Definition of generic or transferable skills
According to the Higher Education Council of Australia (HEC, 1992), transferable attributes are the skills, knowledge and abilities of university graduates beyond disciplinary content knowledge, which are applicable in a range of contexts and are acquired as a result of completing any undergraduate degree. They should represent the core achievements of a university education. Bowden and colleagues (2000) describe graduate capabilities as the qualities, skills and understandings a university community agrees its students should develop during their time with the institution. These attributes include but go beyond the disciplinary expertise or technical knowledge that has traditionally formed the core of most university courses. More importantly, they are the qualities that prepare graduates as agents of social good in an unknown future (Bowden et al., 2000).


Several features define a generic graduate attribute or generic capability (Barrie, 2004):
1. They are often referred to as generic attributes rather than generic skills as they encompass more than skills and attitudes. Attribute is a more global term that can accommodate new or alternative conceptions of knowledge and understanding.
2. The outcomes are generic in that it is claimed that the ‘skills” are developed regardless of the field of study or discipline knowledge. They are acquired through the various disciplinary contexts but transcend disciplinary outcomes.
3. They are abilities that should be present in a university graduate from any undergraduate degree. They are an important outcome of university level learning.
4. These outcomes result from the usual process of higher education. Importantly, they should not be a set of supplementary outcomes requiring an additional curriculum or programme.

Bowden, J., Hart, G., King, B., Trigwell, K. and Watts, O. (2000). Generic capabilities of ATN University graduates. http://www.clt.uts.edu.au/ATN.grad.cap.project.index.html
Downloaded 2 February 2010.

Higher Education Council of Australia. (1992). Achieving Quality. Higher Education Council. National Board of Employment, Education and Training. Canberra: Australian Government Press.
The best example I have seen of an explicit policy and advertisement of generic graduate attributes is from the University of Sydney. http://www.itl.usyd.edu.au/graduateAttributes/policy.htm

Below is an example of action research and generic skills (requires subscription but your college may have)

http://www.informaworld.com/smpp/content~db=all~content=a758481279