A strategy to optimise the contribution of work integrated learning towards the employability of students of the Central University of Technology, Free state

Abstract

The enhancement of the employability of students is an important aspect of Work-Integrated Learning (WIL). WIL is defined as a tripartite curriculum strategy that enhances the value of learning through the alignment and integration of academic learning with learning in the workplace. Employability is described as a mixture of elements that may differ between jobs, but is in the end about those elements that make a person a useful, and therefore, desirable employee. The study represents an investigation into the formulation of a strategy to optimise the contribution of WIL towards the employability of students of the Central University of Technology, Free State (CUT). The investigation was based on a mixed-method approach, which enabled the researcher to use both quantitative and qualitative methods to address the research problem. The sample size for the quantitative study is 118, constituting the active employers for WIL on the WIL database of CUT during the 2011–2014 periods. The sample size for the qualitative study is 30, determined as one student, who has completed WIL, and one lecturer responsible for the monitoring and assessment of WIL per department with programmes that contain a compulsory WIL component. The results of the study indicate that a strategy was developed to optimise the contribution of WIL towards the employability of students of CUT on an institutional level with specific indicators on faculty and programme levels. In addition, it was empirically proven that WIL enhances the employability of students, as well as what the specific ingredient of WIL is that enhances employability. Profiles of the ideal graduate and WIL student were also developed based on the identification of a bucket of skills and qualities required by employers.