This dissertation studies the effect of higher education costs on students' outcomes in the labor market, particularly when credit constraints are absent. It utilizes the UK's institutional setting to identify such an effect. The key findings are as follows. (i) Increasing tuition fees does not have adverse effects on students as long as credit…

This report puts forward practical actions to address economic and social disparities across the United Kingdom (UK). It sets out the evidence of the impact universities are making across three main themes, outlines the potential to go further, and makes recommendations for how the government can work with universities to maximise their…

Do employers prioritize university prestige above an applicant's skills in the hiring process? To distinguish between the effect of human capital in the hiring process from the effect of the name of the graduating university--while controlling for networking effects--2,400 fictitious applications were submitted to IT and accounting jobs in the US,…

This study addresses the gap in evidence on employability of people from disadvantaged groups in the context of the greening of the economy. We focus in particular on people with low qualifications (i.e. those with at most a lower secondary qualification (level 2 or below in the International Standard Classification of Education (ISCED)). However,…

Global Employability Skills are skills that students acquire during their study period, that are in addition to their academic knowledge and skills, and that would help in their careers. As students continue their university journeys, they often overlook or underestimate the importance of developing Global Employability Skills that employers may…

Climate change is one of the greatest challenges of the times. Many feel powerless to reverse the damage to the planet. The complexities involved in achieving this are without historical precedent. To shift from a global economy that extracts and degrades to one that is reciprocal and sustainable, it must start with education. Pearson asked 5,000…

Following identifications of gendered inconsistencies in higher education delivery [Ain, C., F. Sabir, and J. Willison. 2018. "Research Skills That men and Women Developed at University and Then Used in Workplaces." "Studies in Higher Education," Published online.], this work exposes unseen gender-related issues in the graduate…

Studies consistently report that accounting graduates and graduates more generally do not have the generic skills expected by employers. This study considers the perspective of UK graduates and non-graduates training for the Certified Institute of Management Accounting professional accountancy qualification. The study uses questionnaire and…

Research across several countries has shown that degree classification (i.e. the final grade awarded to students successfully completing university) is an important determinant of graduates' first destination outcome. Graduates leaving university with higher degree classifications have better employment opportunities and a higher likelihood of…

Generation Y can be taken to be the group of people born between 1977 and 2000. The aim of this paper is to investigate the initial career entry and long-term career employment expectations of UK undergraduate Generation Ys, in order to inform employability skills development in higher education. The empirical research comprises 26 focus groups…

The collaborative project UseMyAbility (UMA) sought to reduce discrimination and enhance disabled graduates' employability through equipping them with the skills to match employability skills and attributes. An outcome from the project, completed in 2011, was a web-based tool which gave students advice on how to improve their employability.…

With women bearing a disproportionate share of economic hardship, their poor representation on training designed to tackle barriers to work is a critical concern. The author asks what can be done to improve women's access to this sort of learning. As the underrecruitment of women to ESF pre-employment programmes demonstrates, the author suggests…

A strong VET system is increasingly seen as essential to overcoming the current economic crisis in Europe. VET is seen as a powerful tool to assist in balancing labour market inefficiencies, increasing youth employment possibilities, and reducing skills mismatch. Its inherent flexibility and closeness to the labour market place VET in a good…

This paper reports on how science communication final year undergraduate research projects and educational internships can be utilised to provide opportunities for students to develop and utilise key employability skills. In the current difficult economic climate, the report "Working towards your future: Making the most of your time in higher…

Universities UK organised a seminar in Brighton in April 2010, bringing together vice-chancellors, researchers and policymakers to take a close look at the implications of the global and national economic crisis for both the UK economy and higher education. It also examined the changing nature of student demand in a post-recession economy. This…