Lorna Froud

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• Lorna Froud
• Dr Joanne Moyle
• Careers Employment Centre
• Oxford Brookes University

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What does employabilityreally amount to?Our
definition Set of attitudes and beliefs which
influence and inform actual behaviour and
performance in relation to the ability to gain
and sustain meaningful work (work in the broadest
sense)
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What we know from one-to-one guidance and group
employability practice

• - We cannot underestimate the impact of
  individual attitudes and beliefs on students
  behaviour and performance
• e.g. confidence, self-limiting beliefs,
  pessimistic/optimistic explanatory styles in
  response to setbacks/resilience, fixed/growth
  mindsets, choice overload/decision-making styles,
  self-efficacy, transition coping styles, poverty
  of imagination
• - Broaden-and-build model curiosity,
  strengths-based positive self-regard, authentic
  experimentation and development very motivating

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What we often find

• - Skills-deficit model, what employers want
  often de-motivating doing things for the sake
  of the CV likewise de-motivating-
• Large number of students never access
  opportunities for self-development at university,
  especially employability enhancing ones (unless
  forced) why?
• - Recent research (Maura ORegan) shows that
  majority of students have present- not
  future-orientation whilst at University, and that
  future focus evokes more anxiety than often
  admitted

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Recent developments

• Building evidence base from field of positive
  psychology and performance/sports coaching
• Employers strengths based recruitment (EY,
  Norwich Union)
• Universities Glasgow Mindset Project
• Napier Confident Futures

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Why after years of trying does employability
provision often miss the mark?

• Generation Y just in time, want it now (too
  late they have left)
• Im in the first year whats this got to with me?
• Im in the second year, Im focussed on NOW
• Im in my final year and far too busy..

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Problems

• Lots of evidence to show that career development
  activity supports academic learning but label a
  turn off
• Skill deficit model can feed into fears about the
  university experience as instrumental, doing the
  bidding of employers to meet skill shortages and
  Government agenda
• Evidence to show lack of resilience in generation
  Y

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Useful models

• Personal and academic development rather than
  careers or employability
• Strengths
• Mindsets
• Resilience
• NLP
• MBTI

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Mindsets empowering attitudes

• Fixed vs growth
• Fixed ability cannot change
• Growth ability can be changed
• Related to belief about ability
• Creates a whole mental world to live in
• Learn to hear your fixed mindset voice
• Recognise you have a choice
• Learn to self talk with GM voice
• (Dweck 1999)

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What is Resilience?

• Resilience is the ability to bounce back from
  adversity.
• It allows us to recover from change or hardship.
• Resilience encompasses both strength and
  flexibility.
• It is associated with elasticity, buoyancy and
• adaptation.

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How Do Resilient People Act?
Resilient people demonstrate flexibility,
durability, an ability to organise and manage
ambiguity, to be proactive rather than reactive,
have an attitude of optimism and a mindset that
is open to learning. The resilient person is
positive and views life as challenging but filled
with opportunity.
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Response to setbacks and failures(Diener Dweck
1978, 1980)

• Resilient vs helpless
• Pay attention to learning
• Focus on what is being learnt rather than feeling
• Attempt new ways of doing things
• Use self-motivating statements such as I can

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Can mindset be taught?Blackwell, Trzesniewski,
and Dweck 2007)

• 8 sessions built around study skills
• Growth mindset group also learnt about the brain
  and how the brain is like a muscle the more you
  use it the more connections it makes
• Improved in motivation (greater conscientiousness
  and more effort into classroom learning) and
  grades

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Can Mindset be taught?(Aronson, Fried Good
2002)

• Videos about the brain and its huge potential
• Writing letters to struggling younger students
• More enjoyment of learning at University and
  better grades

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Feedback (Mueller Dweck 1998)
Praised for effort Praised for ability
goals 90 of the group created learning goals 66 of the group created performance goals
enjoyment continued decreased
persistence continued decreased
performance improved declined
lied about scores one individual 40
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Managers beliefs(Heslin, Wanderwalle Latham,
2006)

• Managers who adopt a fixed mindset are less good
  at recognising real changes in staff members
• they are less likely to help those they are
  managing
• teaching mindset changed beliefs and behaviour
  managers gave more and better suggestions to
  employees during appraisals and were more likely
  to notice improvements

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Born smart?

• mindset has a significant impact on motivation
  and performance,
• Beliefs can be changed

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Workshops in development 2009/10

• Taking on challenges
• Dealing with setbacks
• Assertiveness
• Influencing others
• Communication skills (NLP)
• Brookes Future Leaders

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Links and further reading

• http//www.centreforconfidence.co.uk/pp/overview.p
  hp?pc2lkPTEz
• www//napier.ac.uk/confidentfutures
• Centre for Applied Positive Psychology
• Dweck, C.S., (1999) Self theories Their Role in
  Motivation and Personality

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