Reflections on the 2017 HEA STEM conference: graduate employability challenges and solutions

Chetwynd, Frances; Aiken, Fiona and Jefferis, Helen (2018). Reflections on the 2017 HEA STEM conference: graduate employability challenges and solutions. Higher Education Pedagogies, 3(1) pp. 490–494.

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1080/23752696.2018.1462094

Abstract

Professor Marshall, in her conference opening remarks, asked ‘What is a university for?’ She then discussed the need for higher education to develop graduates who can offer solutions to global challenges, but that this needs to include not only core skills for each discipline but also wider graduate skills that employers require. Professor Wakeham, in his keynote, questioned whether our current approach to employability development is working, for STEM undergraduates, highlighting the poor employment rates for STEM UK graduates.
In this Conference Reflection article, we will respond to the issues raised above by considering what the overarching challenges are for universities trying to teach employability and graduateness. Drawing on the conference keynotes, employer-led reports and using the reviews of Shadbolt and Wakeham, we will consider what problems and issues exist and what solutions are being devised, reflecting on the successes and difficulties reported on at the Manchester conference.

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