Monash graduate pathways project

Australian universities will soon come under increased pressure to produce employable graduates who possess transferable skills. This has arisen from the Federal Government's introduction of the Learning and Teaching Performance Fund (LTPF; DEST, 2004); in combination with the recent emphasis many institutions are now placing on defining graduate attributes. The LTPF will see institutions with good teaching and learning practices and sufficient graduate employment rates receive additional funding from 2006 onwards.

The Faculty of Arts Graduate Pathways Project (GPP) will determine student and academic perspectives on the effectiveness of the Faculty in preparing students for the workforce. Gradlink data has consistently demonstrated that Arts graduates have lower employment rates than colleagues from other faculties, and it is anticipated that this research will point to practical improvements for the Faculty.

The GPP has analysed a wealth of qualitative and quantitative data, including Unit Evaluations and the Monash Experience Questionnaire, which give some indication of areas for improvement. In order to collect data specifically relating to teaching and learning as it relates to employability, the GPP is in the process of running a series of focus groups.

The GPP relates to the conference theme in that aims to determine the ways in which teaching and learning and the higher education system can improve in order to produce employable graduates who are highly desirable in the public and private sectors. The challenge is to achieve this goal by integrating the needs of a number of stakeholders: students, academics, institutions, employers, and the government.