12,699 research outputs found

    Developing and validating a scale to identify the employability skill set vital for the frontline workers: A case of hospitals in Delhi/NCR

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    The purpose of this study is to identify those imperative skills required by an oligopolistic industry (healthcare) to provide significant services so as to ensure maximum customer satisfaction. Employability skills are those essential skills which are required in the workplace. Researchers are consistently analyzing it on multiple fronts and domains to help the industry identify the right person for the right job. Unfortunately, there is still a dearth of studies which have precisely recognized the employability skill set for frontline workers in hospitals. In this paper, researchers have successfully developed and validated a scale to measure the employability skill set required by frontline workers in the healthcare industry. Researchers have developed a research scale consisting of nine essential dimensions of skills. For validating the scale, a sample has been collected from 400 respondents, having at least 10 years of experience in the Medical Service Vertical using stratified random sampling. The medical service vertical comprises both front-end and back-end jobs. The skill set varies at each level and as per the key responsibility areas. An employability skill set scale has been developed, encompassing the required soft and technical skills. The study intends a significant positive correlation, which means that any positive variance in one leads to a corresponding affirmative variability in the other. This study will further assist researchers who want to develop tailored training programmes for frontline workers

    Utilising Enterprise Education to Prepare Healthcare Professional Graduates for the Real-world

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    Objectives: Every year, HEIs around the world provide an increasing number of graduates with professional degrees in various areas of healthcare including for example medicine, pharmacy, dentistry and podiatry. In most cases, these graduates will get the opportunity to develop a range of generic transferable skills during their HE. Yet, many of these become self-employed or responsible for managing a business, but are not always exposed to curricula that develop their awareness of the concepts of enterprise and entrepreneurship and their role in developing economies and societies, and, thus, do not have the necessary range of enterprise skills that they will need in the real-world, whether employed or self-employed. This paper investigates the extent to which Enterprise Education (EE) is applied at professional schools at HEI to develop graduates’ ‘soft’ and ‘functional’ enterprise skills, and how effective the process of delivering this education is. Prior work: Previous literature mainly deals with the application of enterprise education through business and management schools, rather than professional ones. Yet, there is a call for researching enterprise education and skills with more focus on exploring the methods and objectives of specific disciplines. At the same time, research investigating learning in professional degrees focuses almost entirely on the development of technical skills related to the discipline, without a general perspective on developing a wider range of enterprise skills. Approach: The study draws on, but develops a PhD in the pharmacy education context. Personal interviews with pharmacy employers and academics were carried out, and thematic analysis was applied to identify themes and codes. Results: Despite that experiential and interactive learning approaches, which can support the development of graduates’ enterprise skills, are applied quite often at pharmacy schools, the application of these approaches is focused on discipline-related material and, therefore, can only support the development of graduates’ ‘soft’ enterprise skills. However, there appears to be resistance against developing graduates’ ‘functional’ enterprise skills in pharmacy disciplines, especially in light of the lack of awareness of the concept of enterprise education among academics. The study offers some possible opportunities/propositions that could facilitate the development of more enterprising healthcare graduates, while highlighting the importance of raising the awareness of academics in this regard and embedding enterprise education as part of schools’ philosophies. Implication: This study should help professional schools at HEIs decide more accurately on how to develop their graduates’ ‘soft’ and ‘functional’ enterprise skills, and address the needs of the real-world. Value: This study directs the attention of HEIs to support developing professional graduates who are ready for the real-world, and who can support the growth and success of any organisation whether employed or self-employed

    Are physiotherapy students adequately prepared to successfully gain employment?

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    This is the post-print version of the final paper published in Physiotherapy. The published article is available from the link below. Changes resulting from the publishing process, such as peer review, editing, corrections, structural formatting, and other quality control mechanisms may not be reflected in this document. Changes may have been made to this work since it was submitted for publication. Copyright @ 2010 Elsevier B.V.Objectives - To explore the preparedness of final-year physiotherapy students for their progression into employment, and identify what universities can do to facilitate a smooth transition. Design - A single-cohort study, utilising a qualitative design incorporating a survey followed by transcribed and coded semi-structured interviews. Setting - Interviews were held in the Placement and Careers Centre at Brunel University, London. Participants - Sixty final-year full- and part-time students participated in the survey, and 12 final-year full- and part-time students participated in the semi-structured interviews. Methods - Sixty students completed a questionnaire which explored their preparedness for employment. Questions related to the current job situation, the application process and the student's ideal first post. Responses from the questionnaire were analysed and discussed further through a digitally recorded interview. Twelve students were interviewed by an experienced interviewer from a non-physiotherapy background. Results - Students felt unprepared for employment. Forty-seven per cent wanted a rotational post, but 26% would only spend 6 months and 39% would only spend 1 year looking for a job. Seventy-one percent would change career and 99% would work abroad if they were unable to secure a post in the UK. Most importantly, students could not identify transferable skills required by potential employers; only 25% cited effective communications, and 10% cited flexible working as a transferable skill. Self-management skills (e.g. prioritisation, time management and documentation) were not perceived as essential for employment. Conclusions - The job market requires physiotherapy graduates to possess transferable skills which can be applied to any situation. Many are integral to the profession and the undergraduate curriculum; however, analysis and assimilation of these skills cannot be assumed. Universities should reflect on their curriculum delivery to produce graduates who meet employers’ expectations and make a smooth transition into the workplace

    Embedding employability skills in UK Higher Education: between digitalization and marketization

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    This article contributes to the debate on employability skills in UK higher education. It starts by discussing the concept of employability and places the debate in the context of mega-trends affecting UK higher education and the broader UK labour market. It distinguishes between different types of employability skills, as identified by employers’ surveys, and matches them with specific small-group teaching activities, drawing on pedagogic theory and practice. The article concludes that, beyond work-integrated learning, traditional small-group teaching activities can go a long way towards bridging the gap between graduates’ skills and labour market needs

    The role of numeracy skills in graduate employability

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    Purpose – The purpose of this article is to explore the role and importance of numeracy skills in graduate recruitment within a diversity of employment sectors. Design/methodology/approach – The results of a mixed-methods study, involving three online surveys (including an employer survey), student focus group sessions and interviews with tutors, are presented. Findings – The results reveal the importance that employers attach to graduates’ numeracy skills and the extent to which employers use numeracy tests in graduate recruitment. They thus highlight the potential for poor numeracy skills to limit any graduate's acquisition of employment, irrespective of their degree subject; especially since numeracy tests are used predominantly in recruitment to the types of jobs commensurate with graduates’ career aspirations and within sectors that attract graduates from across the diversity of academic disciplines, including the arts and humanities. Research limitations/implications – Since participants were self-selecting any conclusions and inferences relate to the samples and may or may not be generalisable to wider target populations. Practical implications – The paper highlights what actions are necessary to enhance undergraduates’ numeracy skills in the context of graduate employability. Social implications – The vulnerability of particular groups of students (e.g. females, those not provided with any opportunities to practise or further develop their numeracy skills whilst in higher education, those with no (or low) pre-university mathematics qualifications, and mature students) is highlighted. Originality/value – The article is timely in view of national policy to extend the graduate employability performance indicators within quality assurance measures for UK higher education

    Child poverty strategy for Scotland

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