Developing Skills, Transforming Work Aspirations: Making a Difference at the HE-Employment Interface

The SDGs pose a challenge to take messages beyond the ‘usual suspects’, to engage people who may not have heard of the Goals or, indeed, considered taking action to promote sustainable change at local, national or global... [ view full abstract ]

The SDGs pose a challenge to take messages beyond the ‘usual suspects’, to engage people who may not have heard of the Goals or, indeed, considered taking action to promote sustainable change at local, national or global level. A key interface is thus between education and employment, learning and action: Between SDG 4 – that “all learners acquire the knowledge and skills needed to promote sustainable development” - and the capacity to engage in meaningful work that supports and promotes positive change.

Third Sector Internships Scotland provides a lens through which to explore the practical, policy and pedagogic challenges at this interface. This specific programme ran from 2010-2015, offering university students and third sector organisations across Scotland the opportunity to collaborate to share skills and make positive impact on communities across the country. The insights from the initiative speak loudly to the SDG agenda and the underpinning call for partnership and integrated policy and practice. It highlights specifically the challenges faced by community organisations and third sector employers in identifying organisational skills and capacity needs; the challenges faced by learners seeking careers oriented towards sustainable development; and the policy and funding challenges that arise at the interface of HE and social development agendas.

This paper maps up from a specific programme, through national policy, to the wider SDG context, exploring the landscape that students face as they transition in to work. In reflecting forward, it considers how learners can be encouraged to shape and transform their work aspirations and make a difference to the communities they live in and connect to.   It also poses critical policy and political challenges about fair work and the need to ensure equitable, open and fair access to skills development and work experience opportunities.