Commercial Awareness – what is it and can we teach it?

Commercial awareness is frequently cited by employers as an important and desirable graduate skill. It is also seen as a skill which many students struggle to demonstrate. Wilkinson & Aspinall (2007) note the employer perception that Universities can help students to develop this skill, however there appears to be little research on how commercial awareness can be developed. Conducting group interviews with students undertaking clinical work in the Student Law Office, we considered the following questions: What is commercial awareness? How important is it as a skill? How can the Law School help to develop commercial awareness? This paper will examine the relevant literature and discuss the data which emerged from the group interviews