Karsten E. Zegwaard

Perceptions of desirable graduate competencies for science and technology new graduates

Work‐integrated learning (WIL) programmes that combine on‐campus classroom‐based study with off‐campus authentic work experience are a growing area of interest internationally. Despite widespread practice of WIL, there are few reports that shed light on appropriate pedagogies for the work experience in particular. As with any form of education, providers hold certain views as to desirable outcomes in terms of graduate profiles and of desirable graduate competencies. A complication for multi‐party WIL programmes is that educational stakeholders (e.g., staff working in tertiary education provider institutions and employers) may hold different views as to desirable graduate competencies. Here we argue that an understanding of stakeholder views of desirable graduate competencies is an essential prerequisite of pedagogical design. The research reported here is an intrinsic case study and comprised an investigation of perceptions of 24 desirable graduate competencies for new science and technology graduates entering the workforce both today, and in ten years’ time. Stakeholders for four sector stakeholder groups (n = 458): undergraduate students (n = 71), recent graduates (n = 143), employers of graduates (n = 172), and faculty (n = 72), were surveyed using a previously reported and validated instrument. The research findings suggest that science and technology stakeholders see all 24 competencies as desirable, and see the importance of all skills and some skills in particular as likely to increase in ten years’ time. Despite emphasis on cognitive and technical skills (often termed ‘hard’ skills), the single most desirable skill is ability and willingness to learn, a behavioural skill (often termed ‘soft’ skills). It is proposed that classroom‐based instruction is unlikely to produce graduates with the desired skills, and that work‐integrated learning may have a role to play in the development of graduate competencies.

Enhancing access to experiential learning in a science and technology degree programme

Abstract The research reported in this work concerned access to experiential learning offered in the form of work-based learning in a science and technology degree programme. The work-based learning comprises work placements within science and technology institutions relevant to the students discipline of academic study. Access to work placements was enhanced by improving student performance in pre-placement interviews and the study comprised the administration of an intervention, namely the use of trial interviews, to improve performance in pre-placement interviews. The study resulted in the development of a model for trial interviews based on models of competency identified in the literature and by examination of documentation from a variety of multi-national organisations. The data suggests that the students perceive trial interviews enhance performance during pre-placement interviews.

Developing Critical Moral Agency Through Workplace Engagement

This chapter undertakes an exploration of the intersection of work integrated learning and the development of professional ethics, arguing for a focus on the development of an awareness of critical moral agency within the emerging professional. The chapter considers the construct of agency in the workplace alongside issues of power and subjugation created through the positioning of the emerging professional. Developing from this consideration it is argued that work integrated learning, combined with an effective and integrated professional ethics curriculum can empower the emerging professional to transform practice through accessing opportunities of agency.

Professional Identities and Ethics: The Role of Work-Integrated Learning in Developing Agentic Professionals

Abstract Much rhetoric around the construct of a work-ready graduate has focused on the technical abilities of students to fulfill the expectations of the future workplace. Efforts have been made to extend from the technical skills (e.g., skills in calculation for engineers) to include soft or behavioral skills (e.g., communication). However, within previous models of understanding of the work-ready graduate there has been little done to explore them as critical moral agents within the workplace. That is, whilst the focus has been on being work-ready, it is argued here that in current and future workplaces it is more important for university graduates to be profession-ready. Our understanding of the profession-ready graduate is characterized by the ability to demonstrate capacities in critical thinking and reflection, and to have an ability to navigate the ethical challenges and shape the organizational culture of the future workplace. This chapter aims to explore a movement of thinking away from simply aspiring to develop work-ready graduates, expanding this understanding to argue for the development of profession-ready graduates. The chapter begins with an exploration of the debates around the characteristics of being work-ready, and through a consideration of two professional elements: professional identity and critical moral agency, argues for a reframing of work-readiness towards professional-readiness. The chapter then considers the role of work-integrated learning (WIL) in being able to support the development of the profession-ready graduate.