A social constructivist approach to introducing skills for employment to Foundation Degree students

Abstract

Expectations for higher education providers to produce graduates ready for the workplace have shaped provision, with the introduction of the Foundation Degree, and expectations of an employability component within higher education programmes. This paper reports on an intervention for three groups of foundation degree students, which introduces them to ideas of skills for employability. An initial evaluation was followed up two months later exploring the longer-term impact and connections within students' programmes of study and data were captured from employers and tutors supporting this intervention. In agreement with similar studies, benefits for students were identified. However, this research reinforces the challenging nature of the employability agenda, particularly within the context of Foundation Degrees and their dual vocationalacademic remit. This paper suggests there is a case to be made for a social constructivist approach within programmes and institutions for promoting awareness and consistency in developing student employability skills. IntroductionThe skills agenda and the evolution of it within Higher Education (HE) policy in the UK are well documented, from the Dearing Report (Dearing 1997) through to a review, The Future of Higher Education, by the Department for Education and Skills (2003) and, later, the Leitch Review of Skills (2006). Relatedly, in this time Foundation Degrees (FDs) were launched with a view to promoting vocational HE delivered by HE institutions but also further education (FE) colleges. With one of the main aims of the FD being to improve the level of skilled labour entering the UK workforce (Stanton 2009), it is appropriate to examine how this is played out within the curriculum, and this paper provides focus on one case study where FE college-based FD entrants were introduced to the idea of skills for employment. Despite the emphasis within the policy discourse on skills for employment, research has identified that some students still finish such courses of study without a clear understanding of the value that their course has for their employability (Dismore, Hicks, and Lintern 2010). Twelve years on from the launch of the FD and the meeting of the ambitious FD recruitment targets (Longhurst 2010) it is timely to review practice in relation to the skills and employability remit attached to the award. As

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