Creativity as a desirable graduate attribute: Implications for curriculum design and employability

A wide range of graduate attributes are listed, categorized and prioritized by different higher education institutions. However, one attribute that is less visible in the literature is creativity. In the current study, creativity has emerged as a desirable graduate attribute among students and employers. This paper presents an exploratory discussion framed around a pilot study that examines student and employer perceptions on how creativity in leadership can be developed through a work-integrated learning approach for innovation and enterprise students in a science and engineering program. Key outcomes are discussed suggesting that notions of creativity have evolved from first generation concepts of creativity as an artistic, complex trait of gifted individuals toward a higher level of development to second generation concepts of creativity as a purposeful, collaborative process. Creativity in leadership emerged as a desirable graduate attribute.