APPLIED LEARNING
At Hallam, we strive to match the demand from employers with the supply of our graduates and often this means supporting local businesses that are able to offer our alumni excellent opportunities. We have a dedicated team that focuses on business engagement, skills and employability. Their role is to talk to employers but not be simply product- focused. Instead of asking for an apprenticeship, consultancy or work placement, they’ll ask organisations what they themselves require – and then secure a range of suitable opportunities. The benefits of applied learning We have worked directly with the local council on the RISE enhancement project, a partnership between Sheffield City Council, the University of Sheffield and Sheffield Hallam University, which helps to place talented graduates into SMEs across the city. When our graduates started working in these companies, they thrived. Often, they would start out doing a six-month internship during which they worked across finance, sales, marketing and HR, gaining a much broader experience than if they’d worked for a larger company. As many as 90 per cent of these internships then turned into full-time roles and the salaries jumped from around £18,000 to £30,000 within the first 18 months. We have found the integration of applied learning to be hugely beneficial for both our students and the companies with whom they work. It leads to great opportunities for our business school cohorts and staff. We have multiple deep partnerships with businesses that started with a visit or an applied project and then extended to graduate roles and knowledge-transfer partnerships, as well as research bids. Students get to apply their disciplinary knowledge to real-world challenges alongside developing graduate capabilities that they’ll require for their future success. Additionally, it provides an opportunity for them to enhance their networks and cultivate their professional identity. This will give graduates an edge when they enter the workforce, fully prepared with a CV packed full of professional experiences. Indeed, many of the students stay connected and go on to work for our more established partner organisations. By integrating applied learning into the curriculum, business schools can prepare students to be creative, adaptable, resilient and responsible individuals who can effectively solve problems, regardless of the kind of organisation they find themselves in.
with various organisations. The business cohort is also asked to work on a real-world project at a small company. In their second year, students complete a short work placement so that they can get access to that real-life experience. An increasing number of students want to start their own businesses, many with an ethical, sustainable focus. We arrange for them to collaborate with The Hallam iLab, a dynamic co‑working business incubation space where they can interact with the team to come up with an idea and develop this into a business plan. We offer an Entrepreneurs in residence programme, where we work with company founders who offer mentoring to students and graduates, sharing their knowledge and expertise on the skills needed to start a new business. Instead of a dissertation, students in their final year complete a capstone project that is themed around their subject. We work with a range of businesses on an applied project brief; these include SMEs, volunteer organisations and large companies such as Marks & Spencer, Warburtons and HSBC to name but a few. These businesses then collaborate with the students on the project over a 12-week period; afterwards, the students present their solutions and recommendations to the organisations. As a business school, if you’re looking to integrate applied learning into the curriculum, it is important to have a range of opportunities to offer both students and industry, such as for instance work-integrated learning, a formal work placement whereby students gain applied experience in a specific organisation or industry. Then there is enterprise residency, where students work either in groups or individually to further develop their business ideas and their enterprise and entrepreneurial skills; and applied projects, which involves students completing briefs set out by a range of businesses and organisations. Scholarly research and innovation is another option: here, students explore a specific topic, project or consultancy within a relevant field connected to their research; meanwhile, the sandwich-work-placement year results in improved attainment outcomes, better levels of earning and boosted confidence. Lastly, there is the semester abroad, where students are exposed to different economic, social and cultural contexts, learning more about globalisation issues and contrasting their existing knowledge with new learning in the setting of the exchange partner.
BIOGRAPHY
Conor Moss was appointed dean of the College of Business, Technology and Engineering and dean of Sheffield Business School at Sheffield Hallam University in 2022. He is one of the UK’s leading academic practitioners of work-based learning provision and employability. Moss is an accomplished academic with over 20 years’ experience in higher education, specialising in strategy, leadership and organisational development. In 2021 he was appointed as professor of work-based learning at Sheffield Hallam in recognition of his contribution to student employability
Ambition | JULY/AUGUST 2024 | 41
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