Enhancing employability through building graduate capital: a multi-faceted approach

Namvar, S ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-5571-368X, Pinnington, A, Courchene, PH, Greensmith, DJ ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-6459-523X and Nirmalan, NJ ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-9000-298X 2023, Enhancing employability through building graduate capital: a multi-faceted approach , Project Report, Advance HE.

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Abstract

The University of Salford is home to a diverse community of learners, a high proportion of whom are from underprivileged socioeconomic backgrounds and/or underrepresented communities and many are commuters. A significant proportion of the cohort gain university entry through level three qualifications other than A-levels. It is widely documented that students from such backgrounds often achieve lower graduate outcomes and struggle to secure graduate jobs.1 We present here a series of interventions aimed at enhancing graduate capital through building confidence and competence. Availing this timely acquisition of information and opportunities has promoted a value-added student experience against the backdrop of a strong sense of belonging and ownership. Many of the projects described here have been co-designed with students as partners and involve collaboration with wider teams within the university. Using the graduate capital model as a framework, we designed interventions to build social, cultural, identity and psychological capital (Tomlinson, 2017). Collectively, these forms of capital facilitate information awareness, development of a personal, reflective, proactive employability narrative and the development of confidence and professionalism. Furthermore, we encouraged students to take ownership of their own career management, an important step towards enhancing students’ employability (Bridgstock, 2009). Given our student demographics, offering such support is fundamentally important to student success, as capitalising on the university experience, social situations and networks can often be a challenge (Tholen et al, 2013).

Item Type:	Monograph (Project Report)
Schools:	Schools > School of Environment and Life Sciences
Journal or Publication Title:	A Case Study Compendium; Contemporary Practices and Initiatives in Employability
Publisher:	Advance HE
Depositing User:	S Namvar
Date Deposited:	01 Mar 2023 12:01
Last Modified:	03 Mar 2023 15:00
URI:	https://usir.salford.ac.uk/id/eprint/66508

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