Classifying university employability strategies: three case studies and implications for practice and research

Farenga, Stéphane A.; Quinlan, Kathleen M.

doi:10.1080/13639080.2015.1064517

Cited by 41 publications

(41 citation statements)

References 17 publications

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“…First, our study extends that of Farenga and Quinlan (2015), who undertook a content review of the careers services websites for these institutions and used this information to classify employability models demonstrated by the UK Russell Group (comprising 24 public research universities). The Russell Group represents a group of "leading UK universities which are committed to maintaining the very best research, an outstanding teaching and learning experience" (russellgroup.ac.uk).…”

Section: Context and Samplementioning

confidence: 99%

“…With the exception of two universities in the US, all institutions operated a centralised careers service. Given Farenga and Quinlan's (2015) suggestion that the Hands-off model is more likely at those institutions that rely on their reputation to attract students, we sought to identify how many institutional websites linked enhanced employment prospects to high institutional reputation. This was evidenced through statements relating to university rankings, combined with narratives such as: "12th in the nation for sought-after graduates".…”

Section: Employability Content Presented On University Websitesmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Following the work of Farenga and Quinlan (2015), employability strategies utilised by the universities were classified as Hands-off, Portfolio or Award, using the criteria presented earlier. Analysed as a single cohort, the Portfolio strategy emerged as the most prevalent employability strategy (adopted by 39.3%), followed by a similar occurrence of Hands-off and Award model (22.4% and 18.7%, respectively).…”

Section: Classification Of Employability Strategiesmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…To shed light on the conceptual frameworks on which these strategies were based, we drew on Farenga and Quinlan's (2015) descriptions of three employability models used by the UK Russell Group universities: Hands-off, Portfolio and Award. The authors characterise the Hands-off model as one where skills such as problem solving, communication and leadership are seen as being naturally developed through the academic programmes; specific gaps identified by students might be filled through activities offered by a careers service.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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How do research-intensive universities portray employability strategies? A review of their websites

Bennett

Knight

Divan

et al. 2017

Australian Journal of Career Development

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Employability development is a strategic priority for universities across advanced western economies. Despite this, there is no systematic study of employability development approaches internationally. In this study, we considered how universities portray employability on the public pages of their websites. We undertook website content analysis of 107 research-intensive universities in Australia, Canada, the United Kingdom (UK) and the United States (US). Using Farenga and Quinlan (2015), we classified these strategies as Portfolio, Handsoff, Award and Non-embedded. Portfolio or Award strategies were the most common across all four locations; Hands-off and Non-embedded strategies were more common to US universities; and Award was more common in the UK.Universities focused on either possessional or positional approaches to employability (Holmes, 2015). We advocate for a pedagogical shift towards processual approaches in which responsibility for employability development is shared.

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Section: Context and Samplementioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Employability Content Presented On University Websitesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Classification Of Employability Strategiesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 2 more Smart Citations

How do research-intensive universities portray employability strategies? A review of their websites

Bennett

Knight

Divan

et al. 2017

Australian Journal of Career Development

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…Having said as much, a problem with relying on careers services to do this work (if unsupported) is that they are often managed within separate structures, resulting in an intense, but fragmented, approach to employability provision (Rae 2007). Perhaps the nature of responsibility ought to be redefined and instead, if we take engagement as a measure of success rather than employment, then the amount of pressure and expectation currently levelled at careers service units would no doubt reduce (Farenga & Quinlan 2016). Participant S, from a USA HEI commented on a more integrated approach taken by HEIs in the USA highlighting the interplay between careers, the academic department and the employability centre and that it is the relationship between all three groups that fosters graduate employability: S(USA): It's very decentralised.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Focusing in on employability: using content analysis to explore the employability discourse in UK and USA universities

Chadha

Toner

2017

Int J Educ Technol High Educ

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In this paper, we have taken initial steps towards highlighting the employability discourse in higher education by using content analysis to explore website data at 40 higher education institutions (HEIs) in the UK and 40 HEIs in the USA by searching for 'employability' in respective web engines. The findings from our preliminary data analysis were inserted into a MIT SIMILE software package to create a bespoke, interactive webpage that could be disseminated for discussion by higher education managers. The initial findings suggest that, in the UK, the broad discourse is centred upon government policies and targeted preparation for employment while in the USA it is centred upon the institutional vision and social inclusion agenda. Recent graduates' views were sought on these initial findings to validate whether their experiences corroborated with our suggested employability discourse claims. These insights are a useful first step for HEIs to question and re-evaluate employability at an institutional level.

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Constructive alignment between holistic competency development and assessment in Hong Kong engineering education

Chan

Lee

2021

J of Engineering Edu

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Background: Holistic competencies comprise various holistic skills (e.g., communication) and positive values and attitudes (e.g., empathy). There have been increasing efforts worldwide to foster students' holistic competency development within engineering curricula. While recent studies indicate a positive shift, it remains unclear whether such efforts are driven by only a handful of individuals or more widely supported by systemic changes to constructively align competency development with the engineering curriculum. Purpose/Hypothesis: This study investigates the extent to which endeavors to promote holistic competency development in Hong Kong's tertiary engineering education are supported by a broader, constructively aligned curricular system. The three key components of constructive alignment developed by Biggs in 2003-intended outcomes, teaching activities, and assessment-form the conceptual framework guiding this study. Design/Method: This study conducted document analysis of 245 engineering courses and interviews with five engineering instructors from three Hong Kong universities. Results: Only 34 of 245 syllabi analyzed incorporated holistic competencies in their intended outcomes. These outcomes were associated with both traditional and experiential pedagogies but were not matched with direct or explicit assessments. Data show that program leaders' conceptions of holistic competencies, instructor's limited capabilities, and issues assessing competencies pose challenges to constructive alignment.Conclusions: Challenges for achieving constructive alignment and recommendations for addressing them are discussed. Our findings highlight the need to train all levels of engineering instructors in student holistic competency development, to acquaint instructors with industrial experiences and expectations, to develop top-down and bottom-up reforms to refine engineering curricula, and to provide increased recognition for teaching quality and efforts.

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Classifying university employability strategies: three case studies and implications for practice and research

Cited by 41 publications

References 17 publications

How do research-intensive universities portray employability strategies? A review of their websites

How do research-intensive universities portray employability strategies? A review of their websites

Focusing in on employability: using content analysis to explore the employability discourse in UK and USA universities

Constructive alignment between holistic competency development and assessment in Hong Kong engineering education

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