Careers of the Future

Often when we ask the girls what they like about their favourite subjects, their response is “The Challenge!” Whether it be solving a maths or science problem, creating a piece of visual or performance art or analysing and commenting on a text, each girl embraces this opportunity given her own interests and talents.

The Foundation for Young Australians (FYA) in their The New Work Order Report (2015) uses the term “enterprising skills” to identify the capabilities required for the future workforce. These include problem solving, creativity, critical thinking, innovation and communication.This learning was reinforced in a recent online presentation by the Program Director for the Faculty of Arts, at The University of Melbourne, who stated that students’ learning includes collaborative leadership, understanding complex concepts together with critical and analytical skills within a changing social context.

These qualities have been highlighted for us during our experience of COVID-19. We have seen the girls, no doubt with the support of families, adapt to remote learning by engaging with a positive mindset, further developing independent study skills and using their initiative to endeavour to solve the challenges that have arisen.

In May, our Year 11 and 12 students had the opportunity to engage with a number of Old Collegians (OCs) who shared their study and career journeys since leaving school. Given the challenges of conducting this event on campus, each presenter kindly filmed their segment. These were combined into a single livestream for students to access through Wyse. As we devised new ways of providing these opportunities to students, our guests communicated that they too had been creative and flexible in pursuing their careers. This included accepting roles they may not have expected to undertake in commencing their careers and how these played out to lead to the initially desired outcomes; relocating their lives interstate and overseas for career opportunities; being open to the challenge of accepting opportunities they never knew existed; recognising the importance of communication in sharing research and ideas and engaging in continuous learning. They also talked about the importance of achieving a work/life balance, developing hobbies and interests into small business activities alongside one’s principal career and, importantly, acknowledging what one can be grateful for each day. We are very grateful to Fiona Bateman (2000) (Veterinary Specialist), Alison Chong (2008) (Industrial and Research Chemist), Madeleine Costello (2005) (Commerce/Legal Studies Teacher), Amy Nhan (2006) (Employment Lawyer) and Mabel Yan (2011) (Clinical Doctor/PhD candidate) for sharing their experiences. These OCs valued their school life and encouraged students to participate in the wide range of activities offered in the classroom and the broader life of the school to develop new skills and to make a strong network of friends to provide support now and into the future.

We can have confidence that our students are engaging in experiences to gain the knowledge and skills to prepare for a future that will require flexibility, a global perspective and the ability to manage the impact of technology in transforming the workforce.