QS Summit Highlights Key Student Employability Trends And Programs

President of the University of Seville, Dr. Miguel Castro - GER Summit 2017
President of the University of Seville, Dr. Miguel Castro

This year, QS organized its 2017 Graduate Employability Rankings Summit in Seville, during the framework of the EAIE conference. The event was co-hosted by the University of Seville, sponsored by IELTS and organized in partnership with Petrus Communications.

It brought together business leaders from different industries and world-class higher education institutions to share their experiences, discuss current challenges and provide practical advice on how to build effective university/industry collaborations to enhance the Employability Indicator to attract and retain high-quality students.

Hosted by the President of the University of Seville, Dr. Miguel Castro (pictured right), the event drew over  200 delegates from 54 countries and played host to some incredible guest speakers who relayed their expertise throughout a variety of presentations.

Here are the key presentations that took place:

1. Carmel Murphy  (pictured below), Executive Director International of The University of Melbourne, introduced the study undertaken by the Australian Universities International Directors’ Forum (AUIDF) about the Employment Outcomes of International Students studying in Australia, aimed to understand the motivations and experiences of international students to secure graduate employment outcomes, to assist the universities to improve the experience of the international students, and enhance the services they are offered.

2. Monica Collins, Research Consultant of Petrus Communications, introduced the global survey produced by Total HR Strategy & Policy on how to develop skills for the future. With over 2000 students, recent graduates and professionals surveyed from 686 universities, there was a consensus from respondents that the top two skills needed to succeed in the current job market are Communications and Teamwork.

3. Francisco Martínez, from Airbus Defence & Space, María Ángeles Martín, Vice-Dean of External Relations of the Engineering School of University of Seville, and Carlos Olmedo from Airbus Defence & Space presented a case study about the MINDS Programme between Airbus and University of Seville. The case-study featured how Airbus works with universities around the world to create strategic and successful university partnerships for curriculum development and training of current and future skills and competencies.

The MINDS Programme is part of the Airbus Global University Partner Programme, which involves over 25 universities across 13 countries, and is brought to life by ambassadors and focal points at each university through activities done during the year tailored to each institution. These activities ensure that students are trained with the skills necessary to work in the industry, develop relevant competencies that meet the rapidly changing needs of Airbus, and increase students’ employability, attracting relevant talent for the company.

Carmel Murphy, Executive Director International of The University of Melbourne - GER Summit 2017
Carmel Murphy, Executive Director International of The University of Melbourne

 

4.  Ben Sowter, Head of the QS Intelligence Unit Division, launched the 2018 Graduate Employability Rankings. The rankings included 500 universities from 65 countries, ranked in 5 indicators: Employer Reputation, Alumni Outcomes, Partnerships with Employers, Employers-Students Connections and Graduate Employment Rate. The ranking named Stanford University as the world-leader in terms of Employability, followed by the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) and Harvard University. Sowter also stated that Employer Reputation and Employment Rate have increasingly become priority indicators for students when looking for a university, and those character traits like resilience, adaptability, integrity and social responsibility are the most important skills employers are looking for graduates to have.

The event also featured an interactive panel and workshop co-hosted by Beatriz García from Airbus Defence & Space and Airbus Ambassador for University of Seville, Ignacio Sierra, World Wide Innovation Program Manager (Augmented Reality), IBM and IBM Ambassador for University of Seville, and  Yannick Degla, Academic Account Manager of NI France.

The workshop highlighted that not only technical knowledge is needed nowadays to succeed professionally, but that personal skills such as values, attitude, common sense, self-awareness, and self-motivation are increasingly becoming the key skills to focus when recruiting employees.

The event closed with the QS Stars Ceremony awarding three Mexican universities for their score obtained in the rating: Universidad de Guadalajara, CETYS Universidad, and Universidad Tecmilenio.

QS would like to thank all who attended our event, along with the sponsors, University of Seville, and our guest speakers on the day.

Download Full Graduate Employability Rankings Report Here

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