About graduate attributes

What are graduate attributes?

In Generic Capabilities of ATN University Graduates, Bowden et. al. (2000) provide a definition of graduate attributes that has become commonly accepted and applied in many Australian universities:

Graduate attributes are the qualities, skills and understandings a university community agrees its students should develop during their time with the institution. These attributes include, but go beyond, the disciplinary expertise or technical knowledge that has traditionally formed the core of most university courses. They are qualities that also prepare graduates as agents for social good in an unknown future.

The report points out that graduate attributes are not limited to characteristics that derive necessarily or exclusively from exposure to the distinctive knowledge, language, and tests for truth that constitute a specific discipline. Nevertheless, the development and assessment of graduate attributes should be undertaken within a discipline-specific context and in an explicit and systematic way.

This section provides information about the UNSW graduate attributes and Faculty graduate attributes, that is, how Faculties have contextualized the UNSW graduate attributes to their particular discipline and professional areas.