In this post, Shelagh Green demonstrates that the Skills for Success Framework is integral to surviving the rapidly changing and often challenging higher education and broader societal environments. She argues that including a focus on skills enhances, rather than disrupts, the traditional values of higher education. Shelagh is Director for Careers and Employability at the University of Edinburgh. This post is part of the Skills for Success Framework series.
The current university and wider HE sector could justifiably be called ‘challenging’. In that context, we might well ask: why bother with skills? There’s so much more we need to do. In my view, there are multiple reasons that we should bother with skills, and one reason trumps them all – I’ll save that for last.
A fairly glib and easy answer would be that it aligns with Strategy 2030 and features in our Learning and Teaching Strategy. This suggests that it’s something the university sees as a need. As stated with regards to one of it’s core purposes, ‘Developing a future ready curriculum’, the Learning and Teaching Strategy outlines that:
“As the external environment rapidly evolves, so too must our approaches to learning and teaching to ensure that our students are equipped with the skills, knowledge and attitudes to thrive in an increasingly complex and changing world.” (page eight)
Even if the university didn’t see a need for it, other stakeholders and influencers do – particularly those with an interest in higher education funding, whether at a sector or individual level. There is a growing expectation that skills will be on the university’s agenda and that skills development will be available to our students.
Sector level expectations
From a sector perspective, I think it can be helpful to be aware of skills on two levels: Skills, with a capital S, tends to focus on how higher education’s programmes and research align with the current and future needs of the economy and positions universities as contributing anchor institutions to economic development; while skills, with a lowercase s, consider skills more at the individual level. The two are clearly highly connected – as can be seen in Skills England recent work on a UK Standard Skills Classification – but they are not synonymous.
Closer to home, one of the Scottish Funding Council’s Outcomes Framework’s seven outcomes covers ‘Skills and Work-based Learning’. The expectations on us from this are clear:
“Institutions produce confident and highly capable work-ready graduates, engaging with employers to respond to industry and sector needs, skills alignment and to co-create solutions to challenges. Students are equipped with the skills and knowledge to find employment, flourish in their career, meet employer needs and make a positive contribution to society and the economy.” (page eight)
We can expect to be quizzed on this at our next quality assurance assessment under the new Tertiary Quality Enhancement Framework (TQEF). Though, to be fair, embedding skills is not a novel concept in higher education quality assurance. QAA benchmark statements have, for many years, been expressed in terms of knowledge, skills, and understanding; and, the National Student Survey (NSS), Postgraduate Taught (PTES), and Postgraduate Research Experience (PRES) surveys include skills specific questions.
Individual pressures
I expect anyone who has participated in an open day has also been quizzed on this, whether by students themselves or by parents or supporters. Media headlines increasingly question the value of a degree, and we see a growing focus on return on investment (ROI) – something which can be of particular influence for international applicants.
The expectations, and arguably the future ‘success’, of our students are also influenced by the expectations of employers and the changing job market – it was only a matter of time before I brought up AI. The labour market is constantly changing; AI is clearly a disrupter, but, how, and to what extent, is too early to say. In my view, AI is accelerating a change which was already in process: the importance of developing skills alongside knowledge. In a dynamic and unpredictable work place – and wider society – having a toolkit including agility, self-awareness, and personal skills in order to be able to learn and adapt is crucial. These are the skills that are amplified through the Skills for Success Framework and which undoubtedly already exist across our programmes and courses.
Why skills matter
And that’s what really matters about embedding, surfacing, and articulating skills: the potential impact on students. The Skills for Success Framework focuses on student growth and development, enabling students to be more successful while they are with us and equipping them for ongoing success in work, study, and citizenship. It’s compatible with so much that I hear colleagues in academic and other professional services roles getting animated about: how we enable our students to have the positive, intentional, transformational experience that higher education can provide. The Skills for Success Framework enables us to harness this collective opportunity, illuminate it, and make more coherent the rich and unique experience provided by the University of Edinburgh.
A skills agenda is not at odds with all that we value about higher education. It’s about showing the deep value of education, it’s about making the implicit explicit, and it’s about helping our students create and narrate their unique journeys and capabilities.
So, perhaps the question we should really be asking is: why wouldn’t we bother about skills?
Shelagh Green
Shelagh is Director for Careers and Employability at the University of Edinburgh. Within the careers and employability remit Shelagh has been heavily involved in the development of the Skills for Success Framework. Alongside this she has oversight of academic skills development and the pre-arrival and transitions experience.
