How is work-integrated learning adapting to the future of work and employability? A phenomenograhic study of graduate mathematicians  internship experiences across selected African countries

Heerden, Mark

How is work-integrated learning adapting to the future of work and employability? A phenomenograhic study of graduate mathematicians internship experiences across selected African countries

Thesis / Dissertation

2024

Publisher

University of Cape Town

Department

Graduate School of Business (GSB)

Faculty

Faculty of Commerce

Abstract

The future of work and employability is evolving at an accelerating pace, impacted by the changes brought about by the fourth industrial revolution and the increasingly digital economy. This research study explored work-integrated learning through a sample of African graduate mathematicians' collective internship experiences. The research methodology was based in phenomenography, which seeks to understand the collective outcomes experienced by the participants from their workspace internships. Twenty participants were purposively selected to give a broad range of experiences and maximise the likelihood of variation. All were mathematics graduates or postgraduates who sought employment in industry. They represented eight African countries, and 55% were female. Although almost all responded that their internships were positive work-integrated learning experiences, they also highlighted their challenges in meeting the demands of the workspace internships. Six further distinct collective outcomes, or conceptions, were experienced centered around managing their expectations, company readiness, structured supervision, workplace training, team inclusion and independent working. The study also found that the learning experiences in the African workplace were largely comparable with those experienced in more industrialised countries, as reflected in the literature. However, a key recommendation arising from this study is the need for greater structure in the African internships, termed ‘structured hospitable learning spaces', better connecting the learning environment for interns and employers. The participants collectively believed this greater structure was necessary to improve their internship experiences, both aimed at themselves in that they should have better prepared before their internships, and then at the internship companies, where there should have been more planning for their arrivals. This study concludes by asserting the growing importance of work-integrated learning in the future of work and, in particular, data analytical roles in the accelerating digital economies of African countries. It also recognises the impact that generative artificial intelligence solutions will have on learning in the decades to come. Keywords: work-integrated learning, experientiall learning, African internships, future work, phenomenography, digital economies, workspaces

Keywords

Business

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Masters

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