A qualitative exploration examining the enhancement of students? personal and professional development through an employability focused curriculum
type: CreativeWork
description: A strong higher education (HE) system plays an important role in a successful nation's economy and society (Browne 2010). The Leitch Report (2006) emphasised the role of HE in developing the world class skills required to achieve prosperity in an increasingly competitive and rapidly evolving global economy. However, literature suggests that HE institutions (HEIs) are not sufficiently preparing their students for the world of work, and that more needs to be done to better equip students for the requirements of employment (Adecco Group 2012, Blair 2006, Gillinson and O'Leary 2006, Nguyen et al. 2005, The Institute of Directors (loD) 2007). Despite the requirements of the government and employers regarding graduate employability being well documented, the perceived needs of students and graduates are less well researched (Bamett 2007, Crebert et al. 2004, Mason et al. 2003, Sleap and Reed 2006, Yorke 2006). The HE employability agenda should understand students' perceptions of their HE experience to better design programmes that adequately prepare them for the requirements of the labour market (Burgess 2007, Denholm 2011, Kay et al. 2007, Nguyen et al. 2005, UKCES 2009). Utilising the perceptions of HE students and graduates, this research programme aimed to identify what more can be done to prepare students for the world of work and diminish the apparent skills gap that exists between HE graduates and the world of work requirements. To do justice to the complexity of these issues an in-depth qualitative research approach was utilised (Johnston 2003, Tod et al. 2007). The research programme broadly consisted of three phases: 1. Phase 1 involved interviewing 17 Liverpool John Moores University (LJMU) School of Sport & Exercise Sciences (SSES) alumni about their attitudes regarding the purpose of HE, the impact their HE experience had in preparing them for the requirements of the world of work, and what more can be done to, prepare students for their post HE lives. 2. Ph…
abstract: A strong higher education (HE) system plays an important role in a successful nation's economy and society (Browne 2010). The Leitch Report (2006) emphasised the role of HE in developing the world class skills required to achieve prosperity in an increasingly competitive and rapidly evolving global economy. However, literature suggests that HE institutions (HEIs) are not sufficiently preparing their students for the world of work, and that more needs to be done to better equip students for the requirements of employment (Adecco Group 2012, Blair 2006, Gillinson and O'Leary 2006, Nguyen et al. 2005, The Institute of Directors (loD) 2007). Despite the requirements of the government and employers regarding graduate employability being well documented, the perceived needs of students and graduates are less well researched (Bamett 2007, Crebert et al. 2004, Mason et al. 2003, Sleap and Reed 2006, Yorke 2006). The HE employability agenda should understand students' perceptions of their HE experience to better design programmes that adequately prepare them for the requirements of the labour market (Burgess 2007, Denholm 2011, Kay et al. 2007, Nguyen et al. 2005, UKCES 2009). Utilising the perceptions of HE students and graduates, this research programme aimed to identify what more can be done to prepare students for the world of work and diminish the apparent skills gap that exists between HE graduates and the world of work requirements. To do justice to the complexity of these issues an in-depth qualitative research approach was utilised (Johnston 2003, Tod et al. 2007). The research programme broadly consisted of three phases: 1. Phase 1 involved interviewing 17 Liverpool John Moores University (LJMU) School of Sport & Exercise Sciences (SSES) alumni about their attitudes regarding the purpose of HE, the impact their HE experience had in preparing them for the requirements of the world of work, and what more can be done to, prepare students for their post HE lives. 2. Ph…
author: Bradford, J
keywords: LB2300 Higher Education, GV561 Sports
date published: 2013-01
date modified: 2026-07-24T06:30:19Z
provider: Liverpool Jon Moores University
publisher: Networked Digital Library of Theses and Dissertations
type: WebPage
source organization: Liverpool John Moores University

PropertyValue
property ID: DOI
value: 10.24377/LJMU.t.00006182