International Conference on Enhancement and Innovation in Higher Education Crowne Plaza Hotel, Glasgow 9-11 June 2015 Welcome

Fiona Wager, Ana Zeron & Veronique Johnston Building an Evaluation Approach to Evidence Impact: Edinburgh Napier University’s Graduate Employability Project Experience Presentation objectives:  Present the origins of the Graduate Employability Project (GEP)  Explain the structures to support project internal evaluation  Outline monitoring experience with case studies  Reflect on evaluation outcomes and discuss conclusions

Origins of the Graduate Employability Project – Funded by Scottish Funding Council Key issues to address Falling graduate-level employment rates Wide subject area variations in employability rates Low rates of students entering SMEs Low rates of Scottish students taking study in Study Abroad programmes

Project overarching objective: More students into employment Strand 1: Student employability development Strand 2: Curriculum development Strand 3: Employer relations Strand 4: Student mobility Strand 5: Monitoring and Evaluation Project structure

Project Steering Group Cross-institutional focus Coherence in structures and mechanisms for project evaluation Collaborative approach to monitoring, evaluation and reporting How to support the project evaluation?

Evaluation and monitoring sub-structures

Monitoring against key performance indicators Target 1 Percentage of graduates in employmen t or further studies Target 2 Percentage of graduates in managerial employment Target 3 Percentage of graduates in graduate jobs within SMEs Target 4 Percentage of students in mobility programmes

Monitoring activity Systematic collection and analysis of data Student participation data Participation in GEP activities (Employer Mentoring Programme, Careers/Confident Futures workshops, Work-placement etc.) Student feedback Specific surveys In-depth data on value and impact of interventions Student panels and ‘Students calling students’ Views of other stakeholders Externally commissioned research on employer engagement and curriculum development

Case studies to outline evaluation experience Mature evaluation approach: Employer Mentoring Programme Emerging evaluation approach: Student Mobility Unifying evaluation approach: Tracking educational and employment outcomes

Study Abroad Programme: An emerging evaluation approach  Prior to GEP, the Recruitment & Exchanges Team provided students with outgoing mobility opportunities  Very low engagement of students with mobility programmes  Impact of GEP: scale and resourcing of this activity increased significantly

Student Mobility: Why ‘an emerging’ evaluation approach?  From minimal existing evaluation base, development of specific evaluation approach:  Develop shared understanding between student mobility team and evaluation team  Creation of ‘Outgoing student journey’ document  Questionnaires to evidence appropriateness of pre- departure support and to gather returning students’ perspectives on the experience

Student Mobility:  Ongoing evaluation allowed to evidence that  enhancing future career prospects was key motivation factor  exchange experience prepares for better future employment  Link strengthened between mobility and employability  Future evaluation plans  better comprehend enablers and barriers of mobility  continuing discussions on how to address evaluation

Conclusions  Monitoring and evaluation as a separate strand in project structure enabled greater focus on evaluation  Approach characterised by partnership between the evaluation and project stakeholders:  to build inclusivity  to share understanding  to establish baselines  to generate datasets  No ‘one size fits all’ evaluation approach. Bespoke approaches:  To meet differential needs of project strands  To ensure ongoing dialogue about evaluation and outcomes  To develop appropriate structures