Policy Problems: Preparing Students for the “Real World”

Authors

Shannon McKechnieFollow

Document Type

Article

Publication Date

Spring 2020

Journal

CACUSS Communiqué

Volume

20

Issue

1

First Page

35

Last Page

38

Abstract

Employability of students has risen as a key indicator of success of institutions, alongside an increased focus on policy for skills development in Canada. In Ontario, a hub for Canada’s economy, the issue of the “skills gap” has sustained interest as a significant but contested policy issue in public post-secondary education (Viczko, Lorusso, & McKechnie, 2019). Directed by policy and by public demand, significant resources at universities are invested into efforts to increase students’ skills capacities, career prospects, and overall employability. For student affairs staff (SAS), developing student career readiness and employability is central to many portfolios of our work (CACUSS, 2011). In my master’s thesis research, I conducted a qualitative study with SAS, with the intention of understanding how skills development policy discourses extend into the everyday reality of SAS who are ultimately responsible for its realization in post-secondary institutions. In this article, I present findings related to one of four themes that emerged from analysis of policy documents and interviews with SAS: preparing students for the “real world.”

Citation of this paper:

McKechnie, S. (2020). Policy problems: preparing students for the "real world". CACUSS Communiqué, 20(1), 35-38.