WILWellbeing: Exploring the impacts of unpaid practicum on student wellbeing

Australian universities are under increasing pressure to support students to develop the graduate skills and knowledge required to transition from education into professional practice. The adoption of a range of Work Integrated Learning (WIL) approaches to achieve this aim represents an increasingly prevalent part of the tertiary education landscape. However, successes in increasing the participation of diverse groups in higher education challenge assumptions regarding students’ extra-study commitments and the potential impacts of these on students’ capacity to participate in WIL activities, particularly unpaid placements. Despite these shifts, there has been limited exploration of student experiences of WIL through a wellbeing lens or with an explicit focus on the equity considerations. Through the voices and experiences of WIL administrators and participants from the disciplines of health and social services, education and nursing this research identified the personal impacts of participation in WIL, beyond the impacts of professional development and in-situ learning. This research explored personal and other factors influencing students’ experiences of WIL placements and their coping strategies for managing the reciprocal impacts of participation on other commitments. Data for this study were collected using an online student survey, student focus groups, and staff focus groups. The survey and focus group data was analysed using qualitative and quantitative approaches. The analyses sought to identify the impact that personal and other factors can have on the practicum experience, the impact of the practicum experience on other parts of the student’s life such as paid work commitments and work-study-life conflicts, and the perceived impact of this on their wellbeing. In connecting WIL and wellbeing, the researchers introduce the concept of WIL wellbeing as a construct to identify the impacts of WIL on participants’ wellbeing within and beyond the learning context. Explicitly connecting WIL and wellbeing, and foregrounding the everyday life experiences of WIL participants, the research highlighted the contribution of personal coping strategies (many of which are taken into post-graduation professional practice) to managing a successful WIL experience. In the context of the broad scale adoption of WIL as a learning pedagogy, this research also considered how universities and WIL placement workplaces can better support students in preparation for, and during, their WIL experiences. The research finds that WIL students are seeking greater levels of support from universities to reflect the personal and financial stresses associated with their participation. Quantitative and qualitative data from surveys and focus groups—including students and administrators—identified the importance of institutional and community support to promote student wellbeing. The insights offered by this report informed recommendations for universities and registration/accreditation bodies to improve WIL student outcomes through the refinement of program policies and practices