Generic skill development & career education : making a link

The issue of preparing students for work is often enmeshed in ideology about the role of the university. This debate is quickly losing relevance though, as universities are expected to exhibit greater accountability, and funding becomes linked to performance. Developing generic or transferable skills is often presented as a way of smoothing the transition from university to work. Yet how do we develop these skills in our students? One method has been to have academics incorporate generic skill development into the curriculum, but this is often not successful because the generic skill development is implicit, rather than explicit, in the course design and assessment. The alternative approach is to teach generic skills as a separate subject, but research has shown that teaching skills without a context has poor results. Another path is offered here. This is to teach career education or career management as a separate topic, thereby providing a sound context for developing generic skills. Accelerating changes in employment practices mean that traditional career choice methods are becoming irrelevant. Maintaining a career means having a sound knowledge of the employment environment, keeping your skills relevant, and being adaptable and flexible. Workers must now take responsibility for their own career management. The contract that provided lifelong employment for hard-working, loyal employees no longer exists (Waterman et al., 1994). These changes in education, business and the world of work suggest that career skills are quickly becoming needed as another a [sic] generic skill.