Strengthening students’ employability through enhanced skills formation

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. The stagnation in European markets hits young job seekers particularly hard as they struggle to compete against older, more experienced workers for a job. Young graduates are struggling to find new jobs because they lack experience and the necessary skills. 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 such as the ability to work in a team, problem solving and creative thinking. 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.

Design new modules - curricula (corresponding to 30 ECTS) that will support students in acquiring and developing transversal skills in order to reduce skills mismatch and foster employability. Implemented as a flexible modular system.