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Emerald Article: Connecting enterprise and graduate employability: Challenges to the higher education culture and curriculum? David Rae

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To cite this document: David Rae, (2007),"Connecting enterprise and graduate employability: Challenges to the higher education culture and curriculum?", Education + Training, Vol. 49 Iss: 8 pp. 605 - 619 Permanent link to this document: http://dx.doi.org/10.1108/00400910710834049 Downloaded on: 18-09-2012 References: This document contains references to 26 other documents Citations: This document has been cited by 22 other documents To copy this document: permissions@emeraldinsight.com This document has been downloaded 4766 times since 2007. *

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Connecting enterprise and graduate employability

Challenges to the higher education culture and curriculum?
David Rae
Lincoln Business School, University of Lincoln, Lincoln, UK
Abstract
Purpose This paper aims to demonstrate the rationale for connecting enterprise education with employability and career development in the design of curricula and learning experiences within UK higher education. Design/methodology/approach The paper reects on the experiences of practitioners, including the author, in embedding enterprise education and in seeking to develop a holistic approach which connects enterprise and employability through personal and career development. Findings The article presents connected models of individual learning and of the institutional integration of enterprise, personal and career development. These are located within a critique of existing approaches to graduate employability, including examples of innovative practices. Research limitations/implications The article builds on the early experiences of connecting graduate enterprise and employability in the UK and proposes that further research is required as the eld develops in experience and complexity. Practical implications The article provides models, strategies and examples of effective practices for embedding enterprise and employability in higher education. Originality/value The article is innovative at a conceptual level in arguing for a connected and holistic approach to employability and enterprise development for students and graduates. Keywords Employment, Entrepreneurialism, Graduates, Careers, National curriculum, United Kingdom Paper type Research paper

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Only connect the prose and the passion, and both will be exalted (Forster, 1910).

Introduction Employability remains high on the agenda for Higher Education Institutions (HEIs) in the UK, as well as other developed nations, as students become more selective in their choice of courses and institutions. Yet despite extensive development, and evidence of innovative practices to foster employability within universities, employability remains a complex and problematic area without clear or obvious solutions. Increasingly, enterprising students and graduates are regarded as more employable, and there appear to be advantages in integrating career and enterprise development themes within the curriculum. However, such approaches can pose challenges to the structure, system and culture within HEIs. This article proposes that there is a sound rationale for connecting enterprise and employability. However, it also suggests that there can be fundamental challenges in

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achieving this desirable necessary shift. These include academic management and culture; employers perceptions and experiences of HEIs; and student expectations and behaviours. The case for acting to resolve and overcome these challenges is set out, and prospective new directions for connecting enterprise and employability are explored, based on some of the effective and innovative practices that are being deployed by HEIs. The article suggests that by connecting together interactions between university students, staff, and employers in new ways both through and beyond the curriculum, progress can be made in overcoming these challenges. This can be conceptualised at two levels, through institutional connectivity, and through integration of the individual learning experience, demonstrating innovative and enterprising learning-centred approaches which are in accord with government po0licy on HE (e.g. Dearing, 1997; Lambert, 2003). The arguments for employability The continued expansion of higher education from the late 1980s, accompanied by an increase in the number of HEIs that have become universities, has increased massively the supply of graduates entering the UK employment market. Yet the introduction of tuition fees in 2001 and their increase in 2006 only slowed temporarily the increase in demand from, primarily, young people for university education. As the nancial burdens on students and graduates grow, they increasingly see gaining a degree as a necessary rst step to starting their career, hence employability is a major and growing concern (Yorke, 2004). Employability was possibly not such a major concern for undergraduate education in the pre-1990s era of limited access to higher education, although there has long been a tradition of professional and vocational degrees in Universities. However, the expansion of student numbers in higher education during the 1990s, the entry of successive groups of new universities in 1992 and subsequently, and the multiplication of degree subjects, set against the context of a rapidly changing economy and employment market, have raised employability to be a central concern for many universities, students and others, not least parents and employers (Knight and Yorke, 2003; McNair, 2003). There are long-standing debates about the nature of a degree and to what extent the development of intellectual, creative and other higher level skills are desirable in themselves, and whether they need to be relevant to the job market (CIHE, 2003). Equally, politicians, taxpayers and employers have legitimate interests in the public investment in higher education resulting in a more skilled and higher-earning workforce. There is evidence to suggest that there is, and will continue to be, increasing demand for graduates and graduate-level skills in the UK workforce (e.g. CIHE, 2003; NSTF, 2000). However, it is also evident that graduates often nd it difcult to start their careers and that there is an over-supply of graduates in an increasing number of subject areas or vocations. The choice of degree subjects is affected to some extent by prevailing fashion and universities have been enterprising in responding to this. The increase in demand and course provision in such areas as criminology and forensic science is but one example. That is not to decry the academic value and integrity of such courses, but merely to point out that the popularity of TV programme such as Cracker and Silent Witness has helped to raise awareness and demand for applied subject areas that have relatively limited direct employment opportunities.

The UK actually fares better in graduate employability than other European states, such as France and Germany (Brennan et al., 2001). However, it is often the case that simply possessing a degree is not enough in itself to start a career. It can be argued that the graduate employment market and society are changing more quickly than the higher education sector, and denitions of graduate-level and non-graduate employment are increasingly irrelevant as these distinctions erode. Many graduates struggle to nd their rst jobs after graduating, but this is in itself not new as graduates have long experienced the same challenges at particular times, such as in the early 1980s and 1990s; regions outside the South East, and especially in the North, South-West, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland; and subject areas, such as Arts and Humanities. There is an increasing trend for graduates to start their careers in agency work, doing casual or temporary jobs, often earning low rates of pay scarcely above the minimum wage. First-destination surveys of graduates will always nd a signicant proportion occupied in what may appear to be non-graduate and service-sector jobs, such as call centre operatives, customer service, sales, retail, clerical, catering and hospitality (AGR, 2003). These results may confer little credit on their former universities, yet graduates take these jobs because they are the best available at the time, in the prevailing economic circumstances, and they do not necessarily predict future career paths but are simply the available entry points to employment. However, even if the situation is not new, there exists a combination of factors that collectively create an employability problem for graduates, for universities, and for employers. This is explored in the next section. Dening the problem Employability has been dened as: a set of skills, knowledge and personal attributes that make an individual more likely to secure and be successful in their chosen occupation to the benet of themselves, the workforce, the community and the economy (Moreland, 2006). Accepting that this is just one of various denitions in use, it does illustrate one of the problems of the employability issue, in that it asserts that by acquiring a certain set of skills, knowledge and personal attributes a person is more likely to be employable. Whilst this may be valid, there are surely other factors that may also apply. A person, such as a graduate, is not simply the carrier of a set of skills, knowledge and personal attributes. Their own unique identity, personality and motivation, going beyond personal attributes, which often change markedly during the HE experience, are also likely to be factors. Also, the wider context of the university and the degree subject, in relation to demand from employers, and in the prevailing economic climate, may be signicant. One of the main problems faced by universities is the choice of degree subject and its relevance to the employment market. Universities have the freedom to offer the degree courses for which they have capacity and for which they consider they can attract viable numbers of students. They have complex academic planning systems and aim to involve employers in course validations to ensure that academic standards meet employer requirements. However, there is no requirement for universities, either individually or collectively, to offer degree programmes that meet employer skill or workforce planning needs. This imbalance between the drive to attract students, yet

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the lack of any direct need to relate courses to employer demand, has resulted in the growth of courses which reect student fashion, and the decline of courses, for example in sciences, technology and engineering, for which there was employer demand but decreasing student attraction. Many universities have developed employability strategies and associated provision, at least since graduate employability became a publicly reportable statistic. There are undoubtedly examples of universities with strategies and provision that are of excellent or good practice, for example those featured by the Higher Education Academy (www.heacademy.ac.uk). However, there are also deep-seated cultural and organisational factors which can frustrate the effectiveness of employability initiatives in universities. One of these is what may be termed the disaggregation of academic management. The structure of most universities is generally comprised of a number of academic units, termed faculties, schools or colleges, which include academic departments. These provide degree courses, which in turn, comprise a number of modules. Individual members of academic staff have responsibility for these courses and modules. Support services, such as the careers service, are normally managed within separate structures. The division between a careers advice and guidance service provided centrally, and not always well-resourced, with courses being provided and work experience possibly organised from within a range of academic departments, can be a barrier to integrated employability provision. The problem with this disaggregated approach is that employability is not an outcome of any one module of a course, but rather a result of a holistic learning experience. Employability, as a learning outcome, may be said to result from the cumulative learning over a series of course modules, together with parallel personal development through a range of formative experiences and wider contextual learning through, for example, work experience and extra-curricular activities; it is a product of the whole university experience combined with interactions with the wider world of work. Unfortunately, this holistic learning outcome does not sit easily with the disaggregated style of academic management. So whilst a university may provide the components of an employability programme, including for example personal development planning and recording; career development modules; project-based learning and opportunities for work-related learning; careers advice, mentoring and extra-curricular experiences, it is quite likely that in the experience and mind of the student these activities are unconnected. Almost certainly, they will be managed and organised by a range of different people, who in a large university may rarely meet. The problem is that if the staff responsible for the different components of an employability programme do not connect them together, and present them in an integrated and coherent way to the students, the students are themselves unlikely to recognise the inter-relationships which exist within the learning experience. That is why there is a need to only connect the different aspects of an employability programme. For universities and their academic staff, a deeper cultural problem, of the introverted nature of academic organisations, may exist. The prevailing culture of academic organisations is often to focus inwards, on the organisation of academic structures and on the subject discipline of research and course curricula. The production of academic knowledge tends to privilege theory and conceptual knowledge

over practical application, which results in the term academic becoming a pejorative term of abuse which may also mean irrelevant (Rae, 2004). The real need is for practice to be informed by conceptual understanding, and yet again to connect these different facets of learning through experience, personal and intellectual development. These important and complex considerations can give rise to a reluctance, or at worst a failure to look outwards and to engage effectively with employers, communities and others. There has been a sustained effort from government to achieve cultural change within universities through the initiation of third stream activity since 1999 and especially through the Higher Education Innovation Fund (HEIF) activity in the UK. It is fair to say that this has stimulated universities to seek to interact more effectively and in new ways with businesses and communities, and it has enabled many academics, who wish to do so, to strengthen their engagement with businesses. However, as with any change in deep-rooted culture, it takes place slowly and there are still many academics unaware or not involved in HEIF and related initiatives. For students, there is a growing realisation that nding a job, becoming employable and starting a career are important considerations in their choice of institution and course. Young people are intelligent and realise increasingly that simply having a degree is insufcient in itself and that graduates require other attributes to be employable. One difculty they face is in how to make these decisions. As universities market themselves more and more professionally, they feature employability as a factor in their offer whilst applicants are likely to be inuenced by such factors as league tables, student satisfaction surveys (employability being a factor in both of these), and unofcial sources of information such as blogs based on students experiences. Yet whilst employability is becoming a more important factor in student choice, this is often not matched by student learning and attainment in this area. Students frequently do not display quite basic social and occupational skills of conrming meetings, attending interview appointments, presenting themselves effectively, and so on. Staff with responsibility for work placement and career development provision comment frequently on the low standard of students self-presentation skills, curriculum vitae and applications, which they judge too poor to present to employers. Learners have diverse needs, and often require, but do not necessarily welcome, quite basic education in these aspects of self-organisation and presentation. Students at one university derided the Planning for the Future module, which included career planning as planning for the furniture, whilst at the same university only a minority of around 10 per cent of students actually used the Careers Service for face-to-face guidance. Career planning and personal development provision is widely seen as less important, and often separate from, the main subject or skills-based course provision. The vital point here is that employability-related activity should be seen as part of the core academic provision, not as its inferior partner. Enabling students to recognise the importance of their skill development in employability is a fundamental aspect of the educational process at university, because they may not engage in this with well-developed skills or knowledge. It should also be said that, in fairness, many students are well motivated and have developed or wish to develop effective skills in these areas, but the challenge arises from the wide range of student abilities and needs

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which is, if anything, becoming greater as the effects of widening participation lead to a more diverse student population. For employers, there are continuing arguments that whilst there is strong demand for employing graduates, there are also gaps between employer requirements and the skills and attributes presented by applicants. Employers value the enterprise skills and business awareness, which are an outcome of enterprising learning. Examples include Enterprise Rent a Car, which targets as recruits graduates who want to run their own business, and Decathlon, which aims to recruit sport-oriented graduates who will be responsible for running your own business from the start. Surveys suggest that employers value skills of leadership and team working, communication and presentation skills, and business awareness, for example, but that they experience difculties in recruiting graduates with these skills (CIPD, 2006; AGR, 2003). Clearly, as the number of graduates increases so the competition for many vacancies also intensies. Graduates have to contend with very competitive application processes which include automated CV selection, psychometric and other selection tests prior to reaching an interview stage. These factors have the effect of raising the game in relation to graduate employability. However, it is also the case that the public sector and large national and corporate organisations are possibly over-represented as employers of graduates, and that there is considerable scope for increasing graduate employment within independently owned and smaller rms. These factors, combined with the need in regional economies outside London and the South-east of the UK, to increase the rates of graduate retention in employers within the region, suggest that for employers as well as for universities and graduates, there is a need to re-evaluate the role of employability and the way in which this is managed within the relationship between students, universities and employers. The imbalance in the entry of graduates into the employment market in relation to employer demand means there is a need for graduates to use enterprising approaches to create career opportunities. It is proposed that such approaches can provide useful ways forward, and a number of examples and frameworks are proposed to support this. The need to act: towards a new direction It is evident from the foregoing argument that there is a need, recognised by a growing number of universities, to move towards an enterprising approach to employability. The competition that universities face in recruiting students and their selectivity of institutions and courses is one factor, and the competitive employment market which those students enter as graduates, is another. Given the likely removal of the cap on tuition fees from 2009, universities will need to offer students an enterprising approach to career development as an integral part of their provision. Those that do so are likely to enhance their competitive advantage over those who do not. However, there are broader arguments for taking this approach, which apply above the competitive survival of individual graduates and, indeed, universities. The demographic changes in the years from 2009 will mean that there will be fewer young (18-22 year old) undergraduates in the UK. Conversely, this may well enhance their employment and career prospects. However, this also means that society will be less able to afford the waste its investment in graduates who lack employable skills and, it may be argued, it is dishonest to do so. At the same time, the need for continuing

education, professional development and retraining of the mature workforce, especially the mid-career groups aged 35-55, will increase. There is a case for enterprising career development and lifelong learning for those in mid-career, whom increasingly, will become entrepreneurs later in their working lives (Rae, 2005). Enterprising approaches to career development There are various denitions of enterprise in the academic context. The one used in this context is the skills, knowledge and attributes needed to apply creative ideas and innovations to practical situations. These include, for example, initiative, independence, creativity, problem solving, identifying and working on opportunities, leadership, acting resourcefully and responding to challenges (Rae, 2007). Enterprise education has become established in many UK university courses as well as internationally, with a wide diversity of approaches (Hannon, 2005; Pittaway and Cope, 2005). Initiatives such as Enterprise in Higher Education, Science Enterprise Challenge, and Centres for Excellence in Teaching & Learning have enabled many institutions to develop enterprise education, which is continuing to grow across subject areas, but in most institutions this is not yet accessible to all students. The objectives of enterprise education may span learning for, about, and through enterprise, and are generally aimed at enabling the student to think and act in enterprising ways, with self-employment or entrepreneurship generally being a possible rather than intended outcome (Hartshorne, 2002). Gibb argued that the Business School is no longer a vehicle t for leading entrepreneurship in universities, a new approach being needed to take entrepreneurship out of the locker room of economics, and base it within a wider interdisciplinary context and taking a pluralistic and diffused view of society (Gibb, 2002). He also suggested that the entrepreneurial university is based on its approach to enterprise education, and proposed guidelines for designing an entrepreneurial organisation. Overall, the change required that HEIs move to become learning rather than learned organisations, porous and open to learning from all sources (Gibb, 2005). What is still less common, and is advocated here, is the integration of a career development perspective through enterprising learning. The concept of enterprise is not yet widely adopted within HE careers; a major literature review of career-related interventions ignored it entirely (Bimrose et al., 2005). It is proposed that by taking an enterprising approach to employability, and by connecting together different aspects of the learning experience at both the level of the individual learner, and in managing this at the level of the organisation, then a coherent and joined up approach to employability can be developed. This is evident in some of the employability strategies developed by universities, and in integrated careers and enterprise centres such as Lancaster, Birmingham and Newcastle (Baruch et al., 2006). A conceptual model showing this approach to organisational connectivity is shown in Figure 1. This model, which is illustrative rather than denitive, suggests that institutional leadership is required to connect the activities and facets of employability across the institution. This may seem self-evident in theory, yet it is not yet common in practice. An example of such practice is where a senior manager, such as a Pro-Vice Chancellor for Enterprise, is responsible for leading an organisation-wide group which is empowered to connect academic and curriculum development and delivery in all faculties or departments with institution-wide services for employer engagement,

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Figure 1. Institutional connectivity of employability and enterprise

career development and student enterprise. Marketing, external and internal communications and staff development (including academic quality development) are also important facets in explaining, creating shared internal and external understanding, and academic underpinning of this approach. Practical approaches to connect enterprise and employability This section builds on the conceptual framework by illustrating practical approaches which are being used to connect employability and enterprise. These are based in part on the strategy for employability which was developed at Lincoln Business School in response to an adverse performance in graduate employment, in which only 42 per cent of graduates were being employed in graduate-level jobs as measured by the rst-destination survey (Jones, 2006). The response was to set up an Employability Working Group as a development network across the School to develop the following strategy. The aims of the employability strategy were to increase the Business Schools attractiveness to students and employers by connecting and communicating graduate employability, enterprise and business relevance, and by expanding student work based learning opportunities within the degree programmes, with the desired outcome of improving graduate progression into employment and gaining better reporting of this to improve satisfaction ratings and league table performance. Implementation of this strategy was through an integrated approach to career development for students. With the aim of turning the perceived weakness into a strength, marketing and communications media including student newsletters, open day displays and web pages were developed to feature graduate success stories, enterprise and employability. A careers event for year 2-3 students and graduates was launched, bringing 35 employers offering work experience and career opportunities to meet 450 students the rst time it ran. This was successful and became an annual feature. The School communicated a clear employability offer for all students, from new applicants to nalists, shown in the following list. Following up recent graduates each year, to offer support and encourage their response to destination and satisfaction surveys, was an integral aspect of this. Work experience was identied as essential,

and opportunities to expand work based learning within degree programmes were taken, through a pilot programme to increase take-up of Shell STEP and other summer work placement and project opportunities, in addition to student volunteering, part-time work and other options which enabled more students to gain practical experience.
Developing your career at Lincoln Business School. We provide a range of methods to enhance student and graduate career prospects: Personal development a personal plan and career development module are included in your course; Work experience options short and full year placements, Shell STEP enterprise, projects and consultancies with employers; Careers counsellor access to careers advice during and after your course; Careers event meet employers and nd out about more opportunities; Job shop new on campus to provide part-time and temporary employment opportunities; Enterprise training and support for self-employment and graduates starting their own or working in small businesses; Continuing support for graduates after university.

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Integrating employability and enterprise skills into the degree curriculum has been a key feature of this. A good practice approach, which has been widely adopted, is the career learning, or DOTS model based on the QAA (2001) Code of Practice, which includes: . self-awareness motivations, skills, & personality affect on career plans; . opportunity awareness knowledge of & ability to research opportunities; . decision making assessing personal factors to make sound decisions; and . transition learning how to seek and secure opportunities. To develop and implement this at a practical level, the following ve-strand approach was developed to provide guidelines for career learning opportunities to be designed into degree programmes when these were revalidated. These allowed considerable scope for exibility and professional judgement by academics in planning how to apply these within the degree framework. 1. Personal development Students should be given support and encouragement to use a personal development process enabling them students to set personal goals for individualised learning, to self-assess and reect on their learning and skills, thence gaining ownership and retain evidence of their learning and attainment, and applying this to produce useful documents such as career plans, curriculum vitae and job applications. Either the electronic system adopted by the university or alternatives such as the Continuing Professional Development systems offered by professional institutes, may be used. There should be at least one formal assessment of evidence of their personal development: for example, a curriculum vitae that meets employer acceptance criteria; and development of a career plan. 2. Applied learning The degree programme should require and encourage students to learn actively, to make connections throughout the degree between theoretical and cognitive, subject-based learning and to apply this knowledge in practice and to transfer skills between university and the workplace. There are many opportunities to demonstrate

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and assess applied learning, for example through work based projects and assignments; problem, opportunity and activity-based learning; study visits to employers and external organisations; guest speakers from industry and live case studies; interactive and simulation based learning. These go beyond periods of work based learning. Critical reection and production of reports or assignments are assessable outcomes through which students can show evidence of their applied learning and skills transfer. Academic and practitioner feedback should enhance students ownership of their applied learning. 3. Skill development There should be opportunities in several modules to practice and gain assessed credits for the development of both subject specic and generic skills for personal enterprise and employability. The development of such skills is an integral aspect of the degree, since every module can provide opportunities for skill development, and none should be considered to be purely knowledge-based. A range of generic skills for enterprise and employability are outlined in the following list. Each degree will in addition have its own range of specic skills: (1) Personal: . personal organisation and time management; . self-condence and self-efcacy; . personal budgeting and nancial literacy; . nding opportunities and taking the initiative to act on opportunities; . creative thinking and problem solving; . being able to take decisions and accept risks in conditions of uncertainty; . planning, setting goals and persevering to achieve goals; and . working independently; taking responsibility for achieving results. (2) People: . self presentation and a range of verbal and written communications skills; . interpersonal skills of relationship building, negotiation, persuasion and inuencing; . leadership skills in a range of situations; . team working effectively to achieve results with others; and . participating in social and industry or professional networks. (3) Task: . project management; . computer literacy and it skills; . numerical, analytical and quantitative skills; . being able to apply academic learning in practical settings including the workplace; . being able to adapt and work exibly in different contexts; and . taking responsibility for completing work to quality standards.

Opportunities should be designed into modules to enable students to practice and develop a range of skills by learning in enterprising ways through, for example, investigating and applying creative approaches to solve problems and exploit new business opportunities, team-based projects, and in other ways. Students can be asked to demonstrate evidence and reection on skills developed and applied as an element of their assessed work. Feedback is again an important aspect of their learning. 4. Work-based learning Work-based learning is an essential aspect of every degree, providing opportunities for personal development, applied learning and skills development. Students should be supported in preparing for, experiencing, and assessing the outcomes from, work based learning within their degree. They should also be encouraged to understand the business and work environment, for example in gaining commercial awareness. There is a range of possible work based learning activities, including the examples below, and each students experience should include at least one and preferably more than one type of work experience, stemming from student career preferences and the nature of the degree programme: . short-term work experience placement of 6-12 weeks; . a full academic year work experience placement; . relevant part-time, casual or vacation work; . self-employment or freelancing; . voluntary, community or social enterprise work activity; and . leadership or organisation of student clubs, sports activities or societies. Reection on the value gained from work-based learning is an essential aspect of the experience and can form an integral part of the assessment. A learning log or diary to record personal development may be useful. Work based learning can also provide a strong foundation for dissertation or nal stage project work. 5. Career management There should be access to and encouragement to participate in ongoing career development activities, integrated with the degree programme. Careers education within the degree programme, led by academics with external input, can be specic to the subject, vocation or industry, and should complement generic careers guidance support. Career development activities should include, for example: . training on c.v. preparation; . job search, applications and interview preparation; . self-presentation and communications skills to develop self-condence; . individual careers guidance; . access to industry, vocational or professional practitioner input, e.g. speakers and mentoring; and . access to and participation in university, industry and professional careers events and networks.

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Assessment of career development can include the examples given for previous strands and should be of direct practical value to the student in enhancing their personal marketability. This ve-stage approach to individual learning for career development is shown in Figure 2. University staff development for enterprise and employability Stimulating staff development and business interaction are essential aspects of connecting employability and enterprise, where new approaches may be needed to engage and enthuse higher education staff, and to translate their understanding into curricular and cultural change. University staff cannot be expected to implement enterprise and employability effectively without leadership, encouragement, inspiration and updating on current practices. Organisations such as the HEA and NCGE have a valuable role in providing development opportunities, but there is also a need for action at local and institutional levels. An example of this was the 3Es Energising Enterprise in Education staff development events held at the universities of Derby in 2006 and Lincoln in 2007 (www.3eslincoln.ac.uk). These institutional staff development events were organised to stimulate cultural change and share perspectives on enterprising skills and learning across the university curriculum and to highlight the role of enterprise in working with partner organisations. The goals were rst to share and develop understanding of enterprise in learning and education; in employability and careers; and in engaging with business and the community. Second, they aimed to develop skills, innovation and condence in teaching and stimulating enterprising learning across the curriculum. Finally, they related enterprise to the universities broader role in the economy and community, especially in contributing to economic growth and widening access to learning. The events were open to all staff whose roles touched on enterprise, employability, and external business, community and educational links. They were attended by over 120 staff from universities and external organisations, including colleges, schools, businesses and public sector agencies, which stimulated networking and collaboration

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Figure 2. Connectivity in individual learning

between university staff and external agencies. They attracted a combination of people who responded very positively to the enterprising experience. The expected learning outcomes for participants were to understand how enterprising teaching and learning related to their work; to learn from and to apply examples of effective practice; to discover enterprise learning resources and methods; and to network, learn, and gain inspiration from enterprising and innovative practitioners. These outcomes were successfully achieved. They could not have been staged successfully without preceding developments and connections in partnerships, curricula and teamwork. Externally, the events were perceived by partners and peers to be innovative, building institutional condence and leading practice in enterprise development, whilst showcasing these capabilities effectively. The external interaction with partner organisations added to their credibility and success. They depended on the contributions and support of a range of players including Enterprise, Business Development, and Career Development, demonstrating that enterprise works best across the institution by creating effective internal and external teamwork. The events raised awareness of the essential connections between enterprising learning, the skills agenda, innovative learning, teaching and assessment, employability, widening participation and business and community development, in the wider context of the universities role in the community. They highlighted the importance of continuing to promote an enterprising culture in relation to employability and career development, through effective networks to champion these agendas, together with ensuring that learners are involved to the maximum, and nding creative ways of engaging with businesses. Conclusions The examples of development and practice described in this article were in part drawn from experience at the universities of Lincoln and Derby, as well as being based on policies and methods developed in other institutions and shared through conferences, journals, reports and websites. They represent a relatively early stage in the process of converging enterprising approaches to enhance employability where changing student needs and aspirations, employment market characteristics, and institutional priorities make this a necessary course of action. However, there are is a growing range of pioneering approaches, such as the approach to educating all students in enterprise by the Centres for Excellence In Teaching and Learning at Leeds Metropolitan and Nottingham Universities; integrated careers and enterprise centres (Baruch et al., 2006), and the SPEED project at twelve universities which supports students in starting their own business during their placement year (Birch and Clements, 2006). There are three points that can be made to conclude this initial study. First, the learning experience which connects enterprise and employability must be relevant both to the core degree subject, as well as stimulating and enjoyable in order to appeal to the personal goals of students in all degree subjects, in ways which they recognise add value to them. Well-designed enterprising learning experiences generally embody these qualities. It is about personal development, which, arguably, has all too often been lost sight of within the instrumental learning culture of higher education. It is not about exhorting students to become entrepreneurs. Second, it should offer a progression through an individual learning pathway from prior achievements to build on, and not repeat, the increasingly varied experiences

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offered, for example, by enterprise in the school curriculum and Young Enterprise. Students have varied needs for staged development, for example through personal and skills development and business awareness prior to work experience. The challenge is for universities to be able to offer genuinely personalised learning, as is becoming prevalent in younger age groups, and expected by fee-paying students. Finally, although this article demonstrates how a connected approach to enterprise and employability works conceptually, organisationally, and practically, the end results are in the learning experiences and career pathways of students and graduates. As students increasingly make these connections, they can experience enhanced outcomes of personal and skill development, enterprising achievement and employment. An increasing challenge, and one essential for universities, is to measure and evaluate these results as well as to learn from them and to engage students and graduates in the design and management of these experiences as an integral part of their degree. There are increasing indications that students will make positive contributions to these opportunities. What is required is for educators to connect the learning experience with their expectations and the dynamics of the enterprising society.
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Hannon, P. (2005), Philosophies of enterprise and entrepreneurship education and challenges for higher education in the UK, International Journal of Entrepreneurship & Innovation, Vol. 6 No. 2, pp. 105-14. Hartshorn, C. (2002), Understanding notions of enterprise in the higher education sector, Industry and Higher Education, Vol. 16 No. 3, pp. 149-58. Knight, P.T. and Yorke, M. (2003), Learning, Curriculum and Employability in Higher Education, Routledge Falmer, London. Lambert, R. (2003), Lambert Review of Business-University Collaboration, HMSO, Norwich. McNair, S. (2003), Employability in Higher Education, LTSN, York. Moreland, N. (2006), Entrepreneurship & Higher Education: An Employability Perspective, Learning & employability Series, ESECT, York. National Skills Task Force (2000), Skills for All: Proposals for a National Skills Agenda. Final Report of the National Skills Task Force, DfES, London. Pittaway, L. and Cope, J. (2005), Entrepreneurship education a systematic review of the evidence, paper presented at ISBE conference, Blackpool, 1-3 November. QAA (2001), Code of Practice: Career Education, Information and Guidance, available at: www. qaa.ac.uk/academicinfrastructure/codeOfPractice/section8/default.asp Rae, D. (2004), Practical theories from entrepreneurs stories: discursive approaches to entrepreneurial learning, Journal of Small Business and Enterprise Development, Vol. 11 No. 2, pp. 195-202. Rae, D. (2005), Mid-career entrepreneurial learning, Education + Training, Vol. 47 Nos 8-9, pp. 562-74. Rae, D. (2007), Entrepreneurship: From Opportunity to Action, Palgrave, London. Yorke, M. (2004), Encouraging the Development of Employability, ESECT, York, pp. 3-16. Further reading Department for Education & Skills (2003), The Future of Higher Education, HMSO, Norwich.

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