This publication provides a resource for higher education institutions and others to support the implementation of PDP. Related work undertaken for QAAHE Scotland under the guidance of a Joint SACCA/Universities Scotland Working Group on the Implementation of Student PDP in Scotland has resulted in the publication of Enhancing practice: Effective Learning and Employability (Gordon 2006). This may also be of interest to readers.
Whilst 'employability' has spawned a wide range of definitions the authors focus upon that of the Enhancing Student Employability Co-ordination Team (ESECT) which defined employability as:
- 'a set of skills knowledge and personal attributes that make an individual more likely to secure and to be successful in their chosen occupation(s) to the benefits of themselves the workforce the community and the economy' (Yorke 2004 reissued 2006 p.10.)
This definition and the explicit concern to connect support for learning and enhanced employability which marked out the ESECT approach both emphasised employability as a process rather than a state and accorded a potentially strong role for Personal Development Planning (PDP) in the consideration of it. Elsewhere key members of the ESECT team (Knight and Yorke 2004 p.9) argue for the importance of;
- ''knowing' students — they need to know what they are supposed to be learning how their achievements will be judged and for what purposes' and
- students developing ways of representing (complex) achievements to employers and graduate schools.
