Facilitating the Impact of Graduates on Student Employability

Abstract

This paper presents a number of initiatives that engage with graduates to facilitate the improvement of the employability skills and attributes of current students in the Faculty of Computing at London Metropolitan University. A comprehensive evaluative review has been carried out which has demonstrated that these initiatives are effective ways to keep in touch with, and utilise, graduates, and to increase student awareness of employability, to develop ‘professional skills’ and to fill the gap between industry and academic study. Finally, future work has also been proposed.

Keywords:

• Employability
• graduate impact
• student enterprise
• professional skills

1. Introduction

Recent graduate employment research carried out by High Fliers Research (2011) concluded that the number of vacancies at so-called “IT companies” is small and yet the volume of graduates (also known as alumni) needed to work in IT functions at a wide range of employers in other industries and business sectors is considerable. Furthermore, three-fifths of employers stated that it was either “not very likely” or “not at all likely” that a graduate who had no previous work experience — either with their organisation or at another employer — would be successful. This is in the context in which students will be asked to pay increased fees for their higher education. It is not a surprise to see that employability is becoming a high priority that HE institutions will have to address. Statistically, computing graduates at London Metropolitan University have a low awareness of employability. This is reflected in the low number of students taking on the work placement module and a lower employment rate compared to other Higher Education Institution (HEI) competitors (Unistats, 2010). This paper presents a model that the Faculty of Computing, London Metropolitan University is using to address this challenge and improve students’ employability. One of its innovations is to identify, contact and engage with our successful graduates in computing, and to involve them in improving the development of our current students.

2. The IT industry challenge to HE

Parr et al (2011) quoted the e-skills UK Technology Insights 2011 reports that there are approximately 144,000 work places in the UK’s IT & Telecoms industry — 87% of which are IT and 13% Telecoms and that, despite the state of the UK economy, demand for IT & Telecoms professionals has risen in the quarters up to and including the second quarter of 2010. At this time there were over 90,000 advertised positions in the UK (e-skills UK, 2011). Despite a highly IT literate population (relative to other countries) the education and learning sector has failed to deliver enough candidates with the necessary technical skills that they can apply in the workplace. Parr et al (2011) proposed two ways to meet these challenges from the industry. One is to specify an HE benchmark for Information Technology that HE sector may aim at. Another way is to engage with the employers to provide appropriate CPD/PDP that would ensure that graduates could enhance their ‘academic’ skills with the necessary work-based skills for the benefit of both themselves and their employer. These are both good proposals, it remains to be proven that they will indeed improve students’ employabiitiy.

3. Our response to the challenge

Our solution to this challenge is a model that involves our graduates (sometimes termed alumni). Engaging with alumni is not new, many universities (Mitchell et al 2011, MMU 2011) have attempted to go beyond the usual fund-raising and ‘keeping in touch’ activities. McGill University set up a virtual community of practice (CoP) through which students, alumni and Knowledge Management practitioners can interact and share knowledge for continuous learning (MU, 2011). What motivates us at London Met is the special nature of our HEI, its position in the employability league table, and the need for our students to be inspired by positive role models. Graduates are great assets for universities. How can we use them to help to improve the current students’ employability? Harvey et al (2002) stated that employability is at the heart of the process of learning and Yorke defines employability as a “set of skills, knowledge and personal attributes that make an individual more likely to secure and be successful in their chosen occupation(s) to the benefit of themselves, the workforce, the community and the economy” (Yorke, 2006, page 8). Graduates have gone through the education process at university and also are being tested in the real working environment on their skills, knowledge and personal attributes that make them succeed or fail in their workplace. The continuous process of learning never stops; the employability attribute in graduates continues developing throughout their life after graduation.

The skills gap discussed in the 2007 report from the British Chambers of Commerce (Potter, 2007) appears not to have abated. Computing curricula have evolved to address the skills requirements set by employers, i.e. aptitude for communication and teamwork. However, employers continue to seek and expect other graduate attributes such as confidence and a positive attitude over both degree subject and result (Demos 2010).

What would happen if the graduates who are already in the workplace meet the current students who are still in the middle of their academic study? Would the contributions from graduates help or hinder or make no difference to either one’s employability? We carried out a number of initiatives that involve graduates.

The impact that graduates are able to make to current students is invaluable in our view. However, in addition the graduates themselves may gain many tangible and intangible benefits by continuing their association with the institution. The figure below depicts this cycle of association (Figure 1).

Fig. 1 The cycle of association between current students and graduates

3.1 Student Enterprise Workshops

The Faculty of Computing at London Metropolitan University launched the monthly Student Enterprise Workshop (SEW) series in October 2009 (Jing, Chalk, and Siva, 2011) aiming to improve student employability awareness and contribute to their PDP (personal development planning). The Student Enterprise Workshops (SEWs) are organized once a month on a weekday after 5pm, so as to allow maximum student attendance and allow external speakers, industrial contacts and alumni to attend after work. The SEWs are promoted using posters and email, announcements in class (students listen attentively to their most engaging teachers) and by using services such as LinkedIn (one of the authors encourages alumni to keep in touch this way and the SEWs provide a good opportunity for regular communication).

The workshops are aimed at raising student awareness of the world of work and industry under carefully designed themes and through invited guest speakers, namely industrial partners, alumni and representatives from various businesses and organisations. The main purpose of the SEWs is to improve students’ employability through direct interaction with industry professionals. Some of the key participants are graduates who may give talks to share their good practices in the industry or just attend the workshop to continue their professional development. Either activity can add value to their professional portfolios and, in some cases (eg the BCS) ‘score points’ towards professional qualifications.

The workshop sessions are set up to be highly interactive with speakers discussing, disseminating and sharing their experiences and expertise. So far, nine carefully selected graduates have given talks in the workshops. We use the attendance of the workshop as a key performance indicator. The workshops are voluntary, students do not have to attend, but if they do, that is an indication that students are actively seeking new knowledge and improvements. The following diagram (Figure 2) shows the attendance from the six SEWs that graduates contributed to. The higher figures for October 10 SEW and Feb 11 SEW reflect the involvement of graduate speakers from well-known companies. The overall attendance is very satisfactory given that attendance is completely voluntary.

Fig. 2 The number of students attending the SEWs that involved speakers from the graduate community

Another performance indicator is the feedback gathered from students attending the workshops. The students appear to value the content of the professional graduates’ presentations, which they find to be technically current. The students also appreciate the wealth of information that is provided in the workshops. Another performance indicator is the feedback we received from students on their employability. Here are a few comments from the students.

”I am glad that I came to this workshop because I feel it is really important to hear what the professional (graduates) had to say”.

“I personally thought that this session was really good, it provided me with important information, for what to do in the future. It was really useful, thank you”

“A huge brainstorm of information to take on and treasure for the rest of my life”

“The workshop is interesting and gives opportunities to know all about employability”

Finally, as shown in Figure 3, we can use the sharp increase in enrolment of the optional placement module as an indication of students’ heightened awareness of employability.

Fig. 3 The number of students on the work placement module each academic year from 07/08 to 10/11

3.2 The Graduates’ Contributions Towards Curriculum Development

It is our view that graduates know the course well, course leaders keep in touch with graduates, and get feedback on the skills/knowledge they learn from the course that are used in their workplace. Areas that need improvements can be discussed and acted upon where possible. As a result of this initiative, at least three MSc courses have been modified and the content of four modules has been changed to reflect the feedback from the graduates.

Cranmer (2006) concludes that ‘increasing employment-based training and experience, and/or employer involvement’ could be a better use of resources than classroom-based initiatives’. Employer involvement and employability awareness are at the heart of our initiatives. Many graduates are very keen to help the faculty to provide such employment-based training and experience. Where it is appropriate and in line with module learning outcomes, guest lectures given by graduates are organized by module leaders to bring more industry and practical aspects to the curriculum. Excellent feedback has been obtained from students so far (see section 4).

3.3 Graduate Mentoring Current Students on Knowledge Transfer Projects

The World of Work (WoW) agency is a Faculty of Computing initiative to provide commercial project exposure for top performing students in the faculty, hence improving their employability. The WoW agency has undertaken some projects that are difficult to cope with technically by the current students. This is where graduates come in, as mentors for these students. We have trailed this initiative in an iPhone app development project which involves a current student, but mentored by a carefully selected graduate. The project has successfully been completed in December 2010. Alan Stuart, Project Manager of the WoW Agency, emphasises “the key requirement by business and industry for graduates or students with a high level of employability skills and proven project experience. Mentoring from carefully selected graduates catalyse the employability improvement process” (personal communication, December 2010). We are currently investigating ways in which graduates may be able to support students for dissertations. This appears to be an area where graduates are willing to participate (Conway and Cleverly, 2010).

3.4 Motivation from the Graduates

We encourage good graduate case studies and share them with our students. We organize it in a number of ways. One way is to invite graduates to share their achievements, and to showcase the products/work they have developed. Another way is to publish a monthly Student Newsletter called LINK. This is an effective method for us to distribute good current news, interesting and relevant case studies with students and make them aware of the importance of the employability agenda and how to improve their skill portfolio.

3.5 Benefits for the Graduates

In an apprenticeship theory model (Lave and Wenger, 1991), the graduate may be considered an apprentice at an advanced stage, the undergraduate an apprentice at an early stage. Both belong to an extended community of practice in our model. The graduate may assist in the apprenticeship learning of the UG. The process of crossing and re-crossing boundaries between the workplace and other sites for learning provides, in itself, a stimulus for learning (Engeström et al, 1995). Fuller (2006) argues that the opportunity to combine participation in contrasting communities of practice (in the workplace and educational settings) appeals to many adults, and deserves to be taken more seriously by agencies (at national and European levels) which aim to increase people’s involvement in formal educational opportunities. Lave and Wenger (1991) help explain why increasing numbers of adults, from various backgrounds, are seeking new ways (such as combining work and higher level learning) to respond to the uncertainties and opportunities characteristic of contemporary life.

We invite our graduates to use the faculty as their knowledge base. It is one of the strengths of the university environment in having to have knowledge and expertise in a variety of areas, which are now made available for graduates to access. Graduates can continue accessing the university’s facilities after graduating (as alumni). We support our graduates in a number of ways to enhance their careers and to support the improvement of their own employability. They are encouraged to continue their study to higher levels such as the MSc and PhD programmes. We recognize that many graduates may only have a very small window of time to gain some new knowledge, so we offer them a suite of short course to fill in the skill gap that they need for their career. The Faculty of Computing currently offers Cisco, Oracle and Adobe CPD courses at a very competitive price for the graduates with more CPD courses planned in the pipeline. We also invite graduates to seminars and workshops such as the Student Enterprise Workshops where they can interact with academics and speakers from the industry, exchange ideas and consult.

Graduates do get jobs from university directly or indirectly. The faculty has obtained five KTP projects in the past 2–3 years; all five KTP associates employed for these projects are graduates from the faculty. The career services at the university will continue support the graduate for up to 2 years after the graduation, their services including advice on CVs and covering letters, interview techniques, job hunting tips and providing a list of job opportunities on their Website.

4.0 Evaluation and reflection

Evaluation of the initiative is ongoing and built into the organization of every SEW event. Attendees are asked to complete an evaluation form at the end of each workshop, and results have been presented earlier in Figure 2 in this paper.

The following case study has been observed as a direct graduate impact and the SEW:

Abdul Hamid, a successful postgraduate student, graduated in 2004 and was invited to make a presentation at the SEW in November 2009. Amongst the attendees were three current MSc Mobile Computing students: Vikram Sanand Sahai, Kwamena Bannerman and Gayathri Anand. These students found the presentation extremely useful as they received valuable suggestions on how to prepare for interviews and what skills were currently marketable in the area of mobile computing. These three students all secured a job immediately after graduation in a reputable mobile application development company. All three of them came back to share their experiences at the SEW in December 2010. They expressed how much the SEW and Abdul have helped and inspired them to be ready and be prepared for employment. The graduate Abdul Hamid is also currently involved in the supervision of a Faculty student assigned to a commercial WOW agency project.

This case study demonstrates an interesting transformation from being a student listening to advice from graduates to being a successful graduate giving advice to students. Students need motivation, and we believe that there is no greater motivation than seeing someone doing the same course with a similar skill set go on and do well in the industry. This assumption has been backed up by this case study and by the survey we carried out (see Q5 of the following evaluative survey). Finally, this ‘snapshot evaluative survey’ was conducted in April 2011 (se Appendix 1) of all current students in the faculty. Students were asked the following questions:

Q1: Do you agree that the SEWs make students more aware of employment-related issues?

Q2: Are the SEWs of educational value?

Q3: Do the topics and speakers at the SEWs motivate you to take more interest in your taught modules or project?

Q4: Do SEWs improve your ability to find employment?

Q5: If you answered Yes in Q4, what following aspects do SEWs improve your ability to find employment?

• To interact with real industrial employers.

• To get employment (internship, placement, and graduate job) news.

• To know what skills employers look for.

• To be motivated by successful employment and good practices.

Q6: What do you most like about SEWs?

Q7: What are the aspects about SEWs that you don’t like or what can be improved in the future?

The following results were received from 37 respondents. In responses to questions asking if the SEWs:

• made them more aware of employment issues, 90% said yes;

• are of educational value, 92% said yes;

• increase interest in their taught programme, 92% said yes;

• improve their ability to find employment, 89% said yes.

When asked about specific aspects, 91% say they learned what employers look for in graduates and students, 69% ticked the ‘motivated by successful employment examples and good practice’, which indicates their approval of hearing from graduates now with jobs (or ex-placement students). Free text responses about what they liked most included: “different type of speakers”, “share their experiences”, “words of advice from people in the workplace or on placement” — all indicating the value of asking previous graduates to return to talk to current students.

The evaluation indicates the overwhelmingly positive response of current students, and their varied perception of the benefits SEWs bring to their education as well as to their employability. There were some negative comments; for example students wanted more concrete evidence of the faculty helping them to find jobs, as evidenced by the free text responses when asked about what can be improved:

“It would be a great achievement if SEWs could help at least five of the top students of FoC to get placed in industry”,

“Need to be more robust in finding jobs for graduates”,

“More industry employers”, and

“More employment news”.

If anything, these responses indicate they simply want more — especially the experience of contact with actual employers and our previous graduates. We believe that extra-curricula activities, such as the Student Enterprise Workshops can motivate students to take more interest in their taught modules or project. This assumption has been supported by the survey we carried out (see Q3).

Reflecting further on feedback from students, one unexpected outcome has been the attendance of unemployed graduates. They are increasingly using the SEWs as an opportunity to network and improve their CV writing, and other skills. The SEWs and the community of practice that is evolving may help to counter the effect and feelings of isolation that might occur as unemployment and job refusals unfortunately set in for some of our graduates. We intend to investigate further the opportunities for us to provide additional support to these graduates, and possibly encourage them to study further to MSc level or take short courses to enhance their academic status. A graduate mentor scheme could possibly play a role in this case too, although it is primarily aimed at our current students.

Reflecting on what we might have done differently if starting again, and to inform others embarking on this path, we would advise:

• To the use of social networking tools from the start, explicitly building the virtual community of practice, and as a communication channel to disseminate the event and employment information.

• to ensure that graduates are invited to every SEW, both to speak about their work experiences and to develop mentor relationships.

5.0 Conclusion and future work

These graduate employability initiatives have been on-going for over 2 years now with a greater emphasis on employer engagement to increase job opportunities for students in the faculty. The feedback and evaluative review on the initiatives have shown many positive impacts that graduates have made to the students’ employability. However, it has always been our intention to reflect upon, continuously improve, and enhance the initiatives. We would like to explore the following enhancements to the initiatives:

Explore a graduate mentorship scheme. Use the graduate resources, and map successful graduates to mentor students.

Integrate further real job interviews and mock job interviews in the Student Enterprise Workshops and obtain feedback from employers and graduates.

Take students to real working environments. This can be done in the form of work placements, real client final projects, work based learning and a day visit to an appropriate company. Graduates may be willing to act as mentors.

To build an interactive employability support community with members from students, graduates, industry contacts and key member of staff. Social networks such as Facebook, Linkedin and Twitter will be increasingly used to enhance the reach and interactivity of the community, and to bring students and graduates into an enlarged virtual community of practice. The Student Enterprise Workshop will continue being a formal meeting opportunity for the community.

The initiatives are currently supported by a newly appointed faculty employer engagement officer. She helps the process of networking current students with graduates. Other improvements include a new “build your career” website for students to explore and seek employment related advices. More graduates have been encouraged to attend and present in the workshops and share their experiences. More emphasis has recently been put on the key issues, techniques and approaches involved in job applications and interviews. Finally, there is greater involvement of university career services, potential work placement providers and employers.

Acknowledgement

The authors wish to acknowledge all who have contributed to the initiatives especially Dr. Sahithi Siva, Alan Stuart and Natasha Nelson.