RAPPORT
WWW.RECORDINGACHIEVEMENT.ORG
Issue 1 (2015)
of British Industry and Universities UK a positive
attitude is seen as the underpinning factor,
exemplified by ‘a can-do approach, a readiness to
take part and contribute, openness to new ideas
and drive to make these happen’ (CBI /UUK 2009
p. 8). In the same report, employability skills, a
positive attitude and relevant work experience or
industrial placement, in that order, were given by
employers as the three most important factors
considered when recruiting graduates.
It is these qualities, in context, that can make an
applicant stand out but how can we help an
applicant evidence such qualities? Employing
organisations are aware of the importance of
embracing diversity, which is in essence
difference.
The acceptance and valuing of
difference will allow individuals to develop a
confidence in who they are and how they can
uniquely contribute to a business. It could well be
difference rather than sameness that will facilitate
more effective team working, the understanding of
customers, creativity and the management of
change.
In recruiting to a graduate position the employer
is recruiting the person, not the subject/discipline
of study nor the institution which awarded their
degree: these may be an aspect of shortlisting but
the final decision is usually based on which
candidate won them over. As suggested by the
‘Burgess Group’ in the UK (UUK, 2007),
universities and other institutions increasingly
seek to offer more than a simple transcript giving
a summary result. To demonstrate added value,
some additional record will be needed to evidence
achievements like working on real businessrelated projects. A student can leave it to their
educational institution to provide the mechanism
to evidence their capability, or be more proactive
and find ways to self-evidence qualities like
confidence, digital literacy, persistence and the
ability to tell a story. Frameworks provided by
institutions, like the UK’s Higher Education
Achievement Record (HEAR), are an example of
guidance that can be understood in threshold
terms, but the student still has to populate and
individualise it and ultimately move beyond the
threshold by seeing ‘value in the things that make
[them] unique and special’ (Lumley and Wilkinson
2013 p.6).
Engagement
Experience, reflection on experience and selfawareness are part of the employability process
(Dacre Pool and Sewell 2007), and are too
important to leave to when a placement is being
sought or to final year graduate job searching.
Engagement with the course of study and
engagement with self-awareness and selfdevelopment can run side by side and meld
together, each offering intrinsic and extrinsic
motivation at different times for the individual
student.
There is evidence that student
engagement is there at the beginning of the HE
experience for most students (Quality Assurance
Agency n.d.) but it is often said that the interest
present in September has gone by November.
Why? We talk about the student journey but
perhaps it needs to be more of an adventure. This
should be a time of discovery: of new subject
material (too often a repetition of material covered
in the final year of college) and the value of
individuality.
This is also a time of transition. Transition can be
a difficult time (Woodfield 2014; Jisc 2014) but
also the perfect time to reflect on who we are, how
we fit in, our sameness and our differences. There
are a number of transition points between school
and being effective in the workplace. Each needs
to be managed by the individual and each may
need some level of support. Knowing what to
expect can be helpful. If ‘going to uni’ is only about
a piece of paper, the qualification at the end, then
the opportunities to promote and support a wider
engagement might be missed.
Engagement with a course then becomes the
management of a process that evidences an
understanding of a body of knowledge but also
allows individual self-expression. An accounting
student should be able to articulate the
professional value of their cultural awareness, an
economics student the value of their language
skills or a nursing student the value of working
with precise data. Curriculum design should allow
the student to say that they developed as a
professional, gained self-confidence, had fun and
are looking forward to the challenge of
employment and life-long employability.
Curriculum design and assessment to celebrate
difference
If universities are going to nurture individual
difference the design of the curriculum is crucial.
The Rough Guide to Curriculum Design (HendyIsaac 2012) argues for the whole curriculum being
engineered explicitly and connected across,
through and down by academic staff to enhance
the whole HE experience for our students and
enable them to make the most of the opportunity
holistically. Resources like Defining and
Developing your Approach to Employability (Cole
and Tibby 2013) can help identify and articulate
what we want to achieve and what we need to
attain it.
To facilitate students becoming designers of their
own experience and aware of their uniqueness
(and the self-efficacy to present themselves
appropriately), the adding of value for the
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