This report investigates international taught postgraduate perspectives of personal development planning (PDP) and is part of the first of four phases of a cross-institutional project commissioned by the Scottish Higher Education Employability Network (SHEEN). The main objectives of this part of the project are to investigate students’: prior experience of PDP interest and demand for a tailored PDP resource and perception of benefits from PDP.
Information about these perceptions was gathered via forty-one semi-structured interviews from a representative sample of Scottish institutions were conducted and analysed. Very few of the students interviewed had experience or knowledge of PDP the majority seemed to have a strong employability focus and some had limited English skills. Nonetheless all international students perceived PDP to be useful with a range of expected benefits. Those that had already experienced PDP held a generally positive view of it. Students expressed a preference for PDP to be integrated in the programme. They felt that the PDP process should be introduced at the time of induction and delivery should be at the beginning or middle rather than at the end of the taught programme.
This research highlights the widely differing backgrounds of international taught postgraduates and that the PDP needs of this growing cohort are different to undergraduates. Developing a flexible bank of PDP resources tailored for taught postgraduates will address the student need and demand for PDP identified in this research and will also help students adjust to their new academic context.
