The role of work-integrated learning in the development of entrepreneurs

This study explored the ways that work-integrated learning (WIL) influences the development of entrepreneurs. Seven alumni from Canada and the United Kingdom, who experienced differing forms of WIL during their degree, participated in qualitative in-depth interviews and provided rich pictures. A rich picture is a pictorial representation of a situation, including what happened, who was involved, how the participant perceived the situation. During the interviews, participants reflected on how WIL impacted their career and they created rich pictures to depict their perception of an entrepreneur and what influenced them to become an entrepreneur. Several important themes emerged and included seizing opportunities, thinking “outside the box,” being resilient during difficult times, and the importance of networks. The influence of WIL was important for all participants and provided the framework of support that enabled the participants to manage difficult times and turn disruption into opportunity

Measuring Anxiety in Youth with Learning Disabilities: Reliability and Validity of the Multidimensional Anxiety Scale for Children (MASC)

Youth with learning disabilities (LD) are at an increased risk for anxiety disorders and valid measures of anxiety are necessary for assessing this population. We investigated the psychometric properties of the Multidimensional Anxiety Scale for Children (MASC; March in Multidimensional anxiety scale for children. Multi-Health Systems, North Tonawanda, 1998) in 41 adolescents (ages 11– 17 years) with LD. Youth and parents completed the MASC and were administered the semi-structured Anxiety Disorders Interview Schedule: Child and Parent Versions (ADIS: C/P; Silverman and Albano in The Anxiety Disorders Interview Schedule for DSM-IV-Child and Parent Versions. Psychological Corporation, San Antonio, 1996). Results found that child and parent reports of Social Anxiety on the MASC closely corresponded with ADIS-generated social phobia diagnoses, and parent total scores discriminated well among youth with and without any anxiety disorder. A multi-method multi-trait matrix provided evidence of the construct validity of the MASC total score for both parent and child reports. Our findings provide empirical evidence that parent and child versions of the MASC are useful for assessing anxiety in youth with LD

Professional development needs of the international work-integrated learning community

© 2019 International Journal of Work-Integrated Learning. All rights reserved. Many governments are expecting higher education institutions to make strong links between the educational offerings and employability while many employers are demanding graduates with prior workplace or community engagement before entering the workplace. As higher education institutions respond to these challenges, work-integrated learning (WIL) is increasingly seen as a powerful educational approach in developing and empowering work-ready graduates, with many institutions expanding their WIL offerings. With the expansion of WIL, however, comes the need for more staffing to resource the activity. The type of staff vary from practitioners (placement coordinators, field practitioners), teaching staff, researchers, and curricular designers, all of whom require a relevant skills set and knowledge. However, to date, professional development opportunities directly related to WIL have been limited, with most opportunities offered by some national associations providing webinars and workshops. Furthermore, little work has been undertaken to determine the actual professional development needs of WIL staff. Presented here are the findings of an online, international survey of 668 WIL practitioners which explores their perceived professional development needs

GoodWIL placements: How COVID-19 shifts the conversation about unpaid placements

© 2020 International Journal of Work-Integrated Learning. All rights reserved. This paper discusses how the COVID-19 pandemic can shift the conversation of paid and unpaid placements from an economic to a pedagogical and goodwill perspective. During the pandemic lockdown many placements were cancelled or postponed. Some continued as agreed but with students working from home, while other placements became unpaid. We build on the pertinent literature that raises legal, ethical, economic and pedagogical implications of paid versus unpaid placement models and what motivates placement organizations to offer placements. Four interdisciplinary trans-Tasman case studies are discussed to better understand the complex situations for placement organizations and universities to sustain WIL placements during this pandemic. Conclusions include recommendations to be vigilant and ensure goodwill is not used to mask the exploitation of students, but rather, positively influence the motivation behind offering placements during these trying times and beyond

'Beards, scarves, halal meat, terrorists, forced marriage’: television industries and the production of ‘race’

This article considers the persistence of stereotypical representations of ‘race’ that appear in television in the West. According to a particular policy discourse, improving the on-screen representation of non-white groups is a matter of increasing the number of black and Asian folk working in the broadcasting industries – particularly at the senior management level. However, this article argues that the constant production of hegemonic images of ‘race’ cannot be tackled via recruitment measures alone. Adopting a ‘cultural industries’ approach to television production, the article uses an ethnographic study of British Asians working in the UK broadcasting industry to examine the conditions of production through which minority representations are created. By paying closer attention to the experience of cultural work, the article reveals how it is the increasingly commercialized cultures of production in television, constituted by the industry’s shift towards deregulation and neoliberal market models, that steers the work of Asian filmmakers and executives themselves into producing problematic, reductive representations of ‘race’