Supporting student transitions to placement and work: developing a new self-identity

Abstract

Moves towards the marketisation of higher education together with concerns over the challenges of graduate employment have led to an increased prioritisation of students undertaking relevant work experience while they study. Recognising a strong student demand for placements, universities are establishing employability initiatives including those designed to increase the availability of quality paid placements for students. To complement this activity, industry, sector-specific, regional placement projects such as e-Placement Scotland, take an employer-led approach to maximise opportunities for students across a number of universities. In spite of these initiatives, not every student will successfully obtain a placement, and so e-Placement Scotland aims to ‘add value’ for students in various other ways. Interventions such as industry tech talks and speed networking sessions have been deployed to develop awareness of the employment landscape and encourage students to start thinking about their self-identification, easing their transition into the workplace. Adopting the lens of identity theory, this study explores student and professional identity in order to recognise the transition from student to graduate, and to consider the role of placement and other value-adding activities in that transition. The study found that, while the incidence of students self-identifying as professionals increases in later years of their courses, placement preparation interventions did not themselves have an observable effect. These findings challenge the project assumption that placement preparation activities can offer students valuable insights that can help them identify with their profession. Keywords: Student identity, placement, professional identity

Understanding the career development and employability of information technology students

“…Employers continue to place a high value on workers who have a mix of technical information communication technologies (ICT) capabilities and general enterprise skills (Deloitte, 2017). In addition, evidence indicates that employers, including those in IT, recruit for skills/competencies and experience as well as grades (Graduate Careers Australia, 2013;Webster et al, 2016). Furthermore, employers are looking for IT graduates with a mix of technical and business skills (Deloitte, 2016).…”

“…The Graduate Outlook report by Graduate Careers Australia (2016) reported that for the sixth consecutive year graduates from IT were in especially high demand. However, it is becoming increasingly complex for IT graduates to negotiate the various and changing job roles that make up the IT industry, with a reported gap between employer expectations and graduate profiles (Webster et al, 2016). According to Meijers and Kuijpers (2014, p. 297), "career paths have become unpredictable and research and practice show that it is no longer possible to make career choices in a purely rational and information-based way".…”