Employing Peer Support to Engage Non-traditional Student Progression and Employability University of Leeds

Employability and Progression Assistants

Who are we? Chloe Marshall Widening Participation Employability Officer Alice Whapples Employability and Progression Assistant Abdul Awke Karen Shaw Mentoring and Widening Participation Manager

Today’s Session The peer support pilot Widening participation agenda at UoL Employability and Progression Assistant (EPA) experience Panel Q & A

Widening Participation Agenda Office for Students Access and Participation Plan Progress Access Success

Context & Background 12.9% gap

EPA Pilot Objectives Final year WP students Raise awareness of employability offer Understand career readiness and engagement with employability activity Enhance employability skills and graduate outcomes Capture student voice to identify progression barriers Make recommendations to engage target groups in sustained interventions

Progress of EPA Pilot EPA Phase 1 EPA Phase 2 February 2019 Graduate Outcomes February 2019 September2019 January 2020 October 2020

Widening Participation at UoL

Our Target Groups 2019/20 >26% of UG student population are ‘WP’ Plus Programme Lifelong Learning Centre Home/EU BAME Declared Disability

Lifelong Learning Centre Definitions Plus Programme Access to Leeds Low household income Low participation neighbourhood Low socio-economic group First in their family to go to university Low attainment school Care experienced Estranged Refugees Mature Learners Lifelong Learning Centre Multi-disciplinary school Mature Part-time Foundation Entrants Particularly from underrepresented groups

Where does Student Careers fit? Arts, Humanities & Cultures Social Sciences Biological Sciences Student Careers Medicine & Health Business School Environment Engineering & Physical Sciences

The EPA Role – Phase 1 Collate and interpret WP student data Offer peer-like support to final year WP students Build links with faculty teams Local labour market Identify gaps and duplication in employability support Improve communications to students Personal/professional development

The EPA Experience

High Risk High Risk: Each student receives a score, calculated from ‘Career Readiness’ statements, which are taken from a registration survey that is completed at the start of the academic year. This statement is marked against their year of study and personal details to produce their risk score. High Risk ‘Career Readiness’ statements: ‘I have no Careers ideas yet but want to start thinking’ ‘I am not ready to start thinking about my career yet’ ‘I have been applying for opportunities and so far I have not been successful’ ‘I have not yet thought about my career choice or specialty beyond graduation ‘

Case-loading Activity 672 184 46

Case-load breakdown

Outward Facing Activity In-Faculty Drop-in Supporting and organising WP focused events, activities and workshops Careers Centre Front of House Social media strategy and inclusivity

Projects Project Title Information Employability Intern Audit Project Auditing the Interns within the Faculty of Arts, Humanities and Cultures Student Voices – Understanding Barriers and Developing Solutions Looking at the barriers Widening Participation students may experience while accessing employability opportunities Employability Non Engagement Data Exploring the reasons why students do not get involved in professional development initiatives, such as study abroad and work placement Supporting Mature and Part Time Student Success Conducting research to see the employability activities, mature and part time learners want to get involved in Community Champions Lifelong Learning Centre and International students, working together, to create a positive impact in the Global community

Challenges and Highlights

Initial concerns going into the role

Challenges with the role Solutions Data anomalies Skill sharing amongst ourselves Learning about different faculties Independent research & networking Not knowing answers to student queries Having an "I-don't-know-but-I'll-find-out" approach Engagement through first contact Nudge Theory

Highlights of the role Positive feedback from students on our case-loading activity Running a number of successful events and workshops Personal development opportunities in our roles Successful integration into different departments and faculties within the university

Impact Statements "I just wanted to say it is really amazing that the university is getting people to call around and ask people if they need extra support. I really rate that” "This service you guys are providing is really useful my friends on my course were wondering when they would be able to get the same support after I told them about this” “This service exceeded my expectations as I came away with somewhere to start when before I have no idea and wasn't even sure the careers centre would be able to help me as I really had little idea as to what I wanted to do”

What’s next at Leeds? Pilot phase 2 – Semester 1 2019/20 Replicate caseload activity Engage a wider group of students Gather student voice on WP employability offer Evaluate second phase for recommendations of priority focus areas

What’s next at Leeds? Access and Participation Plan Updated targets? Semester 1 targeted employability activity Strengthen faculty links

Panel Q & A Chloe Marshall Widening Participation Employability Officer Alice Whapples Employability and Progression Assistant Abdul Awke Karen Shaw Mentoring and Widening Participation Manager

Thank you. Karen Shaw K. M. Shaw@leeds. ac. uk Chloe Marshall C Thank you! Karen Shaw K.M.Shaw@leeds.ac.uk Chloe Marshall C.Marshall2@leeds.ac.uk Abdul Awke A.Awke@leeds.ac.uk Alice Whapples A.Whapples@leeds.ac.uk