Work-Integrated Learning (WIL) is a pathway to meaningful employment for post-secondary students. But COVID has disrupted this pathway, especially for students from equity-deserving communities who already face systemic inequities in education and employment access.
BHER is committed to providing every post-secondary student with a WIL before they graduate. This means as we build back from COVID we need WIL systems that focus on the needs of students, remove barriers to WIL access, and improve experiences and outcomes. Our goal is to advance representation in WIL while building out the structures and approaches needed to ensure inclusive experiences where students can thrive.
And we’re doing that while supporting employer capacity in more meaningful ways. We're developing resources and partnerships to help employers address their own barriers to building more equitable and inclusive WIL opportunities.
We’re driving these efforts through
We’re prioritizing WIL delivery partners who are 1. increasing the representation of equity-deserving student communities in WIL programming; and 2. taking steps to ensure WIL experiences are inclusive and culturally appropriate. Along the way we’re tracking impact and amplifying success stories through demographic data and first-hand stories from students, employers, and practitioners.
Over the past couple of years we’ve consulted and worked collaboratively with WIL supervisors, SME owners, post-secondary institutions, WIL practitioners, and EDI thought leaders to understand their needs and learn from their insights and experiences. We’ve also prioritized student voices through a series of cross-Canada roundtables on their lived experiences accessing and completing WILs during COVID. Student voices are often missing from research and development on WIL but are critical for a holistic understanding of ‘what works’ to address employer, practitioner, and student barriers and bring about positive change.
We are building tools and resources and following research and development priorities that reflect our consultations and meet the needs of students, employers, and practitioners, from inclusive student engagement and addressing access gaps to inclusive mentorship and flexible, innovative WIL programming.
We acknowledge that the challenges we’re facing are large and complex and that transformation will not happen overnight or without an inclusive, community-driven approach. We strive to use our leadership in WIL research & development, partnerships, and convening to build back from the pandemic with a more equitable, sustainable WIL ecosystem.