Career guidance for culturally and linguistically diverse migrants and/or refugees

Career guidance for culturally and linguistically diverse migrants and/or refugees

Alexander Newman, Sally Baker, Clemence Due & Karen Dunwoodie

Deakin University, University of NSW Sydney, The University of Adelaide.

Culturally and linguistically diverse migrants and/or refugees (CALDM/R) are entering higher education in growing numbers. However, we have had limited knowledge of how they are supported in the transition to employment. This Australia-wide study into the provision of career guidance to CALDM/R students found that few universities offered programs and services tailored to the needs of CALDM/R students. Instead, most institutions offered generic careers and employment guidance for all students, or support for international students.

BACKGROUND

Career guidance has become an increasingly central topic in Australian equity discussions as it contributes to graduate employment outcomes. However, the national focus on employment outcomes occurs largely at the population level, moderated by some special consideration of the challenges facing prominent equity groups (low socioeconomic status [SES], Indigenous and regional and remote students) and then primarily in relation to participation.

This narrow focus means institutions are not mandated to respond to the nuanced needs of other groups, except as they address issues facing the general student population or the major equity groups. This is particularly problematic for CALDM/R students—domestic students who were not born in Australia, speak languages other than English, and do not share the background of the dominant cultural group (white, European descent)—because of their relatively poorer employment outcomes and low levels of visibility at the institutional and national levels.

OBJECTIVES AND METHODOLOGY

The study sought to build an evidence base on the provision of career guidance to CALDM/R students, with specific reference to the following questions:

• How are Australian universities presently supporting CALDM/R students (both school leavers and mature-aged students) to transition out of higher education

studies and how effective is the career guidance they provide to this group?

• What specialised career guidance, if any, is provided to CALDM/R students during their higher education studies?

• What works well and what is missing from the career support provided by universities to CALDM/R students?

• What would "best practice" career guidance look like for CALDM/R students?

The research work proceeded in three stages:

Stage 1 included a desktop audit of publicly available information about career guidance on Australian university websites. Stage 2 was a national survey of 32 career practitioners from 20 higher education institutions, and individual interviews with careers practitioners who had signalled interest in exploring the survey themes in greater detail. Stage 3 included three focus group interviews with seven currently enrolled domestic CALDM/R university students.

KEY FINDINGS AND RECOMMENDATIONS

Key findings

It was found that few universities offered career guidance and Work Integrated Learning (WIL) programs tailored to the needs of CALDM/R students, with most institutions offering generic careers and employment guidance, or support for international students, which CALDM/R students accessed on the same basis as other students.

Staff within the universities identified a number of challenges they faced in supporting the career development of CALDM/R students:

• a lack of targeted resources and programs for CALDM/R students, largely due to careers units not having sufficient staff and financial resources to target equity cohorts, including CALDM/R students

• difficulties identifying and engaging with CALDM/R students in the first place

• difficulties faced by CALDM/R students in engaging with employers, due to perceived issues with English language proficiency and/or a lack of permanent residency or ongoing work rights due to their visa status.

Staff and student participants stressed the need to improve current service provision, with a focus on post-graduation outcomes, needed to complement existing efforts in outreach and supporting pathways to enable careers practitioners and WIL staff to interact with CALDM/R students.

Summary of recommendations

Recommendations for policymakers (government)

• Increase funding: The Australian and State Governments should provide targeted support for CALDM/R students.

• The Australian Government should recognise refugees as an equity subgroup.

• The Australian Government should consider directing some funding from the National Careers Institute Partnership Grants to support initiatives aimed at supporting CALDM/R graduates.

Recommendations for peak bodies

• Provide training: Peak bodies such as the National Association of Graduate Careers Advisory Services (NAGCAS) and the Career Development Association of Australia (CDAA) have a role in terms of advocating, if not actually offering, CALDM/R-specific training to career practitioners.

• Develop subgroups or special interest groups: Peak bodies should consider establishing equity focused subcommittees or special interest groups to continuously monitor and support universities in relation to employment for CALDM/R graduates.

• Active collaboration with other networks: Peak bodies should work more closely with other related sector-wide peak bodies, such as Equity Practitioners in Higher Education Australasia (EPHEA), the Refugee Education Special Interest Group (RESIG), and the Australia and New Zealand Student Services Association (ANZSSA).

• Advocate for more resources and increased policy attention.

Recommendations for higher education institutions

• Develop dedicated careers programs for CALDM/R students.

• Provide training for university staff so they can provide individualised support to CALDM/R students.

• Embed career education in the curriculum, including WIL.

• Build partnerships with employers to support CALDM/R students.

Recommendations for CALDM/R students

• Students from a CALDM/R background should be proactive in seeking support from careers and WIL units in their institution.

• CALDM/R students should be active in creating student groups and societies to assist with the transition to work.

• CALDM/R students should seek out external opportunities, including those with not-for-profit, social enterprise, and industry-based internship programs.

Dr Tebeje Molla

Research Fellow (ARC-DECRA), School of Education, Deakin University

Dr Tebeje Molla

This is a timely and important report. Focusing on CALDM/R students, the authors innovatively explore equitability of career services of Australian universities. The study draws on qualitative and quantitative data sets to highlight CALDM/R students’ limited access to career support opportunities. In light of this inequality, Alexander Newman and his colleagues call for targeted services that support CALDM/R students to transition out successfully into the work world. The findings of this research also underscore the urgency of having a social justice framework for career services in the university sector.

The report has direct relevance for policy and practice. The Australian Government’s Job-Ready Graduates policy redefines one of the purposes of Australian universities as “the engagement with industry and the local community to enable graduates to thrive in the workforce”. University career services can play significant roles in ensuring all graduates "thrive in the workforce". However, as this report reveals, very few universities provide dedicated career support programs for equity target groups such as domestic CALDM/R students. In translating Job-Ready Graduates with an eye on equity, universities will need a robust evidence base, and this study provides that valuable resource.

ACCESS THE FINAL REPORT ONLINE

https://www.ncsehe.edu.au/publications/career-guidance-culturally-linguistically-diversemigrants-refugees/