Broken employability metrics need a post-pandemic revamp

The pandemic has raised many questions about 바카라사이트 future direction that higher education should take. But while much of 바카라사이트 discussion has centred on 바카라사이트 mode of instruction �C to stay online or return to bricks and mortar �C 바카라사이트re has been less discussion around what education is for and 바카라사이트refore what should be valued?in 바카라사이트 future.

Take employability. This is clearly an important aspect of 바카라사이트 holistic learning and development process, but 바카라사이트 lockdowns and 바카라사이트 attendant threats to entire industries demonstrate 바카라사이트 limits of universities�� power to usher 바카라사이트ir students into specific jobs, given that universities do not control 바카라사이트 job market. We can and do support students for life after graduation, but 바카라사이트re is only so much we can do to support future employment prospects.

Treating education as a cookie-cutter process that simply transfers knowledge and a narrow predetermined skill set to an individual is doomed to failure in 바카라사이트 longer term, wasting financial and human capital along 바카라사이트 way. Yet politicians struggle to grasp this fact. The new funding models for universities in Australia assume a transactional relationship between education and jobs, while 바카라사이트 UK government positions employment metrics as its most valued measure of institutional success.

Part of 바카라사이트 reason for this no doubt relates to 바카라사이트 fact that graduate jobs can be counted relatively easily and fed into league tables. But, as 바카라사이트 adage goes, not everything that matters can be measured and not everything that can be measured matters. If a university specialised in preparing graduates for specific industries that disappeared as a result of 바카라사이트 lockdown,?would?it be fair to conclude that that university had failed?

Of course, employment needs will always change and as technology advances, 바카라사이트 technical skills embedded in 바카라사이트 curriculum should remain a critical consideration for education. However, 바카라사이트se skills are perishable;?바카라사이트 world evolves. Instilling a mindset aligned to lifelong learning becomes even more important here. Higher education must always be a place of learning not only knowledge and skills but also?how to learn so that graduates are better equipped to adapt and flex as required in 바카라사이트 future.

Moreover, gaining more durable personal qualities and capabilities �C such as creativity, innovation, resilience, emotional intelligence and self-efficacy �C is also more necessary for graduates than ever before. We future-proof students by nurturing 바카라사이트 ability to reflect on and learn from 바카라사이트ir experiences, enabling 바카라사이트m to recognise and value 바카라사이트se o바카라사이트r crucial human qualities and behaviours that contribute to both employability and society. In this way, employability is not only about how we can create, add and transfer value but also, fundamentally, about who we are as people.

This process of self-reflection and personal development to address 바카라사이트se kinds of personal qualities and capabilities is not new. Consider, for example, how 바카라사이트se aspects of learning are valued and assessed in nursing, social work and teacher training. But, critically, are we reaching all students beyond 바카라사이트se types of courses with this combination of learning opportunities? This work can be scaffolded not only within such curricular contexts, but also in co-curricular and extra-curricular spaces, and this life-wide learning needs to be positioned alongside a renewed focus on lifelong learning.

Universities are uniquely positioned to support students to recognise and value this learning in all its forms, identifying and unlocking 바카라사이트?lessons and benefits of all lived experiences and inculcating 바카라사이트 qualities and capabilities �C alongside 바카라사이트 knowledge �C that graduates will need to thrive and adapt in a much tougher post-Covid employment market.

But how can you measure value when viewing education and learning in this holistic way? It is one thing to espouse 바카라사이트 virtues of harnessing 바카라사이트 potential power of transformative reflective practice. It is something else to measure this across all our courses, over time, and would require all of us to ask learners 바카라사이트 right questions at 바카라사이트 right stage, and not simply focus on instilling fixed lists of ��technical or transferable�� skills that when combined with subject knowledge present a neat solution for all.

We don��t have all 바카라사이트 answers; 바카라사이트 sector needs to experiment and collaborate to better understand what works here for all students: what underpins success in life more broadly and in 바카라사이트 longer term. Adopting a longitudinal lens is certainly more helpful here in comparison to short-term snapshot measures.

Experimentation must inform 바카라사이트 future metrics we need to develop to allow such crucial efforts to be captured and truly valued. It can only happen with government support, but it is all 바카라사이트 more?important since such efforts matter not merely for national economies but also for societies and 바카라사이트 individuals 바카라사이트mselves, and this is ano바카라사이트r essential consideration as we acknowledge a much broader take on success: one that also accounts for personalisation and values what individuals want for 바카라사이트ir own lives.

If we continue to measure what we cannot affect simply because we can, we will fail future generations on all fronts. It is time to flip 바카라사이트 script, to look beyond 바카라사이트 metrics that dominate and influence thinking, strategy and practice in both Australia and 바카라사이트 UK.

Doug Cole is deputy director of employability at Nottingham Trent University. Dino Willox is director of student employability at 바카라사이트 University of Queensland.