News & Events

Career Development Learning Hub Symposium

Event Details
University of Wollongong (24.G01) and online.
13 February 2023 - 17 February 2023

In 2020, the National Careers Institute (NCI) has funded a project to investigate best practice career support for students with disability with the aim of establishing the first dedicated national Career Development Learning (CDL) Hub for students with disability. The CDL Hub will include an accessible range of freely available resources and practical examples of programs that address careers for students with disability across stages of the student experience.

The CDL Hub Symposium will share the outputs of this research project, with staff from across the sector sharing their experiences of designing and implementing programs over the last two years.

• Date: Monday 13th February to Friday 17th February, 2023
• Time: 10:35am to 11:50am
• Location: University of Wollongong (24.G01) and online.

For more information on the project and access to the zoom links download the Symposium Overview.

Workshop Overviews

Monday 13th February, 2023
Launching the CDL Hub & Best Practice Principles for CDL for students with disability
Professor Sarah O’Shea
Face to face and online (Zoom Link)

Workshop Overview
This presentation will provide an overview of the project ‘National Career Development Learning (CDL) Hub for Students with Disability’ which was funded by a National Careers Institute Partnership grant (NCIPI000759) in 2020. This project grew from a recognition that Australians with disability are a group of people who are in most need of quality career education. Young people with disability (aged 16-25), are more likely to experience multiple and repeated labour market movements including periods of disengagement and unemployment than the rest of the population (Lamb et al., 2015; Ranasinghe et al., 2019). The session will provide an overview of how the project developed, the consultations that occurred and the ways in which the final outputs were informed by multiple stakeholders including students, family members and also careers advisors.

Tuesday 14th February, 2023
Designing a professional development program for Career Practitioners working with Students with Disability
Dr Kylie Austin, Nuala O’Donnell, Michael Cooper, Taylor Blair, Amy Calladine, Penelope Thompson

Workshop Overview
This workshop will share experiences of students living with disability and their engagement with Career Development Learning (CDL) and Careers Services more broadly. Students will share ‘what works’ and opportunities for ongoing improvement in the delivery of CDL to students with disability. As part of the panel discussion, both students and staff at the University of Wollongong will provide an overview of the professional development resources that will be available to career practitioners, as well as provide insights into why and how these resources were developed. Outcomes of the first pilot of the professional development resources will also be shared with the group and a demonstration of the platform will be provided.

Wednesday 15th February, 2023
Co-designing Diverse Career Identities for People with Disabilities
Dr Mollie Dollinger

Workshop Overview
In this presentation and workshop, participants will be introduced to the idea of co-designing diverse career identities for people with disabilities. We will begin with a short introduction to the current employment landscape and existing barriers for people with disabilities, including for university graduates living with disabilities, a highly skilled yet underutilised cohort. We then will discuss one potential approach to combat ongoing bias and discrimination in the labour market, by co-designing diverse careers identities that counter ableist-notions of an ‘ideal’ worker. Participants will then work together in small groups to co-design alternate trajectories of success that harness the expertise and skills of people with disabilities. Finally, we discuss next steps and future research to improve equitable participation in the Australian labour market.

Thursday 16th February, 2023
Schools, Employers and Work Placements
Professor Sue Kilpatrick

Workshop Overview
Employers and industry are key partners in work-based learning experiences for higher education and vocational education and training (VET) students. Research has shown that VET delivers benefits for individuals, businesses and communities. VET can be a driver for social inclusion and a conduit for economic growth, yet employers can hesitate to host work placements for students with disability. We partnered with a state department of education and a chamber of commerce with the aim of increasing employer and industry understanding of what is involved in engaging in the work-based component of school-based VET for students with disability. We identified barriers and enhancers to both employer and student participation in work-based learning, as well as strategies to address these. The project produced practical Guidelines that answer common employer questions and provide access to resources to support employers and students intended to increase employers’ willingness to host school VET students with disability in their workplace.

Friday 17th February, 2023
Career Development Learning for Neurodivergent Tertiary Students
Associate Professor Jane Coffey

Workshop Overview
The aim of the CDL for neurodivergent tertiary students project was to provide a range of resources, inclusive of specialised workshops, tools, and resources, which will aid participant understanding of employment and career opportunities, their unique strengths and skills as well as access to a suite of ‘bite size’ resources and tips sheets focussed on successful transition to graduate employment and careers. The workshops also assisted in facilitating a community of practice across the broad neurodivergent university student cohort. The CDL program for neurodivergent tertiary students added value to the range of existing services available at Curtin. The primary focal point for delivery of this pilot program was through face-to-face workshops in which students engaged as both receivers and sharers of information and resources through the lens of neurodiversity. The workshops also assisted in facilitating a community of practice across the broad neurodivergent university student cohort

Posted 7 February 2023