This is not the case, with many postgraduate students choosing to return to study to change career or disciplines there is the need to support these students with employability.

What does research say about postgraduate employability needs?

The OLT project into the Postgraduate Student Experience (2016) found that postgraduate students

• do have substantive employability needs
• need approaches and supports that are different from those designed for undergraduates
• universities aren’t adequately addressing their employability needs.

Recommendations - embedded - explicit - actively engaged

The following recommendations emerged from the research, it is recommended that

• "Employability is embedded in the everyday postgraduate curriculum and assessment.
• Employability is made explicit to postgraduate students.
• Postgraduate studies actively engage with industry to facilitate practical experiences."

(Kinash et al, 2016, p.5)

Examples of practice and approaches

ACU Work Integrated Learning

Find out why Work Integrated Learning is an important part of the curriculum at ACU.

ACU | What is Work Integrated Learning (2017)

QUT’s Career Mentor Scheme

QUT’s Career Mentor Scheme - The Career Mentor Scheme matches students with an industry professional, providing them with the opportunity to gain valuable information and advice. In this video international mentors and student mentees talk about their experience with the program.

QUT Career Mentor Scheme (2012)

References

Kinash, S., Crane, L., Bannatyne, A., Judd, M-M., Stark, A., Eckersley, B., Hamlin, G., Partridge, H., & Udas, K. (2016). National research on the postgraduate student experiences: Case presentation on career development and employability (Volume 3 of 3). Sydney, NSW: Australian Government Office for Learning and Teaching. Retrieved from: http://PostgraduateStudentExperience.com