Purpose: The years 1960-1970 were decisive years in the development of Swiss vocational education and training (VET). The post-World War II economic boom, technological innovations and the debate concerning equal opportunities and the democratisation of education put the VET system under pressure. Reforms were thus undertaken to increase the…

Technological, social, and economic changes challenge workers' resilience at many levels. Innovative learning cultures have the potential to accommodate industry's skills expectations with workers need for new forms of workplace learning. This study explores the role of learning cultures as (1) moderators between stability and change, (2)…

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to analyse institutional strategy documents relating to technology-enhanced learning. Design/methodology/approach: In total, 84 documents were sampled from 71 leading higher education institutions (HEIs), identified through the Quacquarelli Symonds World University Rankings 2018. Qualitative content analysis…

This paper contributes to the literature on non-monetary benefits of Vocational Education and Training (VET) by investigating its influence on a firm's innovation process. While an increasing number of studies finds positive effects of VET on innovation in firms, the role that apprentices play in this mechanism has largely been unexplored. To…

Purpose: This paper aims to describe an innovative approach of integrating sustainability into the structures and processes of a business school without creating resistance. Design/methodology/approach: A sustainable entrepreneurship competition was embedded as an independent programme in an already existing business plan competition at the School…

This paper discusses the potential of language centres in higher education as laboratories for innovation. Despite their hybrid character as central service providers that are also defined by their teaching, their positioning at the academic periphery, and the lack of a mandate to do academic research, language centres still have an obligation to…

Policymakers in many countries have lit on tech-entrepreneurship as an essential element for economic development. To this end, South Africa's Technology Innovation Agency, with co-sponsorship from the Swiss-South African Joint Research Programme, has run a cross-country tech-entrepreneurial training programme for local tech-entrepreneurs since…

In this article, the authors present STarmac, a pre-incubator developed by the Swiss Applied Science University of Canton Vaud (HEIG-VD), which aims to support young founders in the development of innovative business ideas by providing them with the tools to manage market and technology risk. The article describes the STarmac pre-incubator and its…

Government regulations require businesses to improve their processes and products/services in a green and sustainable manner. For being environmentally friendly, businesses should invest more on eco-innovation practices. Firms eco-innovate to promote eco-efficiency and sustainability. This paper evaluates the eco-innovation performance of…

The past three decades have witnessed a sharp reduction in the rate of growth of public research funding, and sometimes an actual decline in its level. In many countries, this decline has been accompanied by substantial changes in the ways that such funding has been allocated and monitored. In addition, the institutions governing how research is…

Academic globalisation and the internationalisation of scientific knowledge currently place higher education between two forces: global competitiveness and innovation on the one hand, local attractiveness and diversity on the other. In view of this double requirement, this paper aims to examine language policy and analyse its impact on language…

This paper is based on work done at IdeaSquare, a new innovation experiment at CERN, the European Organization for Nuclear Research. The paper explores the translation of fundamental research into societal applications with the help of multidisciplinary student teams, project- and problem-based learning and design thinking methods. The theme is…

A growing number of U.S. companies across a range of industries are designing apprenticeship programs to give workers access to on-the-job learning opportunities that allow them to transition into in-demand jobs and careers. This discussion paper provides a snapshot of the current state of apprenticeship in the United States based on interviews…

Purpose: We investigate how the structural conditions of eight different European agricultural innovation systems can facilitate or hinder collaboration and social learning in multidisciplinary innovation networks. Methodology: We have adapted the Innovation System Failure Matrix to investigate the main barriers and enablers eight countries…

Traditionally, European doctoral education has principally taken place within the binary relationship of professors and their doctoral students according to the "apprenticeship model." However, in the last one to two decades, this model has been questioned. Governments and higher education institutions (HEIs) reform doctoral education by…