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144785 - Australian postgraduate student experiences and anticipated employability.pdf (1.07 MB)

Australian postgraduate student experiences and anticipated employability: a national study from the students’ perspective

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posted on 2023-05-20, 23:55 authored by Cook, EJ, Crane, L, Kinash, S, Bannatyne, A, Joseph CrawfordJoseph Crawford, Hamlin, G, Judd, M-M, Jo-Anne KelderJo-Anne Kelder, Partridge, H, Richardson, S
Postgraduate students are navigating a rapidly evolving landscape for their future careers. In this context, higher education providers are responsible for supporting and monitoring postgraduate (masters and doctoral) students’ development for both education and employability contexts. This empirical research provides a rich analysis of feedback breakfasts, focus groups and interviews with 319 postgraduate student participants from 26 universities. Emergent themes highlight widespread lack of confidence in university-mediated student experiences, particularly in the context of employability, and pessimism regarding career outcomes. Students expressed a view that higher education providers need to direct further attention and relevant supports toward postgraduate education. Future career despondency was particularly prevalent among students with academic aspirations. The findings are discussed using the theoretical framework of eudemonia and flourishing as an approach to revitalising and improving both the process and outcomes of postgraduate education. The paper concludes with practical recommendations for universities to improve the postgraduate student experience in the context of employability.

History

Publication title

The Journal of Teaching and Learning for Graduate Employability

Volume

12

Pagination

148-168

ISSN

1838-3815

Department/School

DVC - Education

Publisher

Deakin University

Place of publication

Australia

Rights statement

Copyright 2021 The Journal of Teaching and Learning for Graduate Employability. This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International (CC BY-NC 4.0) License (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/)

Repository Status

  • Open

Socio-economic Objectives

Higher education; Expanding knowledge in education

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