Chapter 17 Students’ professional identity and a fully online tax clinic
Brett Freudenberg, Melissa Belle Isle, Colin Perryman, Kristin Thomas and Ashleigh Cohen*
17.1 Key findings
A key benefit of work-integrated learning is the socialisation of students with their future professional career and identity. That is, students can start to appreciate what it means to be a professional in their chosen career, in terms of their conduct and how they identify with that. Due to the advent of restrictions imposed from the outbreak of COVID-19, the students involved at the Griffith University tax clinic had to move from a physical office space with face-to-face interaction with their tax agent supervisor and clients, to a totally online office via Microsoft Teams and YouTube. Activities conducted within this online environment included staff meetings, client meetings, client lodgements, presentations and research.
However, what effect did this online office environment have on the development of students’ professional identity as tax advisers? This chapter will describe how the tax clinic was able to operate fully online, and it will provide data as to how students perceived the development of their professional identity as a tax adviser in this online environment. To provide a comparison, data from prior cohorts who participated in the physical office space will also be considered.
17.2 Introduction
Due to restrictions of human movement and interaction because of COVID-19, many universities had to either cancel their work-integrated learning (WIL) experiences or move them to a remote online platform.1 Rasalam and Bandaranaike report how simulated patients were interviewed online by medical students as an adjunct WIL experience.2 Similarly, Goldman and Stirling described how remote WIL was used in a master-level Kinesiology programme to support students’ learning in professional placements and development of professional identity (PI).3 The concept of PI includes the notions of how students start to understand themselves as ‘professional[s]’, including the notion of what is ‘good professionalism’,4 such as complying with a code of ethics and how to conduct oneself in a professional manner. Overall, PI is the understanding of what it means to be a professional.5
How professional awareness is included in the curriculum can be a challenge for universities.6 Such knowledge can be critical for student cohorts who may have limited understanding of what it means to be a professional, due to being first-in-family to attend university, having no professional work experience, or having a different context due to growing up in a different country. This limited professional awareness could subsequently impede their ability to successfully obtain employment.7
PI is seen as developing over time and through stages of career progression;8 and WIL has the potential to be ideally suited to developing PI.9 WIL is typically described as ‘educational programmes which combine and integrate learning and its workplace application, regardless of whether this integration occurs in industry or is real or simulated’.10 In career terms, WIL can enhance student understanding of the work environment and employer expectations,11 can facilitate career awareness, progression and direction,12 and can improve graduate employment outcomes.13 Due to this workplace application WIL can develop students’ professional skills and improve their ‘work readiness’.14
While being able to deliver WIL online allows for students to have some experience, it is not fully understood how an online WIL experience may influence students’ development of their PI. Broadly, working remotely online can have it benefits,15 but there are some potential negative aspects, such as a loss of communication, and perceived decrease in support.16 Additionally, isolation can occur as there can be reduced social and professional communication, which can be adverse to expectations17 and decrease performance.18 It is for these reasons Goldman and Stirling argue that ‘context’ is important to allow for students’ PI development with a remote WIL experience:
When students are not able to absorb organizational culture through their presence at placement sites, WIL educators need to be intentional in providing students with alternative ways to examine the contexts and cultures they are working in (emphasis added).19
Similarly, others note how the notion of socialisation is essential for WIL students when working remotely.20 For employees, remote working can raise concerns about the feeling of isolation due to a loss of communication.21 This potential remoteness is important as WIL can offer ‘students first-hand knowledge of people and the community and introduces them to the complexity of the world beyond the classroom’.22 WIL has the potential to enhance PI and knowledge, which can provide career direction, as well as understanding of suitability and skills required for students’ chosen profession.23 It is argued that this can be summarised as ‘professional awareness’, which can be an area that students lack.24
This chapter reports the findings of students’ perceived development of PI and knowledge at the Griffith Tax Clinic when it moved to be fully online due to COVID-19 restrictions. This development will be compared to prior student cohorts that participated in a physical office space (face-to-face). Interestingly, overall, the online students indicated strong growth in a number of PI dimensions, which provides some assurance about the intentional mechanisms adopted to assist socialisation and mentoring in the online environment. However, for international students or those students with no professional work experience (PWE) their PI development demonstrates some interesting trends. Also, qualitative statements raise concerns about fewer opportunities for socialisation and feedback with the online environment, which could impede PI development.
What follows is a description of the tax clinic experience either face-to-face or in the online mode. Then the research methodology and the demographics of participants will be outlined. This is followed by an analysis of the results, discussion and considerations for the future.
17.3 The Griffith Tax Clinic
The Griffith Tax Clinic is conducted in each of the three trimesters and has operated face-to-face and online. The clinic allows unrepresented taxpayers to gain free tax assistance from students under supervision. A registered tax agent is employed to supervise the students and client meetings. While the clinic occurs in a university environment, it is not a simulated WIL as the clients are real, and the students are supervised by experienced tax practitioners.
Face-to-face
The clinic has an open plan office allowing for multiple client meetings to occur simultaneously, and for the tax agent to supervise activities. It is possible for private meetings to occur if it is identified that a client has a particular sensitive issue. Normally, six students would work per day at the clinic, being paired up and provided with an office uniform. Freudenberg et al. provide a detailed explanation of how the clinic operates face-to-face.25
Online
COVID-19 restrictions occurred at the beginning of teaching in 2020 after only three weeks of face-to-face meetings, with the tax clinic then closed for five weeks to determine how to proceed. During this time, it became apparent that continuing the clinic face-to-face would not be possible and steps were undertaken to convert the clinic to be fully online. Tax clinic staff and students were engaged in two days of training about the new online system (covering such things as microphone, camera, chat function, screen sharing and recording), and practice with mock online client meetings.
The clinic opened its online doors from May 2020 and continued in the second trimester of 2020 navigating the continued restrictions to the end of October 2020. Consequently, two cohorts of student tax advisers experienced the online clinic environment.
With the move to online it was important to ensure that all staff (including students) had the correct equipment, including headsets with microphones, two screens for the tax agent (to aid ease of sharing a screen), mobile phones in case of internet problems, cameras on computers and good internet access. In part, this was aided by many of the students having some online educational experience in other courses. However, the tax clinic was a far more intensive online experience, requiring students to be much more interactive and manage many software functions.
To facilitate the online operations, Microsoft Teams was utilised, as it allowed for video conference calling, including the ability to share screens and to record, and the ability to invite clients via a link. Each online clinic day began with an initial thirty-minute planning meeting, followed by four one-hour client meetings, with a thirty-minute break between each, and a common one-hour lunch break. The six students were divided into two teams of three, and each team would have two client meetings per day. Students would take on different roles in each meeting, being either interview leader, note-taker or observer/researcher. The tax agent would attend and supervise each of the meetings. During a client meeting the tax agent would share his screen and discuss with the client the process (for example in Xero Tax), and/or how the tax applied to the client’s circumstances. Remote access was possible to the clinic’s email system, and client files were in a secure One Drive account.
When not in a meeting, students would prepare for upcoming meetings, contact past clients for any remaining details, and speak to potential clients. This was done in a separate virtual office space, where students could interact with each other, the office manager and the tax agent. During this time, it was encouraged for everyone to have their cameras on. An office manager coordinated the allocation of clients, tasks and meetings between students, as well as ‘touching base’ with students at various times. At the end of the day there would be a fifteen-minute debrief about the day, discussion of what needed to subsequently occur and to allow all clinic staff and students to reflect about the day’s activities.
Pre-COVID-19 students would have done a face-to-face presentation to a community group about a tax topic. As this was not possible during the COVID-19 restrictions, online recordings were developed to assist the community in learning about tax. The Microsoft Teams’ recording function was utilised to produce a recording and these were uploaded to a YouTube channel.26
17.4 Research methodology
This study employs a longitudinal survey methodology to examine the impact of the tax clinic in terms of PI for the face-to-face students, as well as those participating online. The survey was administered at the start of the teaching trimester, then readministered at the end of the trimester to gauge the level of student development.
The survey instrument had four parts: demographics; self-efficacy measures; comments, and PI satisfaction measures. Self-efficacy has been described as a person’s ‘beliefs in one’s capabilities to organize and execute the courses of action required to produce given attainments’.27 Self-efficacy is interrelated to a person’s belief of their capabilities and due to this it may influence the way they function and perform.28
Some general self-efficacy measures were considered as well as some task-specific items relevant to PI.29 Refer to Table 17.2 for a full set of items, which were rated by students on a scale of zero (not confident) to five (very confident). The general self-efficacy items were adapted from Chen et al.’s scale,30 and the task-specific measures included aspects about PI which could give a more accurate understanding of this.31
Ethics approval was obtained, which included assurances of the nonidentification of students, and that the survey was optional and would not influence students’ grades.32
Participants
In total, there were forty-four students who participated at the clinic, with twenty-five students having a face-to-face experience, and nineteen students operating online. These students were surveyed twice, once at the beginning of their clinic experience, and then at the end. This means if all forty-four students did the beginning and end survey there would be eighty-eight responses. In total, eighty students completed both surveys (beginning and end), representing a >91 per cent response rate of all clinic student participants (illustrated in Table 17.1).
Attribute | Face-to-face | Online | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Beginning of tax clinic (n = 25) (N = 25) | End of tax clinic (n = 21) (N = 25) | Beginning of tax clinic (n = 19) (N = 19) | End of tax clinic (n = 15) (N = 19) | ||
Gender | Male | 10 (40%) | 7 (33%) | 7 (37%) | 4 (27%) |
Female | 15 (60%) | 14 (67%) | 12 (63%) | 11(73%) | |
Age | <20 years | 1 (4%) | 1 (5%) | 1 (5%) | 0 (0%) |
20–30 years | 19 (76%) | 14 (67%) | 15 (79%) | 12 (80%) | |
31–40 years | 4 (16%) | 5 (24%) | 2(11%) | 2 (13%) | |
>40 years | 1 (4%) | 1 (5%) | 1 (5%) | 1 (7%) | |
Nationality | Domestic | 17 (68%) | 14 (67%) | 14 (74%) | 11 (73%) |
International | 8 (32%) | 7 (33%) | 5 (26%) | 4 (27%) | |
First-in-family (parent university graduate) | Yes | 15 (60%) | 11 (52%) | 11(58%) | 7 (47%) |
No | 10 (40%) | 10 (48%) | 8 (42%) | 8 (53%) | |
Professional work experience (PWE) | No | 14 (56%) | 13 (62%) | 11 (58%) | 8 (53%) |
Yes | 11 (44%) | 8 (38%) | 7 (42%) | 7 (47%) | |
Approximately, two-thirds of students surveyed were female, and one-third were international students. Around half were the first-in-family as their parents had not graduated from university, and around half did not have any PWE.
17.5 Data results
The results are now discussed in terms of overall observations, and then considering the potential influence of students’ nationality and PWE. Where relevant this includes student quotes from comments made in the survey.
Overall
In respect of general self-efficacy, face-to-face students started with higher scores than online students (3.83 cf 3.60: Table 17.2). This might reflect those online students who were living through the uncertainty and stress of a pandemic, and could have affected how they approached the clinic, the time devoted to it, and their confidence about the future. Nevertheless, over the duration of the clinic, both cohorts experienced positive growth, with the face-to-face cohort having stronger growth in general self-efficacy (7% cf 4%).
It appears that having low confidence can potentially impede a student’s learning experience in the challenging environment of a WIL experience, particularly if they do not have the motivation and perseverance. The first few weeks of the experience may be particularly challenging:
In the early weeks of the clinic, I feel that I made a few mistakes, which led me to questioning whether I was doing the right thing by staying on … I’m glad that I stuck with it. … I realised the importance of working in a team, and asking for help, and providing it, when necessary (Face-to-face – Domestic).
[In] the first few weeks … I lacked confidence in my knowledge and was quite shy and hesitant. As the internship progressed … I learn[ed] processes, procedures and appl[ied] what I learned in the classroom to real-world situations, significantly improving my confidence and general tax knowledge (Online – Domestic).
Other studies have demonstrated that a change in PI can be experienced by WIL students working remotely,33 however, it appears the role of the supervisor is critical to decrease feelings of isolation and unclear expectations.34 It appears that efforts to provide a supportive and informative work environment at the online tax clinic had some success.
How “confident” are you in your ability to.….….….…. | Face-to-face | Online | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Beginning of tax clinic (n 25) (N=25) | End of tax clinic (n = 21) (N=25) | Change Over tax clinic | Beginning of tax clinic (n = 19) (N=19) | End of tax clinic (n = 15) (N=19) | Change Over tax clinic | |
General | ||||||
… accomplish difficult tasks when faced with them. | 3.64 | 4.05 | 0.41 (8%) | 3.58 | 3.73 | 0.15 (3%) |
… perform quite well under pressure. | 3.88 | 4.05 | 0.17 (3%) | 3.58 | 3.80 | 0.22 (4%) |
… better manage time. | 3.96 | 4.43 | 0.47 (9%) | 3.63 | 3.87 | 0.24 (5%) |
Overall average | 3.83 | 4.18 | 0.35 (7%) | 3.60 | 3.80 | 0.20 (4%) |
Professional Identity | ||||||
… begin a career in the Degree I am studying. | 3.8 | 4.10 | 0.3 (6%) | 3.79 | 4.40 | 0361 (12%) |
… achieve my career goals. | 3.76 | 3.90 | 0.14 (3%) | 3.95 | 4.33 | 0.38 (8%) |
… understand what is expected of me as a professional adviser. | 3.96 | 4.24 | 0.28 (6%) | 4.11 | 4.20 | 0.09 (2%) |
Overall average | 3.84 | 4.08 | 0.24 (5%) | 3.95 | 4.31 | 0.36 (7%) |
Professional Identity (PI) Satisfaction | ||||||
Being part of the Tax Clinic provided an insight into professional life. | NA | 4.62 | NA | NA | 4.80 | NA |
Being part of the Tax Clinic is effective to develop my professional identity. | NA | 4.57 | NA | NA | 4.67 | NA |
(Scale of zero (not confident) to five (very confident)) | ||||||
When considering the PI self-efficacy measures the trend is different to general self-efficacy. The online students started with greater PI self-efficacy than the face-to-face students (3.95 cf 3.84), and the online students experienced greater growth over their clinic experience (7 per cent cf 5 per cent). This trend is supported by satisfaction scores for ‘insight into professional life’ (4.80 cf 4.62) and ‘develop my PI’ (4.67 cf 4.57). This would tend to suggest that the online clinic did improve students’ PI. However, there should be a note of caution, as these scores reflect students’ own perception (self-reported) of their development. There may be concerns that students in the online environment are remote and may not have an accurate perception of themselves. Prior research has demonstrated that when WIL students have a more immersive experience with industry in the workplace, then their prior assessment of PI was potentially over-inflated and was subject to some correction during a subsequent immersive experience.35
This could suggest that socialisation and interaction with industry is an important aspect of developing a more realistic sense of PI. This could be of concern with the move to an online WIL experience, which may mean less interaction with professional colleagues, less mentorship and ability to receive (and understand) feedback.
However, there were a number of specific mentoring and socialisation opportunities developed in the online clinic. This included opportunities for discussions after client meetings, as well as the end of day debrief, which allowed for students to reflect on client interviews, as well as getting feedback from the tax agent. These opportunities are important, as Kram identifies the cultivation of PI as one of the most important functions of mentoring.36 Although mentoring often occurs on a one-to-one basis, interestingly, multiple mentor relationships are shown to be associated with work satisfaction, improved attitudes towards the workplace, organisational retention and promotion, and career success.37
It appears that an important part of developing general self-efficacy and PI is the socialisation that can occur at the tax clinic, and the feedback and observation, whether it be the supervisor, fellow student advisers or clients. The role of the supervisors was noted:
I have learned a lot from listening to [the tax agent] deal with the clients and I feel comfortable now dealing with a client on my own. I am aware that I still don’t have enough knowledge and [the tax agent] still has to take over at times, but I know I have the basis and the confidence to improve (Online – Domestic).
This included just being able to watch their tax supervisor:
It was amazing to learn one on one with [the tax agent] who is so experienced in the field of taxation that even in the meetings where I said nothing, I was able to learn so much from his example (Online – Domestic).
Also, the interaction with clients was important in terms of self-reflection:
Because it was such a practical experience dealing with real clients and you get to see their prompt reaction, I was able to learn faster and more effectively than any courses from university (Face-to-face – International).
This included seeing individuals benefit from their work:
The free tax seminar which I presented to the unrepresented taxpayers in my community helped me to improve my presentation skills and giving back my knowledge to help them (Face-to-face – International).
The PI satisfaction measures for both cohorts are also strong, with the online students slightly more satisfied. Overall, this would suggest that both cohorts of students were able to develop their PI and knowledge while participating at the clinic:
Honestly, the Griffith Tax Clinic is amazing … (Online student).
Similar to other research remote WIL students can still miss the personal interaction,38 as online students expressed a desire for a face-to-face experience, even though they appreciated the valuable online learning experience:
I think that a face-to-face tax clinic would lead to a better learning experience but given the circumstances, I think it was great (Online student).
Through the comments section of the survey, online students expressed that they experienced greater difficulty in leading client meetings. This could be attributed to limitations in technology in addition to the inherent requirement for the tax agent to share his screen for advice predisposing him to dominate meetings, as he had access to the tax software. This can be contrasted to the physical face-to-face environment where the students had more opportunity to directly navigate the client through any online software (even though under direction of the tax agent):
I know it was tough being online and all, but I just wish there was more opportunity to lead conversations and guide the tax return process (Online student).
It is evident that the sense of PI from the tax clinic has assisted students with their future career direction, including the motivation to pursue it:
I have more motivation to follow this career. I am excited to start this career path after graduation and look forward to working within this field (Face-to-face – Domestic).
… after finishing this programme, I started looking at myself more as a professional in the making. … I used to take studies to pass my subject with good marks, now I study to learn and improve myself professionally. … This programme taught me interpersonal skills are as important as the technical knowledge (Face-to-face – International).
Note, the experience also made some students realise that they didn’t want to pursue a tax career. The PI results are now analysed in terms of students’ nationality and professional work experience.
Nationality
For general self-efficacy, domestic students experienced a similar growth of 4 per cent whether face-to-face or online (Table 17.3). For international students their growth was much stronger when face-to-face (13 per cent cf 5 per cent). However, it is important to recall online students were dealing with the uncertainty of a pandemic. This stress may have been greater for international students given their isolation in Australia, being away from loved ones who may have been subjected to a worse pandemic experience, as well as greater financial distress given their potential ineligibility for government financial initiatives to assist during the pandemic.
How “confident” are you in your ability to. … | Face-to-face | Online | ||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Domestic | International | Domestic | International | |||||||||||||
Beginning (n = 17) | End (n = 14) | Change | Beginning (n = 8) | End (n = 7) | Change | Beginning (n = 14) | End (n=11) | Change | Beginning (n = 5) | End (n = 4) | Change | |||||
General | ||||||||||||||||
… accomplish difficult tasks when faced with them. | 3.65 | 4.07 | 0.42 (8%) | 3.63 | 4.00 | 0.37 (8%) | 3.57 | 3.73 | 0.16 (3%) | 3.60 | 3.75 | 0.15 (3%) | ||||
… perform quite well under pressure. | 3.94 | 4.00 | 0.06 (1%) | 3.75 | 4.14 | 0.39 (8%) | 3.79 | 3.91 | 0.12 (2%) | 3.00 | 3.50 | 0.50 (10%) | ||||
… better manage time. | 4.18 | 4.29 | 0.11 (2%) | 3.50 | 4.71 | 1.21 (24%) | 3.57 | 3.82 | 0.25 (5%) | 3.80 | 4.00 | 0.2 (4%) | ||||
Overall average | 3.92 | 4.12 | 0.20 (4%) | 3.62 | 4.28 | 0.66 (13%) | 3.64 | 3.82 | 0.18 (4%) | 3.50 | 3.75 | 0.25 (5%) | ||||
Professional Identity | ||||||||||||||||
… begin a career in the Degree I am studying. | 3.76 | 3.79 | 0.03 (0%) | 3.88 | 4.71 | 0.83 (17%) | 3.79 | 4.27 | 0.48 (10%) | 3.80 | 4.75 | 0.95 (19%) | ||||
… achieve my career goals. | 3.71 | 3.50 | −0.21 (−4%) | 3.88 | 4.71 | 0.83 (17%) | 3.93 | 4.36 | 0.43 (9%) | 4.00 | 4.25 | 0.25 (5%) | ||||
… understand what is expected of me as a professional adviser. | 4.18 | 4.07 | −0.11 (−2%) | 3.50 | 4.57 | 1.07 (21%) | 4.14 | 4.36 | 0.22 (4%) | 4.00 | 3.75 | −0.25 (−5%) | ||||
Overall average | 3.88 | 3.80 | −0.09 (−2%) | 3.75 | 4.66 | 0.91 (18%) | 3.95 | 4.33 | 0.48 (9%) | 3.93 | 4.25 | 0.32 (6%) | ||||
Professional Identity (PI) Satisfaction | ||||||||||||||||
Being part of the Tax Clinic provided an insight into professional life. | NA | 4.43 | NA | NA | 5.00 | NA | NA | 4.73 | NA | NA | 5.00 | NA | ||||
Being part of the Tax Clinic is effective to develop my professional identity. | NA | 4.36 | NA | NA | 5.00 | NA | NA | 4.64 | NA | NA | 4.75 | NA | ||||
For the PI self-efficacy measures for domestic students their face-to-face experience appears not to be as strong as their online experience in developing PI (−2 per cent cf 9 per cent). In contrast, for international students their face-to-face experience provided stronger PI growth than the online experience (18 per cent cf 6 per cent). It may have been the case that the domestic students dominated in the online environment due to higher conversational English skills, and that the online environment allowed more opportunity for shy international students to ‘hide’ and wait for someone to step in. Note the PI satisfaction scores are higher in the online environment for domestic students, whereas for international students the online PI satisfaction is slightly lower (but still high).
It could be that the online environment may limit the interaction with clients (which is true as there were generally fewer client meetings per day), and may mean some more experienced and confident students dominate:
As a non-experienced, shy international student, I needed more practice and more opportunities for leading client meetings in order to overcome my nervousness and lack of confidence (Online – International).
This low confidence could be relevant for international students with English as a second language:
I felt quite overwhelmed on my first day when I saw five other student tax advisers and supervisors on my computer screen. At the end of the workday, I realised that I was quite shy in my interactions and if I stay quiet, then I will not be able to learn more and build stronger relationships with my team. However, I pushed myself out of my student shell and started to participate more in the discussions. This helped me overall in building my confidence and getting to know new people (Online – International).
Fellow student advisers appeared to be important to build each other’s confidence:
I have learned how to work as a team to serve one purpose, to meet the client’s expectations. I have also gained some leadership skills by taking charge over a list of clients and distributing the work evenly to other student tax advisers (Face-to-face – Domestic).
PWE (Professional Work Experience)
Prior studies have reported that WIL is more likely to increase students’ professional knowledge, compared to their university studies,39 and students who may experience the greatest benefits can be those with limited PWE.40 Although some of these prior studies involved simulated WIL and their results may be different in an authentic WIL experience. Additionally, studies highlight how ‘socialisation’ can be compromised by a remote workplace,41 as there may be limited opportunity to learn from colleagues which can be a key aspect of WIL.42 In a remote online environment, the ability for students to observe and interact with colleagues formally and informally could be restricted.43 As discussed earlier, the online clinic format did provide for some socialisation and mentoring feedback to be provided.
As shown in Table 17.4, PWE students with face-to-face experience had greater growth in general self-efficacy than non-PWE students (10 per cent cf 4 per cent) and PI self-efficacy (8 per cent cf 4 per cent). With the online experience this difference is even greater. When online, PWE students had greater growth in general self-efficacy (12 per cent cf –3 per cent) and PI self-efficacy (11 per cent cf 4 per cent) compared to non-PWE students. For PI satisfaction, face-to-face, non-PWE have greater satisfaction measures; whereas, when online, the trend is opposite, with PWE students more satisfied. This would suggest that students having some PWE can help to increase their PI at the clinic, especially when the clinic is conducted online. It appears prior PWE can assist students in dealing with the challenges that working at the tax clinic presents, including an increased sense of self-efficacy to deal with learning from challenging situations:
Before starting this trimester, I was confident that I could do it. I did not have any doubts. However, in the first interview I was meant to lead, I got a little nervous and started to freeze. I was having trouble keeping my normal calm and relaxed … [the tax agent] took over most of the questioning in the first interview … After seeing how [the tax agent] conducted the interview … I was much more reassured of how to do this effectively (Online – Domestic – PWE).
How “confident” are you in your ability to … . | Face-to-face | Online | ||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
No Professional Work Experience (PWE)* | Some Professional Work Experience (PWE) | No Professional Work Experience (PWE)* | Some Professional Work Experience (PWE) | |||||||||||||
Beginning (n = 14) | End (n = 13) | Change | Beginning (n = 11) | End (n = 8) | Change | Beginning (n = 11) | End (n = 8) | Change | Beginning (n = 8) | End (n = 7) | Change | |||||
General | ||||||||||||||||
… accomplish difficult tasks when faced with them. | 3.79 | 4.00 | 0.21 (4%) | 3.45 | 4.13 | 0.68 (13%) | 3.45 | 3.38 | −0.07 (−2%) | 3.75 | 4.14 | 0.39 (8%) | ||||
… perform quite well under pressure. | 4.00 | 3.92 | −0.08 (−2%) | 3.73 | 4.25 | 0.53 (10%) | 3.55 | 3.38 | −0.17 (−3%) | 3.63 | 4.29 | 0.66 (13%) | ||||
… better manage time. | 3.86 | 4.38 | 0.52 (11%) | 4.09 | 4.50 | 0.41 (8%) | 3.82 | 3.63 | −0.19 (−4%) | 3.38 | 4.14 | −0.76 (15%) | ||||
Overall average | 3.88 | 4.10 | 0.22 (4%) | 3.76 | 4.29 | 0.53 (10%) | 3.61 | 3.46 | −0.15 (−3%) | 3.60 | 4.19 | 0.59 (12%) | ||||
Professional Identity | ||||||||||||||||
… begin a career in the Degree I am studying. | 3.86 | 4.15 | 0.29 (6%) | 3.73 | 4.00 | 0.27 (5%) | 3.55 | 4.25 | 0.7 (14%) | 4.13 | 4.57 | 0.44 (9%) | ||||
… achieve my career goals. | 3.64 | 3.77 | 0.13 (3%) | 3.91 | 4.13 | 0.22 (4%) | 3.82 | 3.88 | 0.06 (1%) | 4.13 | 4.86 | 0.73 (15%) | ||||
… understand what is expected of me as a professional adviser. | 4.21 | 4.15 | -0.29 (−1%) | 3.64 | 4.38 | 0.74 (15%) | 4.09 | 3.88 | −0.21 (−4%) | 4.13 | 4.57 | 0.44 (9%) | ||||
Overall average | 3.90 | 4.02 | 0.12 (4%) | 3.76 | 4.17 | 0.41 (8%) | 3.82 | 4.00 | 0.18 (4%) | 4.13 | 4.67 | 0.54 (11%) | ||||
Professional Identity (PI) Satisfaction | ||||||||||||||||
Being part of the Tax Clinic provided an insight into professional life. | NA | 4.69 | NA | NA | 4.50 | NA | NA | 4.63 | NA | NA | 5.00 | NA | ||||
Being part of the Tax Clinic is effective to develop my professional identity. | NA | 4.62 | NA | NA | 4.50 | NA | NA | 4.50 | NA | NA | 4.86 | NA | ||||
However, non-PWE students are aware of the benefit of the tax clinic experience:
As I was getting towards the end of my degree, … I always pictured myself being an accounting professional … There has always been the “How am I going to do that with no experience?” question … Because of this internship, I have a completely different perspective on accounting in general as well as my skills and abilities. I will take this experience with me once I leave the university and I will keep developing myself as a professional individual throughout my career (Online – International – non-PWE).
Limitations of research and future research
There are limitations to this study, including the low number of students involved. The metrics, especially for the online cohort, could be affected by other external factors, especially the stress and uncertainty of living through a pandemic. Also, some of the online student satisfaction may be attributed to students’ appreciation of having a WIL opportunity even in the midst of a pandemic when other WIL experiences were suspended.
Future research could consider the influence of higher academically achieving students and how their general and PI self-efficacy is influenced due to the tax clinic experience. More research could consider the effect of WIL for first-in-family to attend university, as well as subsequent employment outcomes.
17.6 Concluding remarks
COVID-19 has presented many challenges for the education sector, particularly how to continue students’ learning experiences. This chapter has described how a WIL experience of a student tax clinic transformed from a physical face-to-face delivery to a fully online office within a matter of weeks. This online transformation enabled the clinic to continue to operate and provide tax assistance to those vulnerable taxpayers in the community. However, it was not certain in what way the move to a fully online platform would influence how students saw themselves as professionals, and what it means to be a professional tax adviser. The notion of PI is therefore important for students to develop and can help motivate them to pursue their future careers.
Through a comparative longitudinal study, this chapter has presented data about the development of students’ PI both online and compared to prior face-to-face delivery. This research demonstrated that regardless of whether students undertake their WIL course in person or online, they still place value on their experience and perceive that their PI has improved as result of their engagement. This appears to be due to the social interaction that was maintained between supervisors, fellow students within the WIL programme and clients. However, for certain groups, such as international students and students with no PWE, the growth in PI is not as strong, especially working at an online clinic. If there is continued growth in remote online work, this could suggest that their PI needs to be developed as far as possible during students’ studies, as the opportunities for meaningful interactions could be severely diminished or altered (compared to prior generations) once they enter the world of work.
* Brett Freudenberg, Professor, Griffith Business School; Melissa Belle Isle, Lecturer in Taxation Law, Griffith University; Colin Perryman, Griffith Tax Clinic; Kristin Thomas, Griffith Tax Clinic Office Manager; Ashleigh Cohen, Griffith University.
1 Preeti Sandhu and Maisie de Wolf, ‘The Impact of COVID-19 on the Undergraduate Medical Curriculum’, Medical Education Online 25, no. 1 (2020) <https://doi.org/10.1080/10872981.2020.1764740> accessed 30 July 2020.
2 Roy Rasalam and Suniti Bandaranaike, ‘Virtual WIL Clinics in Medicine: Overcoming the COVID-19 Challenge’, International Journal of Work-Integrated Learning 21, no. 5 (2020): 573.
3 Ainsley S. Goldman and Ashley E. Stirling, ‘Becoming a Part While Apart: Building Professional Identity and Membership When Working and Learning Remotely’, International Journal of Work-Integrated Learning 21, no. 4 (2020): 387.
4 Silva Gilardi and Edoardo Lozza, ‘Inquiry-Based Learning and Undergraduates’ Professional Identity Development: Assessment of a Field Research-Based Course’, Innovative Higher Education 34, no. 4 (2009): 245, 247.
5 Beverley Oliver, ‘Redefining Graduate Employability and Work-Integrated Learning: Proposals for Effective Higher Education in Disrupted Economies’, Journal of Teaching and Learning for Graduate Employability 6, no. 1 (2015): 56.
6 Mary Atchison et al., ‘Work Integrated Learning Paper’ (RMIT University, 2002).
7 Australian Joint Accounting Bodies, ‘Submission: Review of Australian Higher Education’ (Department of Industry, 2008), <www.innovation.gov.au/HigherEducation/Pages/Library%20Card/Review/Subs2008/057JointAccountingBodies.aspx> accessed 230 June 2022.
8 Daniel J. Levinson et al., The Seasons of a Man’s Life (Ballantine Books, 1978); Donald Super, Mark Savickas and Charles Super, Career Choice and Development: The Life-Span, Life-Space Approach to Careers (3rd ed., Jossey-Bass, 1996).
9 George B. Forsythe, ‘Identity Development in Professional Education’, Academic Medicine 80, no. 10 (2005): S112; Beverley Jackling and Colin Sullivan, ‘Financial Planners in Australia: An Evaluation of Gaps in Technical and Behavioral Skills’, Financial Services Review 16 (2007): 211.
10 Atchison et al., ‘Work Integrated Learning Paper’. There are a number of terminologies used to describe WIL, including cooperative learning and service learning, however, the term WIL is used in this chapter for consistency.
11 Carol-joy Patrick et al., ‘The WIL [Work Integrated Learning] Report: A National Scoping Study’ (Australian Learning and Teaching Council (ALTC) Final Report, Queensland University of Technology, 2008).
12 Richard Coll et al., ‘An Exploration of the Pedagogies Employed to Integrate Knowledge in Work-Integrated Learning’, Journal of Cooperative Education & Internships 43, no. 1 (2009): 14.
13 Alison Blackwell et al., ‘Transforming Work Experience in Higher Education’, British Educational Research Journal 27, no. 3 (2001): 269.
14 Lee Harvey, Vicki Geall and Sue Moon, Graduates’ Work: Organisational Change and Students’ Attributes (University of Central England Centre for Research into Quality, 1997); Peter Knight, Fostering and Assessing ‘Wicked’ Competences (The Open University’s Centres for Excellence in Teaching and Learning, 2007).
15 Such benefits could include less travel time, ability to work from home and greater flexibility of hours.
16 Tammy Allen, Timothy Golden and Kristen Shockley, ‘How Effective Is Telecommuting? Assessing the Status of Our Scientific Findings’, Psychological Science in the Public Interest 16, no. 2 (2015): 40; Bartel et al., ‘Knowing Where You Stand: Physical Isolation, Perceived Respect, and Organizational Identification among Virtual Employees’, Organization Science 23, no. 3 (2012): 743; Maria Charalampous et al., ‘Systematically Reviewing Remote E-workers’ Well-Being at Work: A Multidimensional Approach’, European Journal of Work and Organizational Psychology 28, no. 1 (2019): 51; Sandi Mann and Lynn Holdsworth, ‘The Psychological Impact of Teleworking: Stress, Emotions and Health. New Technology’, Work and Employment 18, no. 3 (2003): 196.
17 Diane E. Bailey and Nancy B. Kurland, ‘A Review of Telework Research: Findings, New Directions, and Lessons for the Study of Modern Work’, Journal of Organizational Behavior 23, no. 4 (2002): 383; Sara Jansen-Perry, Cristina Rubino and Emily M. Hunter, ‘Stress in Remote Work: Two Studies Testing the Demand-Control-Person Model’, European Journal of Work and Organizational Psychology 27, no. 5 (2018): 577.
18 Timothy Golden, John Veiga and Richard Dino, ‘The Impact of Professional Isolation on Teleworker Job Performance and Turnover Intentions: Does Time Spent Teleworking, Interacting Face-to-Face, or Having Access to Communication-Enhancing Technology Matter?’, Journal of Applied Psychology 93, no. 6 (2008): 1412; Allen, Golden and Shockley, ‘How Effective Is Telecommuting?’
19 Goldman and Stirling, ‘Becoming a Part While Apart’, 396.
20 T. Judene Pretti, Brittany Etmanski and Amie Durston, ‘Remote Work-Integrated Learning Experiences: Student Perceptions’, International Journal of Work-Integrated Learning 21, no. 4 (2020): 401, 406.
21 Bartel et al., ‘Knowing Where You Stand’; Charalampous et al., ‘Systematically Reviewing Remote E-workers’ Well-Being at Work’.
22 Jerry Miller, ‘The Impact of Service-Learning Experiences of Students’ Sense of Power’, Michigan Journal of Service Learning 4 (1997): 16.
23 Patrick et al., ‘The WIL Report’.
24 Marie Kavanagh and Lyndal Drennan, ‘What Skills and Attributes Does an Accounting Graduate Need?’, Accounting and Finance 48 (2008): 279, 294.
25 Brett Freudenberg et al., ‘The Griffith Tax Clinic’, Journal of Australian Tax 22, no. 2 (2020): 64.
26 A sample of video recordings can be viewed at <www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLb-DNv-IsbL6q5nbGcNDZgMLUPcsR7ESL> accessed 1 August 2022.
27 Albert Bandura, Self-efficacy: The Exercise of Control (Freeman, 1997), 3.
28 Albert Bandura, ‘Self-efficacy: Toward a Unifying Theory of Behavioral Change’, Psychological Review 84, no. 2 (1977): 191.
29 Rudolf J. Bosscher and Johannes H. Smit, ‘Confirmatory Factor Analysis of the General Self-Efficacy Scale’, Behaviour Research & Therapy 36, no. 3 (1998): 339; Gilad Chen and Stan Gully, ‘Specific Self-Efficacy, General Self-Efficacy, and Self-Esteem: Are They Distinguishable Constructs?’ (57th Annual Meeting of the Academy of Management, Boston, 1997); Andrea K. Kirk and David F. Brown, ‘Latent Constructs of Proximal and Distal Motivation Predicting Performance under Maximum Test Conditions’, Journal of Applied Psychology 88, no. 1 (2003): 40.
30 Gilad Chen, Stanley M. Gully and Dov Eden, ‘Validation of a New General Self-Efficacy Scale’, Organizational Research Methods 4, no. 1 (2001): 62.
31 Alvin Y. Wang and R. Stephen Richarde, ‘Global versus Task-Specific Measures of Self-Efficacy’, The Psychological Record 38 (1988): 533.
32 Ethics coding approval is GU Ref No: 2019/524.
33 Leopold Bayerlein and Debora Jeske, ‘Student Learning Opportunities in Traditional and Computer-Mediated Internships’, Journal of Education and Training 60, no. 1 (2018): 27; Debora Jeske and Carol Linehan, ‘Mentoring and Skill Development in E-Internships’, Journal of Work-Applied Management 12, no. 2 (2020): 245.
34 Tim Bentley et al., ‘The Role of Organisational Support in Teleworker Wellbeing: A Socio-Technical Systems Approach’, Applied Ergonomics 52 (2016): 207; Debora Jeske and Carolyn M. Axtell, ‘The Nature of Relationships in E-Internships: A Matter of the Psychological Contract, Communication and Relational Investment’, Journal of Work and Organizational Psychology 34, no. 2 (2018): 113.
35 Kirsten MacDonald et al., ‘Realizing the Professional Within: The Effect of Work Integrated Learning’, Asia-Pacific Journal of Cooperative Education 15, no. 2 (2014): 159. See also, Miller, ‘The Impact of Service-Learning Experiences of Students’ Sense of Power’, 19.
36 Kathy Kram, Mentoring at Work: Developmental Relationships in Organizational Life (Scott, Foresman and Company, 1985).
37 I. J. Hetty van Emmerick, ‘The More You Can Get, the Better: Mentoring Constellations and Intrinsic Career Success’, Career Development International 9, no. 6 (2004): 578; S. Gayle Baugh and Terri Scandura, ‘The Effect of Multiple Mentors on Protégé Attitudes toward the Work Setting’, Journal of Social Behavior and Personality 14, no. 4 (1999): 503; Suzanne de Janasz, Sherry Sullivan and Vicki Whiting, ‘Mentor Networks and Career Success: Lessons for Turbulent Times’, Academy of Management Executive 17, no. 4 (2003): 78; Monica Higgins and David Thomas, ‘Constellations and Careers: Toward Understanding the Effects of Multiple Developmental Relationships’, Journal of Organizational Behavior 22, no. 3 (2001): 223.
38 Pretti, Etmanski and Durston, ‘Remote Work-Integrated Learning Experiences’, 406.
39 Keith Trigwell and Anna Reid, ‘Introduction: Work-Based Learning and the Students’ Perspective’, Higher Education Research & Development 17, no. 2 (1998): 141.
40 Mahmoud Haddara and Heather Skanes, ‘A Reflection on Cooperative Education: From Experience to Experiential Learning’, Asia-Pacific Journal of Cooperative Education 8, no. 1 (2007): 67, 69; David Stern et al., ‘Work Experience for Students in High School and College’, Youth and Society 21, no. 3 (1990): 355; Brett Freudenberg and Anna Mortimore, ‘Building Students’ Self-Efficacy through the “Tax Firm” Case Studies: The Effect of Prior Professional Work Experience’, Journal of Australasian Tax Teachers Association 15, no. 1 (2020): 165.
41 Pretti, Etmanski and Durston, ‘Remote Work-Integrated Learning Experiences’, 406.
42 David Drewery, T. Judene Pretti and Antoine Pennaforte, ‘Conceptualizing the Quality of Cooperative Education Work Term Experiences: An Exploration from the Students’ Perspective’ (19th WACE World Conference on Co-operative and Work-Integrated Education, Kyoto, August, 2015) <www.waceinc.org/kyoto2015/assets/proceedings/Drewery.pdf.%20> accessed 19 September 2020; Jeske and Linehan, ‘Student Learning Opportunities in Traditional and Computer-Mediated Internships’; Peggy Sattler and Julie Peters, ‘Work-Integrated Learning in Ontario’s Postsecondary Sector: The Experience of Ontario Graduates’ (Higher Education Quality Council of Ontario, 2013).
43 Pretti, Etmanski and Durston, ‘Remote Work-Integrated Learning Experiences’.