How do you know when students are ready to learn?

Having run our Bright Futures ‘Time for Change’ national event and annual awards many things have struck me, one of which was their great quality talent and the other how keen they were all to learn.

There is a huge amount of research and work being done in Higher Education about students, the issue of employability and the fact that students focus on building their Cv and job hunting at so many different times during their time at University – and this then creates the challenge of identifying who those individuals are, especially for employers, so that the scarce resource available can be used to the greatest effect .

Too often students are given the ’employability message’ at times when they are just not listening. And anyone who works with students, especially those undergraduates who fall into Generation Y, should know is that they will do what they want to do when they want to do it – they really won’t be told! 

So who are listening?  Bright Futures committees and members are undergraduates who have made a conscious decision to join Bright Futures, and come from the 1st, 2nd and final year. They know getting a degree is no longer enough, they want to develop their skills and what to network with employers to ensure they apply to & ultimately join the right company – Bright Futures gives them all this. Our Bright Futures Societies are not just ready to learn but want to learn. And judging by the comments from the corporates who attended our event I know who they will invest their time in developing.

  

Undergraduates are dropping out…why?

A recent article covered in the media pointed to the fact that in some Universities 1/3rd of undergraduates left without completing their degree i.e. with nothing!

 What’s to be done?

One simple solution is for HE as a whole to start to understand why the vast majority go to University and then when they truly understand that take action to ensure this is the outcome the undergraduates get. But not 2 or 3 years aftre University, when they have secured a great job, but during their time at University too when the light at the end of the tunnel (in this case a great job) is still some way away.

Most people go to University to increase the career prospects i.e. to get a better job than if they had not gone to University.  So knowing this how can HE hang onto more undergraduates?

Throughout their time at University…

1. Remind them why they came to University in the first place

2. Show them examples of lots of students, who are like them, who have done better as a result of going to University. Or better get use the Institutions alumni as ambassadors and gte them to come and speak to the students.

Let’s be clear HE is a business & students are customers. But HE is too much like a bad sales man, who is all about closing the deal and cares nothing for the after sales service. Lots has been done over the last few years to woo students into HE but little done to keep them. Like all services and products that are sold, the customers need to be reminded constantly why they bought the product they bought – so they feel good about it and when things go wrong, as they can do, they feel that those who sold to them care and want to keep them.

HE needs to learn not just how to sell and win new customers but they need a crash course in customer retention.