Learning abroad and graduate employability: challenges articulating international learning outcomes

Oguro, S; Mueller, B

Learning abroad and graduate employability: challenges articulating international learning outcomes

Oguro, S

Mueller, B

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Publisher:: Higher Education Research and Development Society of Australasia
Publication Type:: Chapter
Citation:: Research and Development in Higher Education: Next generation, Higher Education: Challenges, Changes and Opportunities, 2020, 42 pp. 85 - 93 (9)
Issue Date:: 2020

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Field	Value	Language
dc.contributor.author	Oguro, S https://orcid.org/0000-0002-5951-7712	en_US
dc.contributor.author	Mueller, B	en_US
dc.contributor.editor	Heinrich, E	en_US
dc.contributor.editor	Bourke, R	en_US
dc.date.accessioned	2020-04-16T04:13:43Z
dc.date.available	2020-04-16T04:13:43Z
dc.date.issued	2020	en_US
dc.identifier.citation	Research and Development in Higher Education: Next generation, Higher Education: Challenges, Changes and Opportunities, 2020, 42 pp. 85 - 93 (9)	en_US
dc.identifier.isbn	978-0-6485507-3-0	en_US
dc.identifier.uri	http://hdl.handle.net/10453/140018
dc.description.abstract	Growing numbers of Australian undergraduate students are participating in short-term international experiences as part of their degree courses. In addition to any discipline specific knowledge or skills learnt, such international programs provide students with the opportunity to develop graduate attributes such as intercultural communication skills and professional readiness for careers in globalised workplaces. To facilitate their transition to graduate employment, it is important that students are able to articulate the learning outcomes of international programs and apply them to professional contexts. However, this is a complex task for students that has not been adequately addressed in university learning programs. To address this gap, this paper reports on a study of the experiences of 55 undergraduate students from a range of disciplines who had completed a learning abroad program. It analyses interview data on the challenges students faced to connect their international experience with their future professions. Results indicate a complex range of potential challenges for individual students relating to their career management skills, developing professional identity, task-related performance issues, and perceptions of the relevance of international programs for employability. The paper establishes the necessity for universities to maximise the affordances of learning abroad programs by adequately supporting students to realise global graduate career opportunities.	en_US
dc.publisher	Higher Education Research and Development Society of Australasia	en_US
dc.relation.ispartof	Research and Development in Higher Education: Next generation, Higher Education: Challenges, Changes and Opportunities	en_US
dc.title	Learning abroad and graduate employability: challenges articulating international learning outcomes	en_US
dc.type	Chapter
utslib.citation.volume	42	en_US
utslib.location	Hammondville	en_US
pubs.embargo.period	Not known	en_US
pubs.organisational-group	/University of Technology Sydney
pubs.organisational-group	/University of Technology Sydney/Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences
pubs.organisational-group	/University of Technology Sydney/Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences/FASS Faculty Administration
utslib.copyright.status	open_access
pubs.consider-herdc	true	en_US
pubs.place-of-publication	Hammondville	en_US
pubs.publication-status	Published	en_US
pubs.volume	42	en_US

Abstract:

Growing numbers of Australian undergraduate students are participating in short-term international experiences as part of their degree courses. In addition to any discipline specific knowledge or skills learnt, such international programs provide students with the opportunity to develop graduate attributes such as intercultural communication skills and professional readiness for careers in globalised workplaces. To facilitate their transition to graduate employment, it is important that students are able to articulate the learning outcomes of international programs and apply them to professional contexts. However, this is a complex task for students that has not been adequately addressed in university learning programs. To address this gap, this paper reports on a study of the experiences of 55 undergraduate students from a range of disciplines who had completed a learning abroad program. It analyses interview data on the challenges students faced to connect their international experience with their future professions. Results indicate a complex range of potential challenges for individual students relating to their career management skills, developing professional identity, task-related performance issues, and perceptions of the relevance of international programs for employability. The paper establishes the necessity for universities to maximise the affordances of learning abroad programs by adequately supporting students to realise global graduate career opportunities.

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http://hdl.handle.net/10453/140018