Future fit: preparing graduates for the world of work

Future fit: preparing graduates for the world of work is a recent report from the CBI and Universities UK that looks at how universities and business can work together to help equip graduates for their future working lives.

The report is a must-read for anyone involved in supporting the development of graduate employability skills in Higher Education institutions. Those new to the skills agenda will gain a valuable insight into the needs and expectations of students, universities and businesses, and be informed of successful activity. Those already delivering activities will benefit from reading the report’s recommendations, which could inspire new ideas.

Richard Lambert, CBI Director-General, outlines in his foreword why the need to develop graduates’ employability skills is so important. The graduates of 2009, leaving university in the midst of a global recession, face an extremely challenging labour market. With the emergence of a truly global economy, UK graduates are competing directly with counterparts from universities in other countries and continents. It is paramount, therefore, that today’s graduates are equipped with the transferable employability skills that employers value.

Reinforcing this need are figures from the latest CBI education and skills survey, which reveal that over three-quarters (78%) of employers consider employability skills as being essential during recruitment of graduates, more important than the degree subject a graduate studied (41%), the results they achieved (28%) or the university they attended (8%)

So what exactly are employability skills? The report provides a solid foundation for the understanding of employability skills, defined clearly and concisely as: self-management; teamworking; business and customer awareness; problem solving; communication and literacy; application of numeracy; and the application of information technology – with all of these attributes underpinned by a positive, ‘can-do’ attitude.

The report highlights how employers and universities are working successfully together to offer students work placements during degree courses, embed employability into courses and provide on-campus opportunities to meet employers. However, although there is already a significant amount of engagement between universities and employers in support of the skills agenda, there is still room for improvement.

One area in particular that needs to be addressed is the lack of a consistent level of engagement with this agenda across UK universities. Feedback from recent graduates indicates that not all universities helped them to understand and gain the employability skills to the extent they would have expected.

The development of graduates’ employability skills is a shared responsibility. The report identifies this and makes a number of recommendations to universities, employers, students and Government to ensure that everyone is better equipped for the role they play in this crucial agenda.

Visit the CBI Higher Education Task Force website to download a pdf of the report: http://highereducation.cbi.org.uk/reports/00167/

For more information on the report, please contact Matt Sheldon by email at matt.sheldon@cbi.org.uk or phone on 020 7395 8262