Enhancing student employability is a key aspect of any chemistrybased degree; however, embedding such activities in the curriculum is often challenging. Placements (internships in the USA) or experiential visits are the most widely used approach, but these are not always inclusive. Work-integrated learning (WIL), the practice of combining traditional academic study or formal learning with student exposure to the world-of-work, is widely seen as an alternative approach to provide key employability skills. Our study utilizes a game-based learning activity based on the TV show The Apprentice to conduct WIL. Working in teams, students evaluated the performance of two different chromatography analytical columns and are asked to generate various marketing materials to highlight the performance of one column over the other. This included creating an infomercial and marketing flyer before finally pitching their findings to an expert panel. This activity provided a creative platform for students to showcase a range of employability skills, which they reflected upon immediately afterward and a year after graduating. Students indicated that the real-life work-based content of this specific activity significantly enhanced their employability and helped them secure a job. This educational WIL can be modified for any discipline of chemistry, providing a unique and inclusive way to provide a vast array of skills to enhance employability.
Objectives: This study aimed to discover how a diverse pharmacy student population in the United Kingdom engages with academic and non-academic support, and what might prevent them from doing so.
Methods: Pharmacy students (in all years of study) completed an online survey seeking information on: demographics; confidence in studying; and where/how students seek academic and personal support. The survey outcomes were statistically analysed to compare differences between Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic (BAME) and white students.
Results: When seeking help from academic staff, 38.8% of BAME students felt they were negatively perceived. All students are significantly more likely to seek help for academic issues than for personal and well-being ones, with most students preferring to ask family and friends rather than university support mechanisms.
Conclusion: The results strongly indicate that support mechanisms present within universities to help students are seldom utilised and may explain the reduced academic performance of both white and BAME students.
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