1. Lorna Froud
Dr Joanne Moyle
Careers & Employment Centre
Oxford Brookes University

2. What does ‘employability’ really amount to
What does ‘employability’ really amount to? Our definition: Set of attitudes and beliefs which influence and inform actual behaviour and performance in relation to the ability to gain and sustain meaningful work (work in the broadest sense)

3. What we know from one-to-one guidance and group ‘employability’ practice
- We cannot underestimate the impact of individual attitudes and beliefs on students’ behaviour and performance
e.g. confidence, self-limiting beliefs, pessimistic/optimistic explanatory styles in response to setbacks/resilience, fixed/growth mindsets, choice overload/decision-making styles, self-efficacy, transition coping styles, ‘poverty of imagination’
- Broaden-and-build model – curiosity, strengths-based positive self-regard, authentic experimentation and development =very motivating

4. What we often find…
- Skills-deficit model, ‘what employers want’ often de-motivating; ‘doing things for the sake of the CV’ likewise de-motivating-
Large number of students never access opportunities for self-development at university, especially ‘employability enhancing’ ones (unless forced) – why?
- Recent research (Maura O’Regan) shows that majority of students have present- not future-orientation whilst at University, and that ‘future focus’ evokes more anxiety than often admitted

5. Recent developments
Building evidence base from field of positive psychology and performance/sports coaching
Employers: strengths based recruitment (E&Y, Norwich Union)
Universities – Glasgow Mindset Project
Napier Confident Futures

6. Why after years of trying does employability provision often miss the mark?
Generation Y – just in time, want it now (too late they have left)
I’m in the first year what’s this got to with me?
I’m in the second year, I’m focussed on NOW
I’m in my final year and far too busy..

7. Problems
Lots of evidence to show that career development activity supports academic learning but label a turn off
Skill deficit model can feed into fears about the university experience as instrumental, doing the bidding of employers to meet skill shortages and Government agenda
Evidence to show lack of resilience in generation Y

8. Useful models
Personal and academic development rather than ‘careers’ or ‘employability’
Strengths
Mindsets
Resilience
NLP
MBTI

9. Mindsets – empowering attitudes
Fixed vs growth
Fixed – ability cannot change
Growth – ability can be changed
Related to belief about ability
Creates a whole mental world to live in
Learn to hear your fixed mindset voice
Recognise you have a choice
Learn to self talk with GM voice
(Dweck 1999)

12. What is Resilience?
Resilience is the ability to bounce back from adversity.
It allows us to recover from change or hardship.
Resilience encompasses both strength and flexibility.
It is associated with elasticity, buoyancy and
adaptation.

13. How Do Resilient People Act?
Resilient people demonstrate flexibility, durability, an ability to organise and manage ambiguity, to be proactive rather than reactive, have an attitude of optimism and a mindset that is open to learning.
The resilient person is positive and views life as
challenging but filled with opportunity.

14. Response to setbacks and failures (Diener & Dweck 1978, 1980)
Resilient vs helpless
Pay attention to learning
Focus on what is being learnt rather than feeling
Attempt new ways of doing things
Use self-motivating statements such as ‘I can’

15. Can mindset be taught? Blackwell, Trzesniewski, and Dweck 2007)
8 sessions built around study skills
Growth mindset group also learnt about the brain and how the brain is like a muscle; the more you use it the more connections it makes
Improved in motivation (greater conscientiousness and more effort into classroom learning) and grades

16. Can Mindset be taught? (Aronson, Fried & Good 2002)
Videos about the brain and its huge potential
Writing letters to struggling younger students
More enjoyment of learning at University and better grades

17. Feedback (Mueller & Dweck 1998)
Praised for effort
Praised for ability
goals
90% of the group created learning goals
66% of the group created
performance goals
enjoyment
continued
decreased
persistence
performance
improved
declined
lied about scores
one individual
40%

18. Managers beliefs (Heslin, Wanderwalle & Latham, 2006)
Managers who adopt a fixed mindset are less good at recognising real changes in staff members
they are less likely to help those they are managing
teaching mindset changed beliefs and behaviour; managers gave more and better suggestions to employees during appraisals and were more likely to notice improvements

19. Born smart?
mindset has a significant impact on motivation and performance,
Beliefs can be changed

20. Workshops in development 2009/10
Taking on challenges
Dealing with setbacks
Assertiveness
Influencing others
Communication skills (NLP)
Brookes Future Leaders

21. Links and further reading
www://napier.ac.uk/confidentfutures
Centre for Applied Positive Psychology
Dweck, C.S., (1999) Self theories: Their Role in Motivation and Personality