An important part of STEM education is students' acquisition of knowledge, skills, and abilities needed for career success, all of which emerge from a combination of classroom and co-curricular activities. Work-related experiential activities (WREAs) offer the opportunity for students to engage in experiential activities before degree completion,…

A major focus of innovation in higher education today is to improve faculty teaching, especially their focus on students' career readiness and acquisition of workplace-relevant communication and teamwork competencies (i.e., transferable skills). Some contend that such instruction is best achieved through hiring faculty with prior work experience…

Work integrated learning (WIL), particularly placement-based WIL (P-WIL), has gained momentum in Higher Education over the last decade as an educational strategy for enhancing student employability. However, there is very limited guidance on effective ways to embed and scaffold WIL assessments across courses (degree programs). We present the…

The nation's need for a diverse and competent Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) workforce contributing to economic growth, global competitiveness, and innovation is a primary policy driver for broadening participation in STEM. Yet, social justice and ethics policies dating as far back as the civil rights movement and earlier…

There is currently a heavy emphasis on career-connected learning for high school students in New York City. ExpandED Schools' science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) Options (ES Options) program predates the newest of these initiatives. Launched in 2019, ES Options combines a credit-bearing STEM apprenticeship in the spring with a…

Research suggests that high-quality work-based learning (WBL) can be a promising approach to solving the leaky pipeline for undertapped demographic groups such as women and students of color, including for STEM fields Community colleges are especially important vehicles for WBL due to their diverse student populations and their partnerships with…

The purpose of this study was to examine the lived experiences of women engineering students through socialization processes during their cooperative education, co-op, experience., in which students gain work experience in their chose industries. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with female engineering students who have completed at least…

In this "Reflection on Practice" paper we reflect on an early childhood Work Integrated Learning course redesign that explored new ways of developing and applying playfulness theory to higher education instructional approaches. Our experience was that the higher education students required more support to deepen their understanding of…

Industry worldwide calls for highly qualified STEM graduates that are ready to work. Work-integrated learning (WIL) has been implemented to address this need. WIL is a strategy to bridge the gap between theory and practice, and emphasize "employability." However, students often perceive a confusing disconnect between their training and…

This is the third of three articles investigating the renewal of a foundational work-integrated learning (WIL) subject offered by a faculty at an Australian university. This case study describes the project frame, the intended project deliverables, and the strategic outcomes relating to the renewal process. It reports on how the action-research…

This article compares policy aims with experiences following the introduction of a new model for STEM apprenticeships in the UK. Degree apprentices work while studying for a degree, undertaking work-based learning and attending on-campus classes. Specifically, this study explores an implementation in Scotland, where computing degrees are designed…

Work-integrated learning (WIL) can be expensive for tertiary students. There are potential accommodation, equipment, and travel expenses, as well as opportunity costs associated with lost income when completing unpaid WIL placements. Non-remunerative financial support such as bursaries, scholarships, stipends, and honorariums (collectively 'WIL…

Students of color, first-generation, and residents of communities experiencing disinvestment--who aspire to obtain meaningful postsecondary degrees, career success, financial security, and social mobility--face tremendous challenges in navigating science, technology, engineering, math, and health science (STEM-H) education and career sectors. The…

The Work-Based Courses Blueprint is a foundational guide for all Tennessee SySTEM school sites engaged in designing and developing work-based courses for 11th and 12th grade students. Specifically, this blueprint covers pertinent work-based courses topics such as building a work-based course team, course design, and course delivery. The blueprint…

We describe a space industry work experience program and report on the design, implementation, and evaluation of this program, including its purposes, organisation, participants -- hosts and students -- and its outcomes. The program was a collaboration between the South Australian Department for Education, the South Australian Space Industry…