Why the difference?
Why do we bother?
C.O.R.D. University of Portsmouth 2011
C.O.R.D. University of Portsmouth 2011
The missing
perspective?
Focus groups with the exception of level 3, non
-
placement students where data was collected by
questionnaire. Autumn term 2009.
Level ONE
-
16 groups, est. 160 students (50% of
population) in week 2
Level TWO
-
22 groups, est. 200 students (65% of
population) in week 1
Level THREE
15 students (5% of the population) in week 4
C.O.R.D. University of Portsmouth 2011
What is your understanding of the term employability?
What if any are the core skills or transferable skills that
might make up employability?
Either:
For level one students
To what extent do you expect the university to
support the development of your employability and
how?
To what extent did this affect your choice of
university?
For all other groups
How much does university support the development
of your employability and how?
To what extent do you think employability matters?
C.O.R.D. University of Portsmouth 2011
Some alignment between the views of our students
and the literature on the definition of employability
Skills linked to the needs of employers
Communication skills, Team working, IT skills and Planning &
Organising
Personal attributes
Flexibility/adaptability, hard working, committed, dedicated
However there are differences by level:
Levels 1 and 2, quite superficial
Fairly narrow range of items, fewer mentions, uneven
contributions
They know the words to use, but.....
Level 3 students much more attuned
14 times as many items mentioned and much more even
contribution
C.O.R.D. University of Portsmouth 2011
All levels and groups
said
employability mattered
massively
All stated the individual benefits with a focus on getting a job,
any job
Much less mention was made of quality of job and benefits to
others such as employers or society
However much less genuine concern at levels 1 and 2
Far fewer responses
Less anxious
Not unanimous
Non
-
specific answers
C.O.R.D. University of Portsmouth 2011
How to develop employability
Top of the list for all levels on university support were:
Placement
and placement office, CV writing support, Purple door
But again at levels 1 and 2 we see contradictory evidence
Say placements are very important
But did not rate experience highly as part of what employability is?
Embedded activities, mentioned much less frequently
Presentations, working with others, developing communication skills,
managing themselves
Student driven activities received fewer mentions still
Societies, Volunteering etc
.
C.O.R.D. University of Portsmouth 2011
Increasing the understanding or what
employability is and why it matters
Increase concern over grades at level 1
Increase motivation to develop employability
Examine the embedded activities
Be more overt?
Increasing real awareness of the value of
experience, at a much earlier stage
Do something to raise the profile of student
driven activities
C.O.R.D. University of Portsmouth 2011
What ideas do you have for increasing
development of employability?
C.O.R.D. University of Portsmouth 2011
What if we could find an easy way
to improve our employability
statistics?
Research into the literature
uncovered the concept of
“proactive personality” (P.P.) or
“personal initiative” (P.I.)
Evidence suggests this is far more
important than skills and many
other personal attributes
C.O.R.D. University of Portsmouth 2011
“Proactive behaviour is future focussed and mindful
…………..When employees choose to behave
proactively, they are focussed on the goal of
meaningfully altering the self, others, or the
contexts in which they are situated”
Crant & Ashford
(2008:9)
“P.I. is a work behaviour defined as self
-
starting and
proactive that overcomes barriers to achieve a
goal”
Frese & Fay (2001:133)
Different from the Big 5.
P.P. positively predicts a number of criterion
variables over and above the big 5.
(Bateman & Crant
1993, Chan 2006)
C.O.R.D. University of Portsmouth 2011
Increases organizational and individual
effectiveness”
(Fay & Frese 2001)
So valued by employers
People high in P.P.. receive:
Improved SUBJECTIVE evaluations of performance
by direct supervisors in various contexts
(Fuller,
Hester & Cox 2010, Fuller & Marler , 2009, Thompson 2005)
Improved OBJECTIVE evaluations and ACTUAL
performance as measured via company appraisal
(Fuller, Hester & Cox 2010)
C.O.R.D. University of Portsmouth 2011
People high on P.P. benefit from:
Improved career progression and
satisfaction
(Erdogan & Bauer 2005, Seibert et al 2001)
Higher salaries more frequent promotions
and more satisfying careers
(Seibert et al 1999)
“A one
-
point increase in the proactive
personality scale was associated with an
$8,677 increase in yearly salary after
controlling for other variables”
(Seibert, Crant
and Kraimer 1999:423)
People high in P.P.
Find jobs more quickly and rebound better
from unemployment
(Frese & Fay 2001)
C.O.R.D. University of Portsmouth 2011
Maybe those high on P.P. could be:
More engaged with employability development
at University
Or even studying itself
More likely to get better grades?
Further enhancing their employability
So maybe we should be recruiting
students who are higher on P.P.?
C.O.R.D. University of Portsmouth 2011
In the world of “Star Wars”, it is believed that
“Jedi Knights” are born and not made.
“Candidates to become Jedi Knights are
detected, identified and taken into the order as
infants where their inherent attributes are
developed and honed by intensive training.
One
method
of detection is through blood sampling
with those who have great “Force” potential
often having high midi
-
chlorian counts in their
bloodstream”.
www.starwars.com/databank/organization/thejediorder
C.O.R.D. University of Portsmouth 2011
People high in P.P.
Are more likely to invest in their social and
human capital?
(Crant & Ashford 2008)
Actively network
(Byrne, Dik and Chiaburu, 2008,
Thompson 2005)
Proactivity can be seen as a process:
Anticipating, Planning and Striving
Striving behaviours include:
Feedback seeking
Acting on feedback
Alternative seeking
C.O.R.D. University of Portsmouth 2011
How can we develop Proactive personality in
our students?
C.O.R.D. University of Portsmouth 2011
Andrews, J. & Higson, H. (2009) Graduate Employability, “Soft Skills” versus “Hard Business Knowledge”:
A European Study.
Higher Education in Europe
. 33:411
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422
Bateman, T. & Crant, M. (1993) The proactive component of organizational behaviour: A measure and
correlates.
Journal of Organizational Behavior
. 14:103
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118
Bowers
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Brown, T. with Harvey, L. (2004) Are there too many graduates in the UK? A literature review and an analysis
of graduate employability.
Industry and Higher Education.
August 2004:243
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254
Branine, M. (2008) Graduate recruitment and selection in the UK. A study of recent changes in methods
and expectations.
Career Development International
. 13 (6):497
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513
Brown, p. & Hesketh , A. ( 2004) The mismanagement of talent: Employability and jobs in the knowledge
economy Oxford. Oxford university press
Byrne, Z., Dik, B. & Chiaburu, D. (2008) Alternatives to traditional mentoring in fostering career success.
Journal of Vocational Behavior
. 72:429
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422
Chan, D. (2006) Interactive Effects of Situational Judgement Effectiveness and Proactive personality on
Work perceptions and Work Outcomes.
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481
Crant, A. (2000) Proactive behaviour in organisations.
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. 26:435
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462
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http://www.dius.gov.uk/hecsu.rd/researchreport129.htm
Doctorjob.com. (2004) Are graduate employability initiatives worth it? GTI specialist Publishers
Wallingford. Oxon.
Erdogan, B. & Bauer, T. (2005) Enhancing career benefits of employee proactive personality: the role of
fit with jobs and organisations.
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. 58: 859
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891
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Performance
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Autonomy as a Moderator.
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. XXII 1:35
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personality literature.
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C.O.R.D. University of Portsmouth 2011
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