South African teacher education policy expects initial teacher education programmes to introduce integrated and applied knowledge to underpin a teacher's practice in diverse classroom contexts. This paper explores how a one-year Postgraduate Certificate in Education responds to this expectation in terms of training prospective teachers to teach…

The U.S. faces increasing demand for STEM knowledge, contributing to enhanced products, improved health care, more efficient energy sources, a preserved environment, safeguarded national security, and economic growth. In addition, high-paying occupations increasingly require STEM knowledge, and in non-STEM occupations, workers increasingly need…

This book examines the tide of change facing higher education as it grapples with providing a more relevant and demonstrated value for its graduates entering the workplace. Based on their experience with the Business in Practice program they created, the authors share the rationale and practical approaches colleges and universities need to…

The importance of embedding employability skills in English Higher Education has received increased attention since the introduction of tuition fees and employers claiming that graduates lack the necessary skills for the workforce. This paper considers how these employability skills align with students' aspirations, when there is uncertainty…

To remain sustainably viable in today's business environment, employers require appropriate skills to support their commitment to social responsibility. When recruiting skills, employers recognize that graduate attributes are essential indicators of the capability to render constructive workplace outcomes. Graduates need to develop these…

Drawing on various disciplinary and scholarly approaches to the multiple roles of higher education in society, this paper offers a new conceptualisation of the non-economic contributions of higher education. The conceptual model identifies two basic dimensions in higher education's contributions to society. The first, axiological dimension…

Universities have multiple functions of teaching, research, community development, and social impact, with the teaching function often thought of as just equipping students with professional knowledge and skills. However, the purpose of students' higher education may span more than just career preparation, and this knowledge of other purposes…

In recent history, the role of chief of staff in higher education has become more prominent (Hood, 2017). This study investigates the perceptions of university presidents and chiefs of staff of the chief of staff role in higher education, focusing on differences in perceptions and variance by institution type. It highlights the diverse pathways to…

The applied dissertation was designed to understand the perceptions of private-sector employers regarding the selection of candidates from distance-only higher education institutions. Guided by signaling theory as a framework, the study explored the mismatch between institutional, student, and employer expectations of skills and readiness for the…

The COVID-19 pandemic created a historic, global disruption in the labor market. In the short term, the labor force participation rate dropped precipitously as workers were laid off or furloughed, especially in sectors that were most affected by social distancing protocols, such as hospitality, travel and leisure, and retail (Lund et al., 2021).…

Although community colleges contribute to STEM education and the workforce in a variety of ways, it is impossible to determine how much they contribute--or to assess the effectiveness of policies and programs designed to strengthen STEM education in community colleges--without agreement on what constitutes STEM. In this report, the authors review…

Purpose: In today's ever-evolving digital job market, soft skills are increasingly important for university students to succeed in their future careers. This study identifies the soft skills that universities should prioritize the most due to their significance in the digital employment market. Design/methodology/approach: Using natural language…

If this is the age of innovation why is our educational system still navigating the future from the past? Recounts of industry hiring managers' negative perspectives about recent graduates' soft skills, when will this end and how will it be achieved before the 22nd century? The problem addressed in this study is that industry hiring managers and…

The following paper aims to investigate how student teachers relate to the suitability of their student teacher peers after experiencing challenges to their emerging teacher identity, resulting in emotional responses. A constructivist grounded theory study was conducted in which 18 student teachers participated. Data from 14 individual interviews…

The impact of higher education in policing has been the subject of debate and research for over a century. Several commissions have resulted in the enactment of legislation and implementation of programs to support higher education in police organizations worldwide. The purpose of this study was to understand how police officers in Jamaica valued…