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ON CAMPUS
Job creators , not job seekers
We need to future proof our economy with ‘ jobcreating ’ graduates .
By Jessica Gallagher , David Burt , Murray Hurps and Matt Salier
With Australia just coming out of
recession , it is unsurprising that there has been a strong focus from federal and state governments on addressing unemployment and ensuring our university graduates are able to find jobs .
The government ’ s job-ready graduates ’ package is a good start , but it assumes that there will , in fact , be enough jobs . This is not the case . In today ’ s challenging economic environment we don ’ t just need job-ready graduates , we need job-creating graduates .
The $ 900 million National Priorities and Industry Linkage Fund ( NPILF ) policy initiative introduced under the jobready package allocates block grants encouraging universities to link with industry to support STEM + graduates into jobs . This policy would be strengthened if it included the concept of a ‘ job-creating graduate ’ and a greater emphasis on the importance of access to entrepreneurship programs .
Access to university entrepreneurship support programs should be elevated and given a similar level of attention and priority as the overall concept of Work Integrated Learning ( WIL ). Right now , entrepreneurship is seen as a sub-category of WIL . Entrepreneurship is about fostering graduate agency – the ability to make decisions that create economic value – both for themselves and others .
“ Work ” as a concept from the industrial revolution may not be the right term to use . Radical technological advances , innovation and entrepreneurship make the entire notion of work different . Our working worlds are no longer centralised or even local .
Connecting students with industry to solve real-world problems can contribute to entrepreneurial learning . This is something already achieved in entrepreneurship programs across our universities ; so too students ’ access to internships , mentorship from experienced founders and serial entrepreneurs , accelerating start-ups , and access to makerspaces .
These experiences are often external to students ’ accreditation requirements , and therefore , not valued perhaps . Let ’ s embed these practices into the curriculum .
The number of employed last year showed 74 per cent of 15-74 year olds hold a qualification . If universities take centrestage in educating our nation , then here is the opportunity to truly change our economic future .
The Linkage Fund signals that the Federal Government acknowledges the importance of collaboration and partnerships . We agree , this is good . We know from previous research that all net new jobs in an economy are created by business less than 10 years old . Combine that with the fact that most of Australian industry is looking for every excuse to reduce costs right now , and the opportunity is to help new high growth companies form , rather than support legacy ones .
Durable versus perishable competencies should be a focus . This is the ability to communicate effectively , apply creative problem solving and critical thinking
skills to drive innovation and act on insights people are receiving in the flow of work . This agility is demonstrated in entrepreneurial behaviour through the process of creating new value ( from scratch ), impact and ventures . switcH2 is a recent example of creating new value . UNSW PhD student Constantine Tsounis co-founded a business that uses beer waste to generate clean burning hydrogen fuel .
Last year , RMIT PhD graduate Shivy Yohanandan co-founded an artificial intelligence smart-camera , Xailient , which is already making an impact employing 15 people in Australia and the US in just under 18 months .
Another venture is UQ alumnus Andrew Barnes ’ education marketplace , Go1 : a learning platform that allows you to train your staff or customers with access to 100,000 + courses . AirTree Ventures recently wrote a cheque for $ 7 million , on top of the $ 62 million banked from investors including Amazon backer Madrona Venture Group .
These trailblazing alumni also practise what they learnt , engaging students as interns in their growing business , which creates a virtuous circle , further embedding the all-important experience of the entrepreneurial , job-creating career path .
So , how could we measure the creation of new jobs ?
We could improve the metrics in WIL by measuring new venture creation , i . e . the numbers : payroll , sales , investments ; and , existing business transformation ( number of projects seeded by students and invested in to commercialise ). These are specific , targeted measures that align well with both the underpinning principles of the NPLIF and the broader policy agenda of government .
What ’ s most important is to set jobcreating graduates as a priority , so that it can start to be incorporated into university programs . It ’ s easy to do , it ’ s easy to measure , it ’ s needed today and it ’ s great for graduates and the industries that they choose to engage with . ■
Dr Jessica Gallagher is pro vice chancellor ( global engagement and entrepreneurship ) at UQ , David Burt is director of entrepreneurship at UNSW , Murray Hurps is director of entrepreneurship at UTS and Matt Salier is director of RMIT Activator .
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