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Michael Healy

Careers and employability learning expert

Dr. Michael Healy is a recognised leader in the field of career development and employability. An award-winning educator and researcher, his work focuses on promoting effective and accessible careers and employability learning in schools, universities, and human services. Michael combines scholarly expertise with practical wisdom, gained from his 15 years of professional experience, a PhD in career education, and high quality research publications.

Interests

  • Careers and employability learning
  • Work-integrated learning
  • Career development professional practice
  • Narrative career identity

Education

  • PhD, careers and employability learning

    University of Southern Queensland

  • Grad. Cert. Career Development and Education, 2015

    Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology

  • Grad. Cert. Education, 2014

    Massey University

  • B.A. Hons, History, 2006

    University of Waikato

Publications

I have published my research in leading international journals and edited collections.

(2024). Differentiating grapes from wine: The education-to-work transition. GILE Journal of Skills Development.

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(2024). Finding the joy in complexity: Privileging the practitioner voice in graduate employability. Journal of Teaching and Learning for Graduate Employability.

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(2024). Dialogical self: co-investigator in career self-research. Narrative Career Counselling: From Theory to Practice in Diverse Cultures and Contexts.

DOI

(2023). LinkedIn as a pedagogical tool for careers and employability learning: a scoping review of the literature. Education + Training.

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(2022). About university career services’ interaction with edtech. Digital Transformation and Disruption of Higher Education.

DOI

(2021). Graduate employability as a professional proto-jurisdiction in higher education. Higher Education.

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(2021). Microcredential learners need quality careers and employability support. Journal of Teaching and Learning for Graduate Employability.

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(2021). Career Assessment. The Oxford Handbook of Career Development.

DOI

(2020). Mapping graduate employability and career development in higher education research: A citation network analysis. Studies in Higher Education.

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(2019). Connectedness learning in the life sciences: LinkedIn as an assessment task for employability and career exploration. Higher Education and the Future of Graduate Employability: A Connectedness Learning Approach.

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(2019). Career services in Australian higher education: Aligning the training of practitioners to contemporary practice. Journal of Higher Education Policy and Management.

DOI

(2019). My career chapter: The dialogical self as author and editor of a career autobiography. Career Theories and Models at Work: Ideas for Practice.

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(2018). Use of my career chapter to engage students in reflexive dialogue. The Dialogical Self Theory in education: A multicultural perspective.

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Awards

I have received several awards for excellence from various professional associations.

Award for Excellence in Leadership

Outstanding Educator of CAreer Development Professionals

Award for Excellence in Research

Award for Excellence in Research

Award for Excellence in Professional Practice

Experience

I have extensive experience in leading careers and employability programs and teaching career development courses.

 
 
 
 
 

National Manager, Career Education

myfuture, Education Services Australia

Jul 2023 – Present Toowoomba, QLD
Leading professional development programs for Australian career development educators and providing expert advice to to myfuture.edu.au.
 
 
 
 
 

Head of Careers and Employability; Lecturer, Career Development

careerED Academy

Sep 2021 – May 2023 Toowoomba, QLD

Led the design and delivery of a range of qualifications and professional development programs for career development practitioners.

Lead lecturer in Graduate Certificate of Career Development, delivered in partnership with James Cook University.

 
 
 
 
 

Employability Coordinator

University of Southern Queensland

Mar 2018 – Sep 2021 Toowoomba, QLD

Led a range of services and programs designed to enhance the employability, graduate outcomes, and entrepreneurial mindset of USQ students.

Collaborated with academics to incorporate careers and employability learning and work-integrated learning into the curricula of degree programs.

 
 
 
 
 

Careers and Employability Educator

La Trobe University

Mar 2015 – Mar 2018 Melbourne, VIC

Developed a comprehensive career education curriculum in support of Career Ready Advantage, a major institution-wide employability initiative.

Collaborated with academics to incorporate careers and employability learning and work-integrated learning into the curricula of degree programs.

 
 
 
 
 

Career Development Consultant

RMIT University Vietnam

Jun 2012 – Mar 2015 Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam
Led the development and delivery of Career Passport, a blended careers and employability learning program delivered to more than 200 students per trimester.
 
 
 
 
 

Academic English Educator

RMIT University Vietnam, Waikato University

Nov 2006 – Jun 2012 Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam; Hamilton New Zealand
Taught English language, writing, and research skills in English for Academic Purposes programs.

Presentations and webinars

Is there Strength in our Diversity? panel discussion

Panel discussion for the International Network of Employers and University Careers Services.

Careers and Employability Learning in Higher Education: Pedagogical Principles and Process

Research presentation delivered in collaboration with Dr. Jason Brown.

International practitioner research panel

My experience of PhD research in career development practice.

UQ Employability Symposium, plenary panel

A panel discussion for the University of Queensland faculty of Business, Economics, and Law.

Employability: What, when, where, how and for whom?

A panel discussion for the Needed Now in Higher Education online symposium.

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