'ePortfolios for Employability- Promoting Career Learning through Business Engagement' (Kirstie Coolin, CIePD, University of Nottingham) Abstract accepted for paper number 40 ALT-C 2012

1. Author: Kirstie Coolin, CIePD, University of Nottingham
Purpose: Paper accepted for ALT-C 2012
ALT-C 2012 – A Confrontation with Reality – Short Paper
ePortfolios for Employability – Promoting Career Learning through Business Engagement
Background, Approach, Results, Conclusion
The HE White Paper ‘Students at the Heart of the System’ concludes that “The relationship between
universities and colleges, students and employers is crucial to ensuring that students experience the
higher education they want while studying and leave their course equipped to embark on a
rewarding career”(BIS, 2011, p45).
Introducing the Key Information Set for September 2012 has highlighted the stark data requirements
for demonstrating numerical employability statistics to prospective students, and Higher and Further
Education institutions are responding by pitching their energies into addressing student
employability across all academic disciplines. Thus, the Higher Education sector is ever more
challenged with embedding employability into its learning and teaching.
How student expectations will be manifested is not an exact science, but increasingly the question
students are asking is ‘will I get a good job?’ What can institutions do now to respond and do they
have the structures in place?
This presentation will describe project work at the University of Nottingham’s CIePD which aims to
join employability learning with business engagement to deliver mutually satisfactory and cohesive
outcomes for student, university and employers, acknowledging their different starting points and
finding common ground to promote career learning and knowledge exchange.
Increased opportunities for placements and internships are integral, as is raising student accessibility
to employers. Institutions seek to widen business engagement activities to encompass not only the
large ‘milkround’ employers, but also the small, medium and social enterprises, 3rd sector and local
entrepreneur communities who comprise a significant employer base, not always considered by
students.
Correspondingly, universities hold vast arrays of knowledge, skills and research of interest to these
groups who in turn can offer employability learning opportunities to students, but these are often
hard to access, compounded by the diversity of business engagement, career and teaching and
learning processes within a large institution. The JISC-funded SHED project aims to join people and
technologies from these areas to develop career learning and professionalism spaces for students,
using ePortfolio for recording and showcase skills and interests, offering an interface for students
and employers, thus contributing to student learning about employer sectors and transferable skill
demand. A sister project, ESCAPES, is improving the placement learning processes from a student
perspective, and embedding new practice for career learning, placement preparation and reflection
through ePortfolios, thus embedding professionalism and career learning into the student’s course.
Through these projects, the CIePD have sought the student voice on career learning and
employability. Discussions with small businesses have revealed usability and accessibility issues in
engaging with Universities. Further investigations are also underway to develop institution and
community gateways to maximise professional learning through development of an online space
where career learning can emerge from the boundary of University and Community.