This report summarises the aims methods and results of a Higher Education Academy (HEA) funded project to evaluate the University of Hudderfield's placement provision within the School of Music Humanities and Media. Their interest in this research stemmed from their involvement in the HEA’s strategic enhancement programme (SEP) ‘Embedding Employability into the Curriculum’. With the guidance of a HEA consultant the SEP project motivated the University to form a cross-university working group which informed Humanities staff about activities of the Careers Service and vice versa. Furthermore initial in-roads to evaluating the efficacy of their placement modules were made by seeking feedback through student advisors who also sat on their working group. The SEP project concentrated on the development of the relevant modules while the subsequent funded project was about the evaluation of that and wider activity. In terms of the HEA’s employability framework (Cole and Tibby 2013) the project focused on the later two stages which were:
- Action
- Evaluation
The project aimed to evaluate the outcomes and impact of embedding employability into the Humanities curriculum for students staff and stakeholders in three main ways:
- Building on the University's current efforts to enhance two work placement modules provided in the School of Music Humanities and Media they employed an intern to assess the changes they hoped to implement to the two modules which currently give History English Literature and English Language and Linguistics undergraduates the experience of completing an 180-hour external placement.
- Going beyond the two placement modules the intern was also involved in gathering case studies from four of their School’s graduates which serve to qualitatively demonstrate the employability skills earned by Humanities students.
- In order to co-ordinate the needs of their stakeholders a one-day event was hosted at the University with staff students and employers in attendance. The day culminated in a focus group with employers. The main aim of the event was to evaluate the employability skills offered by the University's students as well as identify those that need developing. Providing hospitality for the stakeholders the day offered an opportunity for staff employers and students to network. The University invited students from junior cohorts to network with potential future placement providers an idea stemming from feedback from our current cohort. The best student presentations from the year’s cohort were presented to demonstrate the module outcomes to show employers what the University's students are capable of and also to inspire next year’s cohort. The event was also a key opportunity for staff to forge lasting links with employers.
