Work-integrated learning

Macquarie's award-winning PACE initiative is a signature program with a focus on graduate employment

The one certainty about the workplace of the future is that it won’t stand still.

As we worship at the new shrines of strategy, technology, sustainability, and diversity, most likely in a shape-shifting office, the employee of the 21st century will need to be hard-wired for change.

Macquarie University meets this challenge head-on with PACE (Professional and Community Engagement), a program that trains students to be Olympically nimble, ensuring they hone their problem-solving, critical thinking, cultural competence, and creativity, with an eye firmly on employability. It’s work experience on steroids.

PACE aims to produce engaged and active employees who can problem-solve and grapple with the ethics and complexities of the workplace, in the process expanding career opportunities and social networks and developing cross-cultural competencies. Above all, PACE boosts a graduate’s confidence in his or her abilities.

All the world’s a stage

Says Professor Dominique Parrish, Office of the Pro Vice Chancellor (Learning and Teaching), which oversees PACE, “for a long time there was a disconnect between knowing the thinking and theories of a discipline and its application in the workplace.”

The pool of partners in students’ pursuit of industry expertise number 3000 companies, in Australia and overseas, of various scope, scale and diversity. Corporations, government, non-government, education, and community sectors offer internships, field trips, overseas placements, mentoring, and peer-assisted research.

Students have the opportunity to explore areas of interest such as artificial intelligence and machine learning, marine biology, sexual health, data analytics, cyber security, social media marketing, and humanitarian initiatives.

“They actually build a toolkit,” says Professor Parrish. “The units they study, mostly in their final, capstone, year, are underpinned by reciprocity and reflective practice, which tap into the psychology of the modern office – noting that the modern office experience has the added complexity of being online  and digital at some of the time.

“It’s crucial that students think deeply about what they experience during their engagement with partners - to look at the reactions, behaviours, situations, or office dynamics, and consider ways things might have been done differently. For example, what would the outcome have been if someone had not raised their voice, kept calmer, listened more, asked more questions?

“So the next time students are in a similar situation, they can draw on the strategies they have built to deal with the present circumstance.”

Developing global citizens

PACE was initiated in 2008 and developed under the leadership of the then program director Lindie Clarke, fleshed out in subsequent years, and first implemented in 2012. Since 2016 more than 30,000 undergraduates have incorporated PACE units into their studies.

“It started as an opportunity for students to develop global citizenship,” says Professor Parrish. “Back then it was a new idea. But very quickly, the Work Integrated Learning sector caught up. That hands-on experience, that experiential learning – it’s important for students to have that as part of their degree. They don't want to simply sit in a classroom; they want to be able to experience the real world of work.”

As for the reciprocity, says Professor Parrish, partner organisations get good, modern, new ideas injected into their workplaces. “Contemporary thinking, skills and knowledge is what we try to deliver. They get a fresh lens on the solution beyond, ‘This is what we can do’. To have that broad range of perspectives and ideas is vital in a workplace.”

Both sides now

Matthew Dale, 26, now a senior consultant in data and analytics with EY, has experienced the PACE program from both sides of the coin: student and mentor.

Dale graduated from Macquarie University in 2020 with a Bachelor of Science, majoring in Information Systems and Business Analysis, and a Bachelor of Commerce with a major in Finance. His PACE placement with EY in his final year, developing an automation solution for synchronising physical and digital scrum boards, led to a position with the global professional services network, where he now heads up their internal PACE program which looks to Macquarie for its potential hires.

“PACE gave me the opportunity to enter a professional working environment for the first time,” he says. “It allowed me to see how, for example, a tech consulting firm operated day to day.

“You network with employees in your field before you actually enter the workplace. It gives you exposure to a wide range of people, from current graduates to senior partners.”

At EY, Dale is now well placed to understand what’s at the heart of employability.

“It’s important to hire someone willing to share their opinion, to be vocal,” he says. “It’s easy to hide in a virtual meeting. Having confidence in your own ability and being able to speak up and share opinions is one of the most valuable workplace assets.”

“An opinion from a graduate might be the difference between landing a multi-million-dollar contract or not, or they might offer the piece of information we need to deliver something that really makes a difference to a client.”

When Matthew Dale first meets Macquarie University PACE students, he tells them they’re embarking on a 15-week job interview. “We’re giving them every possible opportunity to prove themselves. If they can prove they have the right attitude and skills, there’s a guaranteed job for them at the end of it.”

Author: Susan Skelly