Universities are excellent at creating disciplinary expertise at all levels. We ask incoming students to choose a major during the first year, often before even showing up on campus. Then we ask them to take classes in this chosen discipline for years. Upon graduation students may enter the workforce or they may enter graduate school to add to their disciplinary knowledge in increasingly minute areas of a given discipline. This type of training results in an I-shaped graduate; those with narrow and deep training in a single discipline much like the shape of an I.
Upon entering the workforce, these graduates will encounter wicked problems; situations where the parameters of the work and the knowledge, skills, and/or approaches needed to conduct the work are constantly changing. In this environment, the I-shaped graduate is not optimally equipped to thrive. Instead, we need wicked graduates and adaptive innovators who can agilely apply their disciplinary knowledge in ever evolving work environments. The National Association of Colleges and Employers outlines eight discipline independent competencies needed by graduates: (1) career & self-development; (2) communication; (3) critical thinking; (4) equity & inclusion; (5) leadership; (6) professionalism; (7) teamwork, and; (8) technology.
The T-shaped graduate brings not only the deep disciplinary knowledge of the I-shaped graduate, but also the breadth of competencies needed to successfully interact with colleagues, clients, and others. T-shaped graduates implement interdisciplinary approaches to create new solutions to wicked problems. Scholars studying T-shaped individuals argue that work integrated learning (WIL) offers the most effective learning environment to develop T-shaped students. WIL is a pedagogical sub-category of experiential learning and includes strategies such as work placements, internships, fieldwork, work-related projects, community engaged learning, and simulations. All WIL strategies incorporate highly authentic, real world experiences into the curriculum with the purpose of creating the context in which students will work following graduation.
If you are interested in learning more about designing your course to develop T-shaped students, register for our upcoming SoTL keynote: Preparing World-Ready Graduates: The T-Shaped Student and Hands-On Learning, a Formula for Success (October 24). If you are interested in learning more about how to transition your practice in WIL and T-shaped students into scholarly writing, register for our upcoming SoTL workshop: Writing Forward: Linking WIL and T-Shaped Skills to Publish Meaningful Work (October 25).
Resources:
Bierema, L. L. (2019). Enhancing employability through developing T-shaped professionals. New Directions for Adult and Continuing Education, 163, 67-81. DOI: 10.1002/ace.20342
Bleakney, J. (2019, September 13). What is Work-Integrated Learning? [Blog Post]. Retrieved from https://www.centerforengagedlearning.org/what-is-work-integrated-learning/
Martin, A. J. & Rees, M. (2019). Student insights: Developing T-shaped professionals through work-integrated learning. International Journal of Work-Integrated Learning, 20(4), 365-374.
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