160 Integrating the Development of Graduate Attributes Through Constructive Alignment Lesley Treleaven Ranjit Voola The University of Sydney, New South Wales, Australia The importance of graduate attributes is increasingly recognized internationally in higher education and by industry, government, and accrediting bodies. However, integrating the development of graduate attributes, such as critical thinking and critical reflec- tion, has proved challenging in business education. This article demonstrates the value of constructive alignment for integrating graduate attributes into an intensive marketing course. This illustrative Australian study traces the integration of two graduate attributes from course design, through active student engagement in a range of learning activities, to various assessments of student learning outcomes using standards-based assessment criteria. The study recommends that graduate attributes are expressed as learning outcomes and aligned with assessment criteria, that students’ awareness of graduate attributes and their value is devel- oped, that relevance for students’ future marketing careers is embedded into learning activities, that substantial opportunities for practice in developing generic skills is offered, that formal and informal feedback from lecturers and peers is provided, and that a programwide approach to developing and integrating graduate attributes is adopted. Finally, the implications for enhancing employability skills of new business professionals and for institutions meeting the assurance of learning standards required for business school accreditation by bodies such as Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business, European Quality Improvement System, and Community of European Management Schools and International Companies are considered. Keywords: graduate attributes; critical thinking; critical reflection; marketing curriculum; assessment; assurance of learning G raduate employability is a central concern of contem- porary higher education. For some time now, commis- sioned reports into higher education (AC Nielsen Research Services, 2000; Hager, Holland, & Beckett, 2002) have highlighted that discipline-specific knowledge is not suffi- cient for graduate employability. Harvey and Howard (1999) go further, suggesting that graduates’ success in their jobs depends more on graduate attributes than on narrow discipline- specific degrees. Demonstrably, there has been a shift away from the view that only professional courses, such as medi- cine, should develop employability skills toward recognition of their importance in all academic courses (Crammer, 2006). In making the case for this shift in business educa- tion, Schibrowsky, Peltier, and Boyt (2002) argue for profes- sionally oriented business schools whose key goal is to prepare the next generation of business professionals. There is strong research evidence that such employability requires the development of graduate attributes (Alexander, 2006; Hoban et al., 2004; Kember & Leung, 2005). As Thompson, Treleaven, Kamvounias, Beem, and Hill (2008) note, graduate attributes are variously referred to across edu- cation and training internationally as key skills (Drew, Thorpe, & Bannister, 2002), generic attributes (Wright, 1995), key competencies (Mayer, 1992), transferable skills (Assiter, 1995), employability skills, and soft skills (Business, Industry and Higher Education Collaboration Council [BIHECC], 2007). However, there is a wide range of defini- tions and understandings of what constitutes these graduate attributes. In this article, we adopt the view of graduate attrib- utes as defined by the Higher Education Council Australia (1992) report Achieving Quality as “the skills, personal attrib- utes and values which should be acquired by all graduates, regardless of their discipline or field of study. In other words, they should represent the central achievements of higher edu- cation as a process” (p. 20). Bath, Smith, Stein, and Swann (2004) elaborate on these attributes, suggesting that they include critical thinking, intellectual curiosity, ability to solve problems, independent thought, ethical practice, communica- tion, creativity, and integrity. Increasingly, universities world- wide are expected to develop graduate attributes relating to Journal of Marketing Education Volume 30 Number 2 August 2008 160-173 © 2008 Sage Publications 10.1177/0273475308319352 http://jmd.sagepub.com hosted at http://online.sagepub.com Authors’ Note: The financial support received from the Office of Learning and Teaching, Faculty of Economics and Business, University of Sydney, for this research is gratefully acknowledged. We also thank the JME editor Doug Lincoln for his most helpful edi- torial comments and Jarrod Ormiston for his excellent research assis- tance. Authors are listed in alphabetical order. Please address correspondence to Lesley Treleaven, Office of Learning and Teaching in Economics and Business, Faculty of Economics and Business, Rm 336 Merewether Building (H04), University of Sydney, New South Wales 2006, Australia; e-mail: l.treleaven@econ.usyd.edu.au.