Dawn Bennett

Outside Opinion

Whether or not disadvantaged students are realising the same benefits from higher education as their peers is of fundamental importance to equity practitioners and policymakers. Despite this, equity policy has focused on access to higher education and little attention has been paid to graduate outcomes. The Australian study reported here used natio...

Free e-print: https://www.tandfonline.com/eprint/MZJBEZDZCIADPKXIFTWI/full?target=10.1080/03075079.2021.1888079 This article presents the development, validation and deployment of a scale with which higher education students self-assess their perceived employability. Underpinned by social cognitive career theory and Yorke and Knight’s (2007) USEM...

Purpose With a focus on Chinese higher education students, the purpose of this study was to explore the relationship between students' perceived employability and their levels of academic engagement and stress. Design/methodology/approach The study engaged 1,155 students from three universities in China. Students responded to an online survey, rep...

This study investigated why university students choose to major in Science, Technology, Engineering, Mathematics, and Medicine/health (STEM(M)) disciplines, and how their study and career-related confidence compares with that of their peers. The study engaged 12,576 students enrolled at Australian universities. The findings suggest that STEM(M) stu...

This study examined the extent to which perceived organisational support (POS) predicts career exploration via the mediation effect of career adaptability. Grounded in career construction theory, the study employed an online survey with 611 Chinese undergraduate students. The survey employed POS, career adaptability and career-related exploration s...

The presentation highlights international student participants’ cognitive, attitudinal, and behavioural engagement in complicated agency–structure dynamics across three sensemaking stages: identifying knowledge and skills gaps, bridging them, and self-reflecting to strategise for the next steps. It then shares three new models for fostering (intern...

The presentation discusses findings from an empirical study that reveals how international students strategically engage in a cyclical perception–response process to ‘socialize the personal’ and ‘personalize the social’ during self-sourced, unstructured work placements. These insights were synthesized into a Perception–Response Model of Organizatio...

The piece highlights information-seeking as a crucial graduate capability for successful study-to-work transition and effective lifelong learning. It addresses the following questions: WHY is information-seeking an important graduate capability? WHAT factors influence workplace information-seeking? HOW can educational institutions equip students wi...

Despite a growing imperative for graduates to possess STEM skills, both to boost their employability prospects and their perceived economic value, it is critical to also consider the professional or 'soft skills' that will enable these graduates to thrive in their careers. Ironically, gender differences in personality and occupational choice are la...

This study aims to understand the sufficient, necessary, and critical factors of students’ perceived employability (PE). It employs an innovative combination of Partial Least Squares Structural Equation Modeling (PLS-SEM), Necessary Condition Analysis (NCA), and Importance-Performance Matrix Analysis (IPMA). PE is conceptualized as five dimensions:...

This presentation introduces a 5-S Model of Agentic Sensemaking (Vu, 2023) and discusses its applicability in work-integrated learning (WIL) research and practice, particularly in equipping and empowering students to enhance employability building and lifelong learning. The Model was distilled from salient findings of a doctoral research study (Vu,...

This article explores the interplay between perceived employability (PE), mental health, and equity group membership amongst students at a large public urban university in Australia. The article reports from a study conducted between 2017 and 2022, during which students self-assessed their PE. Differences in PE by equity group membership were asses...

This article explores the interplay between perceived employability (PE), mental health, and equity group membership amongst students at a large public urban university in Australia. The article reports from a study conducted between 2017 and 2022, during which students self-assessed their PE. Differences in PE by equity group membership were asses...

Work placement is an important aspect of higher education studies and career preparation. Effective preparation is crucial for students to succeed in placements, yet little is known about international students' placement preparation, particularly regarding their sensemaking. This qualitative study, guided by an integrative theoretical framework, e...

Some degree programs require students to complete self-sourced work placements as a condition for graduation, which is challenging for many international students as they face significant contextual constraints. The literature has indicated typical contextual challenges international students face while attempting to strengthen organizational socia...

Much research on the employability development of university students and the employability experience of graduates treats learners as experientially homogenous and ignores the potential impact of pre-entry work experience on either students' confidence or their employability-related behaviours. This study explored the confidence of commencing stud...

This chapter considers the role of migration management in understanding the motivation of international students from the Global South who choose to study in Australia. The chapter reports a study of self-perceived employability as reported by 5,000 undergraduate business students. We compare the confidence of international students from the Globa...

This chapter considers the role of migration management in understanding the motivation of international students from the Global South who choose to study in Australia. The chapter reports a study of self-perceived employability as reported by 5000 undergraduate business students. We compare the confidence of international students from the Global...

This article introduces a dynamic model of workplace learning, suggesting how educational institutions can support (international) students in preparing for placements and part-time work. The model also proposes how to empower new employees to strengthen their workplace adaptation.

This article introduces the validation of a Musical Identity Measure (MIM), developed to support individuals’ self-conceptions in relation to their musical activities (e.g., performance, composition, music technology). Initial model validation was carried out using a principal axis factor analysis with a diverse and international sample of 336 musi...

The report, published by the National Centre for Student Equity in Higher Education (NCSEHE), recommends a national commitment to developing contemporary resources for students from low socioeconomic status (SES) backgrounds, as well as their careers influencers. The research team, led by Dr Jane Coffey (Curtin University) and Professor Dawn Bennet...

Establishing a career as a performing classical musician is strongly linked to 1) facing fierce competition during and after professional studies, 2) the ability of developing a multiplicity of skills that go beyond the craft of the instrument/voice, and 3) being flexible/agile to adapt to the constant changes and demands of the music industry. How...

This webinar is for parents and carers seeking to support their young people to prepare for a successful transition into work and lifelong learning.

This article explores the rationalities advanced by 18 higher education institutions, located across eight countries, for developing and delivering employability provision. The article uses Sultana’s Habermasian-derived framework to categorise rationalities as either technocratic, humanistic or emancipatory. Based on a series of semi-structured dia...

This webinar is for teachers and career practitioners across Australia and internationally. Two interlinked models are introduced which can be used together to support upper secondary students to prepare for a successful transition into work and lifelong learning. The webinar was commissioned by myfuture–Education Services Australia (owned by the s...

This is a virtual presentation to the Strategic Reference Group of myfuture–Education Services Australia (including key influential representatives from the educational jurisdictions across Australia). The presentation focusses on potential strategies to prepare upper secondary students for a successful transition into work and lifelong learning.

The United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) recognise that sustainable development begins with education and that inclusive and sustainable economic growth is crucial to providing people with productive employment and decent work. This study focussed on SDG4, which is “to ensure inclusive and equitable quality education and promote life...

This paper proposes two interlinked models to support students’ preparation for study-to-work transition and lifelong learning: a 4-GAP model for transition and a 4-S model of dynamics in workplace learning and adaptation.

Learning in the workplace involves complex cognitive and behavioural engagement in agency-structure dynamics. This engagement influences the workplace learning outcomes of workplace newcomers including new recruits and students in work-integrated learning (WIL) placements. Though extensively discussed in the literature on organisational behaviour,...

Purpose The study sought to determine whether there are gender differences in self-perceived employability of students enrolled in Australian higher education science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) programs. Design/methodology/approach Using an online measure comprised of Likert style and open text items, STEM students ( n = 3,134...

The classical music sector faces an urgent challenge as increasing numbers of performance graduates struggle to establish themselves as full-time professional musicians. In part, this situation relates to narrow higher music education curricula that do not sufficiently prepare musicians for the precarious and non-linear careers that characterize mu...

Grounded in social-cognitive theory, the study reported here explored undergraduate business students' perceptions of their employability and the impact of year of study and gender on these perceptions. 6,004 undergraduate business students enrolled with multiple Australian universities self-assessed their study and career-related confidence using...

Despite continuous growth in the number of positions in Australia’s Information Technology (IT) industry since 2015, only half of Australia’s IT graduates go on to work in IT positions. A much-debated challenge for graduates is that the transition to work is complex and often demands several attempts. Less discussed is why school students choose to...

Volume 2 of the Oxford Handbook of Music Performance is designed around four distinct parts: Enhancements, Health and Wellbeing, Science, and Innovations. Chapters on the popular Feldenkrais method and Alexander technique open the volume, and these lead to chapters on peak performance and mindfulness, stage behavior, impression management and chari...

This chapter reviews and distills the diverse literature on performance careers in music. It begins by exploring the issues and concepts involved in a performance career, examining the nature and shape of musicians’ work across the career lifespan. Next, factors that influence sustainability are discussed; these include initial and ongoing educatio...

Insufficient access to specialised career development within many rural, regional and remote (RRR) areas contributes to persistent differences in the higher education participation rates of young people from these areas. This paper reports on research conducted with 4,993 students at a university in Western Australia who self-assessed their perceiv...

How does a newly formed duo of expert musicians negotiate a shared understanding of an unfamiliar work? Two musicians learned two songs over the course of seven days, each musician memorizing one of the songs. A multistrategy approach was used to analyze and triangulate data from their individual practice sessions and joint rehearsals. In this case...

Together in music develops insight into the musical ensemble as an intense form of teamwork, as finely coordinated joint action, and as an emotionally and socially rewarding experience that enables positive outcomes for wellbeing and development. By investigating processes related to group music-making at meso-, micro-, and macro-level, it offers a...

Attracting and retaining students’ attention is a concern for educators at every level of education, including those in higher education. Despite compelling evidence that student-centred pedagogies enhance attention, motivation and learning gain, exposition-centred delivery in forms such as lectures persists across higher education. Contemporary re...

This chapter describes the development and incorporation of a strength-based, in-curricular and whole-of-institution approach to employability development. The chapter explores some of the prevailing challenges for scholars who seek equitable approaches to student and graduate success. It then describes the experience of implementing a whole-of-ins...

Career preparation has gained increasing prominence in higher music education as governments and students alike demand a stronger focus on workplace readiness. While the existing graduate metrics work well for professions which feature traditional, full-time jobs, the potential for such a linear career path is limited for graduate musicians by fier...

A breadth of literature on music education and careers illustrates that the working lives of musicians are diverse and complex, and yet music graduates appear to struggle to create and sustain their careers. With a focus on career, curriculum and pedagogical approaches, this chapter considers how and in what contexts musicians develop the multiple...

Context and Aims: Social and cognitive processes underlying individual classical musicians' and duo performers' preparation for performance have been explored using longitudinal case studies. Social processes can be inferred from rehearsal talk and recent studies have focused on its content and nature. Cognitive processes can be inferred from score...

Numerous policy interventions promote gender equity within STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics) higher education enrolments and careers. Despite this, women in many countries continue to be under-represented and encounter barriers to access and career progression. These concerns are often attributed to gendered technical/technolo...

[NOTE: An Open Access version of this manuscript will be available shortly.] Research in higher music education acknowledges a persistent divide between performance studies and the realities of musicians’ work. Alongside this is global pressure for curriculum that is more supportive of students’ metacognitive engagement, experiential learning and...

If Australia’s business graduates are to meet their potential, they will need to have developed the ability to find, create and sustain meaningful work and learning across the career lifespan (Bennett, 2018). Employing this metacognitive definition of “employability” is critical for the higher education sector, particularly considering that metacog...

Career preparation has gained increasing prominence in higher music education as governments and students alike demand a stronger focus on workplace readiness. Whilst the existing graduate metrics work well for professions which feature traditional, full-time jobs, the potential for such a linear career path is limited for graduate musicians by fie...

Inequitable access to employability development opportunities presents a risk to equitable retention, student success and graduate outcomes among students with disadvantage. With a focus on equity, this chapter describes the development and initial incorporation of a strength-based, in-curricular and whole-of-institution approach to employability....

Labour market trends and the economic impacts of COVID-19 are elevating the importance of knowledge as a factor of production whilst concurrently eroding traditional forms of employment. Mindful of the implications for higher education, this study approached employability development as 'the ability to find, create and sustain meaningful work acros...

If graduates from STEMM – science, technology, engineering, mathematics and medical sciences – are to successfully navigate the labour market, they need diverse capabilities alongside self- and career awareness. The focus of this study was STEMM students’ perceptions of self, career and employability. The study asked over 2,000 commencing students...

COVID-19 has had a profound impact on how music is taught and practised, not least because the reliance of so many musical activities on physical proximity has been turned on its head. With virtual lessons and ensembles becoming the norm, the move to online has challenged music educators to consider how we might do things differently in the future....

Our recent BJET article (Bennett et al., 2020) discussed a design-centric approach to employability development which used student-derived data to transform a generic careers workshop and inform curricular renewal. This article is a short blog based on the article and published in the BERA blog series.

Our recent BJET article (Bennett et al., 2020) discussed a design-centric approach to employability development which used student-derived data to transform a generic careers workshop and inform curricular renewal. This BERA blog is based on the article.

50 free e-prints are available for this article - see https://www.tandfonline.com/eprint/9UKZHZEKY63Z626QQE6G/full?target=10.1080/13603108.2020.1757530 The enduring employability of twenty-first-century workers demands explicit and career-long attention. As a result, higher education finds itself tasked with enabling students to negotiate their c...

Graduate employment rates and self‐reported employability are increasingly a feature of higher education funding measures. However, graduate outcomes do not denote the whole learning experience of the student nor is the student experience reducible to a single statistic. This paper discusses a design‐centric approach to employability development wh...

At classical music concerts, a program note is the usual medium for communicating information about the music to be heard and performed. Although there may be crossover of information, the program note is distinct from the CD cover note, from notes contained within a musical score note, and from a composer’s directions for performers. With a focus...

The development of inclusive practices in higher music education remains a key challenge for music education in the post-secondary (higher) education context. This article draws on an international survey of 225 women composers to suggest possible solutions. The women composers came from multiple countries and reported their income, work and learni...

Higher education has been positively linked with increased opportunity for women, including enhanced employability, increased migration, enriched cultural capital, and improved language skills. With the number of international students rising, understanding postdegree intentions is increasingly important for institutions, policy makers, and adminis...

Many professional musicians would describe their careers as somewhat different to the careers they imagined when they were students. This study sought to understand the relationships between musicians' higher music education experiences and their professional work, and to expose the adaptive strategies they employ to sustain their work. The researc...

Attrition of up to thirty per cent in the initial years of a teaching career has led to a high level of disillusionment in teaching as a desirable and rewarding profession. Although many nations have responded with substantial investments in pre-service teacher education, these efforts have failed to dissuade newly qualified teachers from leaving t...

This paper explores the thinking of undergraduate science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) students in relation to their study choices and future careers. The paper reports on a pilot study with first-year engineering students, who completed an online self-assessment tool. Most of the first-year undergraduate students chose engineeri...

Imprint available here: https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0001879118300794?dgcid=author The gendered nature of careers in music composition has attracted scholarly attention for some 25 years, but the strategies employed by female composers to manage their identity remain largely unaddressed. We report on a qualitative study in whi...

Do the narratives of employability constructed by higher education institutions for marketing purposes differ from the conceptualisation and/or the realisation of employability within those institutions? The study reported here drew on interviews with 16 senior academic and student support staff who were tasked with developing student employability...

The employability of graduates is of concern across further and higher education, but it is particularly problematic in the Creative and Performing Arts disciplines. Understanding the journey to work for arts graduates requires collaborative action from multiple agencies, particularly the collection and reporting of nuanced statistics on higher edu...

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to examine women composers’ use of online communities of practice (CoP) to negotiate the traditionally masculine space of music composition while operating outside its hierarchical structures. Design/methodology/approach The authors employed a mixed methods approach consisting of an online survey ( n =225) foll...

Women composers are an understudied population within the creative workforce. The authors report on an international survey of 225 women composers. They use a human capital lens to shed light on the nature of women composers’ careers and career trajectories, focusing on how they work, how they enter the industry, how they build a reputation, and ho...

The Australian Learning and Teaching Fellows (ALTF) is a national community of practice through which the Fellows have maximised their impact and innovation across the Australian Higher Education sector. The ALTF acknowledges 115 Australian Learning and Teaching Fellows who have been affiliated with the ALTF since its formation in 2011. We particul...

Whilst recent research has begun to expose the early career experiences of graduate musicians, few studies have looked at musicians’ work across the career lifespan. This short article reports from a study that analysed the work of musicians in early, mid and late-career. The study used lifespan perspective theory to understand how musicians select...

This article discusses a range of significant issues for consideration by music higher education institutions when preparing their students for a portfolio career in music. Drawing on insights from a review of literature undertaken as part of an Australian Research Council Linkage Project, Making Music Work: Sustainable portfolio careers for Austra...

The question of how to prepare higher education students for employment is at the forefront of higher education, yet in many respects it is the wrong question. This review article poses an alternative question: how might we prepare higher education students to navigate an increasingly complex world and labour market in which they will need to think...

At the current time and despite an increase in employability development in tertiary education, few students feel that they are given enough career development support and many students feel unprepared for their careers. This project addresses these concerns with two distinct pieces of work through which STEM students will learn how to prepare for...