Deakin home > Deakin University Library > Deakin Research Online > Bridging the gap : competencies students should focus on during their cooperative experience to enhance employability
Openly accessible

Bridging the gap : competencies students should focus on during their cooperative experience to enhance employability

Fleming Jenny, Zinn, Caryn and Ferkins, Lesley 2008, Bridging the gap : competencies students should focus on during their cooperative experience to enhance employability, in World Association of Co-operative Education Asia Pacific 2008 Conference : Work Integrated Learning (WIL): Transforming Futures, Practice…Pedagogy…Partnerships, Australian Collaborative Education Network, Penrith South, N.S.W., pp. 144-152.

Attached Files (Some files may be inaccessible until you login with your Deakin Research Online credentials)
Name Description MIMEType Size Downloads
ferkins-bridgingthegap-2008.pdf Published version application/pdf 62.88KB 10

Title Bridging the gap : competencies students should focus on during their cooperative experience to enhance employability
Author(s) Fleming Jenny
Zinn, Caryn
Ferkins, Lesley
Conference name WACE/ACEN Asia Pacific. Conference (2008 : Sydney, N.S.W.)
Conference location Sydney, N.S.W.
Conference dates 30 September -3 October 2008
Title of proceedings World Association of Co-operative Education Asia Pacific 2008 Conference : Work Integrated Learning (WIL): Transforming Futures, Practice…Pedagogy…Partnerships
Editor(s) Jorgensen, D
Publication date 2008
Conference series World Association of Co-operative Education Asia Pacific Conference
Start page 144
End page 152
Total pages 662 p.
Publisher Australian Collaborative Education Network
Place of publication Penrith South, N.S.W.
Keyword(s) competencies
cooperative education
sport
Summary Cooperative education programmes aim to prepare students for the workplace by developing both generic and specific competencies that will enhance  employability. Researchers have investigated the competencies relevant to business, science and technology graduates (Coll & Zegward, 2006; Hodges & Burchell, 2003). However, there is little published research on the perceptions of the skills or graduate competencies that employers desire of sport and recreation graduates entering the workforce.

The aims of the study were to identify key competencies needed by third year sport and recreation degree students entering their cooperative placement as well as to identify the difference between student and graduate competencies. An online survey of sport and recreation industry supervisors was conducted. For comparison the survey was also completed by academic supervisors from AUT University. Supervisors were asked to rate the importance of specific competencies (adapted from Coll & Zegward, 2006) for the cooperative student and for the graduate.

To enhance employability in the sport and recreation industry, academic programmes within a university need to ensure that students are provided with opportunities to facilitate the development of competencies including the ability and willingness to learn, the use of initiative and personal organisational skills. Cooperative education experiences should be designed to provide opportunities for students to develop in the areas of relationship building as well as teamwork and cooperation in order to increase their likelihood of employment as graduates. It is important to identify and communicate to the tertiary education providers the needs of the industry in order to create successful cooperative education partnerships.
ISBN 9780980570601
Language eng
Field of Research 150399 Business and Management not elsewhere classified
Socio Economic Objective 970115 Expanding Knowledge in Commerce, Management, Tourism and Services
HERDC Research category E1.1 Full written paper - refereed
ERA Research output type E Conference publication
Copyright notice ©2008, Australian Collaborative Education Network
Persistent URL http://hdl.handle.net/10536/DRO/DU:30020961

Document type: Conference Paper
Collections: School of Management and Marketing
Open Access Collection
Connect to link resolver
 
Link to Related Work
 
Unless expressly stated otherwise, the copyright for items in Deakin Research Online is owned by the author, with all rights reserved.

Every reasonable effort has been made to ensure that permission has been obtained for items included in DRO. If you believe that your rights have been infringed by this repository, please contact drosupport@deakin.edu.au.

Versions
Version Filter Type
Access Statistics: 367 Abstract Views, 10 File Downloads  -  Detailed Statistics
Created: Mon, 16 Nov 2009, 10:43:04 EST