Article 2019

Engineering work integrated learning placements: the influence of capitals on students’ access

PM
Paull, Megan
 LN
Lloyd, Natalie Anne
 MS
Male, Sally Amanda
 CT
Clerke, Teena
Journal of Higher Education Policy and Management
Journal · Vol. 41 · Issue 5 · pp. 534-549
Abstract

Work Integrated Learning (WIL) is embraced in Australian higher education (HE) and is a feature of most Australian HE ‘entry to profession’ engineering education programs accredited by Engineers Australia. Accreditation guidelines articulate the need for curriculum-integrated engagement with professional practice (EPP) and encourage EPP in a separate workplace environment, e.g. WIL. This article reports on the analysis of semi-structured interviews with staff and student engineers from four Australian HE institutions with mandatory engineering WIL. Framed by a Bourdieusian theoretical perspective, the influence of capitals on student access to engineering WIL placements was investigated. The research found that students’ capitals influenced access to engineering WIL placements. Policy and educational practice recommendations are made. © 2019, © 2019 Association for Tertiary Education Management and the LH Martin Institute for Tertiary Education Leadership and Management.

Keywords

Author Keywords

access engineering education policy graduate capitals Work integrated learning (WIL) placements

Index Keywords

Author Affiliations
School of Engineering, The University of Western Australia, Perth, WA, Australia
Faculty of Engineering and Information Technology, University of Technology Sydney, Sydney, NSW, Australia
School of Business, Murdoch University, Perth, WA, Australia
Funding & Acknowledgements
No funding information
References 10 References
1 National Wil Strategy, (2015)
2 Guidance Note Work Integrated Learning, (2017)
3 Billett, Stephen Richard, Realising the educational worth of integrating work experiences in higher education, Studies in Higher Education, 34, 7, pp. 827-843, (2009)
4 Work Based Learning A New Higher Education, (2001)
5 Outline of A Theory of Practice, (1977)
6 Logic of Practice, (1990)
7 Accreditation Criteria Guidelines, (2008)
8 Designing and Conducting Mixed Methods Research, (2007)
9 Social Body Habit Identity and Desire, (2001)
10 de Peuter, Greig, Interrogating internships: Unpaid work, creative industries, and higher education, TripleC, 13, 2, pp. 329-335, (2015)
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