Graduate Employability Skills

Client

Australian Industry Group (Ai Group) and the Business, Industry and Higher Education Collabroation Council (BIHECC)

Description

The Australian Industry Group on behalf of BIHECC commissioned a project to research, analyse and critique how graduate employability skills are being addressed in the higher education sector. The project also examined cost effective and educationally sound approaches for assessing and reporting Graduate employability skills in the higher education sector. Precision Consultancy was contracted to undertake this project on behalf of the Australian Industry Group.

Methodology

The project collected data from a range of sources including; published literature and research, academic staff, representatives from professional bodies, graduate careers and employment services and employers. A discussion paper was published and invitations made to respond.

Deliverables

  Key outcomes of the project included:

  • identification of how universities currently integrate, develop and teach employability skills to undergraduates

  • consultation with higher education stakeholders including universities, business and industry to review and identify best practice for integrating, developing, teaching, assessing and reporting on employability skills nationally and internationally

  • identification of practical, cost effective options that enable employability skills that are embedded in higher education qualifications to be explicitly identified as part of the higher education assessment and reporting process

  • recommended assessment and reporting approaches for the recognition of graduate employability skills, and identifying the benefits of additional practical, cost effective and educationally sound processes to assess and report employability skills beyond current arrangements

  • identification of the impact of recommended approaches on the higher education sector, and the possible interactions with the vocational and technical education and secondary education sectors; and

  •  a cost/benefit analysis of the integration, development, teaching, assessment and reporting options identified.