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| Students could boost marks by showing 'corporate skills' |
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Undergraduates on all courses could earn credits for showing they possess the ability to run a workshop or make a good presentation, under the University of Leicester's plans. University College London's career unit is in discussions with senior managers over how to accredit employment skills, and Durham University is considering giving marks for work experience. Workplace skills courses have been a compulsory part of vocationally-oriented undergraduate degrees, such as engineering, for several years.
But awarding credits to an English literature student for these skills is thought to be a new step. Supporters of the courses argue that a growing number of students will soon pick a degree based on whether they think it will prepare them for the jobs market. This is largely because graduates will soon have to pay back up to £9,000 in tuition for each year of their degree – up from the current £3,290 a year.
Paul Jackson, director of student support and development at the University of Leicester, said his institution was "looking closely at how to embed corporate skills into the curriculum at the undergraduate stage". He said university managers were discussing whether students should be able to complete their courses without taking a corporate skills course. "There is no difference between academic skills and employment skills," he said. "We are looking for students who can apply things in a new context."
Prof Anthony Forster, pro-vice-chancellor for education at Durham University, said Durham was reviewing its curriculum and exploring ways to "allow academic credit to be awarded for student employment or short-term community and work-based placements that have involved the application or development of academic knowledge and skills".
Karen Barnard, head of careers at UCL, said some degree courses already ran workplace skills courses, but students tended not to be awarded credits for attending them. She said she was "looking at some form of skills accreditation" with Prof Michael Worton, one of the vice-provosts.
In addition, the university's council, which advises on how the institution should be governed, was "quite keen" on the idea, she said.
But James Ladyman, a professor of philosophy at Bristol University, said learning how to think was the skill graduates most needed to succeed in the workplace. "Incorporating corporate skills into the curriculum is short-term thinking," he said. "The point about education is that it equips you for the long-term. "Now we have this emphasis on the cash-value of a degree."
"Universities are focusing too much on the demands of the corporate sector. Our international students aren't going to come and study in the UK so that they can take corporate skills courses; they come to be taught by top academics."
Mike Molesworth, senior lecturer in consumer cultures at Bournemouth University, said some students wanted to "tick off skills on a CV and regurgitate the best industry buzz terms". He said vocationally-oriented degrees, in advertising for example, had tried to give students intellectual skills, but universities were now "reducing their ambition to churning out cheap, job-ready young people to fill the immediate skills gaps identified by corporations".
The Confederation of British Industry said it would be "broadly in favour of universities including more workplace and employability skills in undergraduate courses". It also said it would like more students to develop "business and customer awareness" and negotiation skills, among others.
By Jessica Shepherd
2 December, 2011 Source: www.guardian.co.uk |
Some UK universities are considering awarding
