Editorial

Abstract

In February 2014 Universities Australia announced an initiative to improve the employability of graduates. At the heart of this initiative was an agreement with business groups to collaborate on vocational training to assist students in participating in Work Integrated Learning (WIL). It was expected that WIL would include, for example, work placements which earned credit points in university course work, mentoring, volunteer work experience programs, and internships. Signatories to the agreement included Universities Australia, the Australian Chamber of Commerce and Industry, and the Business Council of Australia, among others. This was clearly a much needed initiative to develop a shared understanding of the importance of WIL and to mitigate some of the issues such as availability of opportunities.

Twelve months on and the significance of such a collaboration and a commitment to the implementation of strategies to support WIL was echoed by the recent analysis, by Britain’s Quality Assurance Agency for Higher Education, of the findings of a review of 200 universities and colleges. Reported in the University World News (January 16, 2015) the findings indicate that engagement with employers enables graduates to develop and demonstrate work, and work-place appropriate, skills, knowledge, understandings and expertise. Such engagement might include participation by employers in the approval, review and monitoring of courses, in the delivery of the curriculum and by providing opportunities for staff to sustain industry knowledge and experience. While the report is based on UK higher education institutions, its findings have relevance globally and for all institutions concerned about the employability of their graduates.