Future of work and WIL

The International Research Symposium (IRS) is an international conference organized by the World Association for Cooperative Education (WACE), where leaders in industry, government and academia, as well as experts in work-integrated education gather from around the world to present research and case studies, exchange information and know-how, and build human networks.

The focus of the project is on an intervention recently introduced by Co-operative & Experiential Education, called (WE) Accelerate, which aims to upwardly “accelerate” first work-term students from unemployment to meaningful employment in future work terms. 

COVID-19 has had a large impact on post-secondary work-integrated learning opportunities. It has affected both the setting in which students work (working from home) and the availability of work placement jobs and future work placement jobs. 

This research examines what students thought about their remote work experience and how their employers could best support them.

Researchers conducted a study to test whether students can be “primed” to be more open to job postings that may seem unrelated to their interests or academic program.

This research found that co-op students who had a greater lifelong learning mindset had higher performance ratings from their supervisors.

Work-integrated learning (WIL) programs often partner with career services centers to support WIL students throughout the job search process, and résumé critiques are among the most popular career services that WIL students might access. 

One of the most important aspects in successful student recruitment is an understanding of what students value in the workplace. In order to determine whether employers’ perceptions of value aligned with those of current students, both parties were asked to review value statements. 

The Fourth Industrial Revolution is here and is forcing organizations and workplaces to think critically about the future of work, and how they will adapt to the associated changes. In this project, our team conducted a rapid review of 32 reports on the future of work published by Canadian and international organizations.

The Future Ready Talent Framework (FRTF) is a research-backed tool to help students, employers and educators understand the key competencies we all need to navigate the future of work and learning. The FRTF is a competency framework that was developed through extensive research into existing frameworks, studies and reports, and validated through our network of employers, students and fellow educators.