Facilitating Undergraduate Employability TLC Careers and Skills Action Team Véronic Bézaire, Christine Laurendeau, Andrew Speirs, Bruce Tsuji

Employment rate - 2 years post graduation Employment rate around 90% after 2 years is fairly high BUT how does employment relate to field of study? No clear answer available; self-reported data Source: OIRP 2016/17; MAESD University Outcomes data, based on 2013 graduate cohort

Employment rate related to degree skills Rate of employment related to skills developed in university is lower in social sciences, humanities, other arts and sciences, biological sciences (for ON and CU) Examples of skills given on survey instrument: critical thinking, analytical, communication, problem solving Source: OIRP Dec 2015, using MTCU Ontario Graduates Survey Data

Problem: Reality vs. Perception Disconnect between Skills acquired in university Skills students realize they have acquired Consequences Difficulty in marketing their skills Difficulty in finding employment

The Journey

Employability tool: cuPortfolio Carleton’s electronic portfolio system Enables students to Reflect on learning and skills acquired Discuss learning with peers/coaches Showcase work

Numerous groups tackling employability Career Services Strategic Transformation Group & Employability Carleton Leader Individual Instructors … Career services: many types of services…. STGE: Strategic Transformation Group & Employability Carleton Leader: https://carleton.ca/leader/2015/cl2-helping-students-get-career-ready-oct-2015/ Individual Instructors work with Career Services to incorporate employability and career skills in their courses … not meant to be an exhaustive list… there are likely other groups working on employability

General employability skills Fundamental Communication Information management and analysis Problem solving Personal management Teamwork

Developing employability skills First year seminars Classroom employability courses: PSYC  3802 Transition to Career ECON 3920 Professional Practice of Economics ECOR 4995 Professional Practice … Co-op Placements We explored how employability skills are integrated in curriculum The most common approach is through experiential learning: first year seminars, capstone courses, co-op, unpaid placements; in a career setting or setting and work dynamics are mimicked Another approach, far less common, are classroom courses dedicated to employability skills and career transition PSYC 3802 [0.5 credit] Transition to Career Examines traditional and current models in career psychology. Topics may include the concepts of change and transitions, self-assessments, vocational psychology, and workplace onboarding. Students will have the opportunity to examine their personal and professional transition from university to the work world. Prerequisite(s): third or fourth year standing in Psychology. Lectures and seminars three hours a week. ECON 3920 Professional Practice of Economics Development of skills used by professional economists, including writing professional documents such as policy briefs and memos, data visualization, communication of economic ideas in non-technical terms, presentation skills, and team-based problem solving. Prerequisite(s): ECON 2030 with a grade of C+ or higher, ECON 2103 with a grade of C+ or higher, ECON 2210 (or equivalent) with a grade of C‐ or higher, and ECON 2220 (or equivalent) with a grade of C+ or higher. Seminars three hours a week. ECOR 4995 [0.5 credit] Professional Practice Presentations by faculty and external lecturers on the Professional Engineers Act, professional ethics and responsibilities, practice within the discipline and its relationship with other disciplines and to society, health and safety, environmental stewardship, principles and practice of sustainable development. Communication skills are emphasized. Precludes additional credit for MAAE 4905, CIVE 4905, SYSC 3905 or ELEC 3905. Prerequisite(s): fourth-year status in Engineering. Lectures three hours a week. Capstone courses

Impact of employability course Self-awareness of employability skills Field or skill-related employment 6 mo 2 yrs First, we would like to explore the impact of the course on two parameters: self-awareness of employability skills field or skill-related employment rate We would do this by surveying students after completing PSYC 3802, and after graduation For comparison purposes, we would also survey, at the same time points, a control group of PSYC students who were never enrolled in PSYC 3802 Assessment of employability skills would be done using the Conference Board of Canada ‘employability skills 2000+ list formulated as statements to be rated on a Likert scale Field or skill-related employment would be assessed at 6th and 2 years post graduation; how to assess it may prove challenging

Group Exercise General employability skills: Fundamental: Communication; Information management and analysis; Problem solving Personal management Teamwork What additional skills would be valuable in a career transition course in your discipline?