EMLT Bulletin 22 (December) - EN

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DECEMBER, 2016

22

M O E DU X UN L PE W W IV ES RIE OR ES ER A N K TM SI T T CE IN TY HE ST OF ER

WORK EXPERIENCE MODULES AT THE UNIVERSITY OF WESTMINSTER The University’s Mission The University of Westminster has as its strapline “Educating for Professional Life” and since 2000, all undergraduate degree programmes have a work experience module and must make employability skills clear in every module handbook. In sociology, work experience is not like other degrees where there is a specific skills set as sociology is about everything to do with society. This presents us with a challenge in how we conceptualise work experience because we expect students to apply their sociological knowledge to all areas of their lives.

The Sociology ‘Work Experience: Practice and Reflection’ Module ‘Work Experience: Practice and Reflection’ is the Sociology work experience module, which is aimed at second year students so that they can start to think early about preparing for the labour market and using the university’s careers’ services. The module aims are designed to:

• Encourage students to familiarise themselves with the labour market and think about what careers interest them.

• Equip students with the skills to research and successfully gain a placement.

• Identify and develop graduate attributes and skills in the field of employment.

• Encourage students to make connections between their academic knowledge and skills and apply them in the workplace.

• Enable students to reflect on their attributes and skills and identify any gaps and how to address them.

• Enable students to plan, conduct and reflect upon the work experience.

Finding Work Placements.

Our module requires students to find their own placement in which they can apply their sociological knowledge. This is unlike other disciplines, like Criminology, where placements are found for the students. We argue that this is not like real life and that students need to be aware of what it will be like for them to find work when they graduate. They produce a CV and covering letter to the potential employer to apply for the placement and this is assessed. This is where they confront the difficulties in finding work and the importance of early planning and preparation. This year, the University has appointed Work Placement Officers at faculty level to work with Module Tutors to help work experience students find placements. This has been really positive in giving students professional advice to construct their skills’ profile, consider which field of employment they would like to gain experience, how to approach employers and how to prepare CVs, covering letters and perform well at interviews. Once they have found the placement, they have to negotiate every aspect of it including their hours, how they will spend their time and what skills will be assessed.

Types of Placements Sociology Students Choose.

The students choose a variety of settings in which to gain work experience.

Many of them are already working in retail or the service sector to help fund their studies and we stress that they should seek an alternative work sector for their placement to extend their experience for their future CVs. Education is the most popular choice as many students want to become teachers, so this is a valuable opportunity to gain classroom experience. Others gain experience in law firms, public relations companies, law firms, social services and voluntary organisations. Where students cannot find a placement, they might approach their current employer but we insist that they do something different to their regular work for their placement, so that they challenge themselves and extend their skills. When students choose this module, they do not imagine they will have trouble finding a placement but every year, approximately one third do not succeed in finding one and have to choose another module but even so, they learn that the labour market is a challenging environment to enter and will start preparing much earlier for graduate employment in their final year.

Student Feedback on Work Experience.

One of the most important things that students value from this module is that it challenges their taken-for-granted assumptions about the labour market. They assume it will be fairly easy to find a graduate job in their own field once they leave university and when they find just how difficult it is to find a placement, even when they are volunteering their time, they realise that it is going to be difficult to find graduate work. They understand that they have to produce a professional CV and covering letter which matches the job requirements and prepare thoroughly for an interview. They valued the advice and support from the Work Placement Officers in the process.

Students recognise the importance of networking to find placements and some realised that their own networks did not give them access to the sort of professions they wanted to work in and that they need to use the university Careers’ service to provide access to a range of opportunities. One student was offered a placement but decided to decline it because she felt there was a mismatch between her values and those of the company but that helped her to clarify what areas of work did interest her and went on to find a placement in the public sector.

It was noticeable that students do not really count the skills they gain from their degree when applying for a job despite all the emphasis on employability skills in every module. For example, students in school contexts became aware of the importance of doing research for the lessons and choosing materials that are fit for purpose, which they do routinely in preparing for their assignments. Also, they have to manage their time effectively in terms of punctuality, prioritising tasks, meeting deadlines, writing reports of their progress and preparing for

a lesson. In their degree, group work is never popular but the skills gained in communication and co-operation are valuable in the workplace where they have to be able to work with other people, not of their choosing. Students also discovered that they were constantly pushed out of their comfort zone in having to work independently and take responsibility for their decisions. They said that because we give them a wide variety of assessments, they have been able to develop flexible skills to fit the different requirements.

Work Experience Student Prezi on Working in a PR Company.

Relevance of Sociology Sociology students sometimes complain that their degree does not lead to any particular job and we remind them that it prepares them better than most other jobs because it gives them knowledge and skills to take into any field of employment. In completing their placements, students become more aware of the different ways in which their sociological knowledge helped them in the workplace. For example, students noted how hierarchies operate in the workplace organisational culture, observing that some employees had much more influence on decision-making than their position or rank would suggest and had the power to make them feel included or excluded. Also, students learn to respect diversity at university and can be more aware of the needs of different groups. For example a student did her placement at a children’s

hospital as a support worker to families of patients and she would meet parents at the entrance and show them to the ward and be available to answer their questions on practical issues. She drew on the module on ‘Emotional Life’ to recognise the importance of dealing with requests personally rather than handing the person on to someone else and could anticipate different needs of families relating to gender, religion and culture. Other students reported that they were aware of class, gender and ethnic differences in the work culture through their sociological knowledge.

Work Experience Student Prezi on Working in Nursery

Student Satisfaction with the Module and the Degree Course.

Students evaluated this module with a 100% satisfaction rating and stated that they felt more ‘ready to enter the real world of work’ and would aim to address skills’ gaps over the summer. They appreciate the effort involved in planning and finding a job and will definitely start preparing early in their final year for graduate employment. They also felt that they would bring the skills they learnt in the workplace back to their approach to studying in the final year, for example

in working more independently, managing their time more effectively and having more realistic expectations of their lecturers, through greater awareness of the demands of the workplace. Overall, our Sociology students are very satisfied with their Sociology degree and last year’s final year students rated the degree with 100% national student satisfaction rating. This year, in The Guardian league tables just published, our Sociology degree is ranked 26th nationally and second in London, with 47% students finding either graduate level employment or in further study within six months of completing their degree.

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