"Future-proof your degree"

Winfield, F ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-7055-0321 and Ndlovu, T ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-0753-0015, 2019. "Future-proof your degree". International Journal of Sustainability in Higher Education. ISSN 1467-6370

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Abstract

Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to present a case study of how a UK business school has explicitly linked sustainability to employability and embedded these into all levels of its undergraduate and postgraduate degree portfolio.

Design/methodology/approach: This case study features Nottingham Business School's (NBS's) journey of linking sustainability with employability to achieve the University's strategic objectives and help deliver on the sustainable development goals (SDGs). After reviewing all courses, a cross-school approach was adopted in re-designing the curriculum, first at undergraduate and later postgraduate level. Partnerships, both internal and external were developed, involving the employability and enterprise teams, the University’s students and alumni, local employers, local authorities and businesses and charities. Feedback from graduates is included.

Findings: When NBS introduced new undergraduate modules in 2012, there was resistance with concerns over already crammed curricula and the perceived irrelevance of sustainability. This changed as students realised that an understanding of sustainability was benefiting them at interviews and adding value to their employers. While it cannot be proved that increased self-awareness and sustainability literacy have a direct effect on graduate prospects (as measured by the Destinations of Leavers from Higher Education survey), NBS has seen the percentage of students in graduate level employment and/or study increase from 71 to 89.6 per cent over the past five years.

Originality/value: Linking sustainability to employability, and embedding these in the curriculum, should benefit any institution, its students, employers and society, and can be replicated anywhere in the world.

Item Type:	Journal article
Publication Title:	International Journal of Sustainability in Higher Education
Creators:	Winfield, F. and Ndlovu, T.
Publisher:	Emerald
Date:	8 July 2019
ISSN:	1467-6370
Identifiers:	Number Type 10.1108/ijshe-10-2018-0196 DOI
Rights:	© Fiona Winfield and Tabani Ndlovu. Published by Emerald Publishing Limited. This article is published under the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY 4.0) licence. Anyone may reproduce, distribute, translate and create derivative works of this article (for both commercial & noncommercial purposes), subject to full attribution to the original publication and authors. The full terms of this licence may be seen at http://creativecommons.org/licences/by/4.0/legalcode
Divisions:	Schools > Nottingham Business School
Record created by:	Linda Sullivan
Date Added:	06 Sep 2019 10:57
Last Modified:	06 Sep 2019 10:57
URI:	https://irep.ntu.ac.uk/id/eprint/37586

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