Hobsons-NAGCAS Indigenous Scholarship for Postgraduate Studies in Career Development 2013

December 20, 2012

As the professional association for the staff of careers services in higher education in Australia, the National Association of Graduate Careers Advisory Services (NAGCAS (Aust.) Inc.) runs regular meetings and events as well as an annual conference with renowned Australian and international speakers. This year, in planning the conference, the committee could find no Indigenous people formally trained as Career Counselors that would be eligible for registration with the Careers Industry Council of Australia (CICA).

To address this gap, Hobsons and NAGCAS have joined together to launch an Indigenous Scholarship for Postgraduate Studies in Career Development, which is a first for Australia and career development. The Scholarship acknowledges our professional need to be proactive in addressing the career needs of all Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people (young and old, remote and urban).

Hobsons, the inaugural sponsor for the 2013 Scholarship, is a global careers and educational publisher that supports careers practitioners through publication of the Job Guide and The Good Universities Guides, as well as facilitating professional networking through the Australian Careers Service (ACS) Seminars.

This scholarship initiative is a new and different approach to exploring more effective ways of addressing the career development needs of young Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people. Australian career practitioners have long been cognizant of the different cultural perspectives and challenging social and environmental circumstances of Indigenous people and communities. With this initial project it is hoped/anticipated that having a professionally qualified Indigenous career development practitioner will provide a leadership role with insights and cultural perspectives, and deeper understanding of career, work, employment and community issues that need to be considered and addressed.

The Scholarship will cover tuition costs (up to $5,500) to study in a CICA accredited course that will lead to an entry qualification (Graduate Certificate of Career Development) to enable registration as a career development practitioner.

Applications close at 5pm WST, 3 May 2013.

More information, selection criteria and the application form can be found on the NAGCAS website, and the Hobsons website, or call Curtin University Careers Centre on 08 9288 9909.

Back to top