Constructing a Career Mindset in First Year Students: The Building Blocks for Curriculum Design

Higher Education Institutions are under increasing pressure to produce competent and qualified graduates for the ever-changing labour market. However, this is no easy feat. This paper shows how a transformational change in Victoria University’s teaching model created an opportunity for teachers to redesign first-year, employability-related curricula. The approach to this challenge focuses on the development of a career mindset in first year university students. Through the examination of two courses, one from the Bachelor of Arts and one from the Bachelor of Psychological Studies, this paper demonstrates a number of active learning and engagement strategies that can be incorporated into the classroom to empower first year students to develop a career mindset that can help them to develop and integrate employability related skills throughout their degrees and beyon