Learning by Doing: Employer Expectations of Planning Studio Education

Abstract

Planning education is often criticised for being “too theoretical” and subsequently producing graduates who lack the requisite technical skills for the job market—who, in other words, are not “work ready.” It is assumed that employers will prefer graduates with technical and procedural know-how. This article reports on an employer workshop to evaluate the urban planning studio courses at the University of Queensland in Australia. The results were surprising. The attending employers agreed that procedural planning skills can be learned “on the job” while the university environment is an opportunity to develop critical and spatial thinking.