Alumni can offer authentic perceptions of how university education is relevant to career requirements with direct educational experiences and frontline work experiences. This study captures the experiences of alumni in the engineering field to illuminate the multi-faceted distinctions between the higher education and employment systems. Based on…

Universities are increasingly focused on preparing graduates with strong disciplinary and interdisciplinary skills to increase student employability. In accounting education however, the development of employability skills remains a concern among graduates and employers. One strategy for enhancing employability is to engage students in…

Graduates' education and its alignment with the first job are of key influence on graduates' career. It is argued that education-job fit affects work-related learning, which is important for recent graduates to cope with the demands of their new job. Theoretically, two (contradicting) processes have been put forward describing the relationship…

Internships are a distinct learning context, given that interns possess a blurred role status between student and employee. The distinctiveness of an internship, as a learning context requires investigation of which individual-level factors predict learning during internships and subsequently, how this learning impacts the acquisition of relevant…

In work-based learning (WBL), autodidactic, informal, nonformal, and formal approaches to learning are viewed not as dichotomous, distinct, or divergent spheres along a continuum but as intersected and clustered spheres. In WBL, prior learning, professional development, advanced standing, and other forms of learning are therefore formally…

Purpose: Following the tenets of experiential learning theory (ELT) and social cognitive theory (SCT), this study aims to investigate the influence of higher technology education students' placement experiences (work-related learning by teaching practice [WLTP] and by industry attachment [WLIA]) on learning self-efficacy (LSE) and perceived…

Purpose: This study aims to explore vocational teachers' perceptions regarding workplace learning that align with students' training models and collaborative teaching involving specialised professionals within the context of industry-university collaboration. Design/methodology/approach: Using a qualitative approach, the study conducted nine…

This study explores the experiences of leaders who have led organisations and teams through an extended period of crisis management whilst completing a UK work-based master's programme. This paper examines contemporary approaches to work-based learning and explores the effect of organisational and workforce demands in a volatile era of global…

Undergraduate students have been shown to spontaneously form communities of practice and social networks that support their learning and identity development. This study considers the translation of this participatory learning into professional employment following graduation. Thirteen former biological sciences students from a single UK…

This paper explores the employability of young Higher Education (HE) graduates in Belarus, from the point of view of employers. Graduate employability can be defined by six items: starting a job; learning at work; performing work tasks; improving professional prospects; improving personal development; and developing entrepreneurial capacity. The…

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to explore the experiences of engineering student interns, as well as the perceptions of internship supervisors. Design/methodology/approach: The study was designed to investigate internships as a complex social phenomenon in the field, through the use of an inductive qualitative design grounded in a…

With increasing tuition rates and decreasing financial resources, more college students are working on campus to pay for higher education (Watson, 2013). Campus work opportunities provide students with financial support and also assist universities in completing operational functions (Wallace, 2005). Higher education leaders should be aware that…

We examine the challenges and emergent nature of learning during undergraduate internships. Much scholarly inquiry on the latter focuses on internship experiences within traditional professional domains such as medicine, teacher education, and other fields. There is less knowledge about undergraduate interns entering more fluid and recent work…

The transition from engineering student to early career engineer is often difficult as not all skills that constitute effective engineering practice are formally taught. Work placements are suggested as a solution by providing opportunities to learn skills that academia is unable to teach. However, academic requirements for skills such as research…

Work-integrated learning (WIL) is widely recognised as significantly contributing to enhancing graduate employability. Empirical evaluation of its impact and value is often confined to work-based WIL (internships/placements/practicums), known to pose challenges with scalability and equitable access. Through the lens of experiential learning, this…