Benefits of Work-Integrated Learning

Work Integrated Learning (WIL) programs require good university partnerships with local businesses and communities to provide valuable learning opportunities to advance the notion of work ‘readiness’. Such ideas of engagement go far beyond mere outreach activities to the very conduct of university research and teaching.

WIL needs to be promoted not for what it does for a university but for what it does for the national interest.>
WIL needs to be formally embedded in university policy.
WIL must be planned and intentional. WIL must be managed. The experience in itself is not enough. There must be a clear intention and purpose understood by the academic staff.

Work Integrated Learning meets the needs of industry, students and universities in bringing learners to work and workers to learning.

Benefits for Employers

The setting up of a new project;
The completion of specific tasks;
The opportunity to give a potential recruit a trial without obligation;
Using students' reflection on work experience as a recruitment criterion;
Having a pool of potential recruits with some general awareness of workplace culture;
An injection of new ideas;
Developing links with higher education institutions;
Staff development opportunities that arise from employees mentoring students.

To gain the most benefit employers should:

be aware that students are a resource and there is much to gain in providing students with work-experience opportunities.
be pro-active in linking with higher education institutions and larger employers.
be aware that work experience takes a variety of forms, and identify which might be most appropriate to them;
recognise the value of work experience as an integral part of their graduate recruitment strategy
look beyond the 'financial bottom line' and have a longer-term vision
be aware that providing work experience opportunities helps to develop a learning culture in their organisation;
recognise the potential of employing students in terms of helping their existing workforce to develop skills for the future
maximise the potential of part-time, student employees by utilising them more fully,
make links with higher education institutions to help develop learning culture;
recognise the wide range of undergraduates and not just offer opportunities to 'traditional' young, full-time undergraduates;
not assume that work experience students constitute a 'nuisance' nor confuse work experience for undergraduates with work experience for school children;
avoid exploitative practices when offering work-experience opportunities.

Benefits for Students

Development of the “soft” skills of Communication and Human Relations, Email and Writing skills, Punctuality and Attendance, Team Work, Leadership and Career Development.
Working in a setting in which to put theory into practice;
Developing an awareness of work-place culture and expectations;
An appreciation of the fluidity of a rapidly changing world of work;
An opportunity to develop a range of personal attributes;
The development of key interactive attributes;
Short-term financial benefits - some students are earning whilst studying,
Enhanced employment prospects and the potential of commanding higher wages
Assistance in developing career strategies,
Awareness of opportunities and building up a network of contacts;

Students should be aware that academic prowess alone is insufficient for a successful career in most fields and should:

recognise the potential for developing a range of skills, attitudes and abilities that come from work experience;
accept their role as a participant in a learning process and take responsibility for their learning whilst undertaking work experience;
anticipate the outcomes and reflect on work experience of all kinds; �
make an active contribution to the organisation providing the work-experience opportunity;
recognise that there are a range of work experience options available, which provide different developmental or transformative opportunities that fit into a spectrum of learning;
aim to develop a portfolio of work experiences;
be pro-active in arrangements to ensure the quality of the work experience, .

Benefits for Academics

The opportunity for students to see their subject area in practice;
The satisfaction of seeing students develop and mature;
The enhancement of students' skills;
The establishment of links with a wider range of employers, with the potential for bringing a fresh approach to higher education institutions;
Using employer contacts to ensure that their commercial or industry-related teaching is up-to-date;
Using links to encourage employers to participate on course validation panels in the development of subject areas, present guest lectures or participate in seminars;
The creation and tailoring of innovative or more applicable work experiences through collaboration with past employers of placement students;
Developing their expertise in assessment methods by working with employers who have experience in assessing 'employability' skills.

Staff in higher education institutions should endeavour to develop a wider view of learning (rather than teaching) and accept that learning also takes place outside the formal academic setting. They should:

Value work experience as a significant element of student learning and help students discover how they learn via work experience;
Help students to develop the language to describe their skills and abilities recognise the importance of all types of work experience
Acknowledge the development of generic skills as well as subject-specific attributes;
Make more effort to develop work experience contacts
Recognise that growing numbers of students have to work part-time during term time to survive,
Attempt to identify the extent of such work and encourage and enable students to identify and reflect on the learning that comes from it;
Seek ways of linking work experience to the assessment process to optimise the learning that comes from it, especially as assessment is a major factor in helping to shape the way students learn;
Develop more flexible course programs that allow students to take up project-linked work-experience opportunities throughout the academic year;
Monitor the quality of the learning in the workplace, in particular ensure that expectations are explicit and that all parties are clear about the aims of the experience and their responsibilities - making use of learning contracts where possible;
Ensure that appropriate orientation and training is given to students to prepare them prior to the work experience, facilitate meetings between employers, students and staff at appropriate points during the work experience and act expeditiously to ensure that any problems that arise from work experience settings are dealt with promptly
Facilitate a qualitative evaluation by employers and students of the work experience through an accessible and robust debriefing and feedback process and use feedback to improve both the experience and the program of study to which it relates;
Resist pressure from their institution to cut corners in the placement management process and pursue vigorously the issue of the appropriate funding of work experience;
Network with others in their institution and be willing to share their experiences, contacts and good practice.

Benefits for Higher Education Institutions

Senior managers in higher education institutions should endeavour to do all they can to help their graduates make the transition to the world of work as smooth as possible by providing a wide range of work-experience opportunities. In particular, they should:

Give academic staff the time and resources to interact with the relevant industrial, commercial or public sector employers to enable them to increase their contacts and capitalise on their knowledge of the field
To create work-experience opportunities for their undergraduates;
Give status and provide promotion opportunities to staff who undertake to organise and develop work-experience opportunities for their undergraduates;
Encourage a professional approach to the management of work experience opportunities;
Arrange for an easily identifiable contact point for employers contacting the institution, which might include a one-stop shop which co-ordinates a range of work experience, a single co-ordinator who co-ordinates Faculty-based groups, or a single co-ordinator who can direct organisations to contact across the university;
Identify and support training needs;
Ensure university-wide procedures and regulations to enable a more flexible incorporation of work experience opportunities into programs of study;
Recognise the role played by higher education careers services in identifying potential work experience, disseminating information about opportunities, alerting students to the importance of work experience and advising them about their applications;
Recognise the vital role of work experience in students' career education and planning;
Ensure a commitment at all levels for work experience, backed up by resources;
Be aware of the potential of work experience as a means of extending higher education-employer contacts at both the department and university level.
Ensure clear lines of communication within the institution and with employers about work experience opportunities and practices.