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The publication of the Futuretrack Stage 5 study conducted in 2019, led by Professors Peter Elias and Kate Purcell and funded by the Nuffield Foundation, showed ‘how the majority of graduates had by then achieved reasonable job security, with many balancing work and parenting or other caring roles when the pandemic hit’ (see press release). In 2020, the research team went back to respondents to investigate how they had been affected by the Covid restrictions and economic impact and conducted Futuretrack Stage 6.

For full details of the research see:

• the report on the Covid-19 impact: Covid 19 and graduate careers
• a slightly revised version of the report published in March 2021: Ten Years On – the Futuretrack Graduates
• a short report that summarises and draws the implications of both the above What a difference a year makes: the impact od Covid 19 on graduate careers

Employability gain is often connected to international experiences, however, empirical findings are sparse. The (AMIN) and IER are organising a research seminar to explore research on academic mobility on 23 May. There will be presentations from Dr Toni Wright (Newham College), Eluned Jones (University of Birmingham) and Gaby Atfield (IER) focusing on: do students enrolled in UK Higher Education Institutions gain international experiences by studying or working in a different country, or by taking part in international events on the UK campus?; and do international students enhance their employability by studying in a UK higher education institution? To register and find out more .

The British Academy has commissioned IER to undertake an analysis of the employment outcomes of graduates on undergraduate (UG) and taught post-graduate (PGT) courses in the Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences (AHSS) at UK Higher Education Institutions, looking at the sectors in which they are employed, the jobs they do, and the skills that they demonstrate. As part of this research, we are looking for volunteers to participate in two online focus groups. Participants will be offered a £10 incentive for attending the focus group. All participants must be AHSS graduates from UK universities who are currently in paid work.

For more information or to register an interest in taking part, please contact C dot Lyonette at warwick dot ac dot uk

As a part of the , recently presented a paper in which two ways to measure learning gain were critically assessed: Credentials and self-assessed improvement of specific skills.

Both ways have drawbacks: Credentials can be an effective way of measuring student learning within a particular class, since most institutions have a scaled grading system already in place. It is problematic, however, to use across classes and institutions and it does not measure the ‘distance travelled’ during higher education. On the other hand, self-assessed improvement of skills will always be subjective and will differ according to individuals’ personality and their personal and HE-related circumstances such as gender and subject studied. It is also important to notice that both data is censored, i.e. improvement is not unlimited.

Using data, Heike compared both ways and found that those who increased their learning gain using credentials are less likely to assess their skills highly, both variable correlate negatively. The findings are currently being prepared for publication. Reported in .

on invitation of the British Council at the Higher Education - Industry Dialogue in Sri Lanka gave a presentation on the role of higher education to produce employable graduates. Heike also demonstrated different ways to measure the employability of graduates based on her work for the .