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Ready and WILing: science students want more and earlier access to work-integrated learning

conference contribution
posted on 2018-10-04, 00:00 authored by Jo Elliott, Trina Jorre De St JorreTrina Jorre De St Jorre, Liz JohnsonLiz Johnson
Despite increasing recognition of the importance of work-integrated learning (WIL) in developing
work-ready graduates, science students participate in WIL less than students in other disciplines.
We spoke to science students at four Australian universities to investigate their experience and
perceptions of WIL. Students perceived WIL as most valuable when it was contextualised to their
career ambitions and located in a workplace, but they also valued other contextualised experiences
on campus. They suggested that all students should have access to WIL, especially placements, but
their own access to opportunities had been variable. Students suggested that embedding WIL
opportunities early in degrees would increase awareness of, and access to, WIL. Further, they
recommended that all degrees should include the opportunity to participate in a placement,
although there was disagreement on whether those opportunities should be optional or
compulsory. Our findings suggest that limited awareness and opportunities to engage in WIL are
responsible for reduced participation, rather than disinterest. Our findings highlight the importance
of building explicit WIL into degree programs to ensure greater access and understanding.
Providing some experiences early, is also important to raising awareness in time for students to
seek additional opportunities relevant to their career ambitions.

History

Event

Australian Collaborative Education Network. Conference (7th : 2018 : Brisbane, Qld.)

Series

Australian Collaborative Education Network Conference

Pagination

1 - 4

Publisher

Australian Collaborative Education Network

Location

Brisbane, Qld.

Place of publication

Springvale, Vic.

Start date

2018-10-03

End date

2018-10-05

Language

eng

Publication classification

E1.1 Full written paper - refereed

Copyright notice

2018, ACEN

Editor/Contributor(s)

[Unknown]

Title of proceedings

WIL : Creating connections, building futures : Proceedings of the 2018 7th National Conference on Work Integrated Learning

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