Achieving professional expertise from the perspective of students and partner company
Keywords:
expertise, university student, work-integrated learningAbstract
This study examines professional expertise from the perspective of university students and their collaborating company, and asks: In what situations do students feel like experts in their field and how do the collaborating company describe students’ professional expertise? The context of this study is a work-related university course and the data consist of open-ended survey questions. The method of analysis is content analysis. The results are compared with interviews with representatives of the collaborating company.
According to the survey data, students felt they had expertise when interacting with people from outside their field. In these situations, the student’s expertise is recognised and the role of expert is assigned by others, or students recognise their own expertise independently. Students also experienced expertise as being out of their reach and were aware of their limitations, especially in terms of subject knowledge. Students reported uncertainty about the expected level of performance in the field, which made it difficult for them to assess their own expertise. From the perspective of the partner enterprise, professional competence was conveyed through a professional approach, professional working methods and the quality of the final product.
According to the survey data, the experience of being and becoming an expert can be supported at university through multidisciplinary courses and peer groups, in addition to internships and work-related courses. The way in which the university community of practice recognises students’ skills and competences influences how students experience their own professional expertise.
