A paper from the 2013 STEM Annual Conference.
The current economic climate where graduate vacancies are in decline overall and tuition fees have risen has made graduate employability high on the higher education agenda. Computing staff have in particular been criticised for many years by their industrial colleagues and peers for lacking business communication and interpersonal skills and being focused on technology at the expense of being focused on business. As a consequence gaining employability skills is considered to be of particular importance for Computing students. Work placements are seen as one key mechanism for improving graduate employability yet there has been seen to be a decline in the uptake of industrial sandwich year placements by students.
This paper presents the results of a survey of 116 HEIs (Higher Education Institutions) in order to determine the challenges faced by students in completing a placement year and to identify best practices used by HEIs in order to meet these challenges. These best practices can then be shared by HEIs across the UK. The paper concludes with the recommendation that HEIs need to better motivate and prepare students for taking up placements and to work more closely with local and SME employers in order to create more placement opportunities.
