Abstract Content (up to 300 words recommended)
Employers have long been asked what they require from new graduates and they are able to articulate the deficiencies they perceive. But what about the graduates themselves? What skills and knowledge do they use in their first employment and how well do they think they were prepared at university. This paper describes a quantitative study carried out across the UK. Science graduates two years into their first post were surveyed and asked to rate the skills and knowledge they were equipped with at university and to identify the skills and knowledge they were using in the workplace. The results show a clear mismatch between what is developed and what is needed in the early stages of a career. Follow up focus group interviews did not reveal student dissatisfaction with the curriculum but with the pedagogy used to deliver it.
Addressing the theme/s of the Conference (up to 200 words recommended)
What capabilities are required and how do we know?
This theme is clearly addressed through this work. Whilst employers are often asked about the capabilities required of graduates, graduates themselves rarely are. This study gathered large data sets from across several disciplines and multiple institutions in order to identify the skills needs of graduates as they enter and establish themselves in the workplace. We have identified the capabilities that are required by asking the people who have those requirements; that graduates themselves.