{"id":1392,"date":"2012-02-25T14:32:02","date_gmt":"2012-02-25T14:32:02","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blogs.bath.ac.uk\/edswahs\/?p=1392"},"modified":"2012-02-25T14:32:02","modified_gmt":"2012-02-25T14:32:02","slug":"the-idea-of-the-graduate-attribute","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.bath.ac.uk\/edswahs\/2012\/02\/25\/the-idea-of-the-graduate-attribute\/","title":{"rendered":"The idea of the graduate attribute"},"content":{"rendered":"

I am recently returned from an HEA policy think tank on Graduate attributes and the green economy. <\/em>This is the two-page stimulus paper I drafted for the event:<\/p>\n

The idea of the graduate attribute <\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

This is appealing, seductive almost, and inevitably contested. Put simply, graduate attributes comprise an aspirational list of knowledge, skills and values that an institution (most usually a university) puts forward as a statement of intent: that at the end of their studies, all its graduates, irrespective of background, interests, and degree taken, will possess and be able to live out in the wider world these knowledge, skills and values through their work, and also through their lives. In this way, universities attempt to show that, despite the necessary narrowness of a formal tertiary programme of study, there is also breadth to the experience of the university itself. Thus, it is a promise made to society more widely, to employers more narrowly, and to the student in particular, and can look like an aspect of institutional corporate social responsibility. \u00a0See, for example, Bowden<\/a> et al.<\/em> (2000) Generic capabilities of Australian Technology Network (ATN) university graduates.<\/p>\n

Purposes and implications<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

In addition to the aspirational purpose set out above, there are at least three other reasons why an institution might go down the graduate attribute route: to \u2026<\/p>\n

    \n
  1. market the institution\u2019s qualities, distinctiveness and value to students and society;<\/li>\n
  2. comply with government or regulator demands; and\/or<\/li>\n
  3. steer curriculum design and teaching, and other learning experience, in particular ways.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

    The first of these seems inevitable, and is not necessary an ignoble quest, unless it is the only reason for action. The second is controversial wherever it exists in a free society. The third may be controversial or very appealing, or both, depending on your perspective. Clearly, for internal or external pressure groups, it may well be seen as potentially a powerful tool for change, offering, as it does, some guarantee that all students will have exposure to particular ideas and values, whether as part of their formal studies or through complementary experience. For anyone interested in promoting Education for Sustainable Development [ESD],\u00a0for example, this third purpose would seem to be of the essence.<\/p>\n

    Similarly, for the institution itself, it also offers a means of significant change, for example, by requiring interdisciplinary study or a focus on global social justice issues. Further, the act of establishing a student entitlement at the whole institution level, enshrining it into statute, not only acts to ensure that senior leaders own the idea, but means that it is the institution itself which exerts the downward pressure on faculties, departments and degrees to comply and change. Inevitably, if an institution is to go down such a curriculum-focused attribute route in order to affect significant (and perhaps even systemic) change, this will require investment if it going to be a development whose values are widely shared across the institution.<\/p>\n

    Melbourne, for example<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

    Although there are now many examples of universities adopting graduate attributes,\u00a0those associated with the University of Melbourne<\/a> remain prominent, and are associated with what the university calls the \u2018Melbourne model<\/a>\u2019,\u00a0which is an example of the kind of curriculum-focused attribute described above, and which has now evolved into \u2018Growing Esteem\u2019 with its triple helix<\/a> of research, learning and teaching, and external engagement. \u00a0The Melbourne Experience enables graduates to become:<\/p>\n

    Academically excellent:<\/em><\/p>\n