Helping the next Generation find their way.
Today the challenges for the next generation as they emerge into the job market is often viewed as a lack of availability of graduate jobs. Now this is a preconception is a symptom of some graduate unemployment but we also have to address the additional causes that correlate as well as cause graduate unemployment.
One element to address is the degrees which are available to the learners as well as well as the subject themselves. There are many industries where degree subjects enhance graduate employment opportunities especially in shortage or high skilled areas. The problem is the Higher Education (HE) sector in areas can often promote degrees which do not enhance career prospects. This is not a problem in itself as HE is not just about finding a job or career but it is about academic discovery which justifies the presence of niche degrees. The issue is these niche degrees are often over subscribed by learners resulting in a greater abundance of students resulting in only a few being able to enter academia and the remainder struggling to find employment. So to tackle this problem should degrees only offer placements for a surplus just over the number of jobs available in the sector? The main argument then would likely be well we won’t be able to recruit a diverse amount of candidates for our degrees which would disadvantage our students but then should we not offer more generalised degrees and then allow them to specialise further at a Masters level.
Another problem is pushing everyone towards to University not every learner is suited to HE some learners may have hit their academic ceiling whereas others may need to explore more wider experiences to build on their knowledge. Now I am not saying learners should not explore HE they should but at their own pace taking advantage of the student loan system to enhance their understanding or knowledge about a field. Sometimes they need to discover what their field or career goal is before they move into Higher Education.
Now encouraging professions to work with the various universities to make degrees better encouraging a closer alignment with degrees is one option that businesses could take to reduce unemployment. This would ensure that all degrees have a basic level of competencies so that learners can actively select a degree which is both interesting to them and having the option of graduate recruitment. In subjects which are more generalised whereas those requiring a specialist degree should still encourage graduates to pursue those fields. Now this should be a minimum requirement and professionals should agree on a set of core competencies as well as soft skills.
These soft skills are techniques which should be further championed by schools, academics and universities as we should be championing entrepreneurship and the skills which go with this. This is so that learners are also able to innovate and explore areas in business which may not have been explored yet as well as the confidence to pursue these areas. Allowing this to be embedded in their studies is crucial and finding projects which can add to their academic progress is another goal.
Bridging the gap between business and academics by encouraging businesses to allow staff to work with universities as guest lecturers to share their skills and knowledge. We should also encourage the lecturers to the same continuing their professional development in areas that are applied as well as research based. This is why sandwich degrees which have a placement year are crucial as it gives learners the chance to join a workplace learn about the job and get a taste of operational experience prior to graduating. Degrees that lack professional experiences or travel experiences disadvantages the learners by solely providing academic experience and lacks practical applications which sandwich courses add.
http://www.sage.esu-online.org/Three+ways+to+reduce+graduate+unemployment
