University Learning and Teaching Student Experience Strategy 2012-15

1. HEA employability Seminar 27th February 2013 University Learning and Teaching Student Experience Strategy 2012-15 Goal: To educate our students in their chosen discipline to become confident, critical, creative, adaptable, articulate and aspiring.

2. Welcome to Teesside University Darlington Campus HEA employability Seminar 27th February 2013

3. The impact of regionalisation and ‘employment during study’ on graduate aspirations and employability. 27 Feb 2013 Teesside University, Darlington Campus Jan Anderson University Teaching Fellow j.anderson@tees.ac.uk

4. Overview Morning session Afternoon session Examples of ways of making experience relevant Working across the institution Focus on psychology -‘non vocational’ UG programmes – opportunities in curricula Working with individual students • Contextualisation • Regional • University • Making comparisons – sharing experience • Research • Findings • Applications • Connections/links • Making comparisons – sharing experience

5. Regional context • Teesside University (TU) is located in Middlesbrough (with a recent addition in Darlington) • Despite a significant programme of economic regeneration during the past decade, local authority (LA) rankings in the Index of Resilience (2010) suggest that Middlesbrough has the least resilient economy in England • Overall rankings of economic resilience based on aggregated data for four key themes* - Middlesbrough is ranked 324th out of 324 local authorities which places it at the bottom of the resilience index • A recent report (Feb 2013) highlighted the Middlesbrough LA area is ranked 3rd highest nationally (37%) on the childhood poverty index Rankings *Business 324, Community 324, People 285 and Place 318

6. University Context • Teesside University currently has 28,094 students, of these 10,806 are on Undergraduate degree programmes: • On entry: • 59% of full time students are aged 21 or under • 65% of part time students are aged 25 – 49 • 61.1% of students are from the North East of England • Each year between 56% - 61% of students attend their graduation ceremony • National Student Survey (NSS) - high levels of student satisfaction • DHEL survey findings reveal there appears to be a trend showing a slight increase in unemployed graduates

7. University context • 6 academic schools at Teesside University • Business, Computing, Arts and Media, Health and Social care, Science and Engineering, Social Sciences and Law • All offer a range of graduate and post graduate courses (vocational and non vocational) • Student graduation ceremonies take place during the third week in November • Not all students are able, or chose to attend the ceremony however it provides a snapshot of current status in the early phase of the graduate career

8. Making comparisons – sharing experience How does this relate to your institution?

9. Research questions • Two projects • November 2010 (213 interviews – 128 case studies) • November 2011 (154 questionnaire) • In the November following the completion of studies….. • Where are graduates (main information from 2011 study) • What are they doing • Who, if anyone, did they discuss their career plans with • In hindsight could they or the University have done anything differently to support their graduate destination/chosen career path • How satisfied were they with the University experience (2011 study) • Are there any ‘common characteristics’ of a successful graduate • The projects also took the opportunity to remind students of the University’s commitment to support them with their career development after their graduation

10. Research methodology (2010) • Recorded interviews (5-15mins each) • student researchers collected data • Sample size - 213 graduates (degree course) • Sample small (6%) but representative of university and individual school student characteristics • Data was analysed and reports presented at: • University level • School level • Individual case study level (128 individual case studies)

11. Research Findings November 2010 • Location: • Majority of graduates remained in the local area • Employment status: • 82% were in employment or continuing with their studies • 23% in ‘graduate jobs’* • 34% in ‘non graduate jobs’** • 25% in further study (majority at TU) • Remaining 18% were not employed either by choice (on a break) or actively seeking employment *Graduate jobs - degree was essential ** Non graduate jobs – degree not required

12. ‘Non graduate jobs’ • Type • Mainly retail and hospitality – (some relevant to future career, e.g. care work) • Of the 34% in non graduate jobs • 14% were already working in the job during study • 20% were in new non-graduate jobs since graduating • Those already working cited: • Staying on to pay off debt whilst looking for other opportunities (increase of hours) • Don’t know what I want to do – considering options • Its what I want to do – I did the degree aiming for promotion • Those with new non graduate jobs: • Time out to consider options • Paying off debts • Nothing else available • It’s relevant to my next step (gaining experience)

13. Careers advice • Who do students discuss careers with? • 48% with academic and/or careers advisor • 29% with friends and family • 23% no discussion • By graduate destination

14. In hindsight: • What would they do differently: • Nothing (75%) • Study harder (17%) • Work experience/placement (14%) • Other - Plan more effectively, use the careers service, volunteer, seek out relevant opportunities. • What could the University do differently • Nothing (75%) • Provide work experience/placements (7%) • Improve course of study integration of more careers information (6%) • Other - Provide specific careers advice, more support, better communication • Only 25% of graduates were aware that the University careers service was available to them for 2 years following graduation

15. ‘Common characteristics’ of a successful graduate 2010 • No difference in age or gender • Degree classification • 1st class more likely to go onto further study • 2:1 more likely to get graduate job • 2:2 = to 2:1 with relevant experience (paid or voluntary) • Careers discussions • Those who discuss their career options with university staff • Working whilst studying • 82% with 37% stating it was relevant to current graduate role • Volunteering • 52% volunteered with 46% relevant to current graduate career • Degree course relevant to current graduate job • Already chosen career path (60% pre entry)

16. Making comparisons – sharing experience How does this relate to your institution?

17. Research project 2011 • Where are graduates (main information from 2011 study) • In addition how far would they consider moving for the right job etc. • What are they doing • Who, if anyone, did they discuss their career plans with • In hindsight could they or the University have done anything differently to support their graduate destination/chosen career path • How satisfied were they with the University experience (2011 study) covering a range of aspects • Are there any ‘common characteristics’ of a successful graduate • The project also took the opportunity to remind students of the University’s commitment to support them with their career development after their graduation

18. Research methodology (2011) • Questionnaire design (5-15mins each) • student researchers collected data • Sample size – 154 graduates (degree course) • Sample small (7%) but representative of university and individual school student characteristics • Data was analysed and reports presented at: • University level • School level

19. Findings • 81% of sample were graduates who lived in the North East (TU population = 63%) • School of Health and Social Care data was removed (vocational courses NHS funded) • Non vocational course data only (104 graduates) 91% of sample local students (NE) • 75% were either employed or in further study • 21% in further study (75% at TU) • 19% in graduate jobs • 35% in non graduate jobs • 25% not working • 71% of the total non vocational sample worked during their studies

20. Impact of working during studies • Worked during study - at graduation • 66% in employment • 18% in further study • 16% not employed • Not worked during study - at graduation • 27% in employment • 27% in further study • 46% not employed • Gender differences – difficult to identify due to composition of sample by subject group

21. Impact of place of residence • 61% of those without jobs would consider relocating to get a graduate job • Non graduate jobs • 55% retail/bar/food service • 23% experience driven (care work/ teaching assistant) • 22% other not experience driven (factory work etc) • 60% of those with non graduate jobs would prefer to remain in the region (and not have to travel for more than one hour from their current location to the workplace)

22. Degree classification and impact of working whilst studying • 1st - 63% worked • 100% in employment or further study • 2:1 - 88% worked • 83% in employment or further study • 2:2 – 57% worked • 63% in employment or further study • 3rd – 17% • 33% in employment (non graduate) Student experience • 82% felt confident to produce an effective CV • 71% felt they had the opportunity to discuss their future aspirations with a member of staff • 90% felt they were fully aware of opportunities for personal development • 83% felt the degree course had enabled them not to be afraid of change

23. Discussing future career plans 2011 sample revealed that: • Most graduates - discussed their future with friends and family rather than academics or careers service – impact of family experience of graduate careers • Most graduates in employment want to stay local (within one hour commute of home) – impact of available opportunities • Most graduates are very satisfied with University experience • Most graduates don’t appear to feel anything else could be done by them or for them • More graduates are aware that the careers service is available for two years after graduation (51%)

24. The impact of regionalisation and ‘employment during study’ on graduate aspirations and employability. Afternoon session 27 Feb 2013 Teesside University, Darlington Campus Jan Anderson University Teaching Fellow j.anderson@tees.ac.uk

25. Focus on SSSL • Linked to curricular • Law clinic • Psychology services • Embedded PDP • the value of personal tutorials Close integrated links to support services – careers team

26. Focus on Psychology • Psychology at Teesside • Run 4 British Psychological Society accredited UG programmes and 4 PG programmes • UG Between 180 and 160 students per year group • Focus on personal development • Competitive focus • Only a small percentage of psychology graduates go on to become professional psychologists although many go on to work in related fields • HEA estimated 1 in 5 become professional psychologists (2005)

27. PDP = Employability • Psychology graduates develop a range of skills transferable to graduate careers. These include: • Communication • Information technology • Research skills including handling of data/statistics • Problem-solving • The ability to work in teams • Research carried out with Teesside psychology graduates in 2003 found that, on average, they only cited having developed 4 generic skills (Anderson, 2003) • 75% computer skills • 68% group/team skills • 58% presentation skills • 48% research skills

28. Employability activities in the curricula • Level 6 Activity – what is the student version of future employment look like • Week 1 - what does your week currently look like? • Week 2 - Thinking about your future: • What does your week look like? • How many hours will you spend in the workplace? • What does your workplace look like? • Who are you working with? • What activities are you doing? • What skills are you using • How long will it take you to get to and from the workplace? • Map these into a timetable • Week 3 - What do you need to do to get this version of your future

29. Personal Development Planning (PDP) embedded since 2004 • Level 4 learning and personal skills • Level 5 volunteering and career planning • Level 6 career planning and application process for graduate job (CV and personal statement) – soon to move to level 5 • Emotional Intelligence – application in the workplace Areas for further development – personal tutorials and dissertation supervision

30. Making relevant experience count - Psychology Introduction of work experience (module) • Working with a local employer of psychology students (support workers) • Students will be in paid work with the employer • 20 credit level 5 module • Two assessment - • presentation - outline the placement experience, skills developed and demonstrate awareness of personal reflection • self-reflective account of the experience and skills gained in line with theories of personal and professional development • Progress to level 6 module • As a team leader (usually only after graduation) • Providing experience enabling a smoother transition to post as psychology assistant

31. Individual level • Increasing aspirations • Supporting choice • Encouraging individual differences • Providing academic references

32. Summary • Students who remain at home during study view the opportunity to move for employment differently particularly when they already have part time paid work • Support individual aspirations by exploring a diverse range of options with university staff • More information on the research projects mention today are available from Jan Anderson j.anderson@tees.ac.uk