There is continued pressure on universities to develop future-oriented graduates given documented skill gaps and global talent shortages. Although work experience supports work-readiness and is prioritised among graduate employers, little is known about the labour market gains from student employment compared to work experience embedded within the…

A growing number of university students balance concurrent study and work. Previous studies highlight potential benefits including heightened career awareness alongside risks including decreased study time. This study asked to what extent paid work affects university students' self-assessment of perceived employability. The study employed an…

Enhancing graduate employability is an increasing focus within higher education, however, although part-time work is a majority experience for students the skills gained through non-professional employment are often treated as having limited value in constructions of graduate employability. This paper engages in dialogue with a series of viewpoint…

Relatively little is known about how working students manage their dual roles of work and study. To extend this research, we examined the direct and indirect relationships between boundary flexibility-ability (the appraised capacity to modify a boundary of one role to accommodate better the demands of another role) and boundary…

In its response to COVID-19 in 2020, the Australian Government excluded international students from the temporary financial assistance it offered most permanent residents. This article examines the status of international student welfare as a policy question before and during the pandemic, and discusses post-pandemic policy implications. It draws…

There is mounting evidence of increased international student financial and work precarity over the last decade in Australia. Yet, there has been a little scholarly analysis of which students are most affected by precarity and its sources. Drawing on two surveys of international students in Australia's two largest cities, conducted before and…

As part of their international higher education experience, international students in some degree programs are required to secure and complete work placements. This is challenging to many, particularly during the COVID-19 pandemic. Despite this, there is limited research on how international students navigate challenges to secure placements in…

The focus on short-term graduate employment metrics has catalysed the employability agenda as a strategic directive in universities. A raft of embedded, co-curricular, and extra-curricular activities has emerged for developing employability. Their relative value lacks empirical exploration. This study explored graduates' self-reported…

There is strong evidence that learning gained in, through and for work, whether it is through employment, voluntary, community, domestic or any other kind of work, helps to equip people with the capabilities that can improve their working lives, their employability and their life skills (Lester and Costley, 2010, Beehives, 2018, WEXHE, 2019).…

Work-integrated learning (WIL) placements seek to improve employability for all, but increasing evidence suggests equity groups see significant barriers in accessing WIL, in part due to existing barriers to work and study. This project sought to investigate the experiences of students with disabilities in engineering and IT WIL through a…

In order to realise career and personal goals, as well as financial autonomy and security, many women are pursuing higher education alongside the role of motherhood. Student-mothers face many challenges when engaging in higher education, and many fail to complete their studies. This phenomenological study applies a feminist lens to the choices,…

Recent focus on graduate employability has exposed the inadequacies of work preparation for science students, who need an employability toolkit to navigate the modern work landscape. An established mechanism to develop students' employment awareness is Work Integrated Learning (WIL), but Australian mathematics and science students participate in…

Chinese international students represent a significant social, economic and cultural force in Australian society. Research has demonstrated that Chinese students enrich Australia not only through their economic contribution, but through soft diplomacy and cultural links. Despite this, and the recent rapid growth in the number of Chinese…

This study explored the lived expectations of second-year undergraduate science students at a large, government-funded university in Australia. The investigation made use of a mixed methods approach to inform the understanding of the second year of study expectations. Findings identified three key contributors to expected second-year experiences:…

This paper addresses the question of the relative importance of work-integrated learning placement quality, structure (whether part-time or full-time), and duration (in weeks), for producing employability outcomes. Additionally, we explore whether the quality of those placements is more, less, or equally important than the structure and duration.…