What Is Expected of Higher Education Graduates in the Twenty-first Century?

Author(s):  
Martin Humburg ◽  
Rolf Van der Velden

In this chapter, we reflect on the skills higher education graduates are expected to have in today’s economy and the role of higher education in equipping graduates with these skills. First, we identify six trends which form the basis of the changing role of graduates in economic life. These trends are the knowledge society, increasing uncertainty, the ICT revolution, high performance workplaces, globalization, and the change of the economic structure. By changing the nature and range of tasks graduates are expected to fulfil in today’s economy, we argue that these trends generate new and intensify traditional skill demands, which we summarize as professional expertise, flexibility, innovation and knowledge management, mobilization of human resources, international orientation, and entrepreneurship. Second, we draw out some key issues concerning the role of higher education institutions in equipping graduates with these skills.

2021 ◽  
Vol 46 ◽  
pp. 13-26
Author(s):  
Ulrich Teichler

Changes in the governance system have been viewed as one of the key issues of higher education since about the 1990s. In many countries, the “managerial university” emerged accompanied by a controversial discourse about its strengths and about dangers implied. As academics are key actors performing key functions in higher education and as governance reforms increased the power of university management to steer academics, the academics’ perception of and response to the “managerial university” is crucial for its successes and failures. International comparative surveys of academics undertaken in the early 1990s and during the years 2007-2010 indicate that the modes of governance and the responses to these modes by academics vary more substantially across countries than the convergent international discourse suggests. Altogether, scholars’ views and behavior seem to have changed to a lesser extent than expected. The third comparative survey of that kind addresses similar issues, but additionally raises the question of whether strong footprints can be observed of the move toward a “knowledge society” with regard to the governance of higher education and academics’ views and activities.


Tertiary education faces a new era as expectations for good quality education are increasing. Globalization and knowledge Society formed new conditions on the global economic and geopolitical scene, and led higher education ahead to new challenges which require a redefinition of its role. These challenges have created new opportunities, new collaborations and new ways of managing Higher Education Institutions. In response to the demand for higher quality products and services, a growing number of Higher Education Institutions worldwide are implementing Total Quality Management (TQM) and the Deming Management Method. The first chapter is designed to provide the reader an overview of the role of Higher Education Institutions and the implications of globalization and knowledge society on tertiary education. Furthermore, this chapter deals with the strategic challenges of Higher Education Institutions and their strategic response to those challenges, focused on Deming and Total Quality Management.


Author(s):  
Claire Hamshire ◽  
W. Rod Cullen

The transition to higher education can be problematic for some students as they adapt to institutional procedures and degree level working at the same time as developing new social networks. To help facilitate these complex transitions institutions are increasingly turning towards digital technologies to provide both flexible access to resources and improved communication. This paper outlines the key issues associated with students' initial transitions to higher education and explores the challenges faced by academics designing induction procedures and programmes. The emerging role of digital technologies in supporting students' transitions into Higher Education, against the backdrop of a changing digital landscape in one institution is discussed and an evaluation of the easystart induction programme at Manchester Metropolitan University presented as a case study.


Libri ◽  
2018 ◽  
Vol 68 (3) ◽  
pp. 181-203 ◽  
Author(s):  
Christian Born ◽  
Maria Henkel ◽  
Agnes Mainka

Abstract In a survey of 31 informational world cities, we investigate the state of the art public library core services. For this study, we applied the core service catalog developed by (Mainka, A., S. Hartmann, L. Orszullok, I. Peters, A. Stallmann, and W. G. Stock. 2013. “Public Libraries in the Knowledge Society: Core Services of Libraries in Informational World Cities.” Libri 63 (4): 295–319. 10.1515/libri-2013-0024), counted the services offered by the libraries and compared findings with the results from 2013, allowing us to calculate a score for each library and rank them accordingly. An overall improvement of the range of services was observed, with North American libraries taking the top three positions in the ranking. To get a clearer picture of the challenges facing libraries today, personal interviews were also conducted with (chief) librarians, especially concerning developments such as maker spaces, increasing demand for information literacy instruction and the changing role of physical library space. The results presented in this paper highlight best practice examples of library services in prototypical cities of the knowledge society.


2020 ◽  
Vol 7 (2) ◽  
pp. 200-214
Author(s):  
Ron Corso

Institutions of higher education in the twenty-first century are undergoing a transformation locally and globally from traditional pillars of learning to being more entrepreneurial in their core business. There is increasing pressure on universities to becoming more flexible and adaptable as organizations and in the graduate attributes, they imbed in their students. There is a need to build deeper links with business, to both maximize innovation and promote growth, to ensure students are equipped to excel in the workforce. This change is having a disruptive effect on the role of universities, from classical research institutions to entrepreneurial universities mimicking more of the modern workplace working environment, requiring autonomy in their decision-making and in the way new research is developed, implemented and transferred in the relationships formed within their respective regions. This article outlines work in progress on the University of South Australia’s attempts to rebrand itself as a University of Innovation and Enterprise (Australia’s University of Enterprise) in both its end-user inspired research outcomes and industry-informed teaching and learning.


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