Enhancing Graduate Employability: Summary of the Survey of Staff Opinion

The Sample

• 63 respondents replied to the LTSN-GEES survey of staff opinion on graduate employability conducted in June/July 2003.
• 25 respondents were from pre-1992 universities, 25 from post-1992 universities and 5 from the college sector (8 were of unknown source/non-HE sector).
• 29 respondents were from the Geography subject area, 14 from Environmental Sciences, 6 from Earth Sciences and 11 from a combination of the disciplines (3 were from allied subject areas/learning support services/unknown).

How important do you consider the issue of enhancing graduate employability?

• 98% of respondents considered the issue of graduate employability to be important or very important.

What does the term employability mean to you? (top five responses)

• Equipping graduates with generic/transferable skills.
• Possession/development of attributes/personal qualities desired by employers.
• Equipping graduates with subject specific skills and knowledge.
• Equipping graduates with skills/knowledge (generic/subject not specified).
• Ability to get a graduate job; Ease of obtaining a graduate job.

What are the main ways in which your department enhances the employability of your graduates? (top six responses)

• Opportunities for development of skills/attributes.
• Careers guidance and information available in the programme.
• Work placement opportunities.
• Personal development planning/progress files; Reflective practice.
• Applied/employer needs driven modules/programme.
• Employers involved in the 'classroom'; Use of employer/alumni links.

On which aspects of employability (if any) would your department find guidance or support most useful? (most requested response)

• Information relating to employers (their needs, experience of employing GEES graduates, potential GEES employers, industry and business support and developing employer links).

In what format would you like to receive any employability guidance?

Staff Guide (No. of responses 42)

A staff guide to enhancing graduate employability within the GEES subject areas is currently in production. It will be available in 2004 and will be widely disseminated. The feedback gained from this survey will be used to ensure the guide reflects the needs and concerns of the subject community.

Resource Information / Database (No. of responses 41)

The GEES Resource Database is now available in which there are numerous examples of resources and good practice relating to employability. Please contribute your practice and resources to the database in order to share information across the community.

PLANET articles (No. of responses 24)

Please contribute your employability related articles to 'PLANET'. 'PLANET' already contains a number of articles relating to employability including the Planet Special Edition 1: Embedding Careers Education in the Curricula of Geography, Earth and Environmental Sciences.

Departmental Workshop (No. of responses 23)

Departmental workshops on employability (or specific aspects of employability) will be offered through the GEES departmental workshop programme from 2004.

Employability Conference (No. of responses 11)

Employability is a suggested theme for the 2004 LTSN-GEES annual conference.