Investigating the effectiveness of mentorship in Work Integrated Learning : a case study of Office Management and Technology students at DUT and MUT

Abstract

Internationally, work Integrated Learning (WIL) is a required component of the National Diploma in Office Management and Technology. WIL is undertaken by undergraduate students with the participation of the academic coordinator from the university and a workplace mentor. Issues around mentorship appear to be one of the main challenges. Mentorship, in this study, is understood to involve an interaction or agreement between student, workplace mentor and university WIL coordinator. The problem identified was that this system is known to lack coordination and focus. The study was conducted at the Durban University of Technology (DUT) and at Mangosuthu University of Technology (MUT). This research employed mixed methods. The quantitative method involved a questionnaire designed to gather the experiences of a sample size of 90 students in all. Semi-structured interviews were also held with the WIL academic assessors from the two Universities, in order to allow them to open up about some sensitive issues. Online open-ended questions were designed and sent to workplace mentors. Similar questions were asked of all the stakeholders. The study concludes that WIL generally lacks sufficient interaction between stakeholders and that therefore the desired outcomes of mentorship are not fully met. While students were satisfied on the whole with the organizations they worked for, they were less happy with the support the universities were providing. The statistics from the students’ questionnaire indicate that not all students were visited while on WIL, while workplace mentors indicated that they are not provided with appropriate guidance from the universities. Electronic communicative support by the universities also proved to be insufficient, with many students indicated that they are not happy with this personal contact they experienced. Manpower and workload were found to be the main challenges faced by the universities in providing sufficient support. There is only one WIL academic assessor responsible for all the students on WIL in each of the universities. The research suggests that the university’s WIL coordinators should undertake a round of visits to companies before the WIL period and, if they have facilities appropriate for offering experiential learning tasks, then they could be formally accredited for this purpose. It is also suggested that the universities offer workplace mentors more formal guidance and an induction programme. There could also be a policy statement as to how many contacts should be made with the students while on WIL. A suggestion is also made that WIL should take place in the second year as well as the third and, if possible, that the WIL period should be extended. All stakeholders confirmed that mentorship plays a huge role in the effectiveness of WIL and that closer interaction between stakeholders would be beneficial.