Incorporating Employability into the Curriculum

Dr. Craig ThorleyEdge Hill University

Who Am I?

Who Am I?Education

• BA (Hons) Psychology, Lancaster University (2001)• MSc in Psychological Research Methods, Lancaster University (2002)• PhD Psychology, Lancaster University (2007)

Employment

• Senior Lecturer in Psychology at Edge Hill University (since 2007)• Residential School Tutor for The Open University (since 2003)

Research Interests

• Collaborative remembering, memory conformity, false memories/memory illusions, eyewitness testimony, and prospective memory.

Who Do I Research?Collaborative Remembering

• Thorley, C., & Dewhurst, S.A. (2007). Collaborative false recall in the DRM procedure: Effects of group size and group pressure. European Journal of Cognitive Psychology, 19, 867-881.

Memory Conformity

• Thorley, C. (In Press). Memory Conformity and Suggestibility. Psychology, Crime, & Law,

False Remembering/Memory Illusions

• Dewhurst, S.A., Thorley, C., Hammond, E.R., & Ormerod, T.C. (2011). Convergent, but not divergent, thinking predicts susceptibility to associative memory illusions. Personality & Individual Differences, 51, 73-76.

Life Away from the Lab

Craig Thorley

Talk Overview

Talk OverviewTwo main themes:

1. Contextual information about why employability is becoming increasingly important for Universities.

2. An overview of the types of things we do at Edge Hill University to incorporate employability into our curriculum.

Why is Employability Important?

The Push Towards EmployabilityWhy is employability important?

1. Increasing emphasis by the government to enhance employability in the University curriculum.

2. Increasing emphasis by the government to make pre-University students aware of their actual career prospects (e.g., KIS data).

3. Increasing emphasis on employability by regulatory bodies (e.g., the BPS) and education organisations (e.g., the HEA).

4. Increasing role of employability in University league tables.

Emphasis by Government• June 2011: Government White Paper

published that emphasises employability in degrees.

• Page 39: Universities and employers should be involved in course design.

• Page 41: Emphasis on work placements/ sandwich years across degrees.

• Page 27: Students should be made aware of their job and salary prospects before they commence a course (KIS Data).

Emphasis by Government

KIS Data and Employability• From September 2012, ALL universities and colleges will be required to

publish standardised information for all their undergraduate courses.

• This is called Key Information Set (KIS) data and includes:

1. Student satisfaction survey scores2. Detailed course information (e.g., contact hours p/w)3. Future employment prospects and salary data 4. Accommodation costs5. Tuition-fees

• Are £9000 a year students going to be attracted to a course with poor employment prospects and low salaries?

KIS Data and Employability

This data will be collected from the National Student Survey (NSS) and not from the institution.

This data will be collected from the Destination of Leavers from Higher Education Survey (DHLE) and not from the institution.

KIS Data and Employability

The data displayed on this section of the KIS should contain a link to a page containing further information on Learning and Assessment for the course.

Emphasis by Regulatory Bodies• Meeting convened by BPS, HEA, and

AHPD in Nov/Dec 2010.

• Discussed changes required for UG degrees to make them “fit for purpose in five years time”.

• Employability in the curriculum one of several themes discussed.

• In the document, Chapter 5 is devoted to enhancing employability of students and 5 recommendations made.

Emphasis by Regulatory BodiesThe five recommendations made for enhancing employability in the BPS “Future of UG

Psychology in the UK” document.

Emphasis by Education Organisations

• The HEA have produced a helpful guide on employability for students. It covers issues such as:

1. The importance of work experience.

2. Career paths for Psychology graduates.

3. Skills gained on a Psychology degree.

4. How to create a CV and cover letter (with examples for different careers).

• More on this later………..

Employability in League TablesEmployability (and NSS scores) are increasingly contributing to League Tables….

Employability in League TablesThe Guardian does not include research in their tables anymore……

Psychology students: Who are they and what do they do?

Number of UK Psychology Students

Year Total Full-time Part-Time

2010-11 87,160 59,235 27,925

2006-07 71,175 50,140 22,335

2002-03 50,780 40,430 10,350

1998-99 37,584 29,195 8389Source: HESA website. Includes UG and PG.

The most popular degrees in the UK in 2012 are: 1) Nursing2) Business and Management3) Design Studies4) Law5) Psychology

Post-1999 seems to result in a massive influx of students. Why?

Number of UK Psychology StudentsA little timeline of events:

• 1997: Government announces “Get 50% into HE”.

• 1999: Widening Participation schemes starts and Universities offered millions to who recruit via it (e.g., £386 million in 2005/06).

• Post-1999: “Recruiting Universities” (as opposed to “Selecting Universities”) realise that “bums on seats” will get them this extra income.

• Post-1999: Influx of students with poor qualifications who can struggle academically and require extensive additional support to complete.

Note: Just to be clear, I am not criticising Widening Participation itself here as I have met plenty of students who have benefitted from it.

My Four Student Types

Willing and able

Willing and not able

Not willing but able

Not willing and not able

Regardless of student type, ALL contribute to your KIS Data and league table positions via future employment.

What do Psychology Graduates do?2008 (6 months after graduation):

• 60% were in work after 6 months.

• 13.9% went into Social/Welfare roles

• 18% of these were in jobs associated with professional, academic or experimental psychology.

• That is 2.5% of all students in work.

• Put simply, Psychology students tend not to become Psychologists, so employability should not be focussed on these roles???

http://www.guardian.co.uk/money/2010/feb/13/degree-in-pyschology-job-options

Designing a Psychology Course to Enhance Employability?

Psychology Degrees and EmploymentThe structure of Psychology degrees can be pretty inflexible due to regulatory

requirements requiring core topics to be covered and assessed.

Psychology Degrees and Employment

• Tension between incorporating employability, but also adhering to the BPS guidelines for accreditation.

• At the moment, “core content” requires covering in Years 2 and 3:

1. Biological Psychology2. Cognitive Psychology3. Developmental Psychology4. Individual Differences5. Social Psychology6. CHIPS (can be embedded in others)7. Research Methods8. A Dissertation

• To also to accommodate employability, you need to be creative.

What Sorts of Things Do We Do At Edge Hill University?

Things We Do At Edge Hill University

• Emphasis here not on generic skills that all students gain (e.g., learning statistics).

• A few modules where we incorporate employability-related learning:

Year 1 • “PDP” Module (activities most University’s will incorporate).

Year 2• “Individual Differences” Module &“Applied Psychology” Module.

Year 3• “Future Directions” Module & “Research Technologies and Tools” Module

Year 1

PDP Module

Year 1: PDP Module• We buy one HEA Employability Guide for

each student.

• Several PDP sessions based around activities within the guide such as asking students to complete a skills assessment.

Why?

• BPS Future Directions document: “Make the skills gained by Psychology students more explicit to students”.

• These are skills that could be on an application form/CV and……………..

Year 1: PDP ModuleGraduate recruitment schemes have competency-based application forms/ interviews.

– Give us an example of a situation where you had to deal with a conflict.

– Tell me about a time you led a group to achieve an objective.

– Tell me about a time when you identified a new approach to a problem.

– What is your biggest weakness?

• Getting students to think about their team work skills, problem solving skills, etc will help ready them for such questions.

Year 1: PDP Module• The careers service give sessions on

future career paths.

• For those interested in becoming a practicing psychologist, the difficulty/competition is pointed out.

• The importance of work experience is emphasised in order to get past the application form process.

• Advice on volunteering is given to those interested in becoming practicing psychologists (as well as other careers).

Official BPS Careers Poster

Year 2

Individual Differences Module

Year 2: Individual Differences Module

• Many students apply for graduate trainee schemes in the final year of their degree.

• Many will be filtered out via competency based questionnaires and telephone interviews.

• Those that pass this stage are invited to an “assessment centre” where they complete a range of psychometric tests, engage in role plays, have another interview etc.

• How can we prepare students for these?

Year 2: Individual Differences Module• The assessment on the Individual

Differences module requires students to shortlist candidates for interview based on:

1. A Job Description/Person Specification

2. Application Forms

3. Personality profiles (Cattell’s 16PF).

• This is done in small groups (shortlisting panel).

• They conduct a 10 minute presentation (filmed by themselves) where they explain their shortlisting decisions.

More information than this is provided.

There is more information on subsequent pages.

Meet Mr. Shaun Redman

Year 2

Applied Psychology Module

Year 2: Applied Psychology Module• One of the key themes in both the Government White Paper and the BPS Future

Directions document is work placements.

• We have work placements/shadowing on our Educational Psychology and Sports and Exercise Psychology Degrees.

• Is it realistic to find these for all BA/BSc Psychology students?

North West Universities:

Lancaster University Edge Hill University

Liverpool University Liverpool Hope University

Manchester University Salford University

University of Central Lancashire Manchester Metropolitan University

Bolton University University of Cumbria

Chester University Liverpool John Moore’s University

Year 2: Applied Psychology Module• Given the inherent difficulty in

arranging work placements, we ask students to think about how they could contribute to their community.

• They are given a brief about creating a proposal for a £50,000 funded project for the Local Authority.

• They can choose any issue they wish to examine. Topics chosen included:

a) A scheme to tackle self-harm in youths.

b) A scheme to Reduce Anti-Social Behaviour by Youths.

Year 2: Applied Psychology ModuleAn Intervention to Reduce Anti-Social

Behaviour by Youths

• Here the student provides evidence that anti-social behaviour is the biggest complaint in her local community.

• Here the student discusses successful interventions but notes a gap in the literature (social-skills training not incorporated) and goes on to discuss how and why these should be implemented in schools.

Year 2: Applied Psychology Module• The student identifies a clear and

realistic sample.

• The student created a comprehensive budget (even includes BPS membership fees!).

• As the idea was so well thought out, we approached several local authority agencies and The Police with this idea, and £10,000 of funding was obtained. The Police are now running this scheme in schools.

Year 3

Research Technologies and Tools

Year 3: Research Technologies and Tools

• 6 months after employment only 2.5% of students are working in a Psychology related field.

• The obvious first step is to apply for a Research Assistant job.

• Does a student with a BA/BSc have the skills necessary to land the job?

• How many applications would you expect for a 12 week post at a small University like mine?

Year 3: Research Technologies and Tools

October – December 2011

• Working with me on a Prospective Memory study.

• 68 applications:

– 8 with PhD’s– 36 with MSc’s– 24 with BA/BSc’s

January – April 2012

• Working with Dr. Claire Campbell on an implicit attitudes study.

• 84 applications:

– 6 with PhD’s– 54 with MSc’s– 20 with BA/BSc’s

Most of the people with UG degrees only had no experience of research technologies other than ones they may have used as part of their dissertations.

Is there anything that can be done to enhance the likelihood of our students landing RA jobs?

Year 3: Research Technologies and Tools

• A third year module that is capped at 10 students.

• Aim is to give students experience of the types of technologies and tools they are likely to need for experimental RA positions.

• Students receive comprehensive training in the use of:

• As well as an overview of (but no official training) of measures such as:

Year 3

Future Directions Module

Year 3: Future Directions Module• Compulsory short module

emphasising future career paths.

• Students reflect back on the Skills Assessment from Year 1 and see what has changed.

• Advice is given on interview skills and then students practice and watch interviews in the observation lab.

• Students use guidance in HEA Employability Guide and produce their own CV’s.

Summary

Summary1. Employability in the curriculum is being emphasised by the government,

regulatory bodies, and education organisations.

2. Employability is increasingly influencing recruitment (via KIS Data) and league tables positions.

3. At Edge Hill we try to embed employability throughout the curriculum to ensure every student maximised their potential for employment.

– In Year 1, we get them to reflect on their skills and have career talks.– In Year 2 we get them to engage in assessments related to employability/careers.– In Year 3 we give them skills needed for RA work/training in interview skills, as well as

ensuring they leave with a CV.

4. This is just a taster of some of the things we do to make our students employable.