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A Generation of Changemakers
Imagine if every single graduate—from engineering management and physiotherapy to primary school education and digital media—was equipped with a practical skill set to innovate and drive social change. In a time when students are seeking careers with impact—and employers are demanding graduates with core skills of problem-solving, critical thinking, creativity, and teamwork—how does a university equip every student with the changemaking skills to tackle complex social issues and future challenges not yet imagined? CQUniversity is five years into a long-term process to embed social innovation education and practice across the breadth of our curriculum, exponentially growing social change leadership and capability across all of Australian society. By embedding the social innovation attributes of resilience, creativity, empathy, curiosity, collaboration and systems-thinking into each discipline—and core social innovation content at each stage of a degree—we have committed to training every student to graduate with the confidence and competence to create positive social change.
Ashoka insight
Now, more than ever, students need to move beyond traditional disciplines, taught in traditional ways to rapidly develop skills and adopt new ways of thinking. The opportunity in a post-COVID-19 world is to continue to turn towards communities as part of economic and social rebuilding initiatives, and to ensure that graduates have the passion and confidence to lean-in to complex problem-solving challenges as global citizens.