Graduate Attributes

Graduate Attributes are the skills and qualities students should develop during their programme and throughout their student life. It’s what sets a graduate apart from a candidate without a degree. Our Graduate Attributes were established in 2011 and have been updated following a consultation with our students in 2022.

As a Herts graduate, you’ll be:

Professionally focused
Globally minded
Sustainability driven
Digitally capable and confident
Inclusive and collaborative
Evidence based and ethical

Read on to find out from our students what each attribute means to them.

Professionally focused
- 'To be professionally focused is to have a formal and consistently high standard in both how I work and behave. I should be able to conduct myself in a manner that is appropriate for the different environments I find myself in.’
- 'Professional emphasis is concerned with an individual’s growth as a result of their own abilities, knowledge, and goals. This attribute’s development method is critical because it entails more than just improving your character and research abilities. Professional development with a broader focus is when a person takes steps to progress on ‘adding value’ to what they already know and the abilities they already have.’
Globally minded
- 'Someone who respects differences like socioeconomic, background, culture and diversity and is open-minded.'
- 'Being globally minded in the context I live in is being aware of global issues that affect my immediate society, my knowledge of it, the role I play, as little as it might be, to effect a positive change to global issues. For example, wearing a face mask and getting my vaccine in the midst of the pandemic where it has been made necessary, which keeps me safe, my immediate environment, and the world at large.’
Sustainability driven
- 'Being sustainability driven means being able to meet my personal needs but not at the expense of the future generations, my environment, or the world at large. This means consciously aiming to improve people, society, economy, and the environment as well.’
- 'Being sustainability driven is taking into consideration the social and environmental issues that affect a decision, company, product, or service.’
Digitally capable and confident
- 'I think that this means being able to navigate the online and digital nature of our current times in a way that proves effective and accurate. It is being aware of current digital devices and how to use them effectively. How to use software applications and sharing information from there to colleagues and peers.’
- 'Being digitally capable and confident means adjusting to the dynamics of technology as a professional and ensuring to stay updated on basic IT skills and expertise. This also means having a positive attitude towards the change that technology brings.’
Inclusive and collaborative
- 'Embracing every individual as one, irrespective of differences in race, ethnic group, religion, gender, or age. This also means letting go of conscious or unconscious bias or stereotypes that have been ingrained in society and are harmful to certain individuals.’
- 'People coming together the same good cause and working together to get their ideas out there to the world, spreading awareness of issues and working as an effective team to reach their goals and accomplish what they set out to do, and not ostracise anyone for that. No-one should be left out of a group because they are different whether physically or mentally, our differences make us who we are as a people and there should be ostracising, or shame, or shunning, or hatefulness, or bullying of any kind if you want to work together as a team.’
Evidence based and ethical
- 'Every statement that I make is based on a fact that I have come across or experienced. This gives more weight to my words and makes my colleagues take me seriously. If an opposing statement is made that challenges my own statement, I respect that difference in opinion and accept that both opinions can exist together.’
- 'Following resources which have been reviewed and checked for credibility, and ensuring that actions are following ethical guidance, for example, which do not cause harm, and individuals are fully informed of what they are being involved in and also have the right to leave if they want to.’