C2C is led by Dr. Ana Kanareva-Dimitrovska, a Special Advisor specialising in Language Education Policy and Practice, Intercultural Communication, Internationalisation, and Employability, with a PhD in Language Science. The research team includes experts from Aarhus Universitet (lead), King’s College London, Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin, UCLouvain, and Universitetet i Oslo, bringing diverse and multilingual perspectives to language education and employability.
We’ve asked Ana to share some insights about their project and what they are aiming to achieve this year. Let’s have a closer look at C2C.
What is your project about?
Our project aims to enhance the employability of students with core and dual competencies in foreign languages by creating innovative tools: the Employability Skills Mapping Tool (ESMT) and the online Employability for Languages Module (ELM). The ESMT will serve as a framework to help students articulate their language skills and transversal competencies, such as adaptability and intercultural communication, in relation to labor market needs. For staff, it will provide a way to align curricula with real-world applications and showcase the value of language education.
The ELM will promote student reflection on the importance of languages in addressing global challenges such as climate change, diversity, and democracy, while connecting language learning to future career paths. The project involves a diverse consortium of five Circle U. partner universities, career consultants, students, and employers who will co-create these tools.
By bridging the gap between language education and employability, the project aims to inspire strategic collaboration among universities and strengthen the position of language graduates in the global job market.
Project’s website: From Campus to Careers.
Why is this topic important?
Language skills and intercultural competencies are often overlooked in the job market, despite being essential for addressing global challenges such as climate change, public health, and social inclusion. Employers struggle to find candidates who possess both technical and cultural knowledge to navigate in international and multilingual environments.
Students with language skills frequently face difficulties in articulating the value of their competencies to potential employers. This disconnect, combined with declining motivation to study languages and high drop-out rates in language programs, poses a challenge for universities and the job market alike.
Our project addresses these issues by demonstrating the relevance of language education in a rapidly changing, technology-driven world. It empowers students to match their skills to labor market demands, this in turn will increase motivation and sharpen career goals.
Additionally, the project supports staff in aligning curricula with employability goals, ensuring that language programs remain relevant and impactful. By highlighting the tangible benefits of multilingualism, this initiative aims to reverse declining enrollment trends, promote interdisciplinary collaboration, and prepare graduates to contribute meaningfully to global challenges.
What are you aiming to achieve with this project over the year?
This year, we aim to achieve the following milestones:
- Employability Skills Mapping Tool (ESMT): Develop the ESMT to help students identify, track, and articulate the value of their language and transversal skills.
- Online Module Development: Design the Employability for Languages Module (ELM) to encourage student reflection on the role of language skills in addressing global challenges and career development.
- Curriculum Alignment: Compare language curricula across partner institutions and integrate employability-focused content, making programs more transparent and relevant to labor market needs.
- Co-creation Workshop: Host a two-day in-person workshop at Aarhus University involving students, academics, career consultants, and employers from five Circle U. universities to co-create the Employability Skills Mapping Tool (ESMT).
- Strategic Collaboration: Establish a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) to formalize a sustainable international network for continued collaboration on employability in language education.
- Dissemination: Submit a conference presentation to showcase project outcomes and innovations.
These activities aim to enhance the visibility and relevance of language skills, strengthen partnerships between academia and industry, and inspire future research and educational development.
Explain in which way your project has an interdisciplinary approach
Our project integrates an interdisciplinary approach by combining insights from modern languages, intercultural communication, career development, linguistics, and labor market studies. This collaboration bridges the gap between language education and employability, demonstrating how linguistic and intercultural competencies translate into tangible skills needed across diverse fields.
Academics from humanities (language studies), social sciences (career development, education), and business (employability skills) work together with career consultants and employers to co-create tools that meet real-world needs. By involving external stakeholders, the project ensures the tools are grounded in the realities of the labor market.
This interdisciplinary approach is also reflected in the project's co-creation process, which engages students from various academic backgrounds. Their input ensures that the Employability Skills Mapping Tool (ESMT) and Employability for Languages Module (ELM) are applicable not only to language graduates but also to students in other disciplines who recognize the value of language skills.
By integrating academic, professional, and student perspectives, the project fosters innovative teaching methodologies and curriculum design. This ensures graduates are well-equipped to navigate the complexities of the modern, multilingual workforce and adapt their skills to various professional contexts, making them highly employable in a globalized world.
