IAEVGQuebec
June 4-6 2014
Career Development Benchmarks-Tertiary
• Programmatic rather than practitioner competencies
• Compareo UK Matrix standardo AGCAS Careers Education Benchmarks
statemento Australian Careers Education Quality
Framework
Benchmarks are not evaluative standards but a guide or framework that can be used
to improve practice
Career Development Benchmarks-Tertiary are a self-review tool
Benchmarks and standards
• working team from Careers NZ• reviewing the literature• developing a working draft• field testing the draft with a wide range of tertiary
providers around the country• an online survey• peer review• finalisation of the draft document
Throughout the process the team consulted with external reference and governance groups, and feedback was sought from a cultural and international perspective
Career Development Benchmarks – Tertiary launched 2012
Development process
Inputs and output
• Employer and Industry Engagement is any contact between tertiary organisations and employers and industry that enables students to develop their career management competencies.
• Student Engagement is the way in which students connect with careers programmes and services in order to develop their career management competencies.
• Organisation Engagement deals with how the tertiary organisation as a whole enables its students to develop their career management competencies.
S1 Students have a strong awareness of self, their identity, language and culture, how they relate to others and their potential for development. They can identify their social and cultural influences and how they interact with the economy and society. Students are able to consider, analyse and apply these competencies to the lives they currently have and aspire to have.
S2 Students can identify, evaluate and act on the opportunities available to them in life, learning and work. They are aware of the shifts in regional, national and global economies and society and their influence on their life, learning and work.
S3 Students make well-informed decisions as well as implement flexible life, learning and work plans. They are adaptable and responsive to change. They can find alternatives when faced with obstacles and have the resilience and ability to adapt as their life, learning and work environments change.
S4 Students develop and articulate their own personal and marketable identity which reflects their values, skills, training, knowledge and interests. This is evident in all communications that they share with the wider world, including prospective employers, broader networks and in online spaces.
Career management competencies for tertiary students
Action Research
• An approach of co-operative inquiry
• Abolishes the line between research and action
• Utilises a team approach to bring about change
• Overtly “political” in order to improve the situation
• Intended to generate solutions to practical problems
Action Research• Action research is a method used for improving practice. It involves
action, evaluation, and critical reflection and – based on the evidence gathered – changes in practice are then implemented.
• Action research is participative and collaborative; it is undertaken by individuals with a common purpose.
• It is situation-based and context specific.• It develops reflection based on interpretations made by the participants.• Knowledge is created through action and at the point of application.• Action research can involve problem solving, if the solution to the
problem leads to the improvement of practice.• In action research findings will emerge as action develops, but these
are not conclusive or absolute.
Koshy, 2010
Action Research Design
• The team: The career practitioner and 2 academics• Each team member was an “insider” who had
unique but important experiences and knowledge of the career services and the university
• Fortnightly meetings
• Planning, Action, Reflection in cycles
Action Research Advantages
• Lone practitioner. Ability to reflect and discuss with professionals
• Additional support and credibility when promoting careers strategic plan to Faculty
• Kudos of using academic expertise to underpin the development of the service
SWOT analysisStrengths•Senior management team support•Extensive employer engagement occurring
Weaknesses•Minimal previous support
Opportunities•Management support•Framework for a quality service•AACSB Accreditation•Marketing potential
Threats•Potential overload
O1 Organisational Engagement
Element 4.•Effective career development & support
light on the ‘how”. Benchmarks outline “the how.”
•Ability to enhance the employability of graduates, marketing potential, future pressure for destinations data.•AACSB re-accreditation 2016
E1 Employer & Industry Engagement
• Opportunity to maximise employer engagement for employment outcomes & Faculty engagement on many levels.
• Joining the dots between existing activities and leveraging of these opportunities.
Outcomes
• The Career Development Benchmarks have added a framework which is logical and easy to follow for non practitioners
• The framework makes it easy to highlight how careers can support wider faculty initiatives (AACSB, PRME)
• Strategic plan developed that has been
- accepted by Faculty Board
-accepted by Faculty employer panel
Future
• The Benchmarks will be utilised to structure and monitor career development provision in Faculty
• Findings can be utilised for the restructuring of the central University Careers Service and initiatives based in other faculties
• Action research hasn’t just studied the development of career provision; it has contributed to its future
http://www.careers.govt.nz/educators-practitioners/planning/career-education-benchmarks/tertiary-benchmarks/
Careers NZ