Rural Professions
About
The attraction and retention of professionals in rural contexts is an ongoing challenge in Australia, and many international contexts. While the rural professions share similar workforce challenges, research into addressing these challenges has been disaggregated, siloed and not cross-referenced. The cross-disciplinary focus of this research program bridges these divides, generating new insights into common challenges and shared solutions for the sustainability of rural communities. Through collaboration across professions, we aim to achieve large-scale, transformative research which reflects a community’s perspective as a whole. This research involves a significant focus on rural school staffing in Australia and internationally, including international comparative studies, with a particular focus on rural China.
Current Projects
Workforce motivations and incentives for rural professionals
This project aims to achieve long-term change in hard-to-staff non-metropolitan schools by understanding, promoting, and recognising the distinct nature of rural professional practice.
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Experiences of students entering medical programs through rural pathways
This project examines the experiences of medical students entering the profession through rural pathways in order to better understand the ways through which rural students successfully become medical students and graduates, and the barriers they experience.
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Rural placements for preservice teachers and health practitioners
Research suggests that students who have the opportunity to experience rural placements are more likely to take up a rural appointment upon graduation. This project focusses on providing students at the University of Canberra with opportunities to undertake rural placements through a number of initiatives.
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Rural Professional Practice
While preparation for professional practice is conceived as placeless, it is always enacted in place. Drawing on the spatial turn in social theory, this research argues that place both shapes and is shaped by professionals and their practices and, as such, must be engaged with deeply and dynamically.
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