Building partnerships in employability and entrepreneurship with
Fri, 29 Jul 2011 16:37:00 BST
The University of Huddersfield has recently been involved in a project to develop beneficial partnerships between UK and Chinese higher education institutions. Funded by the British Council under the Prime Ministers Initiative (PMI2) the University was successful in being funded for one of only five funded projects in year 4 of the programme.
Entitled ‘China-UK Collaborative Partnerships in Employability and Entrepreneurship’ and involving staff from the School of Education and Professional Development and the Careers and Employability Service at the University, the project has developed from a successful partnership with Guangdong Polytechnic Normal University in China. During 2011 teams from both Universities have conducted an audit of graduate and employability skills and are sharing best practice regarding careers development and employability services.
The project is to ultimately benefit Chinese graduates from both institutions. It is multifaceted and is designed to provide information about:
- Innovative methods of career planning
- Graduate level employability skills
- The employers perspective of employability skills
- An analysis of the local graduate labour market
- The creation of an interactive bilingual careers resource for use by students and graduates from both institutions.
In April 2011 the University welcomed a party of six from Guangdong Polytechnic Normal University, led by Mr Xing Xiaotao (Director of Students Affairs Office/Service of Student Admissions and Employability). They were keen to meet various University Departments and Services to help them understand the effective practice already being delivered to University students. This included:
- Business Mine
- Employer Partnerships
- Student Workplace Placements
- Huddersfield Border Break Internet Radio
- Careers and Employability Service
External events included a visit to Leeds to learn about the successful partnership between the Royal Armouries and the University of Huddersfield, and attendance at the ESCALATE Employability Conference in Liverpool.
A return visit in June 2011 involved a group of three University of Huddersfield staff visiting Guangdong Polytechnic Normal University to research employability. The party included Stephen Boyd (Head of the Careers and Employability Service), Dr Ann Harris and Lyn Hall . Visits included several vocational and specialist colleges to learn about their employability services. Stephen Boyd said ‘The programme was fantastic and (the) warm hospitality certainly made it a trip to remember.’
As a result of the visits planning for data collection was finalised. The teams from both universities are looking forward to the next stage of developing the resources that will assist Chinese students graduating from both institutions.
