Purpose: This study explores the perceptions of Australian employers regarding the benefits and challenges of micro-credentials within higher education and enablers of their effectiveness. Design/methodology/approach: A qualitative approach that included 11 semi-structured interviews with employers affiliated with an Australian university was…

This report presents findings from an online survey conducted in May 2023. The survey was developed by the American Association of Colleges and Universities (AAC&U), in collaboration with Morning Consult. The survey was administered online by Morning Consult to a sample of 1,010 employers. The findings reflect employer perspectives on the…

In this qualitative study, we research what constitutes the relationships between conceptions of quality and value associated with higher education as experienced by prospective employers of business graduates. Quality and value in higher education are often linked though the relationship is unclear. Employers are an important and under-researched…

Purpose: Employability is a key concept in higher education. Graduate employment rate is often used to assess the quality of university provision, despite that employability and employment are two different concepts. This paper will increase the understandings of graduate employability through interpreting its meaning and whose responsibility for…

This paper analyzes how employers use discourse to ideologize the value of college internships--a historically emergent form of contingent, temporary, educational labor which has rapidly become a major feature of both higher education and labor relations in the United States (Frenette, 2015). The analysis is based on in-depth interviews with…

Purpose: Employability has long been a concern of scholars because of its complicated nature and changes in the requirements in labor markets to meet the new requirements of the Industrial Revolution 4.0 and globalization. However, there has not yet been much systematic investigation of the existing literature tracing the trends, changes and…

To advance the employability agenda in higher education, we need new ideas for embedding career skills into university curricula and novel tools for articulating the capabilities of learners. Situated in the discipline of environmental science, the aim of this study was to examine employer perceptions of the skills needed for a career in the…

Globally, the trend toward privatizing higher education has been accelerating, driven by economic and policy shifts. Uganda has aligned with this movement, becoming one of the African countries implementing privatization to enhance accessibility and efficiency in its universities. However, the benefits and challenges of higher education…

Talent supply and demand is a concern in many key positions in all industries, including higher education. Understanding what attracts and retains IT staff is important for organizations, particularly in a tight labor market. Institutions that experience high turnover in Information Technology (IT) staff positions risk impacting student services,…

Higher education opens doors to job enhancement and economic benefits to adult learners. Despite facing multiple barriers such as life-work-school time conflicts and financial constraints, adult learners continue to seek higher education and certifications. Rural employers also benefit from supporting degree completion or job-specific…

In the numerous studies of segmentation for higher education marketing, the primary focus has been on segmenting students. In fact, universities serve a diverse audience that includes parents, employers, alumni, donors, and other members of society. The primary purpose of this study is to explore the extent to which universities must attempt to…

Among the requirements for engineering programs, the Accreditation Board of Engineering and Technology (ABET) criteria for student outcomes require students to have the ability to communicate effectively with a range of audiences, recognize ethical and professional responsibilities, function effectively on a team, and apply new knowledge. A review…

This paper explores the implications for higher education of the emergence of new industries, driven by technological changes. The pace of technology-driven changes creates significant challenges for the alignment between the skill needs of industry and provision by higher education. Drawing on concepts from neo-correspondence theory, we examine…

This dissertation-in-practice (DIP) outlines a quantitative cross-sectional exploratory pilot study on the topic of interviewer gender identity and job applicant evaluation. Through the introduction of the topic, review of literature, and methodology, the real-world relevance and challenges surrounding equal-opportunity employment for women in the…

The rising prominence of micro-credentials started during the COVID-19 pandemic, where online resources offered competency-building opportunities for the work-from-home (WFH) human capital. During this pandemic, traditional universities faced total halt to face-to-face lectures, but ways paved for open and distance learning (ODL) universities to…