Evaluating Employability Skills: Employer and Student Perceptions

Graduate employability is a key issue for Higher Education. In this two-part study student employability skills have been evaluated from the perspective of sandwich students and graduates in biomolecular science, and their employers. A strong correlation was found between employer and sandwich student/graduate perceptions of the relative priorities amongst employability skills. Skills such as enthusiasm, dependability and team-working scored higher than subject knowledge skills, whilst commercial awareness, negotiation and networking were given lowest priority. Furthermore, the lowest ranked skills were those that sandwich students/graduates were assessed to be least proficient in. Overall skills of new graduate employees were rated less highly by their employers than by the graduates themselves. In the second part of the study an employability skills profile was compiled and distributed to biomolecular science students at levels 1, 2 and 3, as part of personal development planning. Level 3 students rated themselves more highly than level 1 and level 2 students in subject knowledge, most core skills and personal qualities, except tolerance to stress. Implications of this study, including the value of student self-assessment of their skills and utility of the profile to underpin personal development planning and inform graduate recruitment processes, are discussed and recommendations made.