Celebrating Skills in the Arts, Humanities and Social SciencesCall for EvidenceJanuary 2017

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About this project

The British Academy believes that there is a growing need for a better understanding of whether the UK has got the right balance of skills, skills levels and disciplines for the future. We believe it is timely to hold an intelligent debate about the place of education and skills in securing prosperity for society. To date, the Academy’s focus has been on addressing areas with marked deficits – languages and quantitative skills. As the National Academy for the humanities and the social sciences, the Academy is ideally placed to extend this work to look at skills across the range of its disciplines, as well as those that are common across all the arts, humanities and social sciences (AHSS).

This flagship project aims to articulate the skills that are inherent to the study of AHSS, their value to the individual, and the contribution they do make and could make in future to society as well as those skills that are important for educators of AHSS students to introduce directly. The Academy hopes to stimulate and facilitate a national debate about the nature and value of these skills, and set the agenda for a wider Skills Programme to 2020.

About the Call for Evidence

To inform the flagship project, the British Academy wishes to establish an evidence base about the skills developed by studying AHSS and the contribution that individuals with those skills make to society and the economy. In recent years, the identification and definition of skills and the articulation of their value has been a topic of considerable debate in the general media and among policy makers in higher education and therefore a large body of material addressing the issue already exists.

The British Academy, under the guidance of the project Steering Group, has produced a summary and initial analysis of key evidence on AHSS skills. This document briefly summarises the key sources in this area, and explores the extent to which they provide the evidence which is required for the flagship project. It is structured around six questions:

What do we mean by skills? What skills should studying AHSS develop? What skills do individuals who have studied AHSS demonstrate? What contribution do individuals with AHSS skills make to society and the

economy? What skills do employers want? What skills are needed for the future?

This document underpins our Call for Evidence. In responding, we would like you to refer to this summary and bring to our attention other sources which we have not identified which can be used to provide evidence on the issues we have identified, as well as suggesting other areas which we should investigate through the project. We are also interested in learning about comparative studies from other countries. Respondents should not feel limited by the questions posed below: we would welcome any additional thoughts or information. Equally, respondents should answer those questions in which they have an interest and

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not feel obliged to answer them all. A response form is provided as annex to this document.

Who should respond?

The Academy is seeking the views of a broad range of stakeholders in the education and skills sector, including but not limited to education providers, learned societies, careers advisory services, students, employers and policy-makers. If you do not fall into one of these categories and would like to submit evidence, please do so as you consider appropriate.

How to respond

Please ensure that all responses are in Microsoft Word format (not PDF), and that they include concrete examples wherever possible and are fully referenced where appropriate. Responses should not exceed 3000 words and should be as clear and succinct as possible. Please submit your completed response to skills@britac.ac.uk by Wednesday 15 March 2017.

What we will do with the responses

Evidence submitted will be analysed by policy staff at the British Academy, and Steering Group members. It will be used to inform the work of the project and its conclusions and recommendations. Unless we receive a clear instruction to the contrary, all written evidence submitted will be published on the British Academy’s project web page when the final report is published. Publication is expected in Autumn 2017.

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CALL FOR EVIDENCE

Table of contents

Section. 1. What do we mean by skills?...............................5Questions........................................................................6

Section. 2. What skills should studying AHSS develop?........7Questions:.......................................................................9

Section. 3. What skills do individuals who have studied AHSS demonstrate?..................................................................10

Questions......................................................................12Section. 4. What contribution do individuals with AHSS skills make to society and the economy?...................................13

Questions......................................................................15Section. 5. What skills do employers want?.......................16

Questions......................................................................17Section. 6. What skills are needed for the future?..............18

Call for Evidence Response Form......................................20

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Section. 1. What do we mean by skills?

‘Skills’ are regarded as of vital importance to economic growth and to successful and productive societies. Accordingly they are the focus of much attention from researchers, policy-makers, employers, and education providers. However, the term ‘skill’ is difficult to define. As Green observed: “‘skill’ is at once held to be a pivotal object for modern social and economic life, while also a concept with no consensus as to what exactly it refers to.”1 In addition, there are many synonymous terms in common use such as ‘ability’, ‘competence’ and ‘attribute’, often used interchangeably. For this project, a broad definition of ‘skills’ has been adopted, which goes beyond ‘what you can do’, to include attitudes and behaviours, as proposed by Green and Henseke. 2

‘Skills’ are also often divided into different types or categories, such as ‘generic’ or ‘core’, and ‘technical’ skills. This distinction could refer to the extent that these skills cut across disciplines or are subject-specific, or how they relate to occupations, where generic skills can apply to a wide range of occupations, and technical skills relate to specific tasks required by distinct occupations. Skills can be further divided into ‘cognitive’ and ‘non-cognitive’. ‘Cognitive skills’ can generally be understood as requiring thinking activities and encompass a wide range of skills, from literacy and numeracy, to problem-solving, information technology and communication.3 ‘Non-cognitive skills’, also referred to as ‘character skills’, ‘personality traits’, ‘soft skills’ and ‘life skills’, refer to attitudes, preferences, behaviours and strategies and include things like conscientiousness, motivation, creativity, perseverance, self-control and resilience.4 Skills may also be referred to as ‘employability skills’, essentially the skills which are needed in the workplace, largely regardless of the sector of employment.

A further distinction is that between high- and low-level skills. High-level skills can be considered to be those required for ‘high-skilled occupations’, defined by the UK Government as major occupation categories 1-3 in the Standard Occupational Classification (Managers, directors, senior officials, professional occupations and associate professional and technical occupations).5 A number of different frameworks exist to map graduate qualifications to occupational categories, which makes the term ‘graduate job’ difficult to define, but it is generally accepted that these jobs typically require a degree-level qualification. This project aims to deal with high-level skills, meaning those skills developed through the study of AHSS at degree level and above, including in the early stages of a career in research in these subjects. 1 Green, F. (2011). What is Skill? An Inter-Disciplinary Synthesis, LLAKES Research Paper 202 Green, F. & Henseke, G. (2014). The changing graduate labour market: analysis using a new indication of graduate jobs, LLAKES Research Paper 503 Green, F. (2011). What is skill? An inter-disciplinary synthesis, LLAKES Research Paper 204 Morrison Gutman, L. & Schoon, I. (2013). The impact of non-cognitive skills on outcomes for young people, Education Endowment Foundation5 www.neighbourhood.statistics.gov.uk/HTMLDocs/dev3/ONS_SOC_hierarchy_view.html

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Surveys of employers provide a useful insight into how employers understand skills, and the language they use to describe them, which is another important dimension to this project. In addition to high-level categories such as ‘work preparedness’, these surveys often look at both ‘skills and competencies’ and non-cognitive skills or values such as attitude, personality and motivation. The UKCES Employer Skills Surveys - one of the most high-profile employer skills surveys - divides skills into ‘technical and practical skills’ and ‘people and personal skills’. ‘Technical and practical skills’ include job-specific knowledge, reading/writing, numeracy, complex problem-solving, communication, and IT skills. ‘People and personal skills’ include time-management, customer handling, persuading and influencing, instructing, teaching and training people, making speeches and presentations and managing own and other’s feelings.6 The CBI/Pearson employer skills survey looks at employer satisfaction in terms of information technology skills, technical skills, teamworking ability, numeracy, literacy, attitude, problem-solving, resilience, analytical skills, communication skills, job-specific knowledge, international cultural awareness and language skills which their employees have.7

In these studies, the focus is largely simply on whether individuals have, or need, particular skills, with no reference to how well an individual executes them. One possible avenue of exploration for this project is calibration of the quality of skills demonstrated by individuals who have studied AHSS.

Questions

1. How should we define ‘skills’ for this project?2. How important is it to consider how well an individual

demonstrates a particular skill?3. Does evidence exist on how well AHSS students execute

particular skills? If not, is this something the project should explore?

6 UKCES (2016). Employer Skills Survey 2015: UK results, UKCES Evidence Report 977 CBI (2016). The right combination: CBI/Pearson Education and Skills Survey 2016, Pearson

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Section. 2. What skills should studying AHSS develop?

It is difficult to provide a comprehensive list of the skills developed through the study of AHSS in higher education, and to separate them from generic characteristics of all graduates. An initial informal consultation with AHSS subject communities produced the following list:

Advocacy and the ability to present a case Analysis and evaluation of evidence, weighing up arguments and

understanding multiple perspectives, awareness of the possibilities and limitations of data, methodological rigour

Ability to notice and describe, and to contextualise, pointing out and unravelling complexity

Imaginative objectivity, persuasion, diplomacy, negotiation, listening, empathy

Leadership, independence, initiative, problem solving Creative enthusiasm, emotional intelligence, self-awareness, self-

management Resilience, cultural awareness, adaptability, flexibility and the ability to

navigate change

There are a number of other sources which could substantiate and expand this list. A series of national reference points define the skills which students should develop at different stages of higher education, and some of these are subject-specific. For undergraduates (bachelors degree with honours) and some taught masters programmes, subject benchmark statements define the nature of a subject area, the teaching, learning and assessment methods typical to the subject and the knowledge, understanding and skills which students should gain.8 In most of these statements, the skills are described as either ‘subject specific’, referring to skills which are essential to the study of the subject, or ‘generic’ or ‘transferable’, referring to skills which have a broader application. The UUK review of skills collated a list of these transferable skills.9 Both subject specific and transferable skills may be relevant after the student has graduated, depending on the further study or employment they enter or other routes they take. Subject benchmark statements are written by the relevant subject community and are revised periodically, so mostly reflect the views of those who teach the subject within higher education, with some input from employers of graduates of the subject area.

Of the 54 subject benchmark statements, around 30 cover AHSS subjects. This is a rich resource for the project, and it would be possible to carry out a mapping exercise which analyses the skills defined in the statements, identifying themes common across AHSS subjects and those specific to individual subjects or groups of subjects. This analysis could be compared to the qualification descriptors in the UK national qualification frameworks for higher education, which describe the generic characteristics of a graduate, regardless of subject area, in order to 8 www.qaa.ac.uk/assuring-standards-and-quality/the-quality-code/subject-benchmark-statements 9 Universities UK (2016). Higher education in England: provision, skills and graduates

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identify the extent to which AHSS is distinctive.10 The generic qualification descriptors define the minimum abilities which a graduate must demonstrate, while subject benchmark statements may also include a ‘typical’ or ‘excellent’ level, which gives some indication of different levels of performance.

The UK qualification frameworks, alongside other publications maintained by QAA, are the main reference points for the skills developed by students studying research master’s and doctoral degrees, where the individual nature of the research undertaken by each student makes it difficult to define the knowledge and skills at a subject level.11 A further generic reference point for the skills developed through research degrees and in the early stages of a research career is the Vitae Research Development Framework, a self-assessment and development tool.12 More specifically, the Research Councils define the skills which should be included in doctoral training programmes in their subject areas.13 Again, these are rich resources for the project.

For some subject areas within the AHSS group, a professional body, learned society or subject association may maintain a set of criteria against which higher education programmes are accredited, and these typically include requirements for the subject knowledge and skills which students should develop during their studies. In order to reduce burden on higher education providers, these may align with the relevant subject benchmark statement,14 but they may also be distinct, particularly where they relate to requirements for gaining professional recognition, as opposed to the academic qualification.15 Some bodies have developed separate statements defining the characteristics of their subject area. The target audience for these materials is often prospective students, or current ones, and they set out the benefits to be gained by studying the subject, generally at undergraduate level.16 Statements of this kind are also produced by individual universities, where they go down to the level of individual courses, or groups of courses in a subject area, and these may be used in the record of a student’s studies, such as their higher educationachievement report (HEAR).17 10 www.qaa.ac.uk/assuring-standards-and-quality/the-quality-code/qualifications 11 www.qaa.ac.uk/assuring-standards-and-quality/the-quality-code/characteristics-statements 12 www.vitae.ac.uk/researchers-professional-development/about-the-vitae-researcher-development-framework 13 ESRC (2015). Postgraduate training and development guidelines, Second Edition AHRC (2014). Research training framework www.ahrc.ac.uk/skills/earlycareerresearchers/rtframeworks/14 For example, the Royal Geographical Society: www.rgs.org/OurWork/Research+and+Higher+Education/Accreditation+of+programmes/Application+forms+and+guidance.htm15 For example, The Bar Standards Board: www.barstandardsboard.org.uk/qualifying-as-a-barrister/current-requirements/academic-stage/ or the National Council for the Training of Journalists: http://www.nctj.com/journalism-qualifications/diploma-in-journalism/Accreditedcourses? 16 For example, Rees, C., Forbes, P. & Kubler, B. (2007). Student employability profiles: a guide for higher education practitioners, Graduate Prospects/CIHE/HEA; and www.artanddesignemployability.org/17 For example, University of Cambridge School of Humanities and Social Sciences: www.cshss.cam.ac.uk/transferable-skills and University of Exeter Department of Theology and Religion: https://intranet.exeter.ac.uk/humanities/studying/subjecthandbooks/theology/skills/

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Some universities have also produced institution-wide statements of graduate characteristics, and for Scotland, a sector-wide enhancement theme on Graduates for the 21st Century resulted in a shared set of graduate attributes.18 The Association for Graduate Careers Advisory Services and Prospect maintain an online portal What can I do with my degree, that describes the subject specific skills and career options a graduate has by discipline.19 Analysis of these materials could provide further evidence for the project, where it is possible to determine the subject-specific contribution of AHSS.

An alternative perspective on the skills developed by studying AHSS can be gained by considering the areas which have been identified as ‘skills gaps’ and has hence led to activity to attempt to redress the deficit, leading to a change in the skills gained by students as a consequence. In recent years, the British Academy has led two such programmes, on languages and quantitative skills. The former has been focused on maintaining provision in languages, both whole programmes and courses which may be followed alongside study of other subjects across all discipline areas.20 The latter has sought to promote the inclusion of quantitative skills training across largely the social sciences, and is paralleled by work done by the ESRC.21 Where the initiatives deriving from these programmes have been implemented, the skills which students develop through their studies will have a different profile, which could be articulated.

Questions:

4. Are there other sources which describe what skills studying AHSS should develop?

5. Has work already been done to map and analyse skills defined in Subject Benchmark Statements, either across AHSS subjects or in individual subjects or groups of subjects? If so, please tell us about them. If not, is this something the project should explore?

6. To what extent can generic sources describing skills developed at different levels of higher education be drilled down into to identify skills specific to AHSS disciplines? Has this already been done? If not, is this something the project should explore?

18 For example, University of Sheffield: www.sheffield.ac.uk/sheffieldgraduate/studentattributes and University of Hertfordshire: www.herts.ac.uk/about-us/student-charter/graduate-attributes; www.enhancementthemes.ac.uk/enhancement-themes/completed-enhancement-themes/graduates-for-the-21st-century 19 www.prospects.ac.uk/careers-advice/what-can-i-do-with-my-degree 20 www.britac.ac.uk/born-global; British Academy (2013). Languages: the state of the nation 21 British Academy (2015). State of the nation: a review of evidence on the supply and demand of quantitative skills; www.esrc.ac.uk/research/our-research/quantitative-methods-initiative/undergraduate-pilot-projects/

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7. (for learned societies, subject associations, professional bodies, HEIs) What activities do you undertake (e.g. statements, accreditation) to define the skills AHSS graduates should have?

Section. 3. What skills do individuals who have studied AHSS demonstrate?

A significant limitation to all the evidence sources described in the previous section is that they are statements of what skills students should or could develop through their studies. Subject benchmark statements for example are not a ‘national curriculum’, but a guiding framework, and exactly how they are interpreted and implemented depends on the degree-awarding body which approves the programme. The reach of the languages and quantitative skills programmes has been limited thus far and it would be necessary to evaluate the extent of their impact to understand how they have influenced the skills gained by students. The Research Council frameworks set out the skills which training programmes funded by them should include; this does not guarantee that students successfully develop those skills. Therefore, it is necessary for this project to establish what skills students who study AHSS actually demonstrate: how far does theory map to reality?

This is not simply captured through analysing the sectors and types of employment which AHSS graduates go into and extrapolating the skills they would require to work in these areas, because this is only part of the picture of the skills they develop. Nevertheless, evidence of destinations can be useful: if there are particular sectors of employment which are heavily populated with AHSS graduates, this could be taken to indicate that they demonstrably have the skills which are particularly valued in that sector although further validation of this hypothesis would be necessary. In addition there are a number of other sources which provide further evidence of the skills which AHSS graduates demonstrate, although it is difficult to find studies which differentiate between subjects, even at a high level. 22

Furthermore, it is widely recognised that it is a challenge to measure what a student learns as a result of their higher education experience, and to distinguish this from how their abilities would have developed in any case. HEFCE is currently undertaking a programme of work looking at this question in terms of learning gain, but this is in its early stages. 23 The OECD’s Assessment of Higher Education Learning Outcomes (AHELO) project was another initiative in this area, as an attempt to create an equivalent for higher education to the PISA tests (standardised tests for 15 year olds), but found that there were considerable

22 For example, Kirby, P. (2016). Leading people 2016: the educational backgrounds of the UK professional elite, Sutton Trust, only considers the type of school attended, not the subject studied in higher education. 23 www.hefce.ac.uk/lt/lg/

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feasibility challenges for comparability between subjects and national differences.24 In the United States, there have been attempts to measure things which are not adequately captured by standard tests of achievement such as non-cognitive skills, personality traits, character and motivations. 25 For this project, an additional challenge is the difficulty of isolating the extent to which the skills which are measured are the result of students studying AHSS specifically, including how the subject they are studying determines the benefits they may gain from extra-curricular activities, which are where many ‘employability’ skills may be developed.

One way to identify what skills students have developed is to analyse employers’ assessments of the skills of the graduates they have employed, and of the skills which they find lacking in those employees,26 although this evidence would need to take into account practices in the recruitment and selection of graduates which may distort the extent to which the graduates employed are representative. 27 On the latter issues, the government recently commissioned reviews of the gap between higher education provision and the needs of employers in STEM and computing,28 while the House of Commons Science and Technology Select Committee has just reported on the ‘digital skills crisis’.29 A similar undertaking focused on AHSS would need take into account the wide range of sectors in which graduates from these subjects are employed, but could draw upon more generic studies, although they often extend beyond higher education.30

Another source of evidence is the assessments students themselves make of the skills they have developed. This is collected through the Destination of Leavers in Higher Education survey, which is conducted by all UK universities, and through other bespoke studies.31

24 www.oecd.org/edu/skills-beyond-school/testingstudentanduniversityperformancegloballyoecdsahelo.htm 25 Kautz, T. et al (2014) Fostering and measuring skills: improving cognitive and non-cognitive skills to promote lifetime success, OECD 26 For example, UKCES (2016). Employer Skills Survey 2015: UK results, UKCES Evidence Report 97Lowden, K. et al (2011) Employers’ perceptions of the employability skills of new graduates, Edge Foundation27 BIS (2015). Graduate recruitment and selection evidence report, BIS Research Paper 23128 www.gov.uk/government/publications/stem-degree-provision-and-graduate-employability-wakeham-review ; www.gov.uk/government/publications/computer-science- degree-accreditation-and-graduate-employability-shadbolt-review 29 www.parliament.uk/business/committees/committees-a-z/commons-select/science-and-technology-committee/inquiries/parliament-2015/digital-skills-inquiry-15-16/ 30 For example, Bamfield, L. (2013). Rebalancing the UK’s education and skills system: transforming capacity for innovation and collaboration, RSA Action and Research Centre (2013); BIS (2016). Research to understand the extent, nature and impact of skills mismatches in the economy; see http://www.cedefop.europa.eu/en/events-and-projects/projects/analysing-skill-mismatch for similar studies for the European Union31 DLHE data is published by HESA: www.hesa.ac.uk/data-and-analysis/publications, although there is no systematic analysis of the section related to skills; other studies include Universities UK (2015). Supply and demand for higher-level skills; Atfield, G. & Purcell, K. (2012). The fit between graduate labour market supply and demand: 3rd year undergraduate degree final year students’ perceptions of skills they have to offer and

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Most of these studies focus exclusively on the outcomes demonstrated by those graduating from their first degree, or occasionally master’s programmes. Research Councils UK and Vitae have looked at the skills which researchers can bring to careers outside higher education, and this work does include a subject specific dimension.32 This study argued that employers value doctoral graduates’ deep specialist subject knowledge, excellent research and analytical skills, capacity for critical thinking, and ability to bring fresh perspectives to problems. Specifically, AHSS doctoral graduates are able to communicate complex information to non-specialists, solve problems, think creatively and be innovative in the workplace.

Questions

8. How far is it possible to map the skills that AHSS graduates have in theory to those that they demonstrate in reality? How could this be done?

9. What can evidence on AHSS graduate destinations tell us about the skills these graduates demonstrate? Are there particular sectors in which these graduates are employed? Which skills are particularly valued in those sectors and to what extent can we say that AHSS graduates demonstrate them?

10. What skills do AHSS graduates demonstrate which distinguishes them from graduates in other disciplines?

11. To what extent is it possible to distinguish generic skills developed through higher education, and extra-curricular activities, from those specific to the study of AHSS?

12. Would it be useful to look at employers’ assessments of the skills their employees do or do not have? How could a review of the gap between higher education provision in AHSS and the needs of employers in relevant sectors be undertaken? How should we define ‘relevant sectors’?

the skills employers seek, Futuretrack Working Paper 4; Neves, J. (2016). Student engagement and skills development: the UK Engagement Survey 2016, HEA32 Diamond, A. et al (2014). The impact of doctoral careers, CFE, with supporting fact sheets for arts and humanities, and social sciences doctoral graduates; www.vitae.ac.uk/impact-and-evaluation/what-do-researchers-do. See also Innes, P. and Feeney, D. (2012). Career paths of AHRC funded PhD students

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Section. 4. What contribution do individuals with AHSS skills make to society and the economy?

Graduates contribute to society in many ways: they are a highly-skilled workforce employed throughout the economy; they become the researchers that produce world-leading research which drives growth and underpins productivity; they are active and engaged citizens; and they contribute to arts and culture and the wellbeing of the wider popuation.

For example, research by the Open University and NatCen Social Research for the Department of Business Innovation and Skills found that the attitudinal ‘benefits’ of education increase incrementally, with graduates displaying the highest levels of political engagement and efficacy, the greatest degree of environmental knowledge, concern and willingness to take action for the sake of the environment, less traditional and more tolerant attitudes to gender equality and personal relationships and more tolerant attitudes towards immigrants and welfare recipients.33 GuildHE and the National Union for Students further argued that graduates have a greater sense of active citizenship, are more likely to vote, volunteer and become engaged in society.34

In many respects, these effects can be attributed to a general experience of higher education but some may be amplified by the discipline the individual studied. For this project, we are interested in identifying the specific contribution of AHSS graduates to society and the economy within the context of the broader effects of higher education, which is challenging, although some evidence does exist.

The Arts and Humanities Research Council’s Cultural Value Project argued that arts and cultural engagement have the ability to shape reflective individuals, facilitating greater understanding of themselves and their lives, increasing

33 Brennan, J. et al (2015). The effect of higher education on graduates’ attitudes: secondary analysis of the British Social Attitudes Survey, BIS Research Paper 200 34 GuildHE & National Union of Students (2016). Active citizenship: the role of higher education

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empathy with respect to others, and having an appreciation of the diversity of human experience and cultures. It produces more engaged citizens, improves health and wellbeing, and contributes to cognitive abilities, confidence, motivation, problem-solving and communication skills.35 The Economic and Social Research Council’s report Celebrating the Social Sciences argued that the social sciences are essential to understanding human behaviour, the wellbeing of citizens and promoting sustainable growth.36 In addition, the Arts Council England argued that increased engagement with arts and culture has health benefits, contributes to social cohesion, improves cognition and provides a higher level of subjective wellbeing.37

The British Academy’s own work has also sought to develop the evidence base on the benefits and contribution of the humanities and social sciences. In Prospering Wisely The British Academy argued that research and scholarship in humanities and social sciences generates new ideas, provides intellectual rigour, offers longer-term perspectives, challenges received wisdoms, stimulates curiosity, and strengthens understanding of the multiple challenges facing us as individuals and as a society.38 These sources focus on the contribution which the AHSS make generally.

Looking more specifically at skills which may be developed through the study of AHSS, the Academy’s report Count Us In argues that the ability to understand and interpret data, developed through the study of the social sciences, is an essential feature of life in the 21st century: vital for the economy, for our society and for us as individuals.39 Research has predicted that between 2012 and 2017, 58,000 new jobs a year may be created in the UK in the big data marketplace and that ‘big and open data’ could contribute an extra £147 billion per annum to GDP across the European Union economies by 2020.40

The British Academy’s Language Programme argued that language skills were crucial for UK security, diplomacy and soft power, international trade and for individual’s employability.41 71% of UK Small and Medium Sized Enterprises (SMEs) surveyed in the Academy’s Born Global project agreed that future executives would need language skills. Over half agreed that graduates who only spoke English were at a disadvantage in the jobs market, and that additional foreign languages would be helpful to extend business opportunities in future. The British Chambers of Commerce found that 62% of non-exporters cite language and 55% cultural barriers when deciding when and where to export.42 Research for UK Trade and Investment claimed that a lack of foreign language 35 Crossick, G. & Kaszynska, P. (2016). Understanding the value of arts & culture: The AHRC Cultural Value Project, AHRC 36 ESRC (n.d.). Celebrating the social sciences: the impact of social science research37 Arts Council England (2014). The value of arts and culture to people and society38 British Academy (2014). Prospering wisely: how the humanities and social sciences enrich our lives 39 British Academy (2015). Count us in40 Mohamed, S. & Ismail, O. (2012). Data equity: unlocking the value of big data. Centre for Economics and Business Research; Buchholtz, S., Bukowski, M. & Śniegocki, A. (2014). Big and open data in Europe: a growth engine or a missed opportunity? Demos Europa & Warsaw Institute for Economic Studies41 www.britac.ac.uk/born-global; British Academy (2013). Lost for words: the need for languages in UK diplomacy and security

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skills is costing the UK up to £48bn a year, or 3.5% of GDP.43 Once the skills gained by studying AHSS have been defined, it could be possible to carry out similar investigation of the role those skills play and their value to employers and the economy.

There are other ways the contribution of AHSS can be quantified. For example, three years after graduation, 78% of AHSS students were in further study or sustained employment with average earnings of £28,300 per annum.44 More specifically, four out of five graduates in practice‐based art, design, crafts and media subjects surveyed in Creative Graduates Creative Futures project were in paid work, the majority in creative jobs and achieving their career goals.45 According to a British Council study, over 50% of professional leaders in 30 countries studied humanities or social sciences at university. Among young professional leaders and politicians the proportion is even higher.46

The University of Oxford carried out a detailed study of a sample of their humanities graduates, with quantitative data collected from 11,000 individuals supported by a qualitative study tracking the lifelong career history of a sample of 50. The study found that graduates were employed across the sectors which emerged as new sources of economic growth in the 1970s and 1980s, such as finance, law and media, while public services remained a core destination. However, only a third of graduates remained in the sector of their first occupation, with an individual’s capacity to learn new skills and adapt in the context of new challenges being crucial. This study provides a useful template for this project to consider adopting on a larger scale.47

Research commissioned by Universities UK argued that education in arts and humanities underpins the UK’s creative economy. At the time of the research in 2010, the creative industries employed over a million people with a further 800,000 employed in creative occupations in businesses outside the creative sector and the sector was predicted to be one of four sectors with greatest potential to support economic recovery. The arts and culture sector accounted for 0.4% of GDP.48 More recently, in 2015, cultural organisations and practitioners contributed £27bn to the UK economy. The cultural sector employed around 642,000 people and was growing rapidly, with around 97,000 jobs in museums, galleries and libraries in the UK.49 Updating and where possible 42 www.britishchambers.org.uk/assets/downloads/policy_reports_2013/2013%20BCC%20Int%20trade%20Survey%20Factsheet_Market%20Opps.pdf43 Foreman-Peck, J. & Wang, Y. (2014). The costs to the UK of language deficiencies as a barrier to UK engagement in exporting: a report to UK Trade & Investment, Cardiff University44 Department for Education Longitudinal Education Outcomes data: www.gov.uk/government/statistics/graduate-outcomes-by-degree-subject-and-university 45 Ball, L., Pollard, E. & Stanley, N. (2010). Creative graduates creative futures, Council for Higher Education in Art and Design and University of the Arts London.46 British Council (2015). The educational pathways of leaders: an international comparison47 Kreager, P. (2013). Humanities graduates and the British economy: the hidden impact, University of Oxford 48 Universities UK (2010), Creating prosperity: the role of higher education in driving the UK’s creative economy49 Department for Culture, Media and Sport Economic Estimates 2016: www.gov.uk/government/statistics/creative-industries-economic-estimates-january-2016

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broadening this evidence base could prove useful to the project, but would require careful assessment of the parameters for the study.

Questions

13. Is there any other evidence which seeks identify the contribution the AHSS disciplines and AHSS skills make to the individual and to society we should be aware of?

14. Are there other ways this ‘contribution’ could be measured and if so, what are they?

15. How can the specific contribution of AHSS skills be differentiated from the more general skills developed in higher education?

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Section. 5. What skills do employers want?

Having considered the skills AHSS graduates develop and the contribution those skills enable individuals to make to society and the economy, it is necessary to look at how the skills align with the needs of employers, both now and in the future.50 Over the past few years, there has been a growing call for the higher education sector and employers to work together to equip the next generation workforce with a wide-ranging set of skills which enable them to respond to the challenges of a constantly evolving labour market. Universities and other higher education providers have been encouraged by policy-makers and employers to develop new strategies and approaches to develop the ‘key’, ‘core’ ‘transferable’ and/or ‘generic’ skills required for high-level positions across many industries.51 These ‘employability skills’ are the “attributes, skills and knowledge that all labour market participants should possess to ensure they have the capability of being effective in the workplace – to the benefit of themselves, their employer and the wider economy.”52 The possession of those skills contributes to a smoother transition for graduates from higher education to the workplace. There is also a growing desire from students for their higher education experience not only to help them develop their intellectual curiosity and broaden their frontiers of knowledge, but also to enable them acquire the skills that will make them more employable.

There are a number of surveys which provide evidence of what the skills employers value are in more detail. According to the CBI/Pearson Skills Review, by far the most important factor employers weigh up when recruiting school and college leavers is their attitude to work (89%) followed by their aptitude for work (66%).53 This finding emphasises the importance of interpreting ‘skills’ in a broad way, to encompass attitude and characteristics.

“Underpinning all these attributes, the key foundation, must be a positive attitude: a ‘can-do’ approach, a readiness to take part and contribute, openness to new ideas and a drive to make these happen. Frequently mentioned by both employers and universities is entrepreneurship/enterprise: broadly, an ability to demonstrate an innovative approach, creativity, collaboration and risk taking. An individual with these attributes can make a huge difference to any business.”54

A recent attempt by higher education providers, sector bodies and employers to catalogue employability skills divided them into seven categories: 55

50 See the references in notes 26 – 30 above, and Kaplan (2014). Graduate recruitment report: employer perspectives51 Universities UK and CBI (2009). Future fit: preparing graduates for the world of work52 CBI (2016). The right combination: CBI/Pearson Education and Skills Survey 2016, Pearson53 CBI (2016). The right combination: CBI/Pearson Education and Skills Survey 2016, Pearson54 UKCES (2016). Employer Skills Survey 2015: UK results, UKCES Evidence Report 97 55 Association of Graduate Recruiters (2016). The AGR 2016 Annual survey

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Self-management: the ability to accept responsibility, to be flexible, resilient, to demonstrate appropriate assertiveness, time-management and readiness to improve performance base on reflective learning.

Team-working: the ability to negotiate, co-operate, delegate, persuade but also to be aware of the individuality and interdependence of all the team members.

Business and customer awareness: an understanding of the drivers for business success (innovation, calculation of risks) and the need to provide customer satisfaction and build customer loyalty.

Problem-solving: the ability to apply critical and creative thinking to develop innovative and relevant solution to complex issues.

Communication and literacy: the capacity to assess, analyse and filter information in order to produce clear, structured written work and oral presentations, and also relevant questioning.

Application of numeracy: the ability to interpret and explain data and the application of mathematical awareness in practical contexts.

Application of information technology: basic IT skills, including familiarity with word processing, spreadsheets, file management and use of internet search engines

Other studies reveal employer complaints about the lack of people and personal skills in the recent cohort of graduate recruits. While less tangible than technical and practical skills, people and personal skills can potentially play an important role in the adaptation of an individual to the workplace and that individual’s contribution to productivity. The most common skill cited as lacking by employers was time management.56 Skills related to management and leadership were also commonly reported to be lacking, including persuading and influencing others, managing and motivating other staff and setting objectives and/or planning resources.

Employers regard employability skills as the necessary tools for workers to swiftly and effectively respond to the changing demands of the workplace. They expect their graduate recruits to be able to articulate those skills with the basic generic skills acquired prior to employment but also with the technical and specialist competencies they developed through the study of subject disciplines. The project could usefully look at the extent to which the skills and attributes which employers say they need in graduates align with those developed by studying AHSS, and where AHSS graduates may be especially strong (or weak) in these skills.

Questions

16. Is there any other evidence we could draw upon to explore employer demand for skills and the definition of ‘employability skills’? Are there other ways in which employer demand could be measured or understood?

56 UKCES (2016). Employer Skills Survey 2015: UK results, UKCES Evidence Report 9718

17. How could we measure the extent to which the skills and attributes which employers say they need in graduates align with those developed by studying AHSS? How could we determine whether AHSS graduates are especially strong in these skills?

18. How best could we engage employers in this project?

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Section. 6. What skills are needed for the future?

Employers and labour market experts share the belief that current technological, socio-economic, geopolitical and demographic developments and the interactions between them will result in changes in industries and business models and lead to the creation of a new generation of jobs.57 These disruptive drivers will bring about changes in the demand for skills.

One of the predicted consequences of this transformational challenge is a polarization of the categories of jobs in existence, with growth in relatively high skilled jobs, as these are less likely to be replaced by automation.58 It is estimated that on average, by the end of the next decade more than a third of the core skills required by employers will be skills which are not currently considered essential by recruiters.59

In a context of rapidly rising computing power, the ability to reason and thrive in a data-driven environment will certainly become a crucial skill for the next generation of graduates and workers as demonstrated by the British Academy policy report, Count Us In.60 Employers will be aiming to build a workforce with solid skills in numeracy and numerical analysis in order to take advantage of the advent of ‘big data’.

Employers also anticipate that a wide range of new jobs will require more cognitive and processing abilities, such as critical thinking, logical reasoning and creativity in their core set of skills. In addition, social skills, including persuasion, social and emotional intelligence will become the most essential to many industries, replacing narrow technical skills, such as programming or equipment operation and control. Employers also highlight the importance of novel and adaptive thinking which consists in the ability to respond to the unexpected circumstances and developments in a variety of new context and work situations.

In an increasingly connected world, the skill sets of individuals will have to provide them with cross-cultural competencies which comprise abilities to operate in different cultural settings. One of these competencies naturally entail increased linguistic skills but also adaptive thinking.61

Trans-disciplinary competencies will also become a pivotal in enabling future graduates to respond to global and multifaceted challenges such as global warming. Such skills include the ability for individuals to interpret and understand complex concepts across several disciplines. Graduates and workers

57 UKCES (2014). Employer Perspectives Survey 2014: UK results, UKCES Evidence Report 88 58 The Economist Intelligence Unit (2015). Automated, creative and dispersed: the future of work in the 21st century59 World Economic Forum (2016). The future of jobs: employment, skills and workforce strategy for the fourth industrial revolution, Global Challenge Insight Report; Institute for the Future for University of Phoenix Research Institute (2011). Future Work Skills 202060 British Academy (2015). Count us in61 www.britac.ac.uk/born-global

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will have to demonstrate an expertise in one field but also the ability to reason and apply their problem-solving skills to various subject specific issues.62

The emergence of new technologies have led to an explosion of new media content including videos, blogs, podcasts and social media publications. It will be important for the next generation of graduate to be able to seize the communication opportunities offered by these new media forms by developing relevant content and critically assess the information broadcasted on these platforms. As a complement to the new media literacy skills, employers will expect their recruits to provide evidence of their ability to manage a world rich in information streams and deal with cognitive overload.

Individuals will increasingly need to demonstrate an ability to adapt to a rapidly changing labour market environment and a readiness to constantly develop and update their set of skills to respond to the unpredictable evolution and impact of the drivers of change. Higher education providers and employers will need in turn to design new support and training strategies in order to seize the opportunities offered by the transformations of the skills and employment landscapes.

Employers and policy makers have a growing interest in ensuring the UK workforce develops an advantage by having the relevant skills to lead the international competition for growth and productivity. They are therefore becoming increasingly interested by skills and employment projections, which aim to inform stakeholders who must make decisions in regards to training and careers.63 These include students and education and training providers, and the project could consider the role of AHSS in responding to this future need.

Questions

19. In an increasingly interconnected world, what role is there for AHSS in preparing the workforce of the future? How might AHSS need to adapt in order to do this? What particular skills do AHSS graduates need to develop to make the most of future opportunities?

20. What other factors may impact on future demand for skills and in what way?

21. To address the complex and global challenges of the future, interdisciplinarity will become increasingly important. What does this mean for AHSS and how can AHSS respond to this?

62 UKCES (2014). The future of work: jobs and skills in 2030, Evidence Report 8463 UKCES Working Futures labour market projections: www.gov.uk/government/publications/uk-labour-market-projections-2014-to-2024

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CALL FOR EVIDENCE RESPONSE FORM

Please state whether you are responding as an individual or on behalf of an organisation. Individual/organisationPlease also give your name and, if appropriate, the name of your organisation and contact details (telephone and email).Name:Name of organisation:Telephone no.:Email: Summary of main pointsPlease provide a brief summary (e.g. a list of bullet points), of not more than one side of A4, of the essential messages you are conveying in your response.QuestionsIn each of the sections of the synthesis, we have outlined and summarised what we have identified as the key evidence sources. We have then identified some key questions relating to each section. When responding, we would like you to bear in mind the following overarching questions:

Are these the right questions to be asking for this project? Have we covered everything, both overall and in each section? If not, what is missing? What other evidence sources are there? If there is no evidence, or existing sources are insufficient, how could we

fill the evidence gaps?

What do we mean by skills?

1. How should we define ‘skills’ for this project?2. How important is it to consider how well an individual demonstrates a

particular skill?3. Does evidence exist on how well AHSS students execute particular skills? If

not, is this something the project should explore?

What skills should studying AHSS develop?

4. Are there other sources which describe what skills studying AHSS should develop?

5. Has work already been done to map and analyse skills defined in Subject Benchmark Statements, either across AHSS subjects or in individual subjects or groups of subjects? If so, please tell us about them. If not, is this something the project should explore?

6. To what extent can generic sources describing skills developed at different levels of higher education be drilled down into to identify skills specific to AHSS disciplines? Has this already been done? If not, is this something the project should explore?

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7. (for learned societies, subject associations, professional bodies, HEIs) What activities do you undertake (e.g. statements, accreditation) to define the skills AHSS graduates should have?

What skills do individuals who have studied AHSS demonstrate?

8. How far is it possible to map the skills that AHSS graduates have in theory to those that they demonstrate in reality? How could this be done?

9. What can evidence on AHSS graduate destinations tell us about the skills these graduates demonstrate? Are there particular sectors in which these graduates are employed? Which skills are particularly valued in those sectors and to what extent can we say that AHSS graduates demonstrate them?

10.What skills do AHSS graduates demonstrate which distinguishes them from graduates in other disciplines?

11.To what extent is it possible to distinguish generic skills developed through higher education, and extra-curricular activities, from those specific to the study of AHSS?

12.Would it be useful to look at employers’ assessments of the skills their employees do or do not have? How could a review of the gap between higher education provision in AHSS and the needs of employers in relevant sectors be undertaken? How should we define ‘relevant sectors’?

What contribution do individuals with AHSS skills make to society and the economy?

13.Is there any other evidence which seeks identify the contribution the AHSS disciplines and AHSS skills make to the individual and to society we should be aware of?

14.Are there other ways this ‘contribution’ could be measured and if so, what are they?

15.How can the specific contribution of AHSS skills be differentiated from the more general skills developed in higher education?

What skills do employers want?

16.Is there any other evidence we could draw upon to explore employer demand for skills and the definition of ‘employability skills’? Are there other ways in which employer demand could be measured or understood?

17.How could we measure the extent to which the skills and attributes which employers say they need in graduates align with those developed by studying AHSS? How could we determine whether AHSS graduates are especially strong in these skills?

18.How best could we engage employers in this project?

What skills are needed for the future?

19.In an increasingly interconnected world, what role is there for AHSS in preparing the workforce of the future? How might AHSS need to adapt in order to do this? What particular skills do AHSS graduates need to develop to make the most of future opportunities?

20.What other factors may impact on future demand for skills and in what way?

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21.To address the complex and global challenges of the future, interdisciplinarity will become increasingly important. What does this mean for AHSS and how can AHSS respond to this?

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