Universities Could Do More for Students, Here’s How
By Eryn Swann
Artwork by Michelle Marshall
Universities are sold as institutions of higher learning; places to discover your passion to change the world. By using the valuable tools that you learn from this idyllic academic environment, you can not only succeed in the “real world” but transform society for the better.
As an Australian engineering student, from a seemingly small but growing capital city, I’ve noticed these marketing tactics or “sales pitches'' being used by my own university and within the engineering faculty. This kind of marketing has been made further disingenuous and unobtainable given the recent complications from the Covid-19 Pandemic which have inevitably transpired across all academic faculties.
Initial issues I first noticed upon enrolling onto my chosen degree was the excessive pressure placed on engineering students by assigning more value on final semester exams than on the coursework learned throughout each semester. Specifically, higher weightings were placed on exams in the range of 60-70% percent while the weighting for the semester coursework was within the range of 30-40%, thereby devaluing the hard work done by students during the semester. This results in the outcome of a student’s overall course grade being dependent upon one day of excellent performance to pass a written exam instead of all the skills that make a student and ultimately a person more employable in the workplace.
Further adding to this dilemma is the lack of focus on group projects. From second year onwards, students are exposed to group work about once a semester through mandatory courses that focus on the soft skills aspect of all engineering degrees. These courses typically involve the formation, and eventually culmination, of a project guided by a given topic in which students are expected to do in-depth research on existing topic-based literature, table meeting minutes, write up preliminary and final project reports, perform an oral presentation on the project report findings and conclusions, and finally reflect upon the efforts of their peers and themselves throughout the project. While I cannot speak on behalf of all engineering students, I personally find these courses incredibly valuable because not only are students taught research and documentation skills, but students learn so many social skills - from dealing with group conflict to solving problems and learning to work as a team. From these group experiences, students come away also having learnt what went wrong during a group project and what went right and can use those beneficial reflections to better their project performance and group dynamics in future projects - all of which are extremely important within the workplace and within the engineering industry as a whole.
However, while some valuable skills are learnt through the interactions and inner group dynamics during semester-long projects, one incredibly valuable skill is not taught — leadership. By not teaching leadership, only the students who are natural leaders, or for that matter serve the role as de facto leaders during the absence of leadership, rise to the occasion and oftentimes the challenge. Leadership experience or the opportunity to demonstrate leadership is a skill that is often requested by future employers and one that not all students have the privilege or ability to develop prior to entering tertiary education.
In Australia, there are government-funded schools and private schools. In private schools, students - usually in their final year of high school - are given multiple opportunities to develop leadership skills by becoming leaders in a plethora of areas of their choice: sport, justice, volunteering, or school captain. While I do not have insight into what every school has to offer students in terms of leadership experience, I think it is fair enough to assume that not all students have or had the opportunity to leave high school having held a leadership position or feel that they have adequately learned or demonstrated these skills before preparing for a potential internship interview.
This leads to a further issue that I noticed within the engineering faculty, which is that universities (mine in particular) also do not facilitate internships for students - students instead must organise this mandatory program, without much assistance, independently. While many may consider this to be a non-issue or even question why a university should have any input in a student’s employment prospects, it should be in the university’s best interest - to further their reputation, if not for the interest of the students. Internships allow any student to be considered more employable to relevant industry companies and therefore are extremely sought after by thousands of students, limiting available spots for all likewise competing individuals.
It is my own personal belief that universities should purchase available internship positions from private and government industries that pertain to the engineering industry so that every student is entitled to a guaranteed internship. By pursuing this initiative, universities will be able to ensure that a large majority of all enrolled engineering students will be able to get real-world practical experience as part of and alongside their degree and thereby become better equipped to enter the workforce upon graduating and becoming better engineers in their respective workplaces. This will also remove the unfair advantages of students who have potentially attended aforementioned private schools and thus have had desirable and competitive leadership experience (or students with industry-connected parents or family members). This would help to eliminate the concerning effect of advantaged people benefiting exponentially from the education system, while the less advantaged get left behind. ◆