Fostering Relationships
From Student to Professional: Fostering Professional Identity via Descriptive Case Study Analysing Benefits of Embedding Career Development Learning in Higher Education / Vocational Education View Digital Media
Paper Presentation in a Themed Session Vivienne Therese Decleva, Dilani Rasanayagam
The transition from student to professional presents challenges, with new graduates often feeling daunted and overwhelmed. This presentation offers a descriptive case study aimed at preparing Diploma of Nursing students to develop personal skills and workplace self-efficacy, in addition to the nursing competencies required to enter the profession. After completing a two-year tertiary education program, graduates often feel alone and unsupported as they navigate the job market and adjust to their professional role as an Enrolled Nurse (EN). Many feel emotionally unprepared and lack confidence in their nursing skills and abilities. Feedback from students and graduates has informed the initiative to integrate Career Development Learning (CDL) into the Diploma of Nursing competency-based course. Since the introduction of this initiative five years ago, there has been an increase in the number of graduates receiving offers for graduate jobs. Results indicate that the preparation and inspiration provided through embedded CDL are essential factors in fostering professional identity and motivating graduates to overcome challenges and achieve their study goals and career aspirations.
Resistance as Power – Postgraduate Supervisors’ Experience of Navigating the Use of GenAI View Digital Media
Paper Presentation in a Themed Session Nompilo Tshuma
Resistance to new technological innovations by organisational members has been a common theme throughout the history of industrialisation. Resistance strategies exhibited and documented in literature range from various passive approaches (e.g., avoidance or cynicism) to more aggressive forms of resistance (e.g., sabotage or protests). While resistance usually has negative connotations – a hindrance to growth and competitive advantage – in this study I posit that it signals wider systemic issues that may have nothing to do with the technological innovation. Through a phenomenological study that draws on Scott’s public/private transcript, I unpack postgraduate supervisors’ resistance responses to generative artificial intelligence (GenAI) within a South African university. In-depth interviews with 10 supervisors from different disciplines show that resistance emerges from the interplay between structural constraints (institutional expectations and narratives) and supervisors’ individual and collective agency (knowledge, skills and values).
