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GLOBAL CHALLENGE BROADENING STUDENT
global challenge:
JUDIE KAY, Vice Chair Programs and Partnerships at the World Association for Cooperative and Work Integrated Education (WACE) introduces the WACE Global Challenge initiative.
The WACE Global Challenge activates a global network of universities located in every continent to form diverse student teams assisting organisations to advance initiatives aligned to the UN Sustainable Development Goals. Collaborating in multidisciplinary, transnational teams, students work with real clients on project briefs over their four-week WACE Global Challenge experience.
WACE is the global association for work integrated learning (WIL). Global Challenge was developed to respond to strategic goals to broaden student access to international experiences and overcome barriers many students face to engage in in-person work integrated learning experiences across the globe.
FROM PILOT TO PROGRAM LAUNCH
The onset of the Covid-19 pandemic turbocharged the implementation of this programme. Piloting the concept in 2020 with experienced WIL universities and an experienced educational technology company, Practera, and using their established experiential learning platform, was critical to getting this complex initiative off the ground. By June 2022, WACE had run four Global Challenge programs, in addition to the pilot, involving over 500 students from 34 institutions located in over 20 countries.
Students are from a wide range of disciplines and from both undergraduate and postgraduate programmes. In addition to undertaking the client project, students undertake skills development, a cultural intelligence workshop prior to commencement, an orientation session and a presentation and reflection session at programme end. Most institutions have provided Global Challenge to students as a co-curricular activity, but several have included it as a credit-bearing component of their curriculum. Clients range across all industry sectors from large multinational companies to start-ups and not-for-profits in a wide range of countries. Global Challenge has produced positive outcomes for all stakeholders from the initial pilot. There has been over 80% student retention in each programme, with student withdrawals usually linked to external factors. All students are surveyed for feedback at the conclusion of each Global Challenge. Over 80% of students report enhanced employability skills and social and professional networks resulting from the Global Challenge experience.
Similarly, 70% of client organisations report that the outcomes of the Global Challenge projects assist their business decision making. Institutions believe that Global Challenge ’ s project-based, multidisciplinary approach prepares their graduates for contemporary workplaces by developing a global mindset and capabilities as well as providing real international experience.
"University of Exeter students have participated in the WACE Global Challenge program since its inception. Like many institutions we pivoted our activity to ‘digital first’ during the peak of the pandemic and this included our extensive range of experiential learning provision. The Global Challenge programme has therefore become an integral part of our Global Leaders portfolio of global and SDG-focused experiential learning programmes and contributes to the University of Exeter’s Strategy 2030 commitment to embed SDGs across the student experience.
Intercultural awareness, work-authentic problem solving with real-world employer clients are invaluable learning outcomes for students in preparation for the new world of work and digital environment that continues to emerge as a result of the pandemic. This programme, and our wider portfolio, have facilitated an immensely rewarding and rich experience for our students as a result. Research demonstrates that these experiences are particularly beneficial for disadvantaged and underrepresented groups who might not readily otherwise have access to such transnational experiences, and feedback from our own students continues to support this. "
Paul Blackmore Head of Student Employability and Academic Success University of Exeter
programspartnershipsvc@waceinc.org
Global Challenge has grown quickly and been effective at enabling access to quality international work-integrated learning to a diverse range of students globally. Students value the authentic industry experience, being challenged, gaining new perspectives and knowledge of other cultures as well as discovering new abilities. This innovative programme has been recognised by being a finalist in the PIEoneer Awards in the category Real Life Learning in 2022.
RESEARCHER'S DIGEST
In this issue's digest, DR JULIA YATES, Senior Lecturer in Organisational Psychology at City, University of London, focuses on career development theories.
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CAREER INACTION THEORY
Verbruggen & De Vos, 2020
This one is useful for students who know where they want to go and what steps they need to take, but aren ’t taking any action. The theory explains that there are three ‘inertia enhancing ’ psychological mechanisms which might be causing a block: fear and anxiety, short-termism, and cognitive overload.
Fear and anxiety is very commonly associated with career choices, in large part because of the uncertainty of the process. Shorttermism is when a student prioritises their short-term goals (eg their studies, their social life, their part-time job) over their long-term future. Cognitive overload happens when students feel overwhelmed by too much information, too many options and too many decisions, and mentally shut down.
You can increase students ’ motivation by encouraging them to visualise a clearly crystalised desired future (possible selves is a great technique to use), identifying one small first step for them to do, asking them to set themselves a specific deadline and getting them to think about (or giving them stories about) other people who were in their position and made a successful transition.
CAREER SELF-DETERMINATION THEORY
Chen, 2017; Ryan & Deci, 2000
This theory is based on a widely known psychological theory of human motivation and identifies three psychological needs that must be met in order to feel fulfilled at work.
Career Relatedness
Does your job allow for good relationships inside and outside work?
Career Autonomy
Does your job align with your values, interests and identity?
Career Competence
Have you got the right attributes; are you learning; and do you feel confident in your job?
Career Autonomy is about having some control and choice over your work and career development, and the theory holds that if you can find a job that aligns with your sense of identity, your interests and your values, you will feel that you will have had some control over your career path. Career Competence is the need to feel that you are capable of doing your job. You need to feel that you have the basic skills, knowledge and abilities to do the job, that you feel that you are learning, growing and developing, and that you have a measure of self-efficacy and confidence in your ability. Finally, Career Relatedness is all about relationships. If your career allows you to develop relationships at work (with colleagues and other stakeholders) and enables you to maintain your relationships outside work (within your community or family) then your career relatedness needs will have been met. This can be a great theory to share with your students (in a group context or a one-to-one) as a structure for helping them start to identify what it is that they want in a career. Taking each of the elements in turn, invite them to think about their desired future identity, their interests and their values.
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IDENTITY STATUS THEORY
Kolbert, Hilt, Crothers & Nice, 2021; Marcia, 2002
This one might be useful for students who are struggling with their identity development. The theory considers two dimensions of identity development: commitment, which is how committed the student is to a particular career; and exploration, which is the process of career planning and research. These two dimensions then give rise to four identity status positions:
Identity Diffusion Identity Foreclosure Identity Moratorium Identity Achievement
Students in a state of Identity Diffusion (no clear idea of what they want to do and not making any efforts to research) are often suffering from career anxiety and this may be preventing them from moving forwards. Some of the techniques from the career inaction theory might help here.
Those in Identity Foreclosure have made a decision before they are really ready, and probably for the wrong reasons. They might be motivated to fulfil others ’ expectations, or to allay the anxiety associated with the uncertainty of the process, but haven ’t really done the research or thinking needed in order to make a wellinformed choice. These students need a gentle guiding hand to realise that there is more exploration to be done and reassurance that there is still time to change their minds.
Identity Moratorium is really where you might want students to be –still exploring but no decisions yet – but the uncertainty experienced in this state can cause anxiety, which can easily push students into the Diffusion or Foreclosure states. Sharing this theory explicitly with these students can offer them some reassurance and help them to guard against slipping into the other states.
Identity Achievement is when the student has made a wellresearched and considered choice, and at this point the focus might turn to applications and interviews.
THE PERMA MODEL OF HAPPINESS
Seligman, 2011
This model comes from the Positive Psychology movement, which aims to provide research and approaches to help people and organisations thrive. This model identified five antecedents of happiness. It was developed as a general theory of psychological wellbeing, but there is a growing body of research showing that these five constructs are also really important in the workplace. Career happiness, according to this model, comes
from:
Positive emotions: just basically feeling good, experiencing emotions such as joy, love and pleasure. This could come from a pleasant working environment, having a drink with colleagues, or enjoying a good lunch.
Engagement: feeling very involved in your work, defined as a combination of feeling energised at work, feeling dedicated to your job and a sense of absorption or flow. Relationships: being able to develop and sustain supportive relationships and emotional connections with colleagues, customers and other stakeholders.
Meaning: feeling that your job makes a difference, contributes to making the world a better place, and makes a positive contribution to your identity.
Accomplishment: evidence of your hard work, being able to identify tangible outcomes and the feeling that you have done a good job.
This list can be useful as a checklist to help students feel confident about their choices and can also help people to understand why previous jobs didn ’t work out.
Further information about these and other theories, research and practice can be found in the second edition of The Career Coaching Handbook by Julia Yates.
