Conventional approaches to work-integrated learning (WIL), such as 3 – 12-month work placements, also called cooperative education, sandwich programmes or practicums, are not only resource intensive, but do place additional demands on industry partners, say Kay, Ferns, Russell, Smith and Winchester-Seeto (2019: 402). Small to medium enterprises (SMEs), namely those with fewer than 200 employees, comprise a significant proportion of the Australian economy, say Kay et al. (2019: 402). However, due to limited resources, staff constraints, and restrictions of funds, it is generally difficult for SMEs to engage in offering WIL opportunities. Kay et al. (2019: 403) observe that a recurring theme in the literature is the challenges universities experience in successfully engaging with SMEs. The “mismatch between the needs of universities and those of SMEs is a key reason for the lack of engagement from SMEs” they remark. Factors such as inflexible university schedules, as well as strict timing, duration of placements, type of student activities, supervision requirements and student support expectations, impact the capacity of SMEs to engage in WIL. There exists a need for willingness to working around these disparities, they indicate.
Universities found themselves competing for placement opportunities, which resulted in trends of “enhanced engagement with community organizations; greater flexibility in the structure of WIL experiences; an increase in on-campus opportunities; a focus on the use of technology to provide equitable WIL experiences in a virtual world; and a rise in third party providers who broker opportunities for students” (Kay et al. 2019: 405). Table 1 (p. 406) summarises the trends identified through a research project, funded by the Australian Technology Network (ATN), as well as innovative practices that emerged because of trends. The research involved three stages. The first stage entailed the review of literature from contemporary peer-reviewed academic literature, grey literature (such as government and industry reports) and conference proceedings with the aim of identifying emerging WIL models. During the second stage the emerging models were explored through ten international, national and local workshops with some 450 WIL practitioners, webinars and WIL communities of practice meetings. The third stage involved in-depth consideration and analysis through 55 semi-structured interviews with WIL practitioners, industry partners and students that directly experienced emerging WIL strategies. The three stages iterative process serve to validate the literature review. The emerging models were clustered into five innovative WIL models, namely (a) micro-placements, (b) online projects or placements, (c) hackathons, competitions and events, (d) WIL incubators and start-ups, and (e) consulting.
Kay et al. (2019: 407) define incubators or start-ups as “a workspace that provides support for startups including mentoring, information, networks, office space and resources for the early-stage development of new business ventures. WIL students can be placed in incubators to support ventures. A start-up is an entrepreneurial venture which is typically a young, small and recently emerged business that aims to create a new product, process or service to meet a need that is not currently being offered elsewhere in the market. The first stages of a start-up are commonly financed and can attract further support once it has proved its potential. Increasingly WIL students are undertaking placements or projects in or for start-up businesses”
The Canadian body ‘Co-operative Education and Work-Integrated Learning Canada’ (CEWIL Canada) webpage ‘Type of WIL: entrepreneurship’ qualifies ‘What is Entrepreneurship?’ that it “allows a student to leverage resources, space, mentorship and/or funding to engage in the early-stage development of business start-ups and/or to advance external ideas that address real-world needs for academic credit”. The webpage imbeds a YouTube video ‘What is entrepreneurial WIL?’ worth watching. The webpage further imbeds “a document that outlines in detail how Entrepreneurial WIL engages students and benefits employers”, which elaborates that “An entrepreneurship Work-Integrated Learning (WIL) experience provides students with an opportunity to start and build their own business. Often, these experiences are supported through school-supported incubators or accelerators. They allow students to leverage resources, space, mentorship, and funding to engage in business startups’ early-stage development and advance external ideas that address real-world problems for academic credit”.
Table 2 (Kay et al. 2019: 407) portrays 15 common features clustered across three key areas, namely stakeholder engagement, design elements, and co-designing with partners.
Table 3 (Kay et al. 2019: 409) represents the alignment of the features outlined in Table 2 with the five emerging models, showing the features that are characteristic of each model. Kay et al. (2019: 208) emphasise that stakeholder engagement is fundamental to all emerging WIL models, and that attention should be given to co-designing with industry, community, students, and alumni. They highlight the importance mutually beneficial and collaborative partnerships.
Table 4 (Kay et al. 2019: 410) gives an overview of the enablers identified through the workshops and interviews with students, host organizations and university staff.
Co-operative Education and Work-Integrated Learning Canada (CEWIL Canada). Type of WIL: Entrepreneurship. https://cewilcanada.ca/CEWIL/CEWIL/Resources/Employer-Community-Partners/Employer-Tool-Kit-Folder/Entrepreneurship.aspx
Co-operative Education and Work-Integrated Learning Canada (CEWIL Canada). (2021). What is entrepreneurial WIL? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vQU-wrrt_8c
Co-operative Education and Work-Integrated Learning Canada (CEWIL Canada). (2021). Entrepreneurship for WIL partners. https://cewilcanada.ca/common/Uploaded%20files/Public%20Resources/WIL%20Resources/entrepreneurship__8.5x11.pdf
Kay, J., Ferns, S., Russell, L., Smith, J. & Winchester-Seeto, T. (2019). The emerging future: Innovative models of work-integrated learning. International Journal of Work-Integrated Learning, 20(4), 401-413. https://www.ijwil.org/files/IJWIL_20_4_401_413.pdf
Comments