Employability initiatives in undergraduate education and application to human nutrition: A scoping review

Abstract

Human nutrition is a growing field with an increasing job market and high demand for university study, yet graduates report feeling underprepared for and unaware of potential job opportunities. This scoping review aimed to identify employment initiatives used in undergraduate programs to support an evidence-based approach to the development of future initiatives for human nutrition courses. The scoping review following PRISMA-ScR criteria was initially conducted in October 2018 and updated in April 2020. Search terms were selected to identify studies that reported on employability or work-readiness embedded within the course curriculum for undergraduate students. Fourteen papers met the eligibility criteria. Papers included were from Australia (9), United Kingdom (2), United States (1), New Zealand (1) and Germany (1). Papers described initiatives fitting broad categories of placements, project-based industry collaboration, practice-based eLearning, mentoring and building graduate attributes. Placements were the most common type of initiative and project-based industry collaboration demonstrated the highest levels of student and employer satisfaction. The success of initiatives was often attributed to incorporating diverse approaches to real-world, problem-solving skills. Mentoring and eLearning were used to promote employability soft skills, while industry-based placements provided students with practical experience. Placement in specific workplace settings should be representative of the diverse job options for nutrition graduates. Human nutrition degrees should consider incorporating strategies that develop soft skills and project-based skills while exposing students to diverse workplace settings within industry.

Nutrition employability and graduate readiness: The Australian Working in Nutrition study

“…Croxford et al 12 reported that industry stakeholders perceived the sourcing of WIL opportunities as a responsibility of the university curricula. However, our survey found that many respondents had to self‐source their work experiences, most likely because work placement in nutrition science degrees is not a standard offering as it is with other disciplines 21,22 . This finding could suggest that the work experience activities undertaken were insufficiently tailored to the scope of nutrition practice or did not showcase the diverse range of roles that graduates can hold.…”

“…Engaging with industry through WIL offers nutrition science students insight into potential career options 21 . Career development and WIL were listed in the top‐five professional skills that graduates both valued or would have valued but did not get in their nutrition course.…”

A career research module promotes career exploration and understanding of the labour market and transferable skills

“…Becoming a job ready graduate requires awareness of the worlds-of-work so students can align their interests and energies toward appropriate career choices (McIlveen et al, 2011). A scoping review by Murray et al (2020) of employability initiatives incorporated into undergraduate degree courses found work-based placements were most common and project-based industry collaboration had the highest student and employer satisfaction. These initiatives expose students to real-world scenarios and support professional network development; they are also labour intensive to administer and sustain and it is challenging to source placements for courses that lead to a wide range of jobs.…”

Nutrition students’ employability skills: need for a graduate employability framework

“…

For a qualified nutritionist to obtain registration with the Nutrition Society of Australia they must first demonstrate that they meet a set of competencies relating to required nutrition knowledge and skills (1) . However, theoretical knowledge and a technical skillset may not be enough to actively contribute to the workforce as a new graduate (2) . Employers have previously expressed a desire for nutrition graduates to also develop employability skills in undergraduate studies to be better prepared for the workforce (3) .

…”