Defining Student Success

A View from the College Sector

November 22, 2013

Defining Student Success

Two ways of looking at student success

1. Meeting Employer Needs/Graduate Employment Rates

2. Educational and Social Development

What are we doing to meet Employer Expectations?

1. Survey work to identify the key skills and attributes employers are looking for

2. Experiential Learning

3. Leveraging our Program Advisory Committees to inform curriculum and new program planning

What Do Employers Want?

In addition to the information collected from employers through the KPI process, George Brown decided to conduct a research project in order to dig a little deeper to try and understand exactly what skills Employers value in graduates.

The sample (n=705) was collected via telephone interviews with GTA employers (Metro and GTA outside Metro) across a range of industries / sectors relevant to priority GBC centres / program areas

Representative sample of GTA employers sourced through industry-targeted business listings (as defined by SIC industry codes).

Employers screened to ensure they have hired college and/or university graduates in the past two years and/or would consider hiring college and/or university graduates in the next year.

Respondents are a mix of HR (gatekeepers responsible for screening applicants) and line managers (those who actually do the hiring); split of 40% and 60% respectively.

Mix of small, medium, large size companies in the sample, reflective of the mix of companies where college graduates go to work (79% small/medium).

Employers say industry credentials, relevant work experience & field placements, and soft skills are most important when evaluating recent grads as a potential hire

S3Q2: Now I would like to ask you about what attributes are important to you, as an employer, when evaluating the attractiveness of a recent college or University graduate as a potential hire. For each statement I read you, please rate it on a scale from 1 to 10, where 10 means this attribute is “very important” in making a graduate highly attractive to me, and 1 means this attribute is “not at all important” when evaluating the attractiveness of a graduate. Let’s begin with the statement…

Importance of Graduate Attributes When Evaluating Recent Graduates

Has industry credentials that relate to work your company does

Relevant work experience through field/co-op/internships

Has field/co-op/internship experience w/ known sector employer

Relevant work experience through part-time work while at school

Highly developed soft skills

Has taken mandatory communications courses

Gained multi-disciplinary learning experiences

Evidence of soft skills development documented in a transcript

High academic grades, documented with a transcript

Involved in hands-on research projects with industry partners

Participated in industry competitions while in college or University

Has a strong understanding of “green” issues

Gained global workplace experience through international work

Has taken courses that emphasize international and global issues

44%

45%

48%

57%

60%

65%

68%

70%

71%

12%

16%

28%

30%

38%

Customer service, teamwork, and productivity are the most important skills needed of new hires, along with multi-cultural & oral communication

24%

25%

26%

32%

33%

35%

36%

38%

59%

55%

60%

57%

50%

61%

58%

44%

11%

18%

19%

20%

21%

55%

54%

38%

58%

41%

Extremely Important Very Important

S1Q2: Please tell me how important this specific skill and ability is to performing the type of work that most new college or university hires would typically do at your [company/organization].

Importance of Skills/Abilities for New Hires

Customer Service skills

Teamwork

Productivity

Able to communicate w/ different cultures

Oral communication

Interpersonal skills

English language literacy skills

Adaptable

Critical thinking

Specific job-related technical skills

Goal-oriented self-starter

Written communication

Creative & innovative

Developing Soft Skills

The employer survey data tells us that technical skills are table stakes

Soft skills such as customer service, team work, critical thinking, cross-cultural communication are highly valued by employers

How do we support student development in these areas?

Developing a mandatory Soft Skills course in our Centre for Business will launch 2014

Experiential Learning

Currently approximately 70% of our programs have a field education component

George Brown College has made a commitment that by 2020, 100% of eligible programs will have a field education component

Successful experiential learning can start with failure

Call: 416-415-2260Email: chefshouse@georgebrown.caReserve online: http://www.thechefshouse.com

Hours

The Chefs' House is open to the public for lunch and dinner, Monday to Friday.

Lunch: 11:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m.Dinner: 6 p.m. with last seating at 8 p.m. 

We are located at 215 King Street East, Toronto, ON.

So How are We Doing?

Specif

ic job

-relat

ed kn

owled

ge

Specif

ic job

-relat

ed sk

ills

Oral co

mmunica

tion

Written

commun

icatio

ns

Compre

hens

ion

Math sk

ills

Compu

ter sk

ills

Critica

l think

ing

Problem

solvi

ng

Resea

rch an

d ana

lysis

Teamwork

Organiz

ation

and p

lannin

g

Time m

anag

emen

t

Quality

of w

ork

Produc

tivity

Creativ

e and

Inno

vativ

e

Adapta

ble

Respo

nsibl

e0%

10%

20%

30%

40%

50%

60%

70%

80%

90%

100%

58% 59% 57%62% 62% 61%

56%62%

58% 56%

47%

57% 57%

50%56% 58% 56%

45%

29% 29%36%

27%33%

20%33% 28% 30%

18%

49%

33% 32%44%

35%23%

38%50%

87% 89%93%

90%95%

81%

89% 90% 89%

74%

96%90% 89%

94%91%

81%

94% 95%

Employer Satisfaction (2012-13 KPI data)

SatisfiedVery SatisfiedTotal

Graduate Employment Rate Graduate Satisfaction Rate Employer Satisfaction Rate0

10

20

30

40

50

60

70

80

90

100

80% 78%

94%

84%80%

93%

GTAProvince

2013 Key Performance Indicators

Source: 2012-13 KPI files, GBC Office of Institutional Research & PlanningGTA college average = George Brown, Centennial, Humber, Seneca, Sheridan

Employer Input to Ensure Student Success

Program Advisory Committees – mandated by province

Direct input from Industry to create the program and graduates that they need

Bachelor of Technology in Construction Management

Student Success Story

http://www.accc.ca/xp/index.php/en/programs/accc-awards

Are Employment Metrics the Best Measures of Student Success?

Not for all students and not for all programs Employment is always dependent on the

economy and to expansion and contraction in specific areas

While colleges are very responsive to labour market needs, it still takes 18 months-2 years to move a certificate program from concept to first intake of students

We are still predicting employment needs 2 to 5 years out or longer

Student Success and Social Development

Colleges have a broad access mandate and provide opportunities for a diverse range of students

Academic upgrading and pre-programs do not have obvious employment outcomes. The more successful students in these programs tend to go on to further education

Many of the students we serve come to us with complicated histories and disadvantaged backgrounds.

Social Development

The Ontario Colleges of Applied Arts and Technology Act, 2002 states that one of the purposes of the college is to support “the economic and social development of their local and diverse communities”

Social development cannot be measured by employment rates or employer satisfaction rates

2013 KPIs

Graduate Employment R

ate

Graduate Satisfa

ction Rate

Employer S

atisfacti

on Rate

Student S

atisfacti

on Rate

Graduation Rate0

10

20

30

40

50

60

70

80

90

100

81 78

92

7167

8480

93

77

65

GBC Province

Perc

ent

Institutional Research & Planning

Next Steps

Full implementation of the Ontario Education Number

Protect and promote the value of the social development function of education

Continue to work with employers to ensure that we are equipping students with the skills they need to be successful

Recognize that success comes in many forms and celebrate it

2013 KPIs: GTA Colleges

Graduate Employment Rate Graduate Satisfaction Rate Employer Satisfaction Rate Student Satisfaction Rate Graduation Rate50

55

60

65

70

75

80

85

90

95

100

GBC Cent Humb Sene Sher

Perc

ent

Institutional Research & Planning