Evaluation of employer-student co-creation activities to address the digital skills gap

The importance of graduate transition to the labour market is a key feature of both national Higher Education policy and local economic policy, as is the need for universities and businesses to work together to address labour market issues. This study considered this policy framework in the context of a digital skills gap in a city in the north of England as a foundation for an action research project. A co-creative approach was utilised to locate students and employers as key stakeholders to address the research question: How can an evidence-based university-business intervention be tailored to engage students effectively in digital skills gap opportunities? The study combined action research with a grounded theory framework to guide the analysis process to surface human stories rather than mechanistic themes. In addition, a dual paradigm view has included the utilisation of a social constructivist epistemological stance to put students at the centre and allow meaning within the fields of graduate attributes and digital skills to be constructed through interactions with students and employers. This is supported by a pragmatic focus on the real-world and problem-solving nature of action research. Originalities of the research include the identification of five components which form the Key Drivers Model to identify potential influences on student perceptions in relation to job opportunities and which could provide a means through which to further understand student perceptions at institutional level or within the sector and in different labour market contexts. The study has defined the notions of future facing and future focused as a key framework for employability development. It has also highlighted the value of undertaking further action research cycles utilising this methodology to allow comparison between data gathered during COVID and post-COVID, comparison across levels of study, longitudinal views of particular cohorts or discipline-specific action research