This week's episode explores Indigenous students' experiences with employability initiatives, including work-integrated learning. The episode features a recent article from the open-access International Journal of Work-Integrated Learning.
See our extended show notes at https://www.centerforengagedlearning.org/amplifying-indigenous-voices-in-work-integrated-learning/.
This week's episode explores Indigenous students' experiences with employability initiatives, including work-integrated learning. The episode features a recent article from the open-access International Journal of Work-Integrated Learning:
Keen, Joel, and Michelle J. Eady. 2022. "Amplifying Indigenous student voice in work-integrated learning." International Journal of Work-Integrated Learning 23 (2): 219-235.
The episode was hosted by Jessie L. Moore, Director of the Center for Engaged Learning and Professor of Professional Writing & Rhetoric. 60-Second SoTL is produced by the Center for Engaged Learning at Elon University.
60-Second SoTL
Episode 6 – Amplifying Indigenous Voices in Work-Integrated Learning
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Jessie L. Moore:
How do Indigenous students experience higher education’s employability initiatives, including work-integrated learning? That’s the focus of this week’s 60-second SoTL from Elon University’s Center for Engaged Learning. I’m Jessie Moore.
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In “Amplifying Indigenous student voice in work-integrated learning,” published in the International Journal of Work-Integrated Learning, Joel Keen and Michelle J. Eady share Indigenous Australian students’ perspectives on employability opportunities at the University of Wollongong in Australia. Even as they share their study in an international journal, the authors caution that readers must localize the study’s research process in readers’ own contexts to inform decisions about applicability. To that end, Keen and Eady share their research methods, enabling readers to pursue parallel studies in ways that are culturally safe for local Indigenous communities.
00:56
Keen and Eady used an 18-question structured survey to learn about students’ perceptions of their graduate employability and their engagement with employability opportunities like internships, workshops, and co-curricular work-integrated learning. They invited University of Wollongong students who self-identify as Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander to complete the survey online, ultimately learning from 108 Indigenous Australian students.
01:22
Approximately 30% of participants had completed an internship, making it the most prevalent employability skills opportunity. Yet two-thirds of the students who completed internships pursued ones that were not arranged by the University of Wollongong.
Nearly 43% of the Indigenous Australian student participants indicated that they would prefer to have an internship with an Aboriginal owned organization.
01:47
After internships, voluntary work, paid work opportunities on campus, and co-curricular work-integrated learning were the most frequently pursued employability opportunities.
Approximately 46% of participants had not participated in any employability opportunities, though, with many indicating that they were not aware of them.
02:06
Based on input from these Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander students, Keen and Eady suggest that Indigenous Student Success Centers and their campus partners should use direct and personalized approaches to inform students about employability skills opportunities and to invite their participation. The authors also suggest mapping degree pathways that help students identify and participate in relevant work-integrated learning opportunities.
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To learn more about this study, which also models a strategy for adapting Western research traditions to prioritize Indigenous voices, follow the link in our show notes to read this open-access article and related resources.
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Join us next week for another snapshot of recent scholarship of teaching and learning on 60-second SoTL from Elon University’s Center for Engaged Learning. Learn more about the Center at www.CenterForEngagedLearning.org.
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