#LTHEchat no 132 "Focus On: Graduate Skills - where are we now, and where are we going next?" with QAA Scotland Wednesday 5 December 2018 #QAAFocusOn

Wednesday 5 December 2018 Bio/Blog With apprenticeships, work-based learning, and skills for work becoming increasingly important areas of development and activity across the higher education sector globally, QAA Scotland’s new ‘Focus On’ project examining Graduate Skills is relevant and timely. We consulted with Scottish higher education institutions and students’ associations to identify the priority areas for development in this area. The themes that emerged from this consultation include: Effective ways of embedding skills inside (and outside) the curriculum. Digital skills for graduates from all disciplines. Equality and diversity in skills provision and opportunities. Skills for working in a global society. These themes have informed the questions we are asking in this #LTHEchat. Our project aims to: Share effective practice, key messages and analysis of existing information on graduate attributes, skills and employability. Explore student views - what approaches to skills development work well? How can we improve? What do students want more of? Work with graduates and employers – what do graduates and employers tell us that we can do better in HE to support students for life after University, and how do we work most effectively with employers to embed effective skills development in the curriculum? Inform and influence policy to better meet our future challenges and our readiness as a sector to take action. We hope this tweetchat will allow us to engage a wider audience in debate around these issues and enhance our understanding of current thought and practice. You can keep up to date with the project by visiting our website: https://www.qaa.ac.uk/scotland/focus-on/graduate-skills and by subscribing to our Focus On mailing list by contacting arcadmin@qaa.ac.uk). We would be happy to hear from you.