Designing skilful chemists

Employability skills: words that induce extended rants from some senior academics about how they never needed such things and turned out just fine – shortly before they stroll late into the auditorium to deliver an impenetrable lecture or shout at their research team to work harder. Obviously, this is an extreme stereotype, but it sadly has some basis in truth. Would science really be in a worse position if researchers had the ability to communicate both orally and in writing, and worked in an inclusive manner within teams? But how can such skills be developed, and would doing so distract from teaching core chemical knowledge?

As university educators, we spend a long time considering the ‘programme design’ of our curriculum, but how often do we think beyond the chemistry knowledge that our students require? Other skills are often neglected or simply bolted on as an after-thought. In the worst cases, it is hoped that students will magically develop such skills or inherently have them, placing students from less privileged backgrounds or different cultures at a significant disadvantage.

In 2010, a report from Steve Hanson and Tina Overton (pdf) clearly advocated skills provision for chemistry undergraduates, but as yet, many departments have not addressed this issue. As I emphasised in a recent Education in Chemistry article, it is these high-level skills that ensure students go on to be successful in later life, either in chemical research or more general graduate-level jobs.

In terms of chemistry, nobody would question that students must develop their understanding of stereochemistry and conformational analysis before starting advanced asymmetric synthesis. Surely, therefore, students also need to build other skills through structured and carefully designed experiences. It would seem logical that we should ‘programme design’ our skills provision in the same way we structure our chemistry curriculum. We have been attempting this in my own department at the University of York, and in this article, I reflect on the process.