Putting Industry Into WIL Teaching Praxis

A 2008 review identified the need for Australia to get more citizens into higher education. With this increase in participation, the student cohort began to diversify. Qualitative research showed that final-year students experienced anxiety and a lack of confidence towards their impending transition into professional practice. The WIL course in this case study encouraged students to view career management proactively, as more than generating professional sustenance, but to connect to individual values and working preferences. Students reported that the WIL course helped them gain confidence in their existing skillsets to approach the market. There is an evidence base that as graduates the ‘lifelong' career management benefits of the course continue to be valued. Considerations for WIL praxis include earlier adoption of work-based learning, leverage internal stakeholders to understand the student cohort, and educating academics on assessment design to enhance students' opportunity to learn.

Entrepreneurial Work-Integrated Learning

After decades of decreasing long-term job security and ongoing global economic crises, attention on and interest in entrepreneurship have significantly increased among Gen Y and Gen Z students in higher education institutions around the world. The pedagogical potential of work-integrated learning (WIL) and the increased offering of entrepreneurship programs in higher education intersect in a field referred to as entrepreneurial WIL (EWIL). This field, where WIL pedagogy is applied to deliver the learning outcomes of entrepreneurship education, is discussed here. The unique features and associated challenges that EWIL presents, particularly when compared with traditional forms of WIL experiences, are also examined, from the framework of a case study conducted on an internship-based course offered in a Canadian university. This chapter contributes to an understanding of the various factors that should be considered when developing novel EWIL programs in higher education institutions.

A Critical Analysis of Multi-Logical Synergies

Generation Y and Generation Z are the new emerging labour. Education, labour markets, work-integrated learning (WIL), and generational studies are all complex conceptualisations and present unique challenges. The chapter explores the nature of these synergies as they respond to these challenges. The chapter from a UK perspective addresses the labour challenges from a WIL, leadership, and CSR perspective. It incorporates the work and perceptions of GenY authors and applies a unique methodology to respond to the challenges with which it engages. Using auto/biographic bricolage, questionnaires, and interviews, insight gained is reflected upon in terms of addressing these challenges. The chapter concludes that Generation Z have had significantly different leadership style experiences and are not as ethically minded as scholarship depicts. The chapter then concludes reflecting upon the role of the supervisor and WIL facilitators on how they could better support students facing these challenges.

Beyond Discipline-Based Work-Integrated Learning Placements in Engineering and Science

Drawing on the work-integrated learning (WIL) literature, particularly that which is STEM-related (science, technology, engineering, and mathematics), and on the Australian census data, it was found that many Australian engineering and science graduates from Generation Y (and prior) work outside of their fields of study, and that many of them will have had to if they wished to work at all. For Generation Z (and beyond) students, it is proposed that a broader conception of WIL in science and engineering is needed if they are going to be adequately prepared for post-graduation employment. This chapter details a program example of how an out of field WIL placement, offered as an elective unit, can be implemented for engineering, science (and other contexts) without requiring major changes to existing curricula. This chapter also contributes to the very limited existing literature on out-of-field WIL.

Examining Feedback Practices in WIL Subjects

The purpose of this study is to explore feedback practices and support for feedback literacy development within subjects that feature work-integrated learning (WIL). WIL is growing in the tertiary education context as institutions face ongoing pressure to produce graduates that are ‘work ready'. The extent to which feedback and feedback literacies are supported or transpire within WIL activities and subjects has yet to be examined. This study aims to identify current practices of feedback, particularly Gen Z students' perceptions of their feedback development, in subjects that support WIL experiences. This study was conducted as a case study within the Bachelor of Primary Education Degree at an Australian University. Thirty-four students participated in focus groups and responded to questions regarding the role and quality of feedback and feedback literacy development. Findings reveal that when students perceive activities and assessments are linked directly to their teaching (discipline) practice, that is their future careers, they are more inclined to value the feedback.

Developing Gen Y Competencies for the New Work Environment

While higher education institutions are increasingly interested in preparing a new generation of students to meet the demands of the workplace, there is still limited research on how work-integrated learning (WIL) strategies can specifically benefit Gen Y's learning, competency development, and employability. In this chapter, the authors aim to extend the knowledge of WIL in three key respects: (1) examine the rationale for considering WIL as part of curriculum development, (2) compare different WIL strategies through four cases studies, and (3) analyze the impact and benefits of those WIL approaches for Gen Y's learning and employability. By comparing and contrasting different approaches to WIL, the chapter contributes to shed more light on some important benefits of WIL such as Gen Y's development of self-identity, reflective capacity, and critical skills. Although different, the cases demonstrate the importance of making space for reflection and integrating collective and individual practices in WIL designs.

From Graduate to Employee

Teaching fellows within this study are graduates participating in a paid postgraduate programme of training and development, providing them with skills for lecturing in higher education. Identifying with widening participation characteristics, as well as the attributes of Y and Z Generations, this study examines a programme firmly rooted in the philosophies of both work-based learning and work-integrated learning. This was a unique approach to offering opportunities which went beyond undergraduate study to graduates of the institution, preparing them for employment through exposure to experiences of shadowing and eventual teaching. This therefore highlights three distinct areas which crucially impacts on their development: social learning within a community of practice (CoP), emotional challenges of imposter phenomenon, and reflective practice. The study concludes with evidence of how providing this opportunity to a generation of individuals, who may not have considered it before, can promote the connections between theory and practice as part of their practical experience.

Exploring Learning Preferences of Gen Z Employees

The chapter focuses on a relevant topic of interest for academics and practitioners alike. Leveraging a review of scholarly and practitioner literature, this chapter proposes a broad map of Gen Z employees' learning and development preferences at workplace, using a Work-integrated learning perspective. Findings suggest that Gen Z employees place a strong emphasis on continuous learning and development, access to technological solutions, collaborative and informal learning, consistent feedback, an enabling learning ecosystem, mentoring, gamification in learning, and knowledge sharing. This study offers insights for HR managers and policymakers to configure generation-specific practices and create an appealing learning ecosystem, congruent to learning styles of Gen Z members. It illustrates how organizations should revamp their existing learning and development (L&D) strategy to suit Gen Z learning expectations. The results of the study furnish crucial implications for learning and development practitioners and extend the literature on Gen Z at the workplace.

Global Calls to Action for Work-Integrated Education

This chapter provides a brief overview of generational attributes for Generations X and Y and how they impact workplaces. It introduces The Global Co-Operative and Work-Integrated Education Charter that calls for the scaling up of work integrated programs around the world in recognition of their unique potential for bridging gaps between academia and the world of work and positively impacting the multiple generations working therein. More specifically, the charter positions international work-integrated learning as a particularly effective educational approach for developing the critical understandings, insights, and attitudes needed to effectively navigate the multigenerational and multicultural workplaces that typify our increasingly borderless world of work.

Practices and Perspectives of First-Year WIL Activities

Work-integrated learning (WIL) experiences are in demand as higher education (HE) institutions endeavour to develop profession-ready graduates. However, Generation Z has reported a lack of preparedness and uncertainty entering the workforce. Designing WIL experiences across a degree engages these students in meaningful opportunities to apply theory to practice. Despite the support of degree-wide approaches, little is known about the prevalence of WIL opportunities within the first year of tertiary study. This chapter reports the findings from 10 interviews with first-year subject coordinators in the Bachelor of Primary Education (BPrimEd) degree, gaining insight into subject coordinators' roles and their perceived purpose of WIL in the first year of HE. Findings suggest subject coordinators recognise the value of and use WIL activities, yet a number of internal and external constraints also limit embedding WIL within first-year curricula. The research in this chapter is student-led and includes reflective insights from the lead student author.