Design of an Employability Agency for the Transdisciplinary Students of Creative Technologies: A Research Through Design Approach

Date
2021
Authors
Rajusha, Rajiv
Supervisor
Sosa, Ricardo
Hunting, Amabel
Item type
Thesis
Degree name
Master of Creative Technologies
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Publisher
Auckland University of Technology
Abstract

Fresh university graduates face an ever-changing professional landscape where it can be challenging to find jobs that lead to successful careers. This is particularly the case for emergent professions such as creative technologies, given the changing nature of technology and the increasingly recognised value of working across traditional disciplines. This thesis presents a Research through Design (RtD) project with the goal to help fresh creative technologists get better work opportunities. Semi-structured interviews were carried out with students, alumni, and industry experts to identify current practices, opportunities and challenges, and insights to inform the design of solutions to address this problem. Three themes were identified from these interviews: unexplored existing opportunities, a demand for employability skills, and platforms for student-industry interactions. The insights from this work inform the aspects that need to be addressed to design solutions that help creative technologies graduates find relevant jobs to start their careers in the right directions. The research raises new questions about why and how universities in the future can engage stakeholders to make the most of existing untapped opportunities and restructure processes to align with changing demands in industry.

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Keywords
Employability , Transdisciplinary , Research through Design , Design thinking , Creative Technologies , Design , Jobs , Qualitative research , Research , Transdisciplinarity , Interviews , Semi-structured interviews , Thematic analysis
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