Pas I owe many thanks to many people who helped and supported me with writing and conducted the survey for my research project.
Deepest appreciation to Mr. Isaac Damoah who guided and helps me to correct various documents in this project with great care and attention, He has taken great pride in guiding me when necessary.
I express my thanks to my manager at Every Hotel for extending her care and support.
I would also like to thank my institution and my fellow classmates, without whom this project would have been a distant reality.
I also extend my heartfelt thanks to my family and well-wishers.
3. Synopsis
3. This paper investigate embedding employability skills in the learning curriculum to add value to business and find out what peoples view point are on the topic. The paper aims to explore objectives and approach to change adopted by higher education and employability, at private universities in London and illustrate the impact of change.
My motivation for doing this project came from seeing how many people find it difficult to meet employer requirement in getting a job. This paper aims to demonstrate the rational for connecting (HE) higher education, and the development of curriculum to add value within the business sector. More over the paper reflect on the experience of work place, and student in embedding business skills in (HE), to develop a holistic approach which connect student who learn, (HE) and employability skills. Furthermore through research limitation/implication the paper seeks to find out about how important employability skills are and why it is necessary to have the skills.
The technique that was used in this research is questionnaire, which was delivered and collected from Every Hotel work place, and Students in Fairfield School of Business.
Furthermore the findings from the research, confirming that employability skill, are important for the population surveyed to give them a head start in the job market.
Moreover all students in further and higher education need to develop their employability skills to enhance their job prospect for now and future growth.
4. List of contents
Contents
1. 1
Title 1
2. Acknowledgements 2
3. Synopsis 3
4. List of contents 3
5. List of tables 4
6. Introduction/ Objectives 4
Research Question 4
7. Literature review 5
8. Methodology 5
9. Result 5
10. Discussion of result, conclusions, recommendations 5
11. References 5
12. Appendices 5
5. List of tables
Question 1: What is your gender (a) Male (b) Female?
Out of the 20 questionnaires sent out 18 were received. Out of the 18, 8 were male which represent 44% whiles 10 were female representing 56%.
Question 2: What is your age?
Out of the respondents from the questionnaire 10 were female whilst 8 were male. One person age 10-19, 2 person age in-between 20-29, while 8 person age 30-39, furthermore 4 were age 40-49 and 3 50 plus in age.
Question 3: Would you like employability skills to be added to the learning curriculum.
17 people from the respond said yes to add employability skills to the learning curriculum which represent 94%, whilst 1 person said no to add the curriculum representing 6%. This indicates that majority of people want employability skills to be added to curriculum activities in schools.
Question 4: Once you find out if adding employability skills to the curriculum works well alongside the existing subject, would you like it to remain.
Majority of the respondents responded (94%) said yes to permanently add employability skills alongside existing subject if it work well with the learning curriculum, whist’s one person representing 6% of the respond said no that employability skills should not add to the curriculum.
Question 5: Would you use the same skills regardless of new ones were out?
4 person said yes to use the same skills regardless of new skills were out. While 4 of them said no to new skills moreover 4 said they don’t know about adding the skills.
Question 6: What skills do you think should be added to HE to gain employability?
20 questionnaires sent to various types of people to find out what were their thoughts and views about add employability skills to the learning curriculum and what skills would they added to HE to gain employability.
Out of the 20 questionnaires sent out 18 receive, 5 respond said interviewing skills, 10 said work placement and 3 said CV writing and presentation skills to build confidents.
Question 7: Would you encourage friends and family to gain employability skills if yes why and if no why
6 of the respond said yes they would encourage friends and family to gain the skills because of the knowledge and skills they would gain, while 3 said for quality of the skills to foster their employment, moreover 9 said to enhance their job prospect to better life for themselves and family.
Question 8: Where would you choose to do the course if necessary?
11 out of the 18 respond would like to do the course if necessary in college, 5 of they prefer university 2 people said they would explore their options.
Question 9: Have you tried searching for a job in the last month and why?
10 people already in work 6 of them said that they are studying whilst 3 said yes they are looking for work to help enhance their personal life.
Question 10: How do you think employability skills can enhance your job prospect?
12 people said they would have learn new skills, 1 person said gaining knowledge and understanding, 2 persons said it would help greatly, further 2 said gaining interview skills and 1 person said opportunity to aim high.
11) Would you like to add anything further about this questionnaire or employability, skills product?
13 of the respondents said ‘’no”, they would not like to add anything further, while 3 people said employability skills should be taught in all schools, whilst 1 person said the question of the survey had covered what the writer need to know about people views on employability skills, moreover 1 person said employability skills acquired will be essential.
12) Please tell us what you are currently doing? Are you a student or working for example in a management position?
10 people said working, 5 in management position, 5 normal position while 8 people said studying full time.
6. Introduction/ Objectives
This paper will establish the importance of the research methods and findings using secondary and primary data such as, journals, books, and newspaper article.
Objectives
Objective of this research aims to develop a set of proposal that can be applied effectively to achieve a balance between employability and higher education. The main topic of this research that will be measured and investigated further is:
To alleviate the burden of employer’s and to boost employability in student
Assess the Importance of work placement
Explore the embedding of key skills in the assessments
Research Question
How can businesses, students and entrepreneurs get more involved in higher education to improve employability?
What is the importance of work placement to student doing HE?
How can HE embed and include key skills in the assessments to add more value?
Rationale
The aim of this research investigate employability and higher education sector and reflect on the experiences of practitioners including, the author in embedding business, and education in seeking to develop a holistic approach which connect (HE) higher education and employability.
Nearly one in 10 students were believed to be unemployed after graduating from UK universities, new statistics show men were slightly more likely than women to be out of work, but their average pay was higher, says the Higher Education Statistics Agency (Hesa, 2014). About 9% of those who had finished full-time degrees were out of work (bbc.co.uk/news, 2014).
This research will investigate the role that higher education can play in equipping graduates with the skills employer require to grow their businesses, and break into new markets.
Chapter Two
7. Literature review
It is becoming increasing difficult to ignore the importance of employability. Higher Education Academy (HEA, 2011) suggests that employability skill is making graduates more employable by equipping them with a set of business skills, understandings and personal attributes, this potentially enables the graduates to be successful in their chosen occupation and is of benefit to not only the community, the workforce and the economy, but is also of benefit to student. Moreover unfortunately, the current situation of support for entrepreneurship in higher education lacks depth
Rae, (2004) state that it has been a long standing complaint of employers as well as the managers, that the newcomers i.e. students fresh out of college / universities lack Skills that is needed by employers and therefore they are unemployable. Embedded employability in higher education is the leading cause of business management jobs in London.
According to Juhdi et al., (2010) employers have been very serious in recruiting competent employees with vast experience so that they can cut short on training.
However Confederation of British industry is supporting a nationally recognised record of employability skills it claims two thirds of students like the idea too and says a growing number of colleges and universities already have their own local schemes (Littlemore, 2011).
Mal (2009) suggest that team work is a key transferable employable skill, no matter the state of the economy or the state of the job market, you need certain skills to make you employable. Employability plays an important role in students maintaining employment, however it is also an important component in the economic and play a vital key role in the UK economy.
Moreover, Hinds (2005) suggests that all students in further and higher education need to develop their employability skills. These skills are frequently specified by employers in the job advertisements they publish to recruit new employees from colleges and universities. Recruitment and selection stage, employers pay careful attention to ensure that the young people they recruit are able to communicate orally and in writing, work as a member of a group, solve problems, manage projects, handle and manipulate data and gather information. However, there is evidence that academically educated entrepreneurs are more important in developing regional economies than entrepreneurs with a lower level of education. This view is based on research results that reveal that entrepreneurs with a higher academic background are more often innovative, use modern business models, and base their ventures on the use of new technology (Pajarinen et al., 2006). Furthermore in the history of UK development embedded employability in higher education has been thought of as a key factor in the job market. Employers, having continuous arguments suggesting whilst there is strong demand for employing graduates, there are also gaps between employer requirements and the skills and attributes presented by applicants furthermore, Students usually leave higher education with a good appreciation of their chosen subject as they have studied it intensively for few years (Cottrell, 2003). However, the individual subject skills may still not fully meet employer requirements, as there is a tension between formal education and vocational training (Foley et al., 2004). However, Harvey et al. (1997) showed that supplementing a graduate's education in a specific subject with a range of business skills, such as communication and teamwork, is beneficial to a student job placement. Whilst employability skills are becoming a more important factor in student choice, this is often not matched by (HE), learning and attainment in this area. Students frequently do not display quite basic social and occupational skills of confirming meetings, attending interview appointments, presenting themselves effectively. However Rae, (2007) state that despite extensive development, and evidence of innovative practices to foster employability within universities, employability remains a complex and problematic area without clear or obvious solutions. Employability is an issue of direct concern to students (COX et al., 2006) The prime motivation in attending university for the majority of students is not to study a particular subject in depth, but to enhance their employment prospects.
While previous researcher such as Smith, (2008) may insight into embedded employability skills in higher education much is problematic in the context of such research it fails in some areas none focus on private universities and employer views in London. Cross-London spread of higher education institute also has the potential to engage academic staff who may not have previously considered employability, higher education and entrepreneurship as a relevant or appropriate activity within the curriculum identity. Some staff may be initially resistant to discussions around the embedding of employability within the higher education curriculum, mainly because of how best they understand what was meant by employability, and institute did not communicate the meaning. Face‐to‐face meetings with private university were extremely useful in this process as we were able to negotiate meaning, brainstorm ideas, and find out the local context, interests, and drivers for individual preference and their university. Private university identified different priorities including issues around entrepreneurship, social employability, and self‐employment and perhaps using higher education and employability knowledge and skills to help identify, apply for, and manage research.
In this context, UK higher education has been issued with several new challenges. On one hand, there are masses of new students entering higher education institutions and many of them need special attention to develop their capacities to the expected level Pavlin et al., (2014), On the other hand, there is a need to support investments in new technologies by research and development, whereby these investments shorten technological cycles and rapidly change job requirements which tend to increase (Wert, 1999). This raises the problem of the fit between the knowledge and competencies that are acquired and actually required. The emerging economic and unemployment crisis underway since 2008 has importantly strengthened employability pressures calling for more direct support for higher education systems to meet employers' needs. The accent on improving higher education graduates' employability has grown stronger. Despite stagnating finances in UK Higher Education sector, it is believed that higher education systems can improve the professional employability of students by shifting from traditional disciplinary-based teaching to problem- solving learning, the involvement of students in research and work practices, and orienting the curriculum towards learning outcomes. Studies with the idea that by the end of each cycle students are equipped with competencies which enable them to fit into different segments of work.
According to Tucker et al., (2010) most recently, an article publish about studies in Higher Education stated that Employability issues are at the very core of contemporary HE in the UK (Cranmer, 2006). The graduate labour market is not a level playing field, and students obviously do need to develop and effectively present the kinds of personal skills and qualities demanded by employers if they are to stand a chance (Leatherwood et al., 2006). For example, it has become very apparent over the last few years that information literacy skills are too important to students' future success to be ignored (Osborne et al., 2007). The current economic downturn and subsequent recession has put pressures on employability and in turn this has increased the pressure on private universities to produce employable graduates. Rae (2008) given the UK may experience for the first time a period of economic downturn during the era of mass participation in higher education, it is unclear what implications these factors may have for higher education. It is now extremely important that a graduate leaves Higher Education with a deeper knowledge of the labour market. Given that an increasing number of people are obtaining degrees, the ability to stand out from the crowd has become far more desirable.
Further suggestion to what Smith has highlighted about employability. Furthermore majority of private university do not offered students an optional work placement year where they can gain employability experience in the sector they are studying. In this context, a principle that underpinned the research was to give students in HE sector greater attention, thus enabling an opportunity for students to enhance their employability. Regardless of how services are provided graduate student career issues must be placed in the context of other developmental and life issues that students face (Furlong et al., 2006). In addition to the work placement opportunities, the University's Employment Service should work with businesses, to provide students with career planning sessions tailored to their particular needs. Library Professional can create awareness about the research that can allowed students to further enhance and support the work being done by the employment Service. Students learn in a variety of ways and we have to look at the whole teaching‐learning environment provided for the students, including the various types of teaching, e‐learning and other forms of support provided (Entwistle, 2005).
According to Valle et al., (2015) previous studies have tried to point out indicators of employability within the HE sector framework Gerzeli et al., (2007) , Harvey, (2001) , Nurmi et al., (2007) , Yorke, (2003) Teichler et al., (2006) and (Smith et al., 2007). In these studies the satisfaction of HE students with their preparation for the labour market is an important element for the concept of employability. Good opportunities for entering the professional field seem to be a prime factor for students when considering options for admission and choosing a particular programme. However Holmes (2007) is insightful in contending that a graduate identity can only be deemed employable if it is constantly re-built and rehearsed. This implies a consistent anticipation of what is relevant to the occupational settings the student wishes to enter, how one should conduct them self what it would feel like. Yet what Holmes fails to acknowledge is that this is not a consequence of human nature, but quite the contrary, an effect of a social order the political economy of employability and HE that feeds from the student’s desire.
UK fares better Rae (2007) in graduate employability than other European country, such as Germany and France (Brennan et al., 2001). However, it is often the case in employability that simply possessing a degree is not enough in itself for student to start a career. Furthermore it can argued that employability market and society are changing more quickly than higher education sector, at non-graduate and graduate-level employability are increasingly important. However many graduates struggle to find their first job after graduating, from private university in London, but this in itself is not surprising to graduates because student have long experienced the same challenges at particular times, in the early 1980s and 90s in regions such as South East and South West.
Further suggestion is the increasing trend for graduate student to start their careers in agency work, doing casual or temporary jobs, often earning low rates of pay, because student lack the skills employer are looking for or in their area of expertise there is shortage of job creation. Surveys of graduates find a significant proportion of student occupied in what appear to be non-graduate service sector jobs, such as call center operatives (AGR, 2003). However graduate students is simple not the carrier of a set of skills, knowledge and personal attributes, they also have their own unique identity, motivation and personality going beyond personal attributes, which change during the higher education experience (Rae, 2007). Also the context of London University and the degree program, in relation to demand from employers, and in the prevailing economic climate, can be a significant factor.
However one main problems faced by London private universities is the choice of degree program and its relevance to the employability market. Private universities have the freedom to offer the degree course for which the organisation have the capacity and capability, for which they can attract viable numbers of student. Furthermore they should consider having complex academic planning system and aim to involve employers in course validations to ensure HE standards meet employer requirements. However private universities in London have no requirements either individually or collectively, to offer degree courses that meet the need of employer skill or workforce planning. Many London universities, have developed employability strategies and associated provision, since employability became a publicly reportable statistic. Example of universities with strategies and provision of excellent or good practice for reference some featured by HE Academy (heacademy, 2012).
Rae (2004) Suggest that the problem with employability approach is not an outcome of any one module of a course, but rather a result of a holistic learning experience
8. Methodology
This research reflects on the experience of practitioners and is seeking to develop a holistic approach which connect higher education and employability skills through studying and career development. The techniques used in the research is questionnaire. This form of technique is easily quantified and analysed more scientifically and objectively than other form of research methods for this research. Furthermore it can used to compare and contrast other about HE and employability and used to measured change. The data for this research is qualitative this techniques, of research, can help to describe or summarize data clearly. Also it can search for consistent patterns or themes among data and it also can enable the researcher to answer their own research questions. This research aims to develop important guidelines for career focused embedded employability skills in the curriculum. In support of the issues discussed in the paper aims to identify skills and knowledge required to explore the impact of these strands on the higher education curriculum (Wellman, 2010).
This method was used In order to examine employability in students the approach used was survey. The research followed a sequential approach with the aim of elaborating on and expanding the findings of one method with another (Creswell, 2009). The purpose of the survey was to identify employability patterns of students. A questionnaire was used as the most practical method of collecting the following information:
Would you use the same skills regardless of new innovation have been out by employer
What knowledge you gain from adding employability skills to HE
Have you tried searching for employment in the last month and why?
The principle limitation of this study was the sample size. Whilst the data collected from the survey provided a reliable source by which to assess individual and organisational perspectives of employability and HE, they do not necessarily provide the basis for generalisation to other employers. However, given the data were collected from a diverse sample of students from Fairfield school of business and Every Hotel managers from different disciplinary areas of graduate HE, sector the findings indicate a series of consistencies across employers that point towards the need for deeper understanding of employability that incorporates the views of employers and extends beyond supply-side notions. In this sense, it provides, at the very least, a sound rationale for further research in this area and provides a useful insight into how private London universities, might best target energy and capabilities to serve the needs of their students and how students can help themselves in securing desired-for work experience.
Research Philosophy
Johnston (2014) states that Edmondson and McManus (2007) suggest that decision to approach a research study from a quantitative or qualitative stance depends on the nature of the research i.e. (Employability and HE) questions which drive the study and previous work undertaken, the structure for the research design and the ultimate output and contributions that the researcher are aiming to achieve. In essence to the development of research question that is driven by the researcher ontological and epistemology view. Emphasises that it is the combination of ontological and epistemology which determines the methodology, through influencing philosophy and the types of methods that used (Walshaw, 2012). In simple terms this may be form an interpretivist or positivist stance, thus it is important to also identify other factors that can influence an individual, example relationship, social and social-cultural (Johnston, 2014).
Further suggestion according to Walshaw (2012) data collection and theory application and analysis are a circular process. That data inform theory and theory informs data, either one can come first and influence the other. (Sanders and Lewis, 2011) states that to determine whether the process is inductive or deductive it is crucial to distinctive between the two. Many article attempts to make sense from data collected and theories, with some conclude that an inductive approach is prevalent from within researcher design, however from an deductive stand there is greater evidence to suggest that majority of research starts with more preconceived ideas, which lean more deductive in nature.
Whether from a positivist or interpretivist stance, one is a realisation that an increasingly sophisticated representation of any particular phenomenon requires a form of systematic investigation (Ian et al., 2009). Those researcher who employ qualitative methods usually seeks in depth perspectives on how society thought to operate and the related historical, culture, social and political influences that affect how decisions are made. However researcher who used quantitative methods search for laws and principles that can help to predict how the world works. Furthermore whether researcher use qualitative or quantitative methods, the researcher are building knowledge, which in the end we applied to our understanding of the world. Researcher regard their endeavours as a means to improve quality of life.
This paper adopts a deductive, approach utilising a range of methodologies and techniques as employability demand, noted by Rae (2007,) to be particularly of relevance and value within the complexities of the applied education and job market. Within this particular strand, a quantitative and Interpretivist approach is adopted, using content analysis to identify and record the attributes demanded within higher education and employability skills.
9. Result
Out of the 20 questionnaire that was sent out 18 were received which represent 44% of male and 56% of female.
94% of people between age 18-50 plus states yes they would like employability skills to be added to the learning curriculum and 6% between the ages of 35-50 plus state that no the skills should not add to the curriculum. Furthermore 11 people suggest, that they would of like to do the course in college whilst 5 people said they would have like the opportunity while they were at university, while 2 people said they would explore all options.
56% of people says, no they were not currently seeking employment because they are already in work, and 38% said no they were not looking for employment because they are currently studying and 2% of people said yes they were looking for job to enhance their personal life.
2 respond said that employability skills can enhance their job prospect greatly, 2 people said that it good help with their interview skills and a further 12 people state that they would learn new skills. And 1 person said gain the opportunity to aim high.
Thus 6 respond states that they would purchase the product for skills they would gain while 3 people said for the quality of the product moreover 9 said to enhance their job prospect.
Further things that were added by 3 respond state that employability skills should be taught in schools from high to university. while 1 person added that if they had to purchase employability skills as part of their program of study they would do so as the product would help them to gain essential employability skills. Whilst 1 person said employability skills should be free, 1 said the questionnaire had covered what the writer needed to know about people views on the topic of employability skills.
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