The youth unemployment rate in EU were close to 18 % in December 2017. It has in general been on a rise since 2008 and is generally much higher, even double or more than double, than unemployment rates for all ages. Young graduates are struggling to find new jobs because they lack experience and the necessary skills. Skills mismatch is defined as the gap between an individual's job skills and the demands of the labour market, and is a central challenge for Europe. Europe's higher education systems face challenges such as a mismatch between the skills Europe needs and the skills it has because, e.g. students graduate without the range of transversal skills they need for resilience in a changing world. In order to foster employability effective skills development is crucial. Research shows that it is possible for higher education to improve student employability on a variety of measures, e.g. by strengthening the students' transversal skills. Employers are to a higher extent demanding transversal skills but they often find graduates lack those types of skills. Despite employers increased focus on transversal skills little emphasis is usually placed on such skills in curricula and they are rarely formally assessed. Research shows there is no explicit assessment mechanism for transversal skills, insufficient teaching and learning materials, and lack of professional development opportunities for transversal skills integration for teachers. To foster employability, the EmploySkills project will support students in acquiring and developing transversal skills through these objectives: - together with companies develop and implement curricula that emphasis transversal skills and meet job market's needs - develop and implement new models (toolbox) to assess transversal skills - implement teacher training activities to help them develop curriculum design skills - develop and implement teacher support systems The EmploySkills project will develop six intellectual outputs (state of the art report, modules, assessment toolbox, teacher-training module, teacher support systems and pilot), one teacher training activity (teacher-training week) and five multiplier events (four local seminars and one conference). A collaborative working approach and experimental learning will be implemented as methodology in all activities. By training teachers in curricula design improved curricula focusing on transversal skills can be implemented. Through those curricula students will develop and acquire transversal skill and that will lead to reduced skills mismatch since the labour market require transversal skills. Through reduced skills mismatch the students' employability will strengthen and that will lead to reduced youth unemployment.
Context/background The youth unemployment rate in the EU was close to 18 % in December 2017. In general it has been on a rise since 2008. Europe's HE systems face challenges such as a mismatch between the skills needed and the skills it has because, e.g. students graduate without the range of transversal skills they need for resilience in a changing world. Research shows that it is possible for higher education to improve student employability on a variety of measures, e.g. by strengthening the students' transversal skills. Objectives To foster employability, the project has supported students in acquiring and developing transversal skills through these overall project objectives: - together with companies develop and implement curricula that emphasise transversal skills and meet job market's needs - develop and implement new models (toolbox) to assess transversal skills - implement teacher training activities to help them develop curriculum design skills - develop and implement teacher support systems Number and type/profile of participants The project consortium was composed of four partner institutions from higher education as well as associated partners having different profiles, chosen based on their knowledge, competences and area of expertise relevant to achieve the project's objectives as well as several criteria set to ensure a wide and international spread of outcomes produced: European higher education institutions: - UCL.dk (formerly EAL, university of applied sciences) - coordinating organisation, - INSEEC.com (private business school, aka Centre D'etudes Europeen du Sud Ouest - CEESO), - LAB.fi (university of applied sciences, formerly Lahti UAS), - Fontys.nl (university of applied sciences); Associated partners: DHL Supply Chain Benelux, Bordeaux Technowest (FR), Lahti Events Ltd (FI), Damixa (DK), Belco Alliance - a sustainable educational partnership between European and non-European HE institutions Results and impact attained The most important activities and results in the EmploySkills project has been to develop six intellectual outputs, consisting of: . IO1: A state of the art report concerning skills mismatch with specific focus on transversal skills and 6 module themes, that was defined. IO2: 6 teaching modules were designed and a curricula (30 ECTS) supporting students in acquiring and developing transversal skills in order to reduce skills mismatch and foster employability. IO3: Assessment toolbox was developed consisting of new tools to assess transversal skills. The Assessment Toolbox can easily be transferred to other sectors and institutions since the tools are not linked to a specific study field. IO4: Teacher-training module to improve the capacity of the academic staff of the participating institutions to design and implement a curriculum focused on developing students’ transversal skills. IO5: Teacher support systems were developed consisting of tools supporting teachers implementing curricula focusing on developing students’ transversal skills. Output was a Teachers Handbook and a supporting LinkedIn network. IO6: Pilot project with around 2400+ students from the participating institutions in order to implement, test and evaluate the 6 modules, the assessment toolbox and the support systems. Supportive activities has been conducted such as teacher training activity (teacher-training week) (C1) and an international online conference (E5). The impact Teachers and students are primary target groups, that will experience an impact as listed below. - Teachers training in curriculum design improves curricula focusing on transversal skills that have been developed and implemented. Experiments can be transferred from traditional courses and not only short intensive courses. Raising awareness of the teachers teaching soft skills. The project has had an unexpected positive impact 1) A sort of vocational training for the teachers involved - the possibility of meeting other teachers and being more open to other ways of teaching. 2) New interface btw companies and schools as some of the teachers also work in companies - Students will be able to train, develop and acquire transversal skills adjusted to the needs of the labour market and thereby strengthen their employability through reduced skills mismatch. - Institutions and companies: A renewed and improved focus on integrating soft skills modules when developing new curricula. Short flexible modules + short term mobility has been tested and is now ready to be implemented in a post covid future. Improved transfer ability because of the unexpected flexibility in what has been produced in different contexts and the fact that both traditional and high intensive courses are very effective on the development of transversal skills. Valuable input from companies decreases the mismatch and add value to the recruitment of students for traineeships/internships, impacting the HR strategies of involved companies.