The WIL pathway: shared understandings build vocational identity, occupational capacity and professional transition

Work integrated learning (WIL) has become a catch phrase in higher education in recent years with various models advanced, and each advocating their virtues for students, educators and professions. In the milieu of WIL experiences, the notion of developing professionals is a key driving factor of WIL programs. At James Cook University (JCU), this imperative is equally noticeable across the various disciplines and schools but one model is exemplary for its linking of students within the Human Resource Management (HRM) discipline with Human Resource Professionals through the ongoing support of and collaboration between School of Business, JCU Careers and Employment, and the local HRM Professional Association. This partnership has been effective in developing graduate attributes, vocational identity, occupational capacity and professional skills that facilitate the successful transition of students to graduates to professionals. The aim of this paper is to examine in more depth the factors which have contributed to the evolution of this model and to evaluate its success as measured by the perspectives of various stakeholders, especially those of students, graduates and HRM professionals. It uses qualitative approaches integrating individual conversations and reflective tools to illuminate how shared meanings of what it means to become a HRM professional have enabled the program to grow over the years such that graduates return as HRM professionals to perpetuate best practice in the HRM profession. In this way, the paper proposes a model for a scaffolded approach to embedding WIL activities in a HRM major so that students are presented with valuable opportunities to position themselves for entry into the professional world of HRM