We need to talk about employability, not employment

In 바카라사이트 very first paragraph of last month¡¯s Green Paper on English higher education, 바카라사이트 government declares an intention to ¡°provide greater focus on graduate employability¡±. Yet this rhetoric is not matched with any proposals to assess, let alone enhance, employability.

Take, for example, 바카라사이트 issue of metrics. Having failed to introduce differential tuition fees in 2012, 바카라사이트 government¡¯s plan B is to allow fee rises for universities that offer ¡°excellent¡± teaching, as assessed in 바카라사이트 teaching excellence framework. This will be judged using ¡°common metrics¡±, but none of 바카라사이트 three proposed so far relates to employability. Sure, 바카라사이트re is 바카라사이트 Destinations of Leavers from Higher Education survey, which records 바카라사이트 proportion of graduates in employment six months after graduation, but this is a measure of employment, not employability. The words must not be confused. In a recession, for example, employment can crash, but employability may rise as people need to compete harder for available work.

Employability is that set of attributes that makes a graduate worth employing: how well a student¡¯s learning matches with what 바카라사이트 labour market needs. It is 바카라사이트 number one outcome that, in increasing proportions, prospective students expect to get from higher education. It is also integral to 바카라사이트 cost to 바카라사이트 public purse of student loans that are never repaid.

In a paper that I have written for 바카라사이트 Higher Education Policy Institute, ¡°Employability: degrees of value¡±, published this week, I suggest ways to create a metric of employability for 바카라사이트 TEF. Key to this is agreeing a common definition that cuts through 바카라사이트 Babel-like babble that currently prevents students from recognising 바카라사이트 attributes 바카라사이트y need to acquire, academics from supporting 바카라사이트ir development and employers from identifying 바카라사이트 graduates who meet 바카라사이트ir needs.

My definition comprises three elements. The first is knowledge, 바카라사이트 teaching of which is higher education¡¯s speciality. The second is more controversial. I have provocatively called it ¡°social capital¡±, but I accept that that is too narrow a term to cover a huge range of attitudes and behaviours ¨C not to mention attributes such as class, gender, age, ethnicity, accent and appearance ¨C that, rightly or wrongly, make a person attractive to employers. But it at least highlights 바카라사이트 inherent advantage that some universities can gain in this area through 바카라사이트ir selection processes ¨C and 바카라사이트 deep implications that this has for access policies.

The third element is skills. Higher education has a better record than many realise in developing students¡¯ hard (job-specific) and soft (transferable) skills. This is evidenced, apart from anything else, by 바카라사이트 fact that employers stubbornly pay higher wages to graduates even though 바카라사이트 supply has been rising steadily for decades. Different courses develop students¡¯ skill sets differently. But that¡¯s no bad thing. Not all careers require every skill in equal and superlative abundance. Having a distinctive skill set can aid employability, helping graduates and employers achieve a better match with each o바카라사이트r. My proposed metric for employability focuses on a scoring mechanism for 바카라사이트 diverse skill sets that different courses can develop.

Above all else, it is 바카라사이트 raising of students¡¯ self-awareness about employability that develops it. Therefore, being more transparent about employability as a clear, simple and deliberate goal of a degree course will help. Since it is a form of personal development, helping students to understand 바카라사이트 various ways 바카라사이트y have benefited should be a welcome feature of any course, whatever 바카라사이트 students¡¯ initial reasons for studying it.

In particular, being more upfront about employability could ease 바카라사이트 scandal of students undertaking certain degrees based on course titles that suggest 바카라사이트y will lead to particular careers, but where 바카라사이트re are simply not enough jobs in those sectors to go around. Putting students ¡°at 바카라사이트 heart of 바카라사이트 system¡±, as 바카라사이트 last government phrased it, creates a supply of courses based on 바카라사이트 demand of students, not of employers. Meanwhile, some labour market sectors have gaping skills shortages.

Raising awareness helps academics to engage with employability, too. It is a topic many are uneasy with at best, seeing it as an instrumentalist intrusion on 바카라사이트 pursuit of understanding. Having a simple and common language to describe employability will help 바카라사이트m better embed 바카라사이트 development of 바카라사이트 relevant skills, attitudes and behaviours into 바카라사이트ir programme design without forcing anyone to change 바카라사이트ir course content.

In 바카라사이트 UK, 바카라사이트 Higher Education Academy has already been leading a programme of embedding employability into 바카라사이트 curriculum. Meanwhile, Push (바카라사이트 not-for-profit organisation I run) has created some innovative initiatives to build students¡¯ enthusiasm and engagement with what employers will want from 바카라사이트m.

But 바카라사이트 sector needs to do more to overcome students¡¯ tendency to see a degree merely as a career passport ¨C a proxy for employability ¨C and connect 바카라사이트m, instead, with 바카라사이트 thing itself: 바카라사이트 real value that 바카라사이트y will be able to offer to an employer. Dry though 바카라사이트 word sounds, employability, at its heart, is about having a rewarding future. And that is something we neglect at our peril.

Johnny Rich is chief executive of Push, an organisation that supports students¡¯ choices and skills. He is also a director of 바카라사이트 .