Harnessing Political Theory Harnessing Political Theory to Facilitate Students’ to Facilitate Students’

Engagement with Engagement with Employability: A Critical Employability: A Critical

Pyramid ApproachPyramid Approach

Fidelma Ashe Fidelma Ashe

University of UlsterUniversity of Ulster

BackgroundBackground

Aims: Aims:

To provide a critical alternative to To provide a critical alternative to conventional models of increasing conventional models of increasing students’ engagement with graduate students’ engagement with graduate employment. employment.

To gain student feedback on To gain student feedback on ‘employability’ methodologies‘employability’ methodologies

Traditional approaches to Personal Traditional approaches to Personal Development Profiling (PDP) and Development Profiling (PDP) and employability utilise skills employability utilise skills questionnaires, learning portfolios questionnaires, learning portfolios and skills building activities with little and skills building activities with little reference to critical subject specific reference to critical subject specific knowledge. knowledge.

Background Background

Bespoke skills modules tend to address Bespoke skills modules tend to address aspects of student employability by aspects of student employability by separating the concept of employability separating the concept of employability from subject specific knowledge from subject specific knowledge

These modes of delivery may filter out a These modes of delivery may filter out a range of critical issues surrounding range of critical issues surrounding graduate employability such as the graduate employability such as the activities of the state, political culture and activities of the state, political culture and graduates’ socio-economic identities graduates’ socio-economic identities

Outcomes Outcomes

Students engage with employability Students engage with employability in an in an

Uncritical fashion Uncritical fashion Autonomous fashionAutonomous fashion The problem of employability is The problem of employability is

reduced to the individual student reduced to the individual student

The project The project

Graduate employability sessions Graduate employability sessions delivered through year one political delivered through year one political thought modulethought module

6 lectures 6 lectures

3 tutorials 3 tutorials

ResourcesResources

Subject specific contentSubject specific content

Learning pyramid Learning pyramid

Learning portfolioLearning portfolio

Key themes Key themes

Outcomes Outcomes

Portfolios reflect critical learning Portfolios reflect critical learning Questionnaires at beginning/conclusion Questionnaires at beginning/conclusion

indicated increased critical understanding indicated increased critical understanding of the arena of graduate employment. of the arena of graduate employment.

Both indicated that students understood Both indicated that students understood the factors that impact on graduate the factors that impact on graduate employment and had considered employment and had considered strategies within that context.strategies within that context.

Reflections Reflections

Too much material was covered. Too much material was covered.

The students were very interested in The students were very interested in the relationship between identity and the relationship between identity and graduate employment indicating this graduate employment indicating this was a suitable lens for critical was a suitable lens for critical engagement engagement

Need to build on this in later yearsNeed to build on this in later years

The project had tried to politicise The project had tried to politicise graduate employment sessionsgraduate employment sessions

The students also embraced the The students also embraced the personal in the sessions personal in the sessions

ConclusionsConclusions

The project illustrates that The project illustrates that knowledge does not have to be knowledge does not have to be divided in to critical and compliant divided in to critical and compliant aspects to address graduate aspects to address graduate employment in Politics degrees. employment in Politics degrees.

Critical knowledge supports our Critical knowledge supports our students in terms of securing students in terms of securing graduate employmentgraduate employment