Integrating Employability

1
Integrating Employability Management Skills
into the Tourism and Entertainment Management
Curriculum at Leeds Metropolitan University

• Presented by Stuart Moss
• Based on a paper by David Hind and Stuart Moss
• s.moss_at_leedsmet.ac.uk
• d.hind_at_leedsmet.ac.uk

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Leeds Metropolitan University

• One of the largest universities in the UK, with
  over 52,000 students and 3,500 staff.
• Two main campuses in Leeds (Headingley and the
  Civic Quarter) and one in Harrogate.
• Regional university network (RUN) that involves
  fourteen partner colleges, from Newcastle to
  Nottinghamshire and from Grimsby to Belfast, with
  over 300,000 students between them. 
• Creating in the UK the equivalent of a major
  American state university system, which we term a
  Great North Uni.

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Leeds Metropolitan University
Regional University Network
Leeds
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Tourism _at_ Leeds Met

• 15 members of staff.
• 380 students studying from HND to PhD.
• Active in research, consultancy publication
  particularly within the area of sustainable and
  responsible tourism home to the International
  Centre for Responsible Tourism.
• Recognised as excellent by the Sunday Times,
  August 2006.
• Developing a new curriculum area for the
  University Entertainment Management.

5
The Challenge in Context

• Historically little consensus on what
  employability is.
• More agreement of what employability skills
  are.

Personal Skills
Interpersonal Skills
Study Skills
6
The Challenge in Context

• Experience has showed us that this has been an
  undervalued subject area.
• Poor attendances and low achievement in class.
• Knock-on effect on other modules.
• Necessary to develop an integrated approach to
  employability skills delivery.

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Objectives

• Make students aware of the employability skills
  that employers expect.
• Provide structured learning opportunities for
  development of and reflection upon employability
  and management skills.
• Encourage students to transfer their
  employability and management skills into work
  placements, and work based learning modules.

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Rationale

• A survey of over 250 managers in the UK
  conducted by the Chartered Management Institute
  found that graduates whilst in the main were
  competent with Information Technology (IT) were
  lacking in basic communication and interpersonal
  skills, including teamwork, presentation skills,
  and problem solving
• (DoctorJob, 2002, p.4).
• The Association of Graduate Recruiters
  ascertained that over half of graduates recruited
  into the workplace lacked team working and
  communication skills, as well as cultural
  awareness
• (BBC, 2006).

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Developing Employability Skills

• Four stage process
• Making students aware and sensitive to the
  employability skills to be developed.
• Practice
• Feedback
• Further practice post-feedback

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Developing Employability Skills

• Integrating employability skills into the tourism
  and entertainment curriculum has involved
• Integrating employability skills development into
  the curricula of a number of modules.
• Designing a module that specifically focuses on
  the development of employability skills
  Employability and Management Skills.

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The Module - Employability and Management
Skills (EMS)

• Move away from previously used module titles
• Personal and Professional Development (PPD)
• Personal Skills Development (PSD)
• Personal and Professional Skills Development
  (PPSD)
• Professional Development (PD)
• Continuing Professional Development (CPD)
• Personal and Vocational Skills Development (PVSD)

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EMS

• In designing the module three principles were
  acknowledged
• skills are developed through active
  participation
• students learn through feedback
• immediate feedback improves motivation and
  enhances learning.

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EMS

• Delivered level one, semester one.
• Designed around four broad themes that reflect
  the learning outcomes for the module
• learning and study skills
• communication skills
• career management skills
• group work skills.

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EMS Assessment One

• CV (resumé) and covering letter.
• Twelve advertisements for real jobs placed on
  WebCT.
• Submitted at the beginning of week four class,
  then redistributed and marked via peer
  assessment.
• Feedback in written and oral format.

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EMS Assessment Two

• Interview skills.
• Week 6
• Assumption made that CV and covering letter had
  got the student an interview.
• Due to logistics it was not possible to conduct
  lengthy oral interviews. Instead, two strategies
  were devised.
• Each student wrote answers to interview
  questions.
• Each student was given another students responses
  and was required to peer assess.
• Each assessor was asked to provide as much
  feedback as possible on the answers to the
  various questions.
• In private with the tutor each student was asked
  orally one of the questions to give them an
  opportunity to communicate verbally a response.

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EMS Assessment Three

• Theatre role play.
• Distributed in week 7, performed in week 11.
• Tourism examples include
• White Knuckle Shirker
• Late check-in
• Club 18-70
• Campsite challenge
• Tutor feedback and grade given in week 12.

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Role Play Late Check-in
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EMS Assessment Four

• Assessment Day.
• Week 13.
• Tested the following areas
• note taking skills
• Harvard referencing skills
• comprehension skills
• academic writing skills.
• The day started with a lecture (including a
  video) on a topic relating to their industry.
• The students were required to take notes from
  both the lecturer and the video tape.
• Students given a question to answer, using their
  lecture notes and notes they had previously
  taken.

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Integrating Employability Skills into the Entire
Curriculum

• Progress files.
• Organisational management modules studied in
  Semester two of level one.
• Placements and work based learning.
• Personal and Professional Skills for Managers
  taught at level two.
• Consultancy projects carried out at level three.

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Reflection

• Innovative approach to integration and delivery
  of employability skills.
• Benefits improved grades and attendance.
• Delivery method of employability skills.
• Feedback to students.
• Peer assessment has worked very well.
• Commitment of the tutor essential.

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Reflection

• Role play has helped put into context their
  employability skills.
• Encouraging reflection has been challenging but
  overall has been successful.
• Feedback from students has been very positive.

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Conclusion

• All university courses need to develop further
  the employability skills of their students.
• Developing employability skills does not occur
  overnight it is a life long process.
• Students do not necessarily find skills
  development an easy process, it can be just as
  challenging as developing academic subject
  knowledge and understanding.
• The course team needs to consider a variety of
  strategies for integrating employability skills.
• The combination of these strategies will result
  in students developing skills that will enhance
  their employability.

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Bibliography

• British Broadcasting Corporation. (2006) Graduate
  demand outstrips skills. Internet London, BBC.
  URL available from lthttp//news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/edu
  cation/4687030.stmgt Accessed 1st November, 2006
• Dearing, R. (1997) Higher education in the
  learning society. Report of the National
  Committee of Inquiry into Higher Education. HMSO,
  Norwich
• Doctorjob. (2002) Ill Communication. Doctorjob.
  Summer 2002, p.4.
• Hannam, K. (2004) Tourism employability and the
  European Social Fund, proceedings of the 2004
  conference of the Association for Tourism in
  Higher Education
• Harvey, L. (2001) Defining and measuring
  employability. Quality in Higher Education, 7
  (2), 97-109
• Hillage, J. and Pollard, E. (1998) Employability
  developing a framework for policy analysis.
  Research Brief 85, Department for Education and
  Employment
• Hind, D. and Moss, S. (2005) Employability
  skills. Sunderland, Business Education Publishers
  Ltd
• Knight, P. and Yorke, M. (2004) Learning,
  curriculum and employability in higher education.
  London, Routledge
• Lees, D. (2002) Graduate employability
  literature review. Internet York, LTSN Generic
  Centre. URL available from lthttp//www.ltsn.ac.uk
  /gt Accessed 1st December 2005.