2017 Excellence in Career Development Research Winner - Amy Bohren

After ten years of part-research alongside a full-time job, Amy Bohren has completed her PhD and taken out the CDAA 2017 Award for Excellence in Career Development Research.

The focus of Amy’s research was the experiences of business and arts students from low-SES backgrounds and those first in their family to attend university.

Amy said she was proud that her research told their stories, alongside those of their more advantaged peers

“We are slowly succeeding at increasing the participation rates of these young people, yet we rarely ask them about their experiences of university and how they prepare for the labour market,” Ms Bohren said.

Her research raised questions about the effectiveness of skills‐based policy and what we consider ‘best practice’ at Australian universities and career services.

She found the holistic, sociological approach to learning, teaching and career services in business more effective than the traditional skills-based approach in the arts.

Her thesis concluded that to transform the way students understand and approach employability, universities would require cooperation between academics, faculty leadership, career services and institutional leadership, along with ongoing research.

To be successful in her thesis, Amy said she read “voraciously” about higher education, employability and issues relating to social backgrounds almost every day.

But without the guidance of her PhD supervisor, she said her research wouldn’t be where it is today.

“My supervisor had a particular way of asking proving questions about my research that allowed me to learn,” Ms Bohren said.

“She never told me what to do, but questioned in a way that made me thing. I found this technique so helpful that I use it when working with university students and graduates.”

However, with any achievement comes challenges, and for Amy her biggest lesson was being able to let go.

“If you want to do research properly, you need a lot of time – not only to read, write, think and analyse – but most importantly to reflect,” she said.

“Most of us are told early that you should just do the best you can in the time available, but we also tend to be perfectionists.

“At a conference in the UK, I met an Israeli sociologist who told me ‘it’s good enough for the PhD’. I transferred this message to a post-it-note, which sat on my desk for years.”

With her PhD completed and now a director of her own private practice, Amy said achieving excellence was about the fusion of research with practice and a passion for helping others.

“Striving for excellence is important, in that it encourages us to go a step further,” she said.

“By working within our areas of specialisation, and by combining research and experience, we can support our clients to achieve outcomes they never thought possible.”

Amy was announced the winner at the CDAA 2017 Excellence Awards Dinner at the Pullman Hotel Brisbane on May 18.