Source: Tertiary Education Commission
Employability Ecosystems – Part 1: Improving learner outcomes through links to industry
Dr Roy Priest, Associate Professor at Birmingham City University (BCU), gives an overview of their Employability Ecosystems that improve learner engagement, and support successful graduate outcomes by embedding employability into the curriculum and connecting learners with industry throughout their programme of study.
Set in the heart of Birmingham, with a focus on practice-based learning, this public university has over 30,000 learners from over 100 countries. Around half of their learners come from the most deprived neighbourhoods of Birmingham. A significant proportion of learners are the first in their family to attend university and commute from home.
The BCU’s Employability Ecosystems maximise the potential for ongoing connection between learners, industry-based professionals and tutors through informal frameworks. It’s a holistic approach encompassing research, knowledge transfer, curriculum development, course and programme marketing. Roy discusses what this approach looks like in practice and the support BCU has put in place for academic staff to enhance learner outcomes through informal engagement with industry.
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Employability Ecosystems – Part 2: Informal networks to support graduate outcomes
Dr Roy Priest, Associate Professor at Birmingham City University (BCU) shares insights into three informal network initiatives – Industry Mentors Forums, Special Interest Groups, and Formal and Information Industry Advisory Boards.
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DREAM Convening
The annual DREAM Convening is Achieving the Dream’s (ATD’s) flagship event. It attracts influential leaders and practitioners from more than 300 US-based community colleges and organisations who exchange ideas about evidence-based reform strategies that transform higher education and impact learner success.
Achieving the Dream
Te Rito Maioha
Nikki Parsons, Te Rito Maioha General Manager Workforce and Learner Engagement, shares her reflections on the 2024 DREAM conference. She talks about how Te Rito Maioha, a private training establishment, is applying the knowledge she has gained to help their learners to be successful in their tertiary study.
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Skills Group
Jon Smith, Skills Group General Manager Academic Skills and Quality, shares his three takeaways from the 2024 DREAM conference. He talks about introducing the Achieving the Dream 2.0 Capability Framework model into the Skills Group, and their robust conversations on what they need to do to build a student success model. The Skills Group is a private training establishment.
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English Language Partners
A key takeaway from the 2024 DREAM conference for Rachel O’Connor, English Language Partners Chief Executive, is the importance of having and applying an equity mindset throughout your organisation – from how you use data to how you train your people. Rachel talks about how English Language Partners are applying the knowledge she’s gained, and using data to support equity and address learner success.
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