PAGE 26
FOCUSED ON EMPLOYABILITY
FOCUSED ON EMPLOYABILITY Staffordshire University has always been focussed on the need to prepare its students for the workplace. We believe that by encouraging our graduates to take risks, make mistakes and learn from their experiences, we can help them to develop the skills and attributes they need to become truly curious and daring individuals. In doing so, we are not only preparing our graduates for careers of the future, but we are also helping to give them a competitive edge in the jobs market. Our University has achieved significant improvements in the area of graduate employability during recent years, with an overall increase from 57.3 percent in 2016 to 81.5 percent in 2018. Our alumni now rank above the national average for sustained employment at one, three and five years after graduation, and we outperform the sector in terms of participation rates for students from disadvantaged communities.
RAISING ASPIRATIONS Encouraging students to develop their confidence, resilience and expectations is central to our approach to employability. Prior to the recent pandemic, and when circumstances allowed, students on every course were encouraged to spend time overseas, even if only for a week. Initiatives such as our international placement programme have paid dividends for our students. A quarter of the workforce at Airbus’s helicopter division in Germany, for example, are Staffordshire University alumni. To overcome the challenges precipitated by the global coronavirus pandemic, our University has developed a host of innovative ways to offer students similar exposure and experiences using cutting-edge virtual tools. For example, we have continued to implement digital technologies to help students visualise their academic and career journeys, making it easier for them to articulate how far they have come and where they want to go.
