Ground-breaking employability approach

The new module is aimed at anyone involved in creating, implementing or reviewing learning and teaching related to student career development and employability at a strategic level within a higher education institution. “Whether you are a lecturer, a senior HE manager or a careers professional, this module is designed to help you develop and evaluate the most appropriate strategic approach to integrating careers and employability learning into your institution,” says Kate Daubney, Director of The Careers Group and one of the module tutors. 

As technological innovation, environmental concerns and dramatic global events continue to accelerate the pace of change in worldwide labour markets, higher education institutions around the world are under increasing pressure to demonstrate how they are preparing their students for successful lives after their studies.  “Careers and employability learning, once the sole concern of career professionals and providers of vocational courses, is increasingly becoming an institution-wide strategic priority,” says Kate, “but there are very few resources out there to help those tasked with that responsibility to figure out how to enhance the employability of their students without getting in the way of academic teaching. This module has been developed to fill that gap.” 

The module has three inter-related units which, through teaching, international case studies, creative assignments and structured peer interactions, help module participants to evaluate the relevant external and internal contexts of their institution, to assess the suitability of different potential approaches to implementing careers and employability learning, and to identify the most appropriate methods of evaluating the effectiveness of their chosen approach. 

“We have designed the module to be as practically useful as possible,” says David Winter, Head of Research & Organisational Development at The Careers Group and the other tutor. “The vast majority of activities and assignments involve the students producing something that they can actually use to develop or evaluate a careers and employability learning strategy in their own organisation,” he adds.

Having completed the first core module of the Teaching and Learning Certificate, students will now be able to choose between the existing second module ‘Enhancing Learning, Teaching and Assessment’ and this new module. As further new developments, recognition of prior learning will be offered for module 1 and students will also be able to register for each of the three modules as stand-alone 30 credit courses.