Project Lead: Dr Natalie White-Wall, Western Sydney University 

Themes: Evaluating and enhancing WIL quality, access and inclusion 

This research project addresses the participation and inclusion of students with invisible disabilities in WIL. Our (Herbert & White-Wall) current research from interviews and surveys across three Australian universities revealed that students with invisible disabilities face persistent marginalisation and fear of disclosing their disability to industry partners (White-Wall, Nuske, Herbert & Jones, in preparation). Although there are procedures to support students on WIL at these institutions, students identified a critical need for enhanced university support and placement environments that actively foster a sense of belonging. Crucially, these experiences are made more challenging by intersectional identities ‚Äì including neurodivergence, first-in-family, Aboriginal/Torres Strait Islander, and Culturally/Linguistically Diverse backgrounds ‚Äì which shape WIL engagement in systemic ways. 

This proposed project builds on an existing evidence base by adopting a ‚Äúbottom-up‚Äù systemic approach to action findings from the student voice. The project will engage industry partners to evaluate existing practices, disability awareness, and their capacity to host students with invisible disabilities. By examining these perspectives, the research aims to refine support frameworks for non-mandatory WIL disciplines (e.g., science and business). Furthermore, the team will integrate the prior research findings with new industry insights to inform the design of a secure, centralised application to streamline communications between student, university and industry partner. The platform would allow students to share accommodation needs and goals with industry partners while providing progress updates to university staff. 

Project Lead: Dr Prajwal Gyawali, University of Southern Queensland 

Themes: Scalable and sustainable WIL models; Collaborating with purpose for impact 

Medical laboratory scientists are essential to the delivery of safe and effective healthcare across Australia. However, within medical laboratory science programs, Work Integrated Learning (WIL) relies heavily on accreditation driven competency standards that prioritise technical performance during the mandatory 560 hour placement, with limited structured support for employability capability development. Consequently, non technical skills such as communication, adaptability and collaboration are developed inconsistently, largely through ad hoc workplace exposure rather than intentional learning design. This variability contributes to uneven graduate work readiness and increased supervisory burden, particularly within pathology services experiencing sustained workforce shortages and high staff turnover. 

Responding to this national gap, six Australian universities (UniSQ, CDU, CSU, CQU, Griffith, Flinders), in partnership with two government pathology providers (Pathology Queensland and Royal Hobart Hospital), collaborated to generate a national evidence base to inform WIL enhancement. A national online survey of practising medical laboratory scientists (n‚ÄØ=‚ÄØ149) identified the employability skills most valued by industry. Weighted rankings positioned oral communication as the highest priority, followed by adaptability, technical competence, collaboration and professional work ethic, alongside effective workplace practices that support employability development during authentic WIL. The project aims to strengthen the quality, consistency and industry relevance of WIL by embedding structured, industry guided employability skill development within medical laboratory science placements. To achieve this, the project will codesign the first national, student facing WIL employability toolkit for the discipline. Grounded in national industry data, the toolkit will complement existing accreditation standards by enabling students to intentionally assess, reflect on and develop priority employability capabilities within existing placement structures. 

Three structured online workshops will support industry academic co design, refinement and implementation across participating institutions. From initial rollout, the project will support more than 400 students annually across six universities and establish a scalable, evidence informed model for industry guided employability development with relevance beyond the discipline. 

Project Lead: Jessica Pace, University of Sydney

Mystery shopping is an innovative form of WIL that aims to engage students as active learners by allowing them to take on the role of a healthcare consumer. It has been suggested as a way to overcome overreliance on passive observation, lack of integration with other learning activities and inequity in participation in WIL. However, its use as a compulsory activity early in student’s program and with student-designed clinical scenarios has not been evaluated. This project aims to address this research gap by comprehensively evaluating mystery shopping from the student perspective, including feasibility, acceptability and perceived impact on achievement of learning outcomes and learning satisfaction.

Themes: Technology and innovation for workplaces, Equity

Project Lead: Professor Helen McClaren, Australian Catholic University

Non-traditional social work placements are often perceived as inferior, yet securing any placement in a strained human service sector is becoming increasingly difficult. This project evaluates innovative WIL placements in social work, contributing understanding of WIL effectiveness in unusual placements and service settings.

Themes: Technology and innovation for workplaces, Evidencing impact on industry and community