ENhance

Quick GuidesQuick Guides

ENhance ENhance

esesQuiQui

February 2024

Page 1 of 6

Theme: EmployabilityTheme: Employability

What is Employability in the What is Employability in the

curriculum?curriculum?

Employability is a lifelong process which is applicable to

all students, develops knowledge, behaviours, attitudes,

and attributes and requires partnership working across the

university (Advance HE, 2024). At Edinburgh Napier, our working definition of employability focuses

on developing our students’ expertise and skills in a manner that enables them to contribute to our

society, apply their learning to real-world scenarios, and graduate into the world with confidence and

professionalism.

Why is Employability important in Learning & Teaching?Why is Employability important in Learning & Teaching?

Employability in learning and teaching is important as it links to retention, student success, successful

transitions and, in the long term, benefits the global, national and local economy (Advance HE, 2019).

Graduate employability is also one of Edinburgh Napier’s key strategic priorities. In line with ‘Shaping

Our Future: Driving Distinctiveness’ strategy, the university has been positioning a range of new

initiatives and areas which have links to shaping greater practice around employability and our external

reputation as the home of difference makers.

The QAA suggests that appropriately planned opportunities on employability that support students

to develop reflective practice, resilience, make meaning of situations and expose them to unfamiliar

settings can link to greater subject learning which is, in turn, relates to positive retention (Gunn, Bell

& Kafmann, 2010). Embedding employability can support with enhancing graduate outcomes and

contribute to meeting the needs of employers by developing graduates with essential competencies;

support students to enhance their career prospects and contribute positively to the economy (Advance

HE, 2024).

Authors: Helen Wareing & Emma Anderson

Quick GuidesQuick Guides

Page 2 of 6

ENhance ENhance

ssick Guidick GuidQQ

Theme:Theme:

Employability

Tips to help you embed Employability in curricula:Tips to help you embed Employability in curricula:

At ENU we work to embed employability so all students can benefit, not just those who can participate

in extra-curricular activities or awards. The second pillar of the ENU Employability Strategy identifies the

need to ‘ensure tailored employability [is] an integral part of all students’ education’.

To successfully embed employability it is recommended that it is “…embedded into all aspects of

education, from the curriculum to the wider student experience” (Advance HE, 2024, p2) and involves “…

partnership between internal and external stakeholders” (Advance HE, 2024, p3).

There are a wide range of ways to embed employability including the delivery of credit bearing

live projects and placements which can be optional or part of the core curriculum; ‘extracting’ and

emphasising the knowledge, skills and experience inherent in the module or focusing learning outcomes,

teaching methods and assessment on employability (Winter, 2023). Other options include the delivery

of non-credit bearing compulsory programmes which provide participants the opportunity to develop

desired employability attributes. A programme may have a mixture of these approaches.

All these approaches can be found in different programmes at Edinburgh Napier University and some

case-studies are listed below:

• The Placement is optional in the BA (Hons) International Festival & Event Management but a

Live Project has been developed for those who unable to complete a placement to ensure that this

work-based learning is accessible for all students.

• Placements form a compulsory part of the PG Cert Career Guidance and Development.

• The programme Leader and Career Development Consultant worked together to embed career

development learning in the MSc Healthcare Management.

• The Employability Skills Programme (now ‘My Development in TBS’) is part of the UG curriculum

in TBS. It is non-credit beating and non-optional and provides employability learning for all

students. Completion of the programme appears in the student academic transcript each year.

Prompt statements/questions Prompt statements/questions

The following prompt statements should help you begin to sketch out how you can embed this theme

in your programme(s), or evidence how you do this already.

Quick GuidesQuick Guides

Page 3 of 6

ENhance ENhance

ssick Guidick GuidQQ

Theme:Theme:

Employability

I want to support my students to EXPLORE SELF AND CAREER OPTIONSI want to support my students to EXPLORE SELF AND CAREER OPTIONS

Tool How

Online career resources offer an insight into

and encourage reflection on personality style;

self; motivations and values:

• Career Assessments

• Career Planner | What job should I do? |

Prospects.ac.uk

Reports provided by these tools could be used in

tutorials, discussions, reflective assessment etc. to:

• highlight the flexible nature of degree

programmes and graduate career paths

• encourage students to consider what skills

and qualifications they might need to develop

or obtain.

• Develop self-awareness and career paths

that might be of interest.

CareerEDGE+ personal development tool CareerEDGE+ is a personal development tool that

can be used to support students to identify possible

areas for development.’ Apologies that this text was

missing from the original version.

Online labour market information resources:

• Prospects Job Profiles

• targetjobs job descriptions

• Prospects Sector Profiles

• What can I do with my degree? |

Prospects.ac.uk

• Professional bodies and associations

Professional bodies, role and sector profiles, case

studies, alumni and external speakers can provide

information on skills, qualities and qualifications

needed. Some career paths might require

postgraduate study. These tools allow students

to evaluate their academic performance, career

aspirations and broaden horizons.

External speakers, alumni input, case studies Alumni destinations can be used to highlight the

range of options available. Alumni input could

include:

• Case studies

• Quotes

• Panel sessions

• Recorded videos

Career fairs/events Attendance at a career fair and engagement with

employers could provide the basis of a tutorial

discussion and the sharing of information on

available opportunities.

Quick GuidesQuick Guides

Page 4 of 6

ENhance ENhance

ssick Guidick GuidQQ

Theme:Theme:

Employability

I want to support my students to GAIN EXPERIENCE AND PLANI want to support my students to GAIN EXPERIENCE AND PLAN

Tool How

Develop experience:

• Forage - Virtual self-paced experience

programmes of 5 – 6 hours have been

developed by Forage in partnership with

industry. These are free of charge to all ENU

students.

Experience can support students to apply theory

and knowledge to real-world situations and

problems. Forage provide coursework examples

and downloadable guidance on how Forage can

be integrated or used as an assessment within a

class here.

• Placements/Live Project - Many students

have the opportunity to undertake

a placement within their academic

programme. Student Futures support a

range of placement modules across the

University ranging from 20 to 120 credit

modules.

If you’re planning for a new placement or want

support for an existing one, please contact

the Placement Coordinator in your School.

Contact details for the team can be found here.

A range of digital tools have been developed

to support placement preparation. There are

online placement preparation programmes for

each programme with an embedded placement.

Students can work through these at their own

pace or the activities could be incorporated into

tutorials or discussions.

• Volunteering or internships Encourage students to explore their interests

beyond the classroom via volunteering or

internships.

Use online labour market information resources:

• Prospects Job Profiles

• targetjobs job descriptions

• Prospects Sector Profiles

• What can I do with my degree? | Prospects.

ac.uk

• Professional bodies and associations

Hear from industry:

Employer panels/alumni

Online resources, speakers and hearing from

alumni can support students to understand the

connections between their degree and industry,

how the skills they are developing can be applied

in a professional context, plan their career

development and consider the goals and actions

they want to set.

Develop personal and professional skills:

My Development/Student Futures Skills

Development Resources

Development resources can support with goal-

setting, action planning and developing enterprise

and employability skills.

Quick GuidesQuick Guides

Page 5 of 6

ENhance ENhance

ssick Guidick GuidQQ

Theme:Theme:

Employability

I want to support my students to GAIN EXPERIENCE AND PLANI want to support my students to GAIN EXPERIENCE AND PLAN

Programme assessment e.g.:

Final year dissertation or project/logbooks/

journals/reflective portfolio

Dissertation, projects and log books allow

for development and reflection of skills and

knowledge.

I want to support my students to APPLYI want to support my students to APPLY

Tool How

Application Resources:

• Skills Record

CV and Cover Letters:

• CV Builder

• Student Futures CV Guide

• CV360

• Cover Letter Builder

Psychometric Tests:

• Aptitude Tests

Assessment Centres:

• Assessment Centres

Interviews:

• Interview360

• Answering questions using the STARR

technique

Designing an assessment which requires

completion of an application resource(s) and

reflection on the process and application of their

learning may support students to prepare for

employer selection processes.

Further Resources/ReferencesFurther Resources/References

Advance HE (2019) Essential Frameworks for Enhancing Student Success. Available at: Enhancing

Student Success in Higher Education Framework.pdf (advance-he.ac.uk)

Advance HE (2024) Framework for Embedding Employability in Higher Education. Available at: https://

advance-he.ac.uk/knowledge-hub/framework-embedding-employability-higher-education-0?_cld

ee=mmA5NHOjyHEx2bP9vcCWXimQkZUi7IuAO9CVCp0nhESVBFKYwSsce6IEXDhcPVcb&recipientid

=contact-1a2b27f69709ec11b6e5000d3a86d537-075e6892c16a4e37a02a884349f8cfc9&utm_

source=ClickDimensions&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=global-global-tal-studentsuccessfw-

emplaunch-jan24&esid=030b4ce8-bdab-ee11-be37-002248c6f9d0#form

Dacre Pool, Lorraine and Sewell, Peter John (2007) The key to employability: developing a practical

model of graduate employability. Education + Training, 49 (4). pp. 277-289. ISSN 0040-0912

Quick GuidesQuick Guides

Page 6 of 6

ENhance ENhance

ssick Guidick GuidQQ

Theme:Theme:

Employability

Dacre-Pool, Lorraine (2016) Developing Graduate Employability: The CareerEDGE Model and the Importance

of Emotional Intelligence. In: Graduate Employability in Context. Palgrave Macmillan, London, UK, pp. 317-

338. ISBN 978-1-137-57167-0

Dacre-Pool, Lorraine (2020) Revisiting the CareerEDGE model of graduate employability. Journal of the

National Institute for Career Education and Counselling, 44 (1). pp. 51-56. ISSN 2046-1348

Gunn, V., Bell, S. & Kafmann, K. (2010) Thinking strategically about employability and graduate

attributes: Universities and enhancing learning for beyond university. Available at: https://www.qaa.

ac.uk/docs/qaas/focus-on/thinking-strategically-about-employability-and-graduate-attributes.

pdf?sfvrsn=2b11c081_6.

Winter, D (2023) Supporting Employability in Amrane-Cooper, L., Baume, D., Brown, S., Hatzipanagos, S.,

Powell, P., Sherman, S. and Tait, A (2023) Online and Distance Education for a Connected World. UCL Press

University College London. Available at: https://www.uclpress.co.uk/products/215287