Digital Delights - Digital Tribes

Most university courses aren’t vocational. Yet, the debts that mount up throughout a course (an average of £50,000) are forcing students to create a “personal brand” and a portfolio of work before they leave – so that they have a chance of competing in a crowded marketplace once they graduate.

In the past, students were only expected to step-up their writing, thinking and analytical skills while at university. Now, they’re expected to take Instagram-worthy internships and use social media to network their way to success. They’re expected to document their skills and capabilities across a range of social media so that they can effectively secure work opportunities.

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But this emphasis on securing work is contributing to a hole in their university life. This manifests as poorer quality reading and writing skills on the essays they write throughout their course. And the writing they do in the business world. This is not new. And it’s not down to youngsters spending more time on Snapchat than perusing the abridged works of Shakespeare. But it’s a skill gap that doesn’t seem to be closing.

Many arrive at university after years of teachers “teaching to the test”. Students haven’t necessarily been given the opportunity to think for themselves. At least, not in an academic sense. Their teachers have been judged on results throughout their teaching careers. So, their primary task hasn’t been to help students to write fluently, or accurately. In fact, while 26.4% of exams scored an A or A*, just 1.8% of English language exams were graded A*. Overall, the teachers have done their jobs, which has been to get their pupils to pass. And the overall pass rate for 2018 sits at 97.6%.

But when school leavers get to university, many will find themselves in a quandary. It’s likely that they’ll feel a pressure “to get their money’s worth”. Yet, they’ll also be faced with a barrage of new concepts and theories. And they may not have the writing skills to communicate them effectively. Many students stop writing in plainer English and adopt a pseudo-intellectual style that lacks real meaning or substance. Ironically, this can hamper their chances in the job market.

A Royal Literary Fund report called “Writing Matters” labeled the writing skills of students “shocking” and “inadequate”. What’s more, an academic survey cited in this report found that 90% of lecturers said it was necessary to teach writing skills to students. Yet, university is structured so that the teaching of writing skills is not embedded into courses. It’s a veritable chicken-and-egg situation.

In any case, qualifications alone don’t sell themselves anymore. So, students need to see themselves as a package, not as a vessel for their exam results. They need to hone their soft skills – their ability to think well, write well, be emotionally intelligent and communicate with themselves and others.  Employers want to hire people who are creative, resourceful and resilient.