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Work-integrated learning (WIL) has emerged as a leading pedagogy that blends theory with application. In recent years, policymakers, educators and practitioners have called for a significant expansion of WIL, one which would enable every undergraduate student has at least one WIL experience during their program of study. Despite these appeals, there remains a significant divide between the aspiration of universality and the realities. Consequently, the study asks the following question: How can post-secondary institutions expand their WIL initiatives to universal levels that deliver transformative learning?

In this exploratory study, the authors leverage research from entrepreneurship and management to develop a conceptual model of universal work-integrated learning (UWIL). Entrepreneurship and management research is relevant in this context, as the rapid introduction of a UWIL has transformative implications at the level of the individual (e.g. students, faculty), organization (e.g. processes) and the learning ecosystem (e.g. partners, policymakers) — issues at the core of research in entrepreneurship and management over the past two decades.

At the core of the authors’ proposal is the contention that the high-impact talent challenge and the delivery of UWIL must be reframed as not simply a challenge facing educators, but as a challenge facing the broader ecosystem of the workforce and the larger community. The authors propose the implementation of UWIL through an open innovation framework based on five strategic pillars.

Ultimately, the findings the authors present here can be leveraged by all members of the learning ecosystem, including administrators, faculty, policymakers, accreditation bodies and community partners, as a framework for operationalizing a UWIL strategy. The study’s model challenges all members of this learning ecosystem to operationalize a UWIL strategy. This entrepreneurial reframing introduces the potential for innovating the delivery of UWIL by leveraging the broader learning ecosystem to drive efficiencies and transformative learning.