While the cybersecurity landscape continually evolves, with new technologies, attack vectors, and defense mechanisms emerging regularly, cybersecurity certificate programs remain challenged to stay current and relevant, often resulting in the delivery of outdated course content in existing programs. Scholars note that the absence of standardized…

The Labour Party's manifesto aims to reform further and higher education by integrating business, training providers and unions within a governmental effort to ensure a highly trained workforce. Skills England will align training with labour market needs, empower local leaders and enhance support for job seekers. However, the focus on young people…

This study focused on the critical intersection of workforce development and innovation engineering management within the Nevada System of Higher Education. The research problem centers on the lack of expertise in innovation engineering management roles when developing workforce development programs, contributing to a widening skills gap and the…

Connecticut must ensure that its workforce remains competitive and that it continues to be a place where individuals and organizations thrive economically in a time of rapid and constant technological change. With an eye on the future, its leaders have recognized that they must fully leverage its higher education ecosystem in collaboration with…

Instructional Designers (IDs) are talented assets to higher education institutions (HEIs) that have positioned online course development as part of long-term strategic plans. This study investigated the experiences of IDs involved in online course development while working dyadically with faculty members in U.S. HEIs. The study focused on the…

COVID-19, Artificial Intelligence (AI), and Climate Change, have disrupted work education, rendering sustainability of careers and livelihoods a concern. This paper outlines a collaborative response to that challenge, offering opportunities for sustainable livelihoods in a work education cloud collaboration, Project SLiC (Sustainable Livelihoods…

NSF's new Strategic Plan for Fiscal Years 2022-2026 was released on March 28, 2022. To achieve NSF's vision of "A nation that leads the world in science and engineering research and innovation, to the benefit of all, without barriers to participation," the Plan lays out four strategic goals. The first, "Empower STEM talent to fully…

Workforce development is one of the top issues for state higher education executives today. Employers are actively looking for ways to address skill gaps and labor shortages in their companies. To address these talent gaps, states are aligning their academic program approval process with state workforce needs. Minimal research has explored the…

In conducting a multi-disciplinary, multi-degree study of all 83 higher education accrediting organizations in the United States and the 605 academic programs associated with them, our goal was to uncover patterns in the presence of leadership and general workforce competencies identified within the stated learning outcomes employed by these…

Shifting realities across the world have emphasized the need to change early childhood systems thinking. Specifically, a quality early childhood workforce was in high demand before the COVID-19 pandemic and will continue to be in demand until sustainable recruitment and retention efforts are achieved. Encouraging more professionals to enter and…

Higher education is increasingly concerned with providing students with experiences that enhance employability. Sitting outside the curriculum, extra- or co-curricular activities that focus on career development, leadership, service or recognition can lead to positive employability and employment outcomes. The extent to which different student…

This paper presents a rationale for using professional and continuing education (PaCE) units at post-secondary institutions throughout California to design and implement talent-pipelines, research and development collaborations, and other knowledge ecosystems where emerging and returning professionals can acquire the knowledge, skills, and…

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…

Scholars debate the criticism higher education has received for not adequately preparing students for careers that reflect employer and industry needs and low job placement rates (Holzner, 2017; Monis, 2018; Niu et al., 2019). The skills desired for today's qualified applicants continue to change, and employers are experiencing difficulty finding…

More than half of states have implemented tuition-free college policies aimed at reducing attendance costs and incentivizing enrollment. We review the academic literature on the design features and impacts of these tuition-free policies, and we analyze an initiative Virginia implemented in 2021 called Get a Skill, Get a Job, Get Ahead (G3), which…