Higher education engagement with employers17 November 2009

Event overview

Higher educational institutions in England are being expected to respond to employers’ ‘demand’ for skills and also to ‘engage’ with business to see how they can support the economy more effectively. The ‘upskilling’ of the UK workforce and widening HE access for people at work, are also on the agenda.

A number of such policy initiatives in recent years raise very important issues for HEIs and for employers: Is it really the mission of universities and colleges to meet the skill needs of employers? Do employers see the HE sector as a credible and relevant supplier of workforce development? How much can HE realistically grow their share of the workforce development market? When universities and employers get together, can they work effectively? Does such collaboration between HE and employers lead to learning opportunities which prove attractive to adult learners?

Helen Connor and Wendy Hirsh have been researching these issues at CIHE and, most recently, as part of a team working at the Exeter University Centre for Leadership Studies. * They have examined a considerable number of specific examples of HE-employer collaboration and are now investigating the institutional strategies of HEIs for employer engagement.

The seminar discussed this research including:

• The policy context for HE-employer ‘engagement’
• What ‘engagement’ can mean in practice – some diverse examples
• What helps and hinders HEIs from engaging with employers?
• Issues raised for the institutional strategies of HEIs
• What does this all mean for ‘careers’ work in HE?

Event slides

*  Influence through Collaboration – Main report, Summary report and case study library. Helen Connor and Wendy Hirsh, CIHE http://www.cihe-uk.com

Employer Engagement with Higher Education: Defining, Sustaining and Supporting Higher Skills Provision http://www.herda-sw.ac.uk

Helen Connor is an Associate of  CIHE, an organisation which seeks to build strong relationships between higher education and business,  and has been involved in much of  its work on higher learning and skills over the past few years. She is also an independent researcher, with main interests in higher education and the labour market, including work-related learning, employability, widening participation, equality and diversity, and vocational progression routes.

Wendy Hirsh is a NICEC Fellow who works independently and also as a Principal Associate of the Institute for Employment Studies (IES). Wendy’s main interests are in how employing organisations meet their changing needs for people: workforce planning and skills analysis; succession and talent management; career development and workplace learning; and management and leadership development. She is interested in the way HE is working with employers because it impacts on graduate skill and career development and also on the access employed adults may have to continuing development.

For more information or enquiries contact Allister McGowan, NICEC.