1. The past decade in Australia has seen increased debate and scrutiny by government, employers and universities themselves on the readiness of graduates to enter the workplace. This report is concerned with strategies and practices Australian universities have developed to address the issue of employability in relation to postgraduate research students. In the domain of research graduates, employability is conceived as including entry to the workplace and also career enhancement and change. The report also considers issues associated with these approaches when they are offered online and in collaboration between universities.
2. When workplace related skills are discussed, a variety of terms is applied (such as generic skills, transferable skills, and graduate attributes, to select but a few). This report uses the term generic capabilities to mark off the skills and attributes that have a direct link to postgraduate research students’ employability, whatever their research topic and/or discipline base.
3. The concern in this report is with generic capabilities programs that universities make available to all their postgraduate research students, not only to sub-sets of those students. Programs in which the prime function is the development of research skills to be applied to completion of the student’s research project are outside the province of the present investigation.
4. There are two major components to this report
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A profile of programs of the type described that have been offered in Australian universities or are planned for offering in 2003.
(The profile is based on a questionnaire circulated to the Vice-Chancellors of all Australian universities)
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Models and a framework with application to the development of such programs, particularly where these are offered collaboratively and online.
The framework and model are informed by the experiences of the ATN LEAP project, a collaborative online project on generic capabilities for postgraduate research students developed by the five universities that form the Australian Technology Network (ATN). The five modules so far developed make up the Learning Employment Aptitudes Program (LEAP).
5. The profile is based on responses from 34 universities to the questionnaire which indicated that
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Generic capabilities (GC) programs will be available to all postgraduate research students, whatever their discipline area, in 24 universities in 2003
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The number of GC programs for postgraduate research students increased significantly between 2000 and 2003
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Universities vary markedly in the number of programs they offer
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The main reason that universities give for introducing GC programs is university strategic directions
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Communication and Project Management are the topics most frequently selected for programs in these universities
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Collaborations with partner institutions are undertaken in seven universities (with five of these forming the ATN group). All these collaborations occur within the university sector itself
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The organizational area within each university most likely to have overall responsibility for GC programs is located most commonly within the research cluster (including Graduate Schools)
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The most common mode of program offering is that of structured activities with face-to-face presenters
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Online capabilities are incorporated into their GC programs by eight universities
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GC programs differ substantially in their duration
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University funding from a variety of internal sources supports all the GC programs
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None of the universities has made any of its GC programs compulsory at this stage although one university plans to introduce one such program in 2003
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Universities take a variety of approaches to providing students with certification of program completion. Where certification is available, it carries no formal credit towards the final award
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Evaluations of GC programs are undertaken by all universities
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All universities that are currently offering GC programs plan to carry these on in 2003, with modifications being made as a result of the evaluations conducted.
6. As part of the questionnaire, universities were also asked general questions about issues surrounding the inclusion of GC programs during the postgraduate research period. The universities responding to these questions indicated they were adopting innovative and active strategies to support this inclusion. Some examples are included in the body of the report.
Responses from universities to the questionnaire, from postgraduate research students interviewed, and from the report on the online collaborative project exhibit a high degree of consensus. Generic capabilities activities were recognized to be valuable and deserving of a place in the research candidature. A major concern for all parties was how to incorporate these worthwhile activities while supporting completion of the research project within the timeframe allowed. A further concern expressed by postgraduate research students particularly was that of disparities in access to GC programs, especially when these were devolved within a university to faculties, disciplines and Cooperative Research Centres (CRC).
7. The study of one online collaborative project on generic capabilities for postgraduate research students details the administrative, organizational, pedagogical and technological aspects to be managed during its development and implementation phases. The study of this project pinpoints the factors that need to be accommodated when universities undertake offering their GC programs to postgraduate research students in this way. The need is identified for
• detailed preplanning and documentation of the collaborative project, so that all its partners agree on its requirements and make a firm commitment to it
• obtaining and maintaining support for the project from senior university managers
• maintaining ongoing and open consultation between the partners
• modifying management and administrative structures at partner institutions to support the project
• creating a central administrative system to organize and maintain project activities
• adapting existing pedagogical and technological approaches and structures to accommodate the demands that arise from the expanded user network.
8. Experiences and observations from the study of this project inform the development of models for offering (a) online programs of generic capabilities for postgraduate research students and (b) collaborative versions of these programs. The models developed attend to the issues identified in this project and lend themselves to other universities tailoring them to suit particular needs and contexts.
9. A framework for use in the evaluation of online GC programs for postgraduate research students during both their development and implementation phases is presented. The framework emphasizes the need for ongoing consultation between key stakeholders in these programs: postgraduate research students as their targeted group; employers as the final arbiters of whether the programs are achieving their aims of developing participants’ employability skills; and program organizers as those responsible for the program and its continuous improvement.
10. The activities encompassed in this study are the basis for the following conclusions and recommendations. Recommendations are directed at two levels: for action at individual universities to improve the quality and outcomes of its programs for postgraduate research students and at sector level to promote the development of system-wide frameworks to support the provision of GC programs of value to postgraduate research students, universities, employers, government and professional bodies, particularly those offered in collaborative and online modes.
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Finding One
Australian universities are offering postgraduate research students a broad range of programs on generic capabilities; these programs are available to all postgraduate research students in a university.
A further three major findings emerged from the study and recommendations are made in relation to each of these.
Finding Two
Issues associated with the added emphasis on generic capabilities in the research candidature period still are to be resolved.
There are five major issues associated with this second finding (Issues A-E)
Issue A: balancing generic capabilities activity with other demands of the candidature period
Issue B: clarifying the relationship between research skills and workplace related generic capabilities
Recommendation 1
The AVCC to consider setting up a standing committee to develop guidelines for universities on the incorporation of generic capabilities into the postgraduate research period. Members of the standing committee would include representatives of the Deputy/Pro-Vice-chancellors (Research), DDoGS, DEST and employers. The major concern of the standing committee would be to
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identify the generic capabilities to be developed during the candidature period based on data from employers and universities on their specific requirements of research graduates, noting the variety of employment outcomes for this group of graduates, including the academic world; to review these periodically and systematically on an ongoing basis
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engage in ongoing consultation with government, employers, and universities on the outcomes of university activities on GC with postgraduate research students and any adaptations required over time
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devise and recommend strategies to institutions and their departments and programs for balancing the competing demands between the need for research skills development, generic capabilities development, and timely completion of the research project and make recommendations on these matters to DEST
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investigate the possibility of introducing a system-wide framework for the accreditation of GC programs for postgraduate research students
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Immediate concerns for the standing committee as identified in this study include examination of
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the relationship of the generic capabilities to research skills development programs that universities are offering
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possibilities for encouraging practices for maximum effect of GC activities through collaborative offerings and online learning
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strategies and practices being developed and trialled in other countries that may have applicability to standing committee concerns, including approaches to continuing professional career development during and after the postgraduate research period
Three further issues (Issues C-E) identified through the study lend themselves to closer investigation within the universities themselves.
Issue C: supervisors’ role in the development of their students’ generic capabilities is yet to be defined
Recommendation 2
Request the AVCC and individual universities to collaborate on a sector-wide approach to the professional development needs of supervisors to be addressed if they are to participate more fully in the delivery of generic capabilities activities for postgraduate research students. The study should include consideration of supervisors’ perceptions of generic capabilities for their students and the possible contributions that they, as supervisors, can make.
Issue D: graduate capabilities and postgraduate research students – programs for the whole population in a university and those for specific groups
Recommendation 3
Implement the recommendation in the Crossroads paper “Graduate outcomes for a new century” for a mapping exercise to be undertaken at each university of GC programs, identifying those provided to postgraduate research students at discipline, faculty, CRC or other level. Extend the exercise to include the collection of examples of good practice.
Issue E: providing GC programs which empower research students to choose content which matches their professional experience levels and potential career paths
Recommendation 4
DEST to fund a series of small follow-up studies of universities identified in this report that are
- developing structures required to provide GC programs appropriate to postgraduate research students with different levels of work experience
- offering programs to prepare postgraduate research students for academic career paths.
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Recommendation 5
The Council of Australian Postgraduate Research students (CAPA) to survey postgraduate research students on their perceptions of generic capabilities as part of their research candidature.
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Finding Three
Collaborations and partnerships between universities on GC programs are limited. Collaboration with non-university partners is restricted in scope and depth.
Recommendation 6
DEST to consider:
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investigating steps that could be taken to encourage collaborative GC programs
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circulating the report on ATN LEAP as an example of managing collaboration
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encouraging universities to use existing networks and look outside universities for other partners by funding pilot projects on collaborative GC programs
Recommendation 7
Request the Australian Universities Teaching Committee (AUTC) to consider an award category for collaborative programs in the postgraduate research area
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Finding Four
Universities gradually are introducing online learning to GC programs for postgraduate research students.
Recommendation 8
As part of a standing committee actions (Recommendation 1), universities be encouraged to consider possible benefits from the introduction of online approaches to GC programs for postgraduate research students and the options available to do this.
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