International Students' Perceptions of Employability Skills and Work-Related Learning

1. Slide title (Time A mismatch of expectations? An exploration of international students’ perceptions of employability skills and work-related learning Sabine McKinnon Lecturer in Employability Real WoRLD Project Manager Caledonian Academy Glasgow Caledonian University 17 June 2011 Image

2. Structure of presentation • What is employability? • The Real WoRLD project at Glasgow Caledonian University • The Real WoRLD study • Research findings • Conclusion and recommendations

3. What is employability?The UK view “ A modern, competitive economy needs workers who possess skills, knowledge and attitudes they can take to any work situation and have the ability and willingness to continually adapt and prosper in a changing world.” (CBI, Future Fit, 2009)

4. What makes graduates employable?The UK viewCBI recruitment criteria (CBI, 2010)

5. The European view(Eurobarometer, 2010) • “Please rate the following skills and competencies in terms of how important they are when recruiting higher education graduates in your company”. • “Communication skills are very important.”

6. The non-European view(Brennan et al, 2001) • 10 most highly rated possessed competencies by • UK, European and Japanese graduates

7. Preparing international students for employment: evidence of dissatisfactionThe case of GCU (ISB, 2009) • 89% satisfied with learning experience overall • least satisfied with provision of work-related learning • (work experience, careers advice from academics, • employability = “learning that will help me get a good job”) • 45% of non-EU students and 60% of Nigerians were very dissatisfied or • dissatisfied

8. International students at GCU in 2010-11

9. Research questions • What might be the reason for their dissatisfaction? • What are their perceptions of employability skills and graduate recruitment criteria? • What are their views of learning and teaching styles at UK university?

10. 2. The Real WoRLD Project at GCU(Realising Work-Related Learning Diffusion) • GCU’s strategic employability initiative • Funded through dedicated SFC funding “Learning to Work” Aim: Improve and enhance students’ employability skills through supporting staff in embedding work related learning activities across the university http://www.academy.gcal.ac.uk/realworld/index.html

11. Annual evaluation of SFC funding • How can you be sure that your current approaches to getting student engagement in employability take full account of the diversity of your student population (for example adult, part time, widening participation, international, etc)? • How do you take account of the different levels of employability skills and attributes with which students arrive at your institution? • How do you tailor your support for different kinds of students to reflect their particular needs?

12. 3. The Real WoRLD study in 2009 • Five focus groups (60-90 minutes) with convenience sample from most popular programmes; 16 postgraduates; 11 undergraduates

13. Focus group questions • What were your reasons for choosing the university and your programme? • In your view, what qualities are employers looking for when recruiting graduates? • How useful have your studies at GCU been in preparing you for the world of work?

14. 4. Research findings:Awareness of different expectations • value of degree as evidence of a qualification with high prestige • “ I think it’s really different when you compare the UK and Nigeria. In Nigeria what is most relevant is your qualification, first qualifications. The document is really, really very important, more than in other countries.” • technical expertise and subject knowledge matter more than soft skills • “ I felt that to quite some extent that in the UK interpersonal skills are more important compared to Pakistan. In Pakistan they ask for more technical questions(in the interview).” • access to industry networks and personal contacts • “ Nigeria is all about, let me use this phrase, man knows man, that’s it. It’s everywhere. If I know him, …you can just say: please help me.”

15. Agreement on global employability skills • Work experience and teamworking skills • Cultural awareness and insight into business etiquette in different countries • “I think one of the great skills to have is building good relationships, working relationships. See, in Russia, people are …much more friendly. So they use different persona of yourself to build these relationships. Here you need different things…if you are trying to implement the same ways as you did in your own country it doesn’t work here and it chokes you.” • “In my country we are very effusive, we are very boisterous, show the emotion, shake hands… (here) you have to learn to value their privacy, they don’t like it…it’s not that they are not friendly but they want not to be too open.” (Nigerian)

16. Evidence of culture clash:Individualist vs. collectivist cultures • Students from collectivist cultures expect a favour from the academic community they feel they have joined. • They are disappointed at university’s failure to provide them with an entry ticket to the employment market • “ I don’t think the university are doing enough in that field.. They gave me a letter and it was just the basic ‘to whom it may concern’, he is a student in this school …and that was it. No, I expected something more. “ • Interviewer: “A recommendation?” “Yeah.” (Ghanain)

17. Individualism versus collectivism:How do people define themselves in relation to others?(Hofstede, 2001, p. 244) Individualists Hiring and promotion decisions should be based on individual skills and ‘objective’ rules only. Treating friends and protegees better than others is nepotism and unethical. Employer-employee relationship is a business deal in anonymous labour market. Certificates have little symbolic value. Collectivists Hiring and promotion decisions take membership of groups (family, employer and academic networks) into account. Treating friends and protegees better than others is normal and ethical . Employer-employee relationship is like a family link. Certificates are extremely important and displayed on walls.

18. Individualism Rankings (Hofstede, 2001)

19. Views on learning and teaching styles in the UK • Student-friendly approach compared favourably with more distant relationship at home. • “ You can ask as many questions as you want…I don’t think I have ever been turned down…the relationship between the teacher and the student here is amazing because I call my teacher George, I don’t call him ‘Sir’…(In Poland) they (the students) are probably seeing some of them (the staff) as God.” (Polish) • “Same in my country. They are so big-headed.” (Nigerian)

20. Perceptions of learning and teaching in UK: signs of culture clash • supporting independent learning or abdicating responsibility? • (In Russia) … teachers are very interested in teaching you…at times they are bugging you, why don’t you come to lectures, why don’t you do this and that? Here it is …more self- teaching, so you should do it yourself...but you pay money. So you are paying to get some knowledge from someone.” • attitude of academic staff reflects employers’ approach to managing their staff • “ …post-Soviet bosses, they are looking after you because it’s in their habit to look after their employees…” (Russian)

21. Power distance: Attitudes towards social inequality and authority(Hofstede, 1986) Small PD cultures Privilege and status has to be earned. Teachers should respect the independence of their students. Teachers expect students to find their own paths. Student centred education; focus on initiative Large PD cultures Respect for higher status Teachers merit the respect of their students. Students expect teachers to outline paths to follow. Teacher-centred education; focus on input from staff

22. Power Distance Rankings(Hofstede, 2001)

23. Signs of conflict due to a mismatch of expectations They are too demanding and immature. You are not doing your job. • Students’ idea of a good quality education can clash with UK perception danger of damaging UK universities’ reputation abroad

24. 5. Conclusion and recommendations • Cultural value systems impact on perceptions of ‘useful’ employability skills and quality in learning and teaching. • What and how students need to learn to prepare for employment can be culture specific. • We need to understand the ‘system’ that has produced the foreign student. (Teekens, 2003). • Cultural awareness training for all needs to focus on the role of values rather than country specifics.

25. Recommendations • Universities should provide ... • briefing notes on different national education systems for their staff • student induction programmes to explain the UK approach to learning and teaching • opportunities for foreign staff, current and former international students to share their experience of adjusting to UK culture with UK staff • courses on international differences in business etiquette and networking for all • campus-based work-related learning activities that help international students understand UK employers’ needs and expectations (e.g. simulations, tasks based on real-life, client-based projects, networking events) if access to placements is difficult

26. References • Brennan, J. et al (2001). The Employment of UK Graduates: Comparisons with Europe and Japan, A Report to HEFCE by the Centre for Higher Education Research and Information, The Open University. • Confederation of British Industry (CBI) (2010). Ready to Grow: Business Priorities for Education and Skills. Education and Skills Survey , London: CBI. • CBI and Universities UK, (2009). Future Fit: Preparing Graduates for the World of Work, London: CBI. • Eurobarometer (2010). Employers’ Perception of Graduate Employability, EU Directorate-General for Education and Culture, November 2010. • Hofstede, G (2004) 3rd ed. Culture’s Consequences: International Differences in Work-Related Values, Thousand Oaks: Sage. • Hofstede, G. (1986). Cultural differences in teaching and learning, International Journal ofIntercultural Relations; Vol. 10, pp. 301-320. • Real WorLD Project at Glasgow Caledonian University (2008); available from: http://www.academy.gcal.ac.uk/realworld/ • Teekens, H. (2003) The requirement to develop specific skills for teaching in an intercultural setting, Journal of Studies in International Education, Vol. 7, No.1, Spring, 2003, pp. 108-119.