Employability

Have you considered employability in the context of widening participation and disability?

Students entering university from non-standard backgrounds, with non-traditional entry qualification or under widening participation schemes may need additional help and support to acquire the same attributes and awarenesses as the other students on a course. Employers may be fixated on 'A' level scores which can be a real barrier for students who have taken no A-levels.

With the increasing numbers of disabled students now accessing university courses it is all the more important that they can acquire the same employability attributes as other students on the course. They may need special help with employment and this can be provided through university careers and disability services. Skill: National Bureau for Students with Disabilities provides information sheets on the transition into employment and their online publication 'Get that Job' is helpful.

Ethnicity issues are dealt within the Impact Project and by Prospects.ac.uk. There is information to indicate that Black and Asian students are disproportionately disadvantaged in the graduate job market. The GEM Project (Graduate EMployability) was undertaken at the London Metropolitan University and concerned with developing employability in under-represented groups.

Further links for employability in the context of widening participation and disability

Association of Graduate Careers Advisory Services (AGCAS)
AGCAS has set up a Widening Participation Task Group for AGCAS members interested in discussing and sharing information about widening participation issues and access to higher education to under-represented groups. Academic staff may be able to link in to the Group’s work through their careers services.

Council for Industry and Higher Education (CIHE)
CIHE’s work includes studies of aspects of widening participation. See the report, “Recruiting from a Wider Spectrum of Graduates”, that looks at employers’ recruitment practices and the career development of recruits, with particular reference to graduates from under represented social backgrounds and mature learners. This report and others can also be downloaded from the web site.

DfES Innovations Fund
Within the theme “Equal Opportunities” are many projects that are concerned with supporting students from non-traditional and under-represented groups as they enter and progress through higher education and make the transition into their careers. Web site and contact addresses are given.

Graduate Prospects – Handling discrimination
This is information for graduate job-seekers facing discrimination about the issues and how to deal with them under the headings: Age; Disability; Race; Religion and belief; Sexual orientation and Women.

HEFCE
Amongst the many reports and resources produced via HEFCE is the good practice guide (Guide 01/36), Strategies for Widening Participation in Higher Education: a Guide to Good Practice

Th Higher Education Academy's website is a rich source of theoretical and practical information about the WP agenda, with papers, reports, details of initiatives and practices, resource packs and links. (However, you need to be selective in your search term)

Paving the Way: Successful Progression to Higher Education of Currently Under-represented Groups
The report of this HE Innovations Fund project is based on the views of under-represented groups, especially young and mature students from lower socio-economic groups including those with non-traditional entrance qualifications. It looks at the ways in which universities support their transition to HE, induct them into study programmes, and retain them during the first year, with case-studies.

Universities UK
The report Student Services: Effective Approaches to Retaining Students in Higher Education considers how academic and other support services, including careers and student employment, can work together to ease the transition of socially disadvantaged students into HE and to provide support in the first year of study to reduce the numbers of students that drop out. Examples of good practice are given and recommendations made.

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