Driving institutional engagement in WIL: Enhancing graduate employability

Ferns, Sonia; Lilly, Linda

doi:10.21153/jtlge2015vol6no1art577

Cited by 22 publications

(23 citation statements)

References 7 publications

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“…Universities and the government could also collaborate in the active promotion of WIL to provide students with a more industrycentric tertiary education experience. In addition to the traditional student internship, WIL endeavours encompass authentic industry projects, service-learning activities, industry events, guest lectures, and even research tasks (Ferns & Lilly, 2016;Xia, Caulfield, & Ferns, 2015) for students to build their graduate capital. Such early immersion in the world of work also creates opportunities for students to improve their understanding of organisational expectations and foster a more positive attitude.…”

Section: Relationship Between Universities and Government/parastatal mentioning

confidence: 99%

Graduate Work-Readiness in Mauritius: A multi-stakeholder approach

Hardin-Ramanan

Gopee

Rowtho

et al. 2020

JTLGE

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Characterised by strong human capital dependency, Small Island Development States (SIDS) such as Mauritius depend largely on work-ready graduates to boost their economy. Yet, Graduate Work Readiness (GWR) and graduate unemployment feature prominently on the Mauritian government agenda. This paper investigates the previously unexplored issue of GWR in Mauritius through four key stakeholder lenses – those of the government, employers, universities, and undergraduates – before suggesting collaborative strategies to enhance graduate employability. The paper findings build on government and parastatal body interviews and qualitative survey responses from the Top 100 companies, higher education institution directors and final year undergraduates in Mauritius. Study results and recommendations are derived from a thematic content analysis of interview transcripts and qualitative survey data. Results indicate that there is a strong need to (1) strengthen stakeholder links, (2) enforce industry-centric university curricula, (4) improve graduate work experience, (4) hone graduate soft skills, and (5) their attitude to work. A Graduate Work Readiness Integrated Stakeholder Framework (GWRISF) supported by a National Work Integrated Learning Committee (NWILC) is then recommended. It is envisaged that proposed strategies will not only assist Mauritian stakeholders in better joining forces for GWR improvement but can also be useful to other comparable SIDS.

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Section: Relationship Between Universities and Government/parastatal mentioning

confidence: 99%

Graduate Work-Readiness in Mauritius: A multi-stakeholder approach

Hardin-Ramanan

Gopee

Rowtho

et al. 2020

JTLGE

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“…Assisting students to transfer this learning across classroom and workplace contexts and between theoretical and applied settings can be achieved through WIL opportunities (Jackson et al, 2019). WIL develops employability skills by engaging with industry and practicing discipline skills ( (Aprile & Knight, 2020;Ferns & Lilly, 2016;Jackson et al, 2019). However, the degree to which this preparation takes place from first year, to help students transition into becoming a professional right from entry into tertiary education, has been an area of uncertainty.…”

Section: Transition Into Becoming a Professional: Orientation To The Professionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Recent research shows the importance of scaffolding WIL across a degree, from the first year, to engage students in a variety of placement and non-placement WIL activities Ferns & Lilly, 2016;Young et al, 2017). While research advocating for WIL across a degree includes or addresses WIL in the first year, there remains little research specifically investigating WIL in the first year experience (FYE).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

The value of embedding work-integrated learning and other transitionary supports into the first year curriculum: Perspectives of first year subject coordinators

Milliken

Dean

Eady

2021

JTLGE

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The first year of university, also known as the first year experience (FYE), is a crucial time for students as they learn a range of new practices that enable them to study and pursue a discipline or profession of interest. The function of this transitionary time however in relation to providing both a successful transition into university as well as an orientation to the profession is under-developed. Work-integrated learning is a leading pedagogy in tertiary institutions to build student’s career-readiness by applying theory within work experiences. However, despite the growth of WIL across discipline contexts, little is known about the prevalence and impact of WIL practices within the first year of tertiary study. The purpose of this study was to explore the perspectives of those who design and facilitate first year subjects on the value of embedding WIL and other transitionary supports into the first year curriculum. A qualitative case study was employed, with interviews from ten first-year subject coordinators within a single degree and institution. The findings reveal three crucial areas of transition in the first year: Transition into learning, Transition into being a student, and Transition into becoming a professional. Recommendations centre on benefits of a whole-of-course approach to transition and WIL for developing students with the necessary knowledge and skills to succeed both at university and into the workplace.

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“…Literatures advocated that yet, limited attention has been paid to curricula and curricula development [12][13][14][15][16][17]. The role of tertiary level educational institutes on employability has been exhaustively studied in developed countries [5,18,19,20,21,1]. Graduate employability has become one of the most critical topics in higher education research in developed countries [5,[22][23][24][25][26].…”

Section: Literature Reviewmentioning

confidence: 99%

Curricula and Employability: An Empirical Study on Tertiary Level Students of Bangladesh

Khan

Mojkury

2021

AJESS

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Aim: The continuous innovation of information technologies accelerates the global economic development. The recent development of artificial intelligence and machine learning theory are not only through a big challenge to the graduates to enter to the job market but also all the stakeholders of entire knowledge economy to stay in the right track for better future. To develop graduates' professionalism with strong foundation of adequate skills are pivotal to meet the future challenges of fourth industrial revolution and artificial intelligence. The aim of the study is to assess the perception and attitude of graduate students regarding future employability in the context of their curriculum. Data from 750 tertiary level students are collected purposively by direct interview method. A questionnaire is designed based the study aim with suitable well-structured closed ended questions. Methodology: A five-point Likert scale is considered to measure the opinion and attitude towards future employability and curricula. Descriptive statistical techniques are used for basic comparisons while Chi-square test is appointed to assess the significance of different determinants to the graduates opinions and attitudes. Results: We found graduates average age 22.39 years with small standard deviation 1.55. Most of the respondents (66.5%) belonging to bellow average income group. A clear educational migration observed in secondary to higher secondary education level. Very unexpected response observed when we asked students regarding their curricula for employability. 9.33% respondents think that the curricula is not important and 35.2% think curricula as least important. Significant impact of students gender, age and place of higher secondary level education place observed on their opinion regarding curricula for future employability. Conclusion: The growing literature on graduate employability suggest that the role of tertiary level educational institutions, the curricula planners and the policy makers fostering graduate employability over the globe. This article endows with a comprehensive analysis of graduates' attitude towards employability. We hope that this study will contribute to promote graduate employability.

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Driving institutional engagement in WIL: Enhancing graduate employability

Cited by 22 publications

References 7 publications

Graduate Work-Readiness in Mauritius: A multi-stakeholder approach

Graduate Work-Readiness in Mauritius: A multi-stakeholder approach

The value of embedding work-integrated learning and other transitionary supports into the first year curriculum: Perspectives of first year subject coordinators

Curricula and Employability: An Empirical Study on Tertiary Level Students of Bangladesh

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