Towards graduate employment: exploring student identity through a university-wide employability project

Smith, Sally; Smith, Colin F; Taylor‐Smith, Ella; Fotheringham, Julia

doi:10.1080/0309877x.2017.1390077

Cited by 13 publications

(11 citation statements)

References 48 publications

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“…Narrative interviews encourage participants to describe their lives as a series of events and attempt to make sense of their trajectories (Dziallas and Fincher 2016). Various precedents inspired this approach to investigating the apprentices' journeys into, and situated experience of, the new degrees, including Dziallas and Fincher (2016), Smith et al (2017) and UCAS (2017). A realist approach was taken to the interviews: the participants' narratives were valued (and interpreted) as their individual perspectives and also as accounts describing aspects of the implementation of apprenticeships, according to their specific contexts (Braun and Clarke 2006;Maxwell and Mittapalli 2011).…”

Section: Survey and Interviews With New Computing Apprentices (Data S...mentioning

confidence: 99%

Degree apprenticeships - a win-win model? A comparison of policy aims with the expectations and experiences of apprentices

Smith

Caddell

Taylor‐Smith

et al. 2020

Journal of Vocational Education & Training

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This article compares policy aims with experiences following the introduction of a new model for STEM apprenticeships in the UK. Degree apprentices work while studying for a degree, undertaking work-based learning and attending on-campus classes. Specifically, this study explores an implementation in Scotland, where computing degrees are designed and delivered through partnerships between employers, universities, and the Scottish Government's skills agency, Skills Development Scotland. This collaboration is designed to bridge employer-reported skills gaps and to bring about an increase in highly-skilled workers. To examine the policy implementation behind the new degrees, a review was conducted of the policy documents that framed their introduction, including texts from university and employer websites promoting apprenticeships. The apprentices' perspectives, barely addressed in the policy documents, were examined through surveys and narrative interviews. The policy documents positioned the new degrees as a 'winwin' opportunity for employer-led higher education, and the apprentices recognised and valued the opportunity to undertake a work-based degree. However, underneath the superficial win-win narrative a complex implementation landscape was observed for employers, apprentices, and universities. Understanding these stakeholder contexts is essential for the longer term sustainability of degree apprenticeships.

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Section: Survey and Interviews With New Computing Apprentices (Data S...mentioning

confidence: 99%

Degree apprenticeships - a win-win model? A comparison of policy aims with the expectations and experiences of apprentices

Smith

Caddell

Taylor‐Smith

et al. 2020

Journal of Vocational Education & Training

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View full text Add to dashboard Cite

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“…The transition from student to employee as a lived experience through self-identification offers another window onto graduation and job seeking. Identity can provide evidence of the effectiveness of work-integrated learning (Smith, Smith, Taylor-Smith, & Fotheringham, 2017), which includes internships, industry-based projects and employer mentoring (Jackson, 2016). The aim of this study was to explore the impact on student identity of a new workintegrated learning portfolio course designed to assemble a professional body of work targeted towards a career in digital media.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Getting in, getting on: fragility in student and graduate identity

Smith

Hunter

Sobolewska

2019

Higher Education Research & Development

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Over a period of three years this longitudinal study explored new approaches to consider student identity during the transition from university to employment. Students were followed through a new portfolio-based final year course and beyond university into the workplace. With universities increasingly recognising the employment aspirations of their students, facilitating self-awareness of graduate attributes and the development of employability skills are becoming integral to the higher education proposition; however the impact of employability initiatives is not well understood. The aim of the study was to examine changes in self-identification through the development of a portfolio of work using Holmes' Claim Affirmation Model of Emergent Identity as the conceptual framework. Data was collected through student questionnaires and graduate interviews. The study uncovered the ways in which role models, developmental networks, and imaginings of a possible self were used in identity work. A fragile reconstruction of identity was observed as graduates faced the labour market, with this fragility continuing to be experienced while navigating an uncertain work landscape. We used these findings to allow us to refine Holmes' Model by (a) adding a dynamic element and (b) grounding it on longitudinal data.

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“…43)the ability to be respectful to others 'culture without introducing one's own' (Aulakh & Kotabe, 1997;Nilsson, 2003;Smith et al, 2019;Wellman, 2010).…”

Section: Internationalization At Home and Graduates' Employabilitymentioning

confidence: 99%

From A Literature Review To The Conceptual Framework For The Employability

Khalid¹,

Muhayidin²,

Ali³

et al. 2020

European Proceedings of Social and Behavioural Sciences

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Towards graduate employment: exploring student identity through a university-wide employability project

Cited by 13 publications

References 48 publications

Degree apprenticeships - a win-win model? A comparison of policy aims with the expectations and experiences of apprentices

Degree apprenticeships - a win-win model? A comparison of policy aims with the expectations and experiences of apprentices

Getting in, getting on: fragility in student and graduate identity

From A Literature Review To The Conceptual Framework For The Employability

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