Break-Out or Break-Up? Val Butcher

Context Careers Service roles have always rightly differed in different institutions, but key institutional influences in last 25 years have accelerated this: Enterprise in Higher Education Personal Development Planning Employability Employer Engagement including Work experience

July 2006:Career Development Learning and Employability July 2006:Career Development Learning and Employability. Institutional strategies, skilled academics... and how this impacted on careers service roles April 2007: Meeting at HECSU London:“The meeting was called to discuss ways of taking forward themes and issues raised in Tony Watt's recent publication (for the HEA) entitled Career Development Learning and Employability. The focus was to explore ways of using research to support institutions to frame policies and practice in relation to employability and in particular how careers advisory services might be involved in this process.”  

Research possibilities Research could be aimed at articulating models of employability/career development learning within the curriculum  Research could be qualitative - that is, draw upon case studies of institutions or departments (or both) Research could be framed around the role of careers advisory services in stimulating/leading employability/career development learning. There is a need to clarify concepts - particularly the similarities and differences in terms employability and career development learning which are often used interchangeably.  Research could be aimed at senior policy makers in institutions - overtly providing steer for those involved in strategic planning/policy making.

Research possibilities The role of careers advisory services in supporting employability Models of career development learning within the curriculum Careers services' role in assisting the strategic direction of employability in institutions

PROP Proposal a very small piece of work to explore the role of higher education careers services in supporting institutional strategies for employability and enterprise, and implications for the structure of careers services. In particular, to identify models of development which will indicate challenges to careers services in other institutions and hence be an inspiration to fresh, bold and innovative initiatives. The methodology outlined visits to three institutions with contrasting models of development, each to include interviews with key careers service staff and with relevant senior policy-makers in the institution; use of comparable information from a fourth institution in which similar work has already been done.

PROP Proposal “The study will draw upon previous work on strategic directions for careers services in higher education, but will add up-to-date evidence from recent strategic developments within the four case-study institutions, It will ask: (1) What are the contributions that higher education careers services are making to institutional strategies for employability and enterprise? (2) How do institutional managements perceive the strategic role of careers services within their institutions? (3) What are the implications of these developments and perceptions for the future structure and role of careers services?”

Break-Out or Break-Up? Tony Watts

Traditional Core Individual and group guidance Information Employer liaison and placement

Additional Activities - 1 Pre-entry guidance Course-related placements Placements into part-time and vacation jobs Teaching career-planning courses Supporting teaching departments in career development learning and PDP

Additional Activities - 2 Making core activities available to: - Former students - Staff (including research-contract staff) - Local recent graduates from other institutions - Other adults Broader brokerage role on employer engagement

Strategic Directions - 1 Integrated guidance model Integrated placement model Curriculum model Learning organisation model

Strategic Directions - 2 Extended support model Lifelong guidance model Alumni model

Employability and Career Development Learning Immediate employment Immediate employability Sustainable employability Career development skills - Sub-set of employability skills - Related set of meta-skills

Career Development Learning Self Awareness (Self) Opportunity Awareness (Opportunity) Decision Learning (Aspirations) Transition Learning (Results)

CDL: Models of Delivery Specialist Consultancy Parallel delivery Integrated

Employability Strategies LJMU: focus on curriculum (World of Work) UCLan: Futures; Centre for Employability, Careers and Enterprise; hub and spokes Birmingham: Careers and Employability Centre Lancaster: Centre for Employability, Enterprise and Careers

Common Elements Enterprise Employer engagement PDP Additional student award

Implications for Careers Services Pre-1992 universities (Birmingham, Lancaster): extending remit and size of careers service Post-1992 universities: - LJMU: careers team integrated into new Graduate Development Centre - UCLan: careers team within new Centre

Issues ‘Can the centre hold?’ Where it doesn’t, what happens to: - one-to-one career guidance? - career resource centres? Where it does, should extended careers services be viewed as teaching departments? Implications of teaching/consultancy roles for staffing and CPD?