by the Board of the AUSTRALIAN COLLABORATIVE EDUCATION NETWORK

Increasing the capacity of higher education students to engage in an innovative work-integrated learning (WIL) experience is vital if they are to be supported in their transition to graduate employment and employability. Incentives from various organisations to create rural, regional and remote WIL placements is one pathway to prepare graduates for meaningful work. Despite continuous rhetoric around how to achieve successful career preparation via, for example, the assurance of graduate outcomes that include employability skills, we often fail to understand the complexities of an individual’s transition from student to professional without a scaffolded approach.

Aligned to the Australian Collaborative Education Network Vision and Mission to promote quality and inclusive WIL for all, ACEN offers eight Student Scholarships annually to support regional and remote students undertaking a WIL experience as part of their studies.

In August 2021, a mentoring program for ACEN Student Scholarship holders was trialled with the objectives of support, networking and future career connections for an improved WIL student placement experience. Mentors were past scholarship holders who volunteered their time, expertise and experiences to work with current mentee scholarship holders. The programme was strategically placed at the beginning, middle and end of the WIL placement, to provide meaningful placement support and opportunities for quality conversations about future careers within a peer supported environment. There was positive feedback on the mentor/mentee relationship, which has been instrumental in formulating the planning for the 2022 scholarship programme and will be presented at the 2022 ACEN Conference.

The Australian National WIL strategy provides a roadmap for encouraging those responsible in higher education to create quality WIL that is inclusive of all students with a view to encouraging open dialogue. ACEN’s role as a vehicle to support research and practice of the WIL student experience allows a place at the table for WIL practitioners to strategically support the growth of WIL globally.

Other ways in which ACEN supports knowledge sharing for a quality WIL experience is evidenced through ACEN Research Grants and final report disseminations.