Trajectories of university adjustment in the United Kingdom: Emotion management and emotional self-efficacy protect against initial poor adjustment

Little is known about individual differences in the pattern of university adjustment. This study explored longitudinal associations between emotional self-efficacy, emotion management, university adjustment, and academic achievement in a sample of first year undergraduates in the United Kingdom (N=331). Students completed measures of adjustment to university at three points during their first year at university. Latent Growth Mixture Modeling identified four trajectories of adjustment: (1) low, stable adjustment, (2) medium, stable adjustment, (3) high, stable adjustment, and (4) low, increasing adjustment. Membership of the low, stable adjustment group was predicted by low emotional self-efficacy and low emotion management scores, measured at entry into university. This group also had increased odds of poor academic achievement, even when grade at entry to university was controlled. Students who increased in adjustment had high levels of emotion management and emotional self-efficacy, which helped adaptation. These findings have implications for intervention

Developing Graduate Employability: The CareerEDGE Model and the Importance of Emotional Intelligence

This chapter discusses a model of graduate employability development, the CareerEDGE model (Dacre Pool and Sewell 2007) which includes Emotional Intelligence (EI) as a key component. Although previous models and theories of employability (e.g. Fugate et al. 2004; Knight and Yorke 2004) have alluded to adaptive emotional functioning as an aspect of employability, CareerEDGE was the first to give EI such prominence. There is scope for EI to have a direct impact on graduate employability but also an indirect impact via other aspects of employability development

Using the Living CV to help students take ownership of their learning gain

There is an increasing emphasis on embedding employability skills and experience within the higher education curriculum to address new concepts of ‘learning gain’ and the perceived student demand for a value for money experience. An exploratory study, at a southern university in the UK, found that students articulated an improved work readiness when they were presented the ‘Living CV’, an initiative that connects programme learning outcomes into CV outputs. During 2018, a larger, mixed methods study (n=127) was conducted across all three years of fashion degrees. Students completed a pre and post questionnaire before and after a presentation on the Living CV and their views were further explored in a focus group and interviews. Results found that the Living CV presentation heightened students’ awareness of the applicability of their programme learning to their future employability and how they could use their academic learning outcomes on their CV as a tool to achieve this. The study recommends that personalised and explicit coaching on ‘work literacy’ should be integrated into university programmes at all levels to include the Living CV, discussion about and experience in the world of work, increased employer engagement and preparation for interview

Implementing Post-practicum strategies to enhance the professional identity and employability of final year physiotherapy students

Emerging evidence suggests that structured post-practicum activities focussing on career development learning can enhance employability. Undergraduate physiotherapy curriculum does not include a formal link between practicum experiences and learning about career development. Physiotherapy students do, however, undertake limited post-practicum activities to review their employability skills and needs. The chapter aims to explore the value of linking post practicum experiences of final year physiotherapy students with the development of employability skills. A study was undertaken that included a number of activities including a trial of a half-day workshop that enabled students to engage in peer discussions and explore professional attributes, exploring their progression from novice practitioner to professional. The workshop included presentations from industry professionals and provided an opportunity to network with peers regarding employability needs. Following the workshop, students were invited to undertake a task answering selection criteria as per a genuine job application. Their de-identified submission was reviewed by an industry professional. Of the 73 physiotherapy students enrolled in their final year in a Western Australian physiotherapy program, 61 (83.6%) attended the Employability Workshop in 2017, with 56 students completing pre and post surveys. Results demonstrated that students’ confidence in their readiness to both commence and obtain work increased after attending the workshop. There was a general shift to more positive ratings on components of the Employability Impact Survey (Smith, Ferns, Russell, Cretchley, The impact of work integrated learning on student work-readiness. Office for Learning and Teaching, Sydney. Viewed 23 April 2019. http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11937/55398, 2014) post-workshop. The opt-in task of addressing selection criteria was taken up by 20 (35.7%) of the students who attended the workshop. Improvement in their ability to apply for graduate roles, as determined by questions from the Employability Impact Survey (Smith, Ferns, Russell, Cretchley, The impact of work integrated learning on student work-readiness. Office for Learning and Teaching, Sydney. Viewed 23 April 2019. http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11937/55398, 2014), was less apparent following the selection criteria task. Industry professionals highlighted the student’s lack of practicum examples in completing the selection criteria task, emphasising the need for increased value to be placed on post-practicum review of experiences to enhance employability. Careful consideration of how and when this is embedded in curriculum is required as students appear less likely to engage in tasks that are opt-in. Aligning the timing of these experiences with employability needs is essential to ensure engagement. Keywords: practicum; Work Integrated Learning (WIL); Career Development Learning (CDL); work readiness; employability; professional identity; learning circles; physiotherapy; graduate; outcome

Developing the ‘Oven-Ready’ Postgraduate: Squeezing a Quart into a Pint Pot to Meet the Employability Agenda

Nationally and internationally Higher Education is increasingly competitive, with students ever more discerning and insistent on value for money. Value still resides in programme content and experiences, but the anticipated effects of programmes on progress towards a rewarding business career increasingly shape choice of what is studied and where. It is with this context that institutions must evolve a differentiated proposition. This can best be achieved via twin-track programmes delivering specialist, discipline-based knowledge overlaid with competency and capability development most conducive to ‘employment preparedness’—in other words via experiential learning. Experiential learning squeezes a quart into a pint pot by incorporating in one programme both the academic rigour of subject expertise and the ‘softer’ skills of practical organisational deftness so valued by employers and so enriching to graduates alike. This chapter describes how one Business School, drawing from the literature and addressing stakeholder demands, addressed the employability agenda within its programme provision. It includes a practical showcasing of the development and implementation of a suite of programmes designed to enable students to make a rapid and frictionless transition from academic life to real life business achievement. It concludes with highlighting the various successes and challenges experienced in particular, academic and student buy-into aspects of the employability agenda