13E - Embedding Sustainability in Career Purpose for Quality International WIL (60mins)
Tracks
E
| Thursday, March 16, 2023 |
| 11:15 AM - 12:15 PM |
| 111B |
Details
Industry and labour markets globally are at the receiving end of crucial challenges that are well identified within the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals (UN SDGs). Post-secondary institutions (PSI) globally have an imperative to graduate individuals with a deep purpose mentality necessary to advance sustainability. Preparing students as purposeful change agents for creating a sustainable world can be well-supported through a strategic and intentional approach to work-integrated learning (WIL), a curricular form of experiential education involving a partnership between student, PSI, and community/industry partner.
The University of Waterloo’s Co-op & Experiential Education unit, with annual 24K+ internships, of which 3,500+ are taken outside Canada across 50+ countries, is extending its WIL and career programming beyond student employability and towards cultivating a sense of purpose with clear sustainability attitudes. Programs that clarify career purpose are a powerful mechanism to cultivate learning about how to help address global challenges, as defined by the UN SDGs.
We will share a program design strategy that demonstrates (through survey results) how intentional embedding of sustainability attitudes in career purpose clarification can be used to guide the development of graduates who are both employable and able to engage purposefully with the UN SDGs.
Learning Objectives:
• Learn how career identification can be deepened by applying a ‘purpose’ paradigm to career exploration programming. Attendees with receive handouts that clarify the 4 aspects of ‘purpose’ programming – developing knowledge of and motivation to solve global challenges, values & interests identification, skills development for the same, and tactical understanding of labour market gaps
• Through small and large group discussions, better understand the necessity of embedding sustainability (as defined by the UN’s SDGs) attitudes in purpose clarification, with a focus on awareness building and engagement towards developing a change agent mentality in graduates
• Using peer dialog to converge career purpose identification with sustainability attitudes to improve the quality of international education programming globally. The intent is to inspire a global conversation that sustains even after the conference
Target Audience:
International education program developers, Career exploration & development advisors, Student support staff
Leaders, decision-makers & strategists who focus on local and international education, Sustainability officers & educators, WIL practitioners
Target Audience Level:
Beginner, Intermediate, Advanced
Presenter(s)
Dr Norah McRae
Associate Provost, Co-operative and Experiential Education
University of Waterloo, Canada
Embedding Sustainability in Career Purpose for Quality International WIL
11:15 AM - 12:15 PMBiography
Norah McRae, PhD, is Associate Provost, Co-operative and Experiential Education and adjunct faculty member of the Department of Psychology at the University of Waterloo. Her involvement in co-operative and work-integrated education spans more than twenty years, over which time she has led strategic program development and research on student engagement, community-engaged learning and intercultural competency development.
She is a faculty member for the WACE Planning Institute for Global and Experiential Education and the WACE Assessment Institute. She has also served as President of the Canadian Association for Co-operative Education and is an Executive member of the World Association for Co-operative and Work-integrated Education Board of Directors.
Chairperson
Shabnam Ivkovic
Director - International Strategic Initiatives, Co-operative & Experiential Education
University of Waterloo, Canada
