Located in the School of Art, Design and Performance at
UCLan this research aims to investigate the lived experience of graduates from
design courses (textiles, ceramics, surface pattern design and 3D design). A
phenomenological study of creative graduates’ transition into employment, the
poster subjects the prevailing approaches to graduate transition into
employment in a post-1992 university to critical scrutiny. In particular it
will investigate the motivations of the key players in employability discourse:
governments, employers, universities and parents in a changing higher education
context to determine whether present interventions truly reflect the future
social, economic and technological needs of graduates.
The implications of this study are potentially wide-reaching
for higher education institutions. There has been relatively little work
carried out into graduates’ experience of employability interventions,
especially those from creative courses where employment paths are far from
homogenous. Instead effort seems to be have been expended into how to deliver
more effective employability interventions. To this end questions will be posed
as to whether present employability interventions are appropriately situated
within the institution or whether an alternative bespoke approach might be
developed at School level. Participants will benefit from a greater
understanding of wider employability issues with the opportunity to anticipate
how they might apply research findings in their own institution.
References
Cranmer, S. (2006) ‘Enhancing graduate employability: best
intentions and mixed outcomes’, Studies
in Higher Education, 31 (2), pp.169-184.
Deem, R. and Brehony, K.J. (2005) ‘Management as ideology:
the case of ‘new managerialism’ in higher education’, Oxford Review of Education, 31 (2), pp.217-235.
Gedye, S., Fender, F. and Chalkley, B. (2004) ‘Students
undergraduate expectations and post-graduate experiences and the value of a
degree’, Journal of Geography in Higher
Education, 28 (3), pp.381-396.
Kok, S-K., Douglas, A., McClelland, B and Byrde, D. (2010)
‘The move towards managerialism: perceptions of staff in ‘traditional’ and
‘new’ universities’, Tertiary Education
Management, 16 (2), pp.99-113.
