Student dignity during work-integrated learning: a qualitative study exploring student and supervisors' perspectives
Corinne Davis1, Olivia A King1,2, Allie Clemans3
1Monash Centre for Scholarship in Health Education (MCSHE), Faculty of Medicine, Nursing and Health Sciences, Monash University, Clayton, Melbourne, VIC, Australia.
Advances in Health Sciences Education : Theory and Practice
|September 5, 2019
Summary
Student dignity during work-integrated learning (WIL) is often compromised. This study reveals common dignity violations and contributing factors across diverse disciplines, offering guidance to improve student experiences.
Area of Science:
- Education
- Sociology
- Organizational Psychology
Background:
- Work-integrated learning (WIL) is increasingly common for university students.
- Existing research on WIL primarily focuses on healthcare contexts and student viewpoints.
- The concept of 'dignity' has been underutilized in WIL research.
Purpose of the Study:
- To explore student and supervisor perspectives on student dignity during WIL.
- To identify types of dignity experiences, contributing factors, and consequences.
- To compare experiences across healthcare and non-healthcare disciplines.
Main Methods:
- Conducted 65 semi-structured interviews using narrative techniques with 30 supervisors and 46 students.
- Included participants from healthcare (medicine, nursing, counselling) and non-healthcare (business, law, education) disciplines.
- Analyzed data using framework analysis to identify common narrative types.
Main Results:
- Identified nine common narrative types of student dignity experiences (e.g., verbal abuse, right to learning opportunities, inclusion, trust).
- Found that factors contributing to and consequences of dignity experiences were often at the individual level.
- Observed differences in perceptions between students and supervisors, but few differences between healthcare and non-healthcare disciplines.
Conclusions:
- This study expands WIL research beyond healthcare contexts and student-only perspectives.
- Findings highlight the importance of individual-level factors in shaping dignity experiences during WIL.
- Provides practical guidance for enhancing student dignity in work-integrated learning settings.
Keywords:
Health professions educationHealthcare studentHigher educationSupervisorUniversity studentWork-based placementWork-integrated learningWorkplace dignityMore Related Videos
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