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Abstract

Society needs talented Geography, Earth and Environmental Sciences (GEES) graduates to help address global challenges, but the pathway to professional employment is seldom easy. After graduation, most GEES graduates enter professions requiring broad transferable skills and 'value-added' experiences to thrive in the modern workforce. GEES educators can therefore enhance employability by using field experiences to introduce and develop transferable skills valued by employers. Here, we define employability for our context, explore GEES graduate skills and describe the ways that communication, project management and personal and professional skills can be embedded in field experiences guided by the available literature. We identify pedagogies that address multiple transferable skills and are already commonly used in higher education, such as student-led projects, peer learning and working with industry and community stakeholders. Further empirical study is needed to evidence the value of fieldwork for employability and characterise the changing nature of GEES professions.

Publication Date

2025-01-01

Publication Title

Teaching Fieldwork in Geography, Earth and Environmental Sciences

Publisher

Edward Elgar Publishing Ltd.

ISBN

9781035322381, 9781035322398

Deposit Date

2025-11-06

Keywords

Careers, Employability, Environmental Sciences, Geography, Geoscience, Skills

First Page

330

Last Page

342

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