How Do Partnerships Between Academia, Communities and Organisations Foster “Real World” Learning?

Education takes place within dynamic and multifaceted complex systems. Recognising the volatile-uncertain-complex-ambiguous (VUCA) environment, the digital transformation of the higher education sector calls for a novel approach to curriculum and employability. Drawing on the complexity and the chaos theories, this research focuses on the Business School at Edinburgh Napier University which has developed an innovative and impactful Employability Skills Programme (ESP) that all undergraduate students undertake. The ESP was created based on consistent employer and stakeholder feedback that students graduated with subject and sector knowledge but lacked understanding themselves and the skills they have to offer the ‘real world’.
In their second year of study, students engage with a Forage virtual internship, the leading pre-skilling platform for early talent, to embed professional and employability skills prior to engagement with employers in Work-Based Learning or similar projects in their third year. Virtual experiential learning though this digital platform enhances students' skills gap using digital internship projects, brings forward students’ connections with external organisations and enhances their understanding of the world of work.
Through access to students’ pre-submitted, non-assessed reflective commentaries and subsequent thematic analysis, it is clear these partnerships are vital to foster access and inclusion to learners' needs to prepare them for the complex business world. Digital literacy and a non-linear and organic curriculum can contribute to learners interacting with each other in different ways.