Education Commons^™

Case Studies To Enhance Graduate Employability: Emerging Careers, Kirsty Mitchell, Madelaine Judd, Shelley Kinash, Linda Crane, Cecily Knight, Matthew Mclean, David Dowling, Ros Schwerdt, Caroline Lovell

Linda Crane

This is one in a series of case studies to enhance graduate employability. The theme of this case study is: • Emerging careers (preparing students for careers that do not yet exist) This case study on the role and context of emerging careers is based on interviews and focus groups with nine people across the stakeholder groups of employed graduates, students, educators and employers from four universities, and three businesses. This particular case study attempts to capture and share the insights of leading higher education thinkers/change agents. It also incorporates data from the surveys and in-depth interviews/focus groups described above. …

Case Studies To Enhance Graduate Employability: Generalist Disciplines, Madelaine Judd, Cecily Knight, Caroline Lovell, Shelley Kinash, Linda Crane, Matthew Mclean, Kirsty Mitchell, David Dowling, Ros Schwerdt

Linda Crane

This is one in a series of case studies to enhance graduate employability. The theme of this case study is: • Generalist disciplines and employability This case study on the context of generalist disciplines is based on interviews and focus groups with 22 people across the stakeholder groups of employed graduates, students in internships, educators, career development professionals and employers from one business, three private institutions and five different universities. It also incorporates data from the surveys and in-depth interviews/ focus groups described above. Graduates from generalist disciplines are exposed to several disciplinary frameworks throughout their degree. In turn, graduates …

Case Studies To Enhance Graduate Employability: Graduate Attributes, Caroline Lovell, Shelley Kinash, Madelaine Judd, Linda Crane, Cecily Knight, Matthew Mclean, Kirsty Mitchell, David Dowling, Ros Schwerdt

Linda Crane

This is one in a series of case studies to enhance graduate employability. The theme of this case study is: • Focus on graduate attributes This case study on the role/context of graduate attributes is based on interviews and focus groups with 18 people across the stakeholder groups of employed graduates, students and educators from four universities. This particular case study attempts to capture and share the insights of leading higher education thinkers/change agents. It also incorporates data from the surveys and in-depth interviews/focus groups described above. Australia is internationally recognised as leading the worldwide higher education paradigm shift to …

Case Studies To Enhance Graduate Employability: Commercial Employment Enterprise, Linda Crane, Shelley Kinash, Madelaine Judd, Cecily Knight, Matthew Mclean, Kirsty Mitchell, David Dowling, Ros Schwerdt, Caroline Lovell

Linda Crane

This is one in a series of case studies to enhance graduate employability. The theme of this case study is: • Employability for-profit business endeavours Graduate employability has traditionally been the sphere of higher education providers, employers and the students/ graduates seeking employment. However, as employment outcomes tighten and employers/higher education providers seek to maximise the effectiveness of their investment in strategies, it is important to consider the potential for other organisations to contribute to employability. An important consideration in this regard is the relatively recent emergence of commercial for-profit enterprises offering services to graduate job seekers and/ or employers. …

Case Studies To Enhance Graduate Employability: Indigenous Employment And Supports., Cecily Knight, Shelley Kinash, Linda Crane, Madelaine Judd, Matthew Mclean, Kirsty Mitchell, David Dowling, Ros Schwerdt, Caroline Lovell

Linda Crane

This is one in a series of case studies to enhance graduate employability. The theme of this case study is:

• Indigenous employment and supports

Before putting a spotlight on Indigenous graduate employability, there is a requisite to acknowledge that Australia’s Indigenous population is under-represented in the university system and consequently in the graduate body. Universities Australia (2014) reports: “According to the Review of Higher Education Access and Outcomes for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander People, Indigenous people comprise [sic] 2.2 per cent of the overall population, but only 1.4 per cent of student enrolments at university in 2010, including …

Case Studies To Enhance Graduate Employability: Careers Services, Kirsty Mitchell, Madelaine Judd, Shelley Kinash, Linda Crane, Cecily Knight, Matthew Mclean, David Dowling, Ros Schwerdt, Caroline Lovell

Linda Crane

This is one in a series of case studies to enhance graduate employability. The theme of this case study is: • The role and contribution of higher education career development centres Careers Services are typically student-focused services based in universities operating in a range of models from a centralised model to a hub and spoke1 model. They range in size, funding, staffing, resourcing, reporting lines, associated portfolios and institutional support. Careers Services offer a broad range of services and programs to support diverse stakeholder groups – students and alumni, industry and employers, faculties, academics and university management. Careers Services have …

Case Studies To Enhance Graduate Employability: Competitive Sports, Athletes And Employability., Shelley Kinash, Linda Crane, Madelaine Judd, Cecily Knight, Matthew Mclean, Kirsty Mitchell, David Dowling

Linda Crane

This is one in a series of case studies to enhance graduate employability. The theme of this case study is: • Competitive sport, athletes and employability The aim of this case study is to present evidence that student participation in cocurricular activity, such as competitive sports, has the power to lift graduate employability. This case study addresses competitive sports, athletes and employability from two perspectives. First, it addresses sport organisations as graduate employers. As explained by one of the interviewees, there are ten sectors within the sports industry. Graduates can become employed in: 1) local government, 2) state government, 3) …

Case Studies To Enhance Graduate Employability: Government As Employer, Matthew Mclean, Shelley Kinash, Linda Crane, Madelaine Judd, Cecily Knight, Kirsty Mitchell, David Dowling, Ros Schwerdt, Caroline Lovell

Linda Crane

This is one in a series of case studies to enhance graduate employability. The theme of this case study is: • Government as employer Governments of all levels are significant providers of employment in Australia. With staff nearing 160,000, the Australian Public Service (APS) stands out as one of the nation’s largest employers (Australian Public Service Commission, 2014). Not only this, the APS is among Australia’s most significant providers of graduate employment. The number of graduates joining the APS peaked in 2011-12 at 917 (Towell, 2014). While this number has reduced to 784 in 2012-13 and 712 in 2013-14, the …

Case Studies To Enhance Graduate Employability: Private Institutions., David Dowling, Caroline Lovell, Shelley Kinash, Linda Crane, Madelaine Judd, Matthew Mclean, Kirsty Mitchell, Ros Schwerdt

Linda Crane

This is one in a series of case studies to enhance graduate employability. The theme of this case study is: • Private higher education and employability implications Private institutions are organisations that are not publically funded through the federal government. They are unique in terms of graduate employability as without subsidies, the quality of the education provided by these institutions, the confidence of employers in the product and the connection between educators and employers is paramount. The sustainability of these private institutions relies heavily on quality graduates outcomes, thus feedback and involvement from stakeholders is crucial in helping create these …

Case Studies To Enhance Graduate Employability: Entrepreneurship., Madelaine Judd, Shelley Kinash, Linda Crane, Cecily Knight, Matthew Mclean, Kirsty Mitchell, David Dowling, Ros Schwerdt, Caroline Lovell

Linda Crane

This is one in a series of case studies to enhance graduate employability. The theme of this case study is: • Entrepreneurship (graduates in start-up businesses and graduates employed by entrepreneurs) Entrepreneurship signifies an alternative means to traditional notions of graduate employability. Entrepreneurial start-ups are increasingly established by recent graduates as a means of self-employment. An educator described ethical entrepreneurship as “being able to work out when things are going wrong, in your own humble way, with your own level of intelligence and what you are born with, how to try to manage that situation in an efficacious fashion to …

Case Studies To Enhance Graduate Employability: Multi-National Corporations, Shelley Kinash, Linda Crane, Madelaine Judd, Cecily Knight, Matthew Mclean, Kirsty Mitchell, David Dowling, Ros Schwerdt, Caroline Lovell

Linda Crane

This is one in a series of case studies to enhance graduate employability. The theme of this case study is: • Employment through multi-national corporations Multi-national corporations (MNCs) are businesses that have offices, employees and other resources in more than one country. Three distinct advantages of MNCs from the perspective of graduate employees are that: • MNCs have a large variety of departments and roles. • MNCs frequently host internships and graduate development programs. • MNCs often provide an opportunity for international engagement and experience. Despite these advantages, graduates state that MNC employment does not suit everyone, and that there …

What Students And Graduates Need To Know About Graduate Employability: Lessons From National Olt Research, Shelley Kinash, Linda Crane, Madelaine Judd, Cecily Knight, David Dowling

Linda Crane

Based on 2013 data, Graduate Careers Australia reported that graduate employability rates are the lowest they have been in twenty years. This paper applies outcomes from a National OLT project commissioned in 2013 (completed in 2015) in response to this employment crisis. This paper presents research outcomes from analysis of in-depth one-hour interviews and focus groups with 147 people from across four stakeholder groups: students, graduates, higher education personnel (educators and career development personnel) and employers. Validated narrative analysis was conducted on full transcripts. Eleven themes emerged: multi-national corporations; competitive sport, athletes and employability; entrepreneurship; private institutions; career development centres; …

Australian National Graduate Employability Research Implications For Higher Education Assessment, Shelley Kinash, Linda Crane, Madelaine M. Judd, Cecily Knight, David Dowling, Kirsty Mitchell, Matthew Mclean

Linda Crane