Peer-Mentoring to improve forensic graduate employability skills

Over recent years, the transition from further to higher education has become more challenging for students studying and academics teaching forensic and crime science (FACS), with diversifying prior learning experiences and fierce competition for graduate employment.

This presentation discusses the evaluation of a voluntary peer-mentoring initiative piloted in the FACS Department at Staffordshire University over the last 3 years. The aim of this initiative was to further develop a variety of transferable employability skills for undergraduate students at Level 5 to Level 7, whilst simultaneously enhancing the learning and teaching environment for Level 4 students.

Following the peer-mentoring period each year, questionnaires were disseminated and voluntarily completed by both Level 4 students and peer-mentors. The survey data was independently coded and analysed to eliminate bias from the interpretation of the initiative outcomes. To assess the impact of this initiative on student performance, personal development assessment marks were tracked between levels, mapped and analysed for each individual FACS student.

Overall, the initiative was successful resulting in this andragogic approach being implemented more widely across FACS awards and good practice fed back for inclusion in university peer-mentoring policies. However, some important and potentially surprising insights were also attained from the analysis. Consequently, a new programme of additional learning and teaching events has been developed to annually inform teaching and learning practiced within the curriculum for individual student cohorts and an overview will be provided in this presentation.