Today’s labour market is characterised by rapid changes and accelerated competition, which requires individuals to exercise agency to ensure and develop employability across their career lifespan [1], [5]. To prepare students for their transition into a competitive labour market, work-integrated learning (WIL) placements have been widely employed such that students are exposed to authentic workplace contexts [2]. Learning in the workplace involves complicated person-organisation dynamics and therefore requires students to practise agency to maximise learning and subsequently build employability [3], [5], [7]. Despite this, there is limited research on how international students exercise agency in WIL placements [6]. This presentation discusses research findings regarding how international students exercise agency before and during WIL placements [3], [4] [7], [8]. Importantly, the presentation will introduce a research framework developed from theoretical and empirical research findings [3], [4], [5], [7], [8]. The framework (re)conceptualises students’ agentic capital as a precursor to employability development. The presentation will conclude by discussing implications for research and practice that seeks to nurture international students’ agency for workplace learning and employability development.

Authors: Thai Vu, Subramaniam Ananthram

Published in: London International Conference on Education (LICE-2022)

• Date of Conference: 14-16 November 2022
• DOI: 10.20533/LICE.2022.0013
• ISBN: 978-1-913572-52-5
• Conference Location: Virtual (London, UK)