April 17, 2019
Toronto, ON – Student organizations across the country have released a joint publication on student employability titled Shared Perspectives: A Joint Publication on Preparing Students for the Workforce.
This publication features student perspectives on several issues in post-secondary education, including employability, skills development, and experiential learning opportunities. It includes contributions from the Alberta Students’ Executive Council (ASEC), the Canadian Alliance of Student Associations (CASA), the College Student Alliance (CSA), the New Brunswick Student Alliance (NBSA), the Ontario Undergraduate Student Alliance (OUSA), Students Nova Scotia (StudentsNS), and the University of Prince Edward Island Student Union (UPEISU).
“Experiential learning opportunities offer students the ability to build their skills while exploring different career paths,” said Shannon Kelly, OUSA Vice-President Finance and student at Wilfrid Laurier University. “We encourage universities to explore a variety of experiential learning methods, such as community service learning, to provide their students with unique and insightful learning opportunities.”
Shared Perspectives identifies challenges and opportunities encountered by post-secondary students on both a national and provincial level. It draws upon students’ experiences on campus and emphasizes how we must work together to provide post-secondary students with a strong foundation to succeed. Helping students succeed after graduation is an essential aspect of post-secondary education.
Our goal is for all students to have access to higher education and the ability to better their skill-set, regardless of financial position or background. The partners in this publication believe this joint report helps further the conversation on student employability, skills development, experiential learning opportunities, and how best to prepare students for the workforce.
“Students are recognizing that there is a changing workforce in Ontario and across the country,” said Eddy Avila, Executive Director at OUSA. “Students, post-secondary institutions, employers, and governments need to work together to support students transitioning out of university and continue expanding experiential learning opportunities for students.”
Shared Perspectives: A Joint Publication on Preparing Students for the Workforce is a joint report from seven partners, representing over 570,000 students. To view the full report, visit OUSA's website here.
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OUSA represents the interests of 150,000 professional and undergraduate, full-time and part-time university students at eight student associations across Ontario. Our vision is for an accessible, affordable, accountable, and high quality post-secondary education in Ontario.
Deborah Lam
Operations & Communications Director
Ontario Undergraduate Student Alliance
416-341-9948
[email protected]