How we develop professional capability through the undergraduate curriculum: A WIL Perspective Dr Jenny Willis SCEPTrE Fellow Independent Educational Consultant

Discussion outline AGN with QUT 16 April 2010  University of Surrey context and reputation  HE is for more than employability  Professional development structures at the University  The research brief  Intended outputs  Difficulties  Questions for discussion

Discover the University of Surrey. Lowest average unemployment rates for UK universities, 1996– Surrey2.3% 2Hull3.5% 3Cambridge4.1% 4Nottingham4.2% 5Bristol4.2% 6Imperial4.8% How the University markets itself Discover Your Employability Top for Jobs University of Surrey graduates are the most employable of any chartered university in England. No other university is able to match our consistently outstanding performance in the employment league tables. In 2008 (the latest available statistics), 96.7 per cent of our graduates entered employment or further study, compared with the national average of 91 per cent. This is the best figure of any chartered university in England. Between 1996 and 2008, Surrey had an average unemployment rate of just 2.3 per cent, compared with the national average of 6.3 per cent. This ranks us first overall. This means that over a 13-year period we have had the lowest average graduate unemployment rate of any UK university. Educated for Success Our outstanding employment record is a clear indication that employers value the knowledge, skills and experience of Surrey graduates.

“Increasingly, it is the students’ capacity to fend for themselves in the wider world that is coming into view, their capacities to sustain themselves, to engage with the wider world, to be resilient and to prosper – not just economically – in it. We are witnessing the emergence, surely, of a curriculum for life.” Barnett and Coate 2005:119 “a set of achievements, understandings and personal attributes that make individuals more likely to gain employment and be successful in their chosen occupations.” Yorke & Knight 2003 “to facilitate the development of degree-level learning through an associated emphasis upon the reflective learning processes.” Moreland 2006 HE = Employability?

How does the University develop these professional competences?  Professional Training Experience? Only 50% annual uptake so what else?

 Surrey Graduate Skills Statement 2003

 PDP Strategy: expectations by HE level

How we develop professional capability through the undergraduate curriculum?: A WIL Perspective Are there generic core competencies that relate to becoming professional being developed through the curriculum and professional training programmes? The research question To provide base-line data as part of SCEPTrE’s legacy, with examples of practice to inform future curriculum development and delivery

Objectives

Outputs: 1, curriculum maps

Difficulties: 1, inbuilt variability

Flexibility: responsive to different needs and values – how to compare?

Difficulties: 2, access to data 3, validity of data  Incomplete data on web  Hard copies of handbooks  Outdated handbooks  Central systems that do not support data analysis/retrieval  Staff resistance to interview Difficulties: 4, complexity and variability - how to present the data?

Questions arising

FIN Dr Jenny Willis