How the ‘Graduate Information and Digital Literacy ‘ report will help you:
- Build an evidence base to understand what skills graduates felt they had, and lacked, once they entered the world of work
- Identify opportunities to make changes to the curriculum and university services that could better support students to develop their digital skills
- Provide an evidence-base to secure necessary funding for new work/initiatives
- More effectively target messaging and communications about use of Artificial Intelligence to students
More about the ‘Graduate Information and Digital Literacy‘ report
How can universities better prepare graduates for the information and digital literacy skills needed to thrive in the workplace?
Students increasingly expect that going to university will prepare them for the world of work – not only to get a good job but to excel within it. In a constantly changing digital landscape, preparing future graduates for the skills they will need to do this is ever more challenging. Libraries and digital skills teams invest heavily in training and skills support for students but less is known about whether this translates into preparedness for the workforce and the development of the right skills to thrive in a modern workplace.
Fresh, national evidence was captured through a survey of 1,000 graduates who had achieved an undergraduate degree since September 2023 but not gone onto further study. This was followed by a qualitative online community bringing together 30 graduates who took part in the survey to explore digital literacy preparedness in more depth.
The smart, succinct, highly visual report has an Executive Summary, identifies key trends, includes demographic insights and makes strategic and practical recommendations for supporting the digital skills of students to prepare them for the world of work.
Report contents include:
- What information and digital skills graduates have needed in their workplaces, including AI related skills
- How well prepared graduates were for the information and digital skills expected of them within their job
- What graduates did at university that helped them to gain information and digital skills within and outside of the curriculum
- What would have helped them be more prepared
- What was on offer at university to help graduates develop their skills and recognise this development
- How experiences differ across different disciplines and demographics
Project partners
This project was developed in partnership with 2 universities who helped to shape the research design through our collaborative Library Futures model. With thanks to:
- City St George’s University
- University of Reading