Definitions and interpretations of the term employability differ. The chosen definition for the purpose of this Theme is derived from Knight and Yorke who define employability as “a set of achievements, understanding and personal attributes that make individuals more likely to gain employment and be successful in their chosen careers”.
The main aims of the employability Enhancement Theme were to:
- Raise the profile of employability
- Create a clearer understanding of what is meant by employability
- Encourage and provide assistance for the Scottish higher education sector in developing institutional employability strategies
- Aid the embedding of employability within the curriculum
- Implement its strategy in parallel with work on personal development planning (PDP) as part of the effective learning framework (ELF) project
Enhancement Theme outcomes include:
- Benchmarking employability: a Scottish perspective
- Enhancing student employability: innovative project across the curriculum
More information on the Theme and details of the activities and outcomes can be found on the Enhancement Themes site.
Further resources
Employability Survey
The Economics Network, along with the Royal Economics Society and the University of the West of England conducted an employability survey in 2007. The survey asked both employers and employees the skills they felt their employees (namely graduates of economics) should have prior to working with them. The report makes comparisons between the employees and employers.
Publisher: Economics Network
Skills, employability and entrepreneurship
This presentation, given at an Economics Network conference, explores economics graduates and their skills and compares them to the skills employers require from economics graduates. Focusing on why it is happening and what can be done about it, this presentation tackles employability issues in economics.
Publisher: Economics Network
Embedding academic skills in the teaching and learning process
This Economics Network funded learning and teaching development project seeks to embed a range of skills in the curriculum that will increase student academic achievement and enhance employability.
Publisher: Economics Network
Enhancing the employability of economics students
This Economics Network learning and teaching development project focuses on the evaluation of economics education in order to enhance employability of economics graduates. It aims to report on the views of economics graduates regarding how “equipped” they are to commence their first professional job.
Publisher: Economics Network
Learning to work: enhancing employability and enterprise in Scottish further and higher education
“Learning to work presents ideas for learners, educators and employers to work together to create new and better learning experiences. This paper aims to propose a definition for employability and enterprise in the context of further and higher education; challenge some common assumptions and show how employability and enterprise can fit within the context of the wider purposes of education; and offer some thoughts on a more holistic approach for further and higher education, which integrates many of these aspects within a core framework embedded into the whole learning experience.”
Publisher: Scottish Funding Council
QAA Code of Practice: section 8 - career education, information and guidance, section 9- work-based and placement learning
These two guides come from the QAA Code of Practice, a statement of good practice that has been endorsed by the higher education community. These two sections are relevant to employability. The first looks at meeting students’ expectations for their career and the second provides guidance on work-based learning and placement schemes.
Publisher: QAA
