Exploring student perspectives of employer engagement as part of their higher education learner journey

Abstract

This EdD research explored employer engagement (EE) in the context of higher education (HE) from the student perspective. The study focused on fifteen final year undergraduate students on an adventure and outdoor management course at a post-92 HE institution in England. EE, vocational learning and widening participation were key themes explored and linked to the learner-life course, learning cultures/identities (habitus, structure and agency), transition theory, careership and horizons for action.

Data were generated qualitatively through focus groups and interviews in which students reflected on their three year learner journey, including pre-HE decision-making, EE experiences through the course, and impact on careership and employability in preparation for graduation. Participants were mostly non-traditional learners in education, class and status and predominately first generation university students from BTEC backgrounds. Participants shared career aspirations and personal passions for the contemporary and growing field of the adventure and outdoor industry. This offered a unique focus and indicated positive and negative implications for future graduate careers in this field.

Findings support the positive benefits of EE activities within a vocational degree but there is a complex balance required in managing pressures faced by industry/HEIs and the often forgotten perspective of students. Students shared characteristics drawn together in vocational habitus, but showed individuality in values, dispositions and behaviours, which were often changeable, influenced by complex and multi-layered structures and fields in which they were positioned. Student demands and expectations, whether individual or shared, were often in conflict with the agendas and objectives set at the meso HEI level and the increasing demands at macro level from government and industry.

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Identifiers

ORCID for Michael Tomlinson: orcid.org/0000-0002-1057-5188

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