Making work-integrated learning a fundamental part of the Canadian undergraduate experience is one of several commitments recently made by the Canadian Business/Higher Education Roundtable - a year-old organization representing some of Canada's leading companies and post-secondary institutions.
Roundtable members agreed on an ambitious forward agenda, which includes:
- A national goal for work-integrated learning - to ensure 100 per cent of Canadian post-secondary students benefit from some form of meaningful work-integrated learning before graduation.
- A national campaign to promote the importance of work-integrated learning.
- A series of work-integrated learning pilot projects focused on meeting regional and sectoral workforce needs and improving school-to-work transitions for young Canadians.
The Roundtable is co-chaired by Dr. Elizabeth Cannon, chair of Universities Canada and president of the University of Calgary; Tom Jenkins, chair of OpenText Corporation; and Anne Sado, president of George Brown College. Its mission is to strengthen partnerships among universities, colleges, polytechnics and private-sector employers.
"The Business/Higher Education Roundtable is advancing new ways for employers to partner with post-secondary educational institutions, with a clear focus on improving outcomes for our students and graduates," said Ms. Sado. "We are focused on targeted solutions and actionable initiatives, motivated by a commitment to better collaboration - in skills development, work-integrated learning and in research and commercialization."
The Roundtable gathered at George Brown College in Toronto in late April to assess a year of collaboration and chart a course for the future. Roundtable members confirmed that a rapidly changing work environment for entry-level employees required immediate action and leadership.
"New technologies, disruptive innovation, demographic shifts and intense global competition for talent are quickly raising skill requirements and changing expectations for new graduates," said Mr. Jenkins. "To ensure our next generation can compete and succeed in the 21st century knowledge economy, we must take concrete steps towards a system in which Canadian companies and institutions are more efficiently and effectively connected."
The Roundtable's commitment to improve work-integrated learning will include cataloguing and sharing best practices, working with public sector partners on performance measurement and reporting systems, and advocating innovative initiatives. Roundtable members also encouraged the growth and development of work-integrated learning programs beyond traditional co-ops and internships, such as capstone projects, hackathons, industry challenges, mentorship programs and boot camps.
"As educators, we need to ask how we can better prepare young Canadians for a world increasingly reliant on technology," said Dr. Cannon. "How do we ensure that the fundamental skills learned in higher education - the ability to unravel big problems, to work in diverse teams, and to communicate complex issues - are aligned with rapidly changing workforce needs? This is what the Roundtable is working on."
Strengthening innovation and research partnerships is also high on the Roundtable's list of priorities. Members committed to studying how the Roundtable could identify and scale best practices in Canada, with a specific focus on successful research consortiums and existing innovation clusters. The Roundtable also agreed to explore the potential of setting "grand challenges" and motivating groups of researchers to find the most effective solutions to those challenges.
"There's a significant amount of world-class research - from basic to applied - taking place in Canada's post-secondary institutions and across the business community, but too often the researchers aren't talking to one another," said Mr. Jenkins. "When you combine academic research and cutting-edge industry R&D, you create a catalyst for innovation on a much bigger scale."
Prior to the meeting, the Roundtable's Honorary Patron, Governor General David Johnston, addressed the participants by video, saying "The first face-to-face meeting of the Business/Higher Education Roundtable is cause for celebration. Even in an age of instant global communication, there is no substitute for sitting down together, as all of you are today (June 7). This is especially true when different sectors come together to map a common strategy for the future. The Business/Higher Education Roundtable is doing exactly that."
To view the background on work-integrated learning, click here.
