A recent article from the Institutre of Education makes the well covered point that the UK economy requires individuals with high levels of skills and this should bode well for graduates and their future employment. However this assumes that graduates are by definition ‘highly skilled’. This for some if just not the case, whereas for others it is. However in my experience for the most they have good skills but either don’t know what they are, how to articulate or demonstrate them.
So rather than spending time convincing both graduates and Higher Education that all is well for the future and in so doing sending our a very dangerous message that just by being a graduate you will be in demand, much more needs to be done at a practical level making studnets aware of the different skills they have gained through their time at University and how they can they then successfully demonstrate them to employers who want to see them!
Piecemeal activity carried out in a fractured way across different Universities just is not good enough and unless something co-ordinated and engaging is done sooner rather than later, potential graduates will not just question if Higher Education is worthwhile, they will just not go at all.
