Towards praxis: A practice architecture analysis of the work-integrated learning placement experiences of three Australian engineering students

Australian universities have a remit to produce work-ready graduates and engage students from equity groups. In engineering education, accredited Australian programs commonly respond to Engineers Australia’s required engagement with professional practice by mandating completion of a specified number of hours in work-integrated learning (WIL) placements as a graduation requirement. Placements are frequently self-sourced, under/unpaid, full-time and available at set times. These conditions, largely beyond students’ control, limit options for students supporting themselves through paid work and for students with family commitments. In an investigation framed by the theory of practice architectures, we addressed the question: What are the institutional preconditions shaping WIL placement practices that enable and constrain particular students’ access to, experience in, and leverage of professional learning at work for their future careers? Our analysis of three individual student interviews identified key student practices—applying for, doing, and leveraging placements—that are enabled and constrained by material-economic arrangements in family, university and work life, cultural-discursive arrangements in career development activities and social-political arrangements in personal and engineering networks. Identifying this architecture of practices is an important step towards an equitable transformation of WIL engineering placements.