Characteristics of Work Placements Valued by Employers

Abstract

Research into the valued characteristics of work placements on Library and Information Studies (LIS) first degree courses in UK universities was carried out by the Centre for Information Research and Training at the University of Central England in Birmingham (UCE). Group Feedback Strategy (GFS) was used to generate and evaluate characteristics from employers, tutors, students and graduates. Results showed that placements were seen as important by all participating groups. A reasonably high level of satisfaction was also recorded for a majority of the valued characteristics, by all groups. This article outlines the research and examines the characteristics which achieved higher satisfaction scores from employers than from other groups. These were: offering teamwork experiences; assessing capabilities; offering training opportunities; giving hands on IT experience; and requiring business confidentiality. Reasons for these differences are proposed and discussed.

Students’ work placement learning and employability nexus: Reflections from experiential learning and social cognitive career theories

“…In formulating Hypotheses 1, 2 and 3 from our theories, we can deduce testable work placement learning and employability skills nexuses. From previous studies (e.g., Brooks and Youngson, 2016; Chivers and Flatten, 1996; Crowford and Wang, 2015; Gomez et al, 2004; Jackson, 2014; Moise et al, 2013), we know that WPL can promote learning outcomes, career behaviours and employability skills. Similarly, the literature has also shown that one’s confidence or self-efficacy has a significant link with learning outcomes (Bandura et al, 2001; Chukwuedo and Ogbuanya, 2020a; Deer et al, 2018; Godwin, 2019).…”

The Shift from Teaching to Learning: Staff Recruitment and Careers Development Policies for the Universities of the Twenty‐First Century

“…It begets a host of other manifestations, of course, such as: -work-based learning (Kinman and Kinman, 1997); -developing work-based transferable skills in a university setting (Humphreys et al, 1997); -work placements as part of conventional degree programmes (Chivers and Flatten, 1997); -national vocational qualifications in work-based education (Eccleston, 1997); -competency-based degrees (Hyland, 1997); -on-the-job training and academic education (Marchio et al, 1997).…”