Science students’ conceptions of factors that will differentiate them in the graduate employment market
Jorre De St Jorre, Trina, Elliott, Joanne, Johnson, Elizabeth and Bisset, Stewart 2019, Science students’ conceptions of factors that will differentiate them in the graduate employment market, Journal of teaching and learning for graduate employability, vol. 10, no. 1, pp. 27-41, doi: 10.21153/jtlge2019vol10no1art795.
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Title
Science students’ conceptions of factors that will differentiate them in the graduate employment market
Journal of teaching and learning for graduate employability
Volume number
10
Issue number
1
Start page
27
End page
41
Total pages
15
Publisher
Deakin University
Place of publication
Melbourne, Vic.
Publication date
2019
ISSN
1838-3815
Summary
To gain employment and a fulfilling career, students need to understand the skills and knowledge that are important and how to articulate and evidence their employability. Here we report on research investigating science students’ priorities related to immediate employment vs. long-term employability and the factors that students perceive as important to these. We interviewed 138 science students from four Australian universities and found that they were most focused on immediate employment. Students were keen to participate in opportunities to ‘value add’ to their degree, especially those that might help them to gain relevant work experience and professional networks. However, students’ understanding of the relative importance of experiences and skills that would enhance their employability was variable, as was their understanding of the career pathways that they might pursue. Our analysis highlights the importance of explicitly designing curriculum to help students understand the career opportunities available; the skills and abilities needed for diverse careers; and the experiences through which they might develop and evidence these. Furthermore, to engage students, we need to help them to address their greatest and most immediate concerns about gaining employment at graduation, while also setting them up for successful and fulfilling careers.
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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.