Integrating academic skills and employability - revisiting the learning journal

Abstract

Across the world, universities are more numerous today than at any other time in history, yet at the same time there is unparalleled confusion about their purpose and scepticism about their value. Based on an extensive literature review, a survey of the academic landscape and discussions with academics as well as employers, this reflective piece highlights the importance of academic skills development on student’s success at university and illustrates the link between academic skills, employability and professional success.The article was prompted by the current discussion around universities’ struggle to provide students with the necessary skills to succeed after graduation. The article argues that the differentiation between academic skills on the one hand and employability skills on the other is no longer relevant or appropriate in the 21stcentury knowledge economy and invites universities to enhance their curriculum with additional, mandatory skills development modules. It provides an innovative suggestion on how to link academic skills and employability in curriculum development based on the existing academic literature around the Scholarship of Teaching and Learning as well as research into employability skills.The importance of academic skills on students’ professional success can never be overstated. The article offers an innovative approach to linkingacademic skills, employability and professional success. It adds fuel to the discussion around employability from the perspective of industry practitioners.