Leading article: Fit for work?

The survey this week from the Association of Graduate Recruiters saying that graduates are not prepared for work should be a wake-up call for the universities. Young people with degrees lack the leadership and team-working skills that are needed for today's workplace, says the report. The answer, according to higher education minister Bill Rammell, is for employers to become more involved in designing degree courses. Industry is already engaged in helping to set up the two-year foundation degrees but employers are scarcely involved at all in other degrees, especially those in the arts and humanities. Should they be? That is a question that the universities should address.