This paper is the case study of a project undertaken over summer 2014 by Dr Eleanor Quince (Director of Employability) and student interns Charlotte Medland, Verity Smith, Amber Dudley and James Tribe at the University of Southampton in the Faculty of Humanities. The Faculty hosts over 3,000 students studying single or combined degrees across seven disciplines: Archaeology, English, Film, History, Modern Languages, Music and Philosophy. Our internship remit was to create and launch a new student-led employability strategy for the Faculty of Humanities. The strategy needed to be both engaging and flexible, with tailored options for each of the seven disciplines.
This case study explains how social media was used in the pilot year of a student-led peer mentoring initiative. The University of Southampton, faculty of Humanities, peer mentoring scheme was launched in September 2014 with a cohort of 750 undergraduate students across seven subject areas. The scheme is part of the wider, student-led, careers activity across all year groups within the faculty, otherwise known as the ââ¬Ëmission employableââ¬â¢ project. Social media, including Facebook and Twitter, was used to engage mentors and mentees and to communicate with students throughout the scheme. Facebook groups were introduced to help maintain contact, initially between the student peer mentoring coordinator and the student mentors, then between the mentors and their mentees. The familiarity of Facebook was a deciding factor in the selection of appropriate media for use within the scheme. At the mid- and end- point evaluation reviews, mentors praised the inclusion of social media platforms and asked that greater use be made of them in future. The case study concludes that social media led to an increase in student engagement and an enhanced student experience within the faculty.
In 2014, Dr Eleanor Quince and a team of student partners created the ‘Mission Employable’ initiative in the University of Southampton’s Faculty of Humanities. The initiative aimed to put students back at the centre of their own employability and careers development activity, via five main areas: Peer Mentoring, a compulsory Employability Module, Student Working Group, Alumni Network and External Advisory Board. Two years on, Mission Employable provides employability and careers advice and guidance to over 3,000 students across seven disciplines. Not all of these students can have direct impact upon activity by creating content and working in close partnership, so how do we give every student a sense of ownership? This paper will explore the ways in which Mission Employable has harnessed and implemented digital media – in particular, social networks – to reach out to Humanities students who might not otherwise directly engage with us. From Facebook for off-campus Peer Mentoring support, to e-portfolios for extra-curricular development, to hashtag campaigns, Instagram selfies and animated module ‘trailers’, Mission Employable has embraced the digital as a space for all of its student partners to engage, network, advise and create.
However, the problem of skills self-recognition and articulation remains.Without strong support structures students struggle to understand these skills and how to talk about them. This case study explores the creation of an employability-focussed support structure for MFL undergraduate students centred on preparing for, getting the most out of, and articulating the 'soft skills' learnt from the YA. The study presents evidence from three core activities: 1) interviews with YA returners, now final-year students; 2) support through tailored employability modules; and 3) the launch of an interactive online resource for students who are on their YA.
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