UK UNIVERSITIES are struggling to prepare students for the modern workplace #FutureofEmployment

UK UNIVERSITIES are struggling to keep pace with global competitors in preparing students for the modern workplace, new data analysis from the Global University Employability Ranking reveals. 

According to time series analysis – published with this week’s 2018 report – the UK’s performance in the ranking this decade has declined considerably, with firms increasingly citing German and East Asian institutions as top producers of workplace-ready graduates.

The annual ranking – produced by HR consultancy, Emerging, and published by Times Higher Education (THE) – lists the top 150 institutions worldwide for employability, based on a global survey of around 7,000 recruitment and international managers from major businesses.

This year, new time series analysis reveals countries’ overall performance since the first edition of the survey and ranking in 2011, based on annual representation and ranking positions (methodology and tables below). The UK does largely hold its position in this year’s ranking, retaining 10 institutions – with several rising – and led again by Cambridge University (see first table below). 

However, in 2011 it was the second best represented nation globally, with 15 in the top 150. Since then, the country’s overall performance for graduate employability – both in terms of representation and ranking positions – has declined more than any other European nation. Only the US has declined more.

France has also declined since 2011. The country also has 10 institutions included in this year’s ranking – down from 12 last year, placing it global joint third with the UK.

In contrast, Germany – which employs strong industry experience for students, favoured by recruiters – has soared, becoming the most-improved European nation for overall performance since 2011 (see final table below). It overtakes France this year to become second most represented nation globally, after the US.

The 2018 global listing is topped by Harvard University, which climbs one spot to switch places with the California Institute of Technology (Caltech). The Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) and the University of Cambridge both rise one place to third and fourth, while Stanford University scales two positions this year, to place fifth.

Other global takeaways from the 2011-2018 time series data analysis:

The global employability gap is narrowing as US dominance wanes

The global top 10 of the 2018 employability ranking now spans five countries – up from four last year.

And while the US continues to dominate the ranking, the time series data analysis reveals a swiftly narrowing global employability gap. Since 2011, the US has experienced a sharp decline in performance – greater than any other nation in the table.

It comes amid intensified competition – particularly from East Asia. The nation has 34 institutions in the top 150 this year, compared to 55 in 2011, with six universities in the top 10 – a fall from seven last year.

In East Asia, South Korea soars but China is slower to improve

South Korea has leapt from one representative in the top 150 in 2011 to six this year – and the overall performance of its institutions in the 2018 table is up almost two-fold from last year. The nation’s swift ascent means it now has almost as many entries in the top 150 as China (see table below).Hong Kong, Taiwan and Singapore have also shown good improvement since 2011, while the National University of Singapore rises this year to join the 2018 global top 10.However, while mainland China does lead the region for graduate employability, it has not experienced this same surge in recent years. The nation has rocketed up THE’s World University Rankings, but for graduate employability, its rise is considerably slower – with just minimal change compared with four years ago. 

This may reflect the traditional emphasis placed by Chinese institutions on hard, practical skills, as opposed to softer skills, such as communication and teamwork, increasingly favoured by employers. Whereas Hong Kong, Taiwan, Singapore and South Korea, while offering strong links with industry, may have been swifter to recognise the importance of soft skills.

Key takeaways from the 2018 Global University Employability Survey:

• Most countries place higher value on soft skills – but China values hard skills more. The 2018 survey reveals that most countries value soft skills, such as collaboration and communication – whereas harder, practical skills are valued most in China.

• There is an East-West divide in the importance placed on critical thinking. There was also a noticeable difference in the emphasis placed on graduates having critical thinking skills between countries in East Asia and Europe or North America. In the US, 90 per cent of employers rated this as very important, while in China this fell to 75 per cent.

• Firms see interdisciplinary or problem-based learning as the key area for universities to strengthen: 71 per cent of respondents rated it as a very important measure to improve on – higher than any other issue.

 
Laurent Dupasquier, Managing Partner at Emerging, said: “Today’s digital world makes for a constantly evolving workplace – the skills required in many roles will need regular updating and it has become impossible to determine which of them will change tomorrow, and how. While digital skills are increasingly valued by recruiters, more than anything, universities must instil in students the capacity to adapt and keep learning: these will be crucial skills for success not only to cope, but thrive in a transforming workplace. University-industry collaboration will also be of increasing value, in order provide students with the necessary on-the-ground experience.”Simon Baker, Data Editor at Times Higher Education (THE) said:  “The most-improved countries for graduate employability are those equipping students with softer skills increasingly favoured among recruiters, such as teamwork – alongside the strongest possible industry experience. This is certainly true of Germany and South Korea – the stand out performers of the decade so far.“In contrast, the analysis reveals the extent of the decline in performance among traditionally dominant countries, including the UK. British institutions have had comparatively much weaker industry links. This, combined with the rise and increasing international outlook of Asian universities, as well as the use of English becoming more widespread – removing the UK’s natural competitive advantage – means Britain is struggling to keep pace with global competitors in preparing students for work.”

RESULTS: Institution, national and time series tables (Credit: Emerging)

2018 Global University Employability Rankings country table – UK

Institution name	2018 Ranking	2017 Ranking
University of Cambridge	4	5
University of Oxford	11	15
Imperial College London	17	17
King’s College London	29	25
University of Manchester	35	34
University of Edinburgh	71	78
UCL	76	49
University of Bristol	80	85
London School of Economics and Political Science	83	46
London Business School	122	Not ranked
University of Bath	150-200	Not ranked
University of Birmingham	150-200	142
Durham University	150-200	Not ranked
University of St Andrews	150-200	Not ranked
Cardiff University	200-250	Not ranked

2018 Global University Employability Rankings – Global top 150

Institution	Country/region	2018 Ranking	2017  Ranking
Harvard University	United States	1	2
California Institute of Technology	United States	2	1
Massachusetts Institute of Technology	United States	3	4
University of Cambridge	United Kingdom	4	5
Stanford University	United States	5	7
Technical University of Munich	Germany	6	8
Princeton University	United States	7	11
Yale University	United States	8	10
The University of Tokyo	Japan	9	9
National University of Singapore	Singapore	10	16
University of Oxford	United Kingdom	11	15
ETH Zurich	Switzerland	12	26
University of Toronto	Canada	13	13
Columbia University	United States	14	3
New York University	United States	15	43
Hong Kong University of Science and Technology	Hong Kong	16	12
Imperial College London	United Kingdom	17	17
McGill University	Canada	18	18
Peking University	China	19	14
University of Melbourne	Australia	20	50
Johns Hopkins University	United States	21	28
University of California, Berkeley	United States	22	20
HEC Paris	France	23	23
IE University	Spain	24	24
École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne	Switzerland	25	35
LMU Munich	Germany	26	31
Dartmouth College	United States	27	33
Indian Institute of Science	India	28	29
King’s College London	United Kingdom	29	25
École Polytechnique	France	30	22
Ecole Normale Supérieure Paris (PSL)	France	31	32
Tokyo Institute of Technology	Japan	32	19
Mines ParisTech (PSL)	France	33	36
EMLYON	France	34	27
University of Manchester	United Kingdom	35	34
Shanghai Jiao Tong University	China	36	30
University of Montreal	Canada	37	44
Heidelberg University	Germany	38	54
CentraleSupélec	France	39	41
Duke University	United States	40	37
Rice University	United States	41	97
University of Chicago	United States	42	52
University of Sydney	Australia	43	48
Fudan University	China	44	38
Stockholm University	Sweden	45	59
Australian National University	Australia	46	21
Brown University	United States	47	42
University of Helsinki	Finland	48	83
University of Copenhagen	Denmark	49	67
University of Navarra	Spain	50	66
Humboldt University of Berlin	Germany	51	58
Tsinghua University	China	52	55
Indian Institute of Technology Delhi	India	53	145
Brigham Young University	United States	54	39
Delft University of Technology	Netherlands	55	69
University of British Columbia	Canada	56	45
Ohio State University	United States	57	107
Hebrew University of Jerusalem	Israel	58	62
Kyoto University	Japan	59	63
Monash University	Australia	60	57
Carnegie Mellon University	United States	61	53
University of California, Los Angeles	United States	62	40
University of Hong Kong	Hong Kong	63	71
Goethe University Frankfurt	Germany	64	47
Cornell University	United States	65	51
Bocconi University	Italy	66	72
Boston University	United States	67	6
Tufts University	United States	68	Not ranked
University of New South Wales	Australia	69	61
Seoul National University	South Korea	70	103
University of Edinburgh	United Kingdom	71	78
KU Leuven	Belgium	72	60
Nanyang Technological University, Singapore	Singapore	73	91
Frankfurt School of Finance & Management	Germany	74	64
University of Zurich	Switzerland	75	68
UCL	United Kingdom	76	49
Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology (KAIST)	South Korea	77	77
McMaster University	Canada	78	74
Technical University of Berlin	Germany	79	89
University of Bristol	United Kingdom	80	85
Technion Israel Institute of Technology	Israel	81	113
Lund University	Sweden	82	76
London School of Economics and Political Science	United Kingdom	83	46
ESSEC Business School	France	84	70
Karlsruhe Institute of Technology	Germany	85	80
KTH Royal Institute of Technology	Sweden	86	88
Erasmus University Rotterdam	Netherlands	87	96
Chinese University of Hong Kong	Hong Kong	88	82
Sorbonne University (Faculty of Science and Engineering)	France	89	104
University of São Paulo	Brazil	90	75
University of Lausanne	Switzerland	91	94
Hanyang University	South Korea	92	Not ranked
Georgia Institute of Technology	United States	93	117
Georgetown University	United States	94	95
Leiden University	Netherlands	95	105
Utrecht University	Netherlands	96	Not ranked
EDHEC Business School	France	97	98
Monterrey Institute of Technology and Higher Education	Mexico	98	101
Karolinska Institute	Sweden	99	111
RWTH Aachen University	Germany	100	133
National Taiwan University	Taiwan	101	122
Ghent University	Belgium	102	112
University of Göttingen	Germany	103	87
Polytechnic University of Milan	Italy	104	102
University of Mannheim	Germany	105	Not ranked
University of Pennsylvania	United States	106	93
University of Science and Technology of China	China	107	123
University of Oslo	Norway	108	121
University of Texas at Austin	United States	109	115
Paris-Sud University	France	110	129
University of Bern	Switzerland	111	100
Korea University	South Korea	112	139
University of Basel	Switzerland	113	125
Keio University	Japan	114	127
Northwestern University	United States	115	106
Pohang University of Science and Technology	South Korea	116	119
Tel Aviv University	Israel	117	135
Texas A&M University	United States	118	110
Technical University of Denmark	Denmark	119	73
Trinity College Dublin	Ireland	120	131
Waseda University	Japan	121	Not ranked
London Business School	United Kingdom	122	Not ranked
Free University of Berlin	Germany	123	120
National Taiwan University of Science and Technology (Taiwan Tech)	Taiwan	124	65
Rutgers, the State University of New Jersey	United States	125	132
Purdue University	United States	126	114
Yonsei University (Seoul campus)	South Korea	127	Not ranked
Eindhoven University of Technology	Netherlands	128	84
Lomonosov Moscow State University	Russia	129	126
ESADE Business School	Spain	130	Not ranked
Zhejiang University	China	131	108
American University in Dubai	UAE	132	138
University of Auckland	New Zealand	133	146
University of Alberta	Canada	134	124
University of Southern California	United States	135	86
George Washington University	United States	136	Not ranked
Hong Kong Polytechnic University	Hong Kong	137	Not ranked
Aarhus University	Denmark	138	Not ranked
King Abdulaziz University	Saudi Arabia	139	140
Aalto University	Finland	140	Not ranked
University of Buenos Aires	Argentina	141	Not ranked
University of Geneva	Switzerland	142	130
Harbin Institute of Technology	China	143	Not ranked
Indian Institute of Management	India	144	Not ranked
Boston College	United States	145	Not ranked
University of Freiburg	Germany	146	Not ranked
Bauman Moscow State Technical University	Russia	147	Not ranked
Vanderbilt University	United States	148	Not ranked
University of Malaya	Malaysia	149	147
University of Amsterdam	Netherlands	150	Not ranked

Global University Employability Rankings – total number of institutions per country/region:

Country/region	Number of universities included in 2011 ranking	No of universities included in 2017	No of universities included in 2018
USA	55	35	34
Germany	6	11	13
France	12	12	10
UK	15	10	10
China	4	7	7
Switzerland	6	7	7
Canada	7	6	6
Netherlands	4	5	6
South Korea	1	4	6
Australia	5	5	5
Japan	5	5	5
Hong Kong	2	4	4
Sweden	5	4	4
India	1	3	3
Israel	1	3	3
Spain	3	3	3
Denmark	1	2	3
Taiwan	0	4	2
Belgium	2	2	2
Italy	3	2	2
Singapore	1	2	2
Finland	1	1	2
Russia	0	1	2
Mexico	2	2	1
Saudi Arabia	0	2	1
Brazil	2	1	1
Ireland	1	1	1
Malaysia	0	1	1
New Zealand	0	1	1
Norway	0	1	1
UAE	0	1	1
Argentina	0	0	1
Austria	0	1	0
South Africa	2	1	0
Iceland	0	0	0

 
Global University Employability Rankings – time series performance scores 
(Methodology in notes to editors, below)
 

Country/region	2011	2014	2017	2018
USA	4,621	3,440	3,188	2,955
UK	1,457	1,420	1,014	982
Germany	226	701	890	963
France	1,234	892	991	940
Canada	579	564	588	570
China	232	489	571	525
Australia	447	435	518	517
Switzerland	354	566	479	488
Japan	377	449	421	420
South Korea	33	102	166	312
Hong Kong	61	278	305	300
Netherlands	334	325	292	295
Sweden	286	204	270	292
Spain	240	271	271	249
India	17	266	131	228
Singapore	61	123	195	219
Israel	20	57	143	197
Denmark	54	91	162	147
Italy	196	194	128	132
Belgium	48	151	130	128
Finland	1	60	68	114
Taiwan	0	27	137	77
Brazil	65	97	76	61
Mexico	77	65	60	53
Norway	0	3	30	43
Ireland	16	41	20	31
Russia	0	13	25	26
UAE	0	0	13	19
New Zealand	0	1	5	18
Saudi Arabia	0	0	19	12
Argentina	0	0	0	10
Malaysia	0	0	4	2
Austria	0	0	14	0
Iceland	0	0	0	0
South Africa	46	0	1	0

Ranking methodology:

To produce the Global University Employability Ranking, an online survey was completed by two panels of participants between May and September 2018. The panels included respondents from 22 countries: Argentina, Australia, Brazil, Canada, China, France, Germany, India, Israel, Italy, Japan, Mexico, Morocco, the Netherlands, Singapore, South Africa, South Korea, Spain, the United Arab Emirates, Sweden, the UK and the US. 
 
Both panels amounted to a total of about 7,000 respondents who casted around 75,000 votes for universities they felt were the best for graduate employability. Together they represent employers that have recruited more than 250,000 young graduates in the past 12 months. 
 
The first panel, which also filled out a survey on graduate skills for future jobs, consisted of recruiters at management level with at least five years’ experience hiring or working with graduates. The second panel consisted of managing directors of international companies. 
Participants of the two panels could not vote for any university in their own country. Votes were aggregated into scores for each university to produce the ranking.
 
The sample size of recruiters from each country was determined by the nation’s student population, GDP and number of higher education institutions.

The survey was designed by the French human resources consultancy Emerging, and has been conducted for the past eight years by employment research institute Trendence. It has been published exclusively by Times Higher Education since 2015.

2011-2018 time series analysis methodology:

 The wider analysis comes from looking at the relative performance of countries in each employability ranking since 2011. An aggregate score was calculated every year for each country based on the placings of its institutions in the top 150. A university scored 150 points for coming first, 149 for second and so on. It is an indicator of national higher education systems’ evolution over time.

About Times Higher Education (THE): The world’s most authoritative source of data, analysis and information on higher education, with five decades’ experience dedicated to the field.

About Emerging: A HR consultancy and professional training agency. A specialist in optimizing recruitment and integrating young talents.  Emerging has commissioned and produced the Global University Employability Ranking and Survey since 2011.  

About Trendence: The Global University Employability Survey is conducted by polling institute Trendence – an independent consulting and market research company for employer branding and personnel marketing.