Universities worldwide are tasked with producing employable graduates capable of operating in evolving, complex, and global labour markets. Research into the effectiveness of year-in-industry placements to facilitate such objectives often portrays the dominant actors as students, employers, managers, and (de)centralised placement teams. Framing…

Work placement learning enhances self-efficacy and work readiness for students. However, students with disabilities often have a different experience with regard to work placements. With a growing number of people with disabilities in universities, it is essential to provide students who have disabilities with an inclusive learning and working…

This study focuses on identifying the most effective instructional methods of work placement learning (WPL) delivery that industry-based instructors can adopt to enhance students' learning experiences. Employing interview and focus group methods, the authors learned from 39 participants, including 21 higher education students who had undertaken…

While the extant literature generally suggests a positive relationship between work placement learning (WPL) and student employability, the mechanisms underlying this relationship remain unclear and under-researched. Against this background, this study draws on insights from experiential learning and self-determination theories to explore the…

The COVID-19 pandemic reduced the availability of work placements in commercial organisations for university students and potentially changed the nature of placements in the future. Similarly, charitable organisations who were already suffering budget restrictions have been financially affected by COVID-19 due to reduced revenue on trading…

This study investigated students' perceptions of an adapted work placement (WP) delivery method due to COVID-19, their intention of finding paid jobs or becoming self-employed and how the intention influenced their job preparatory behaviours (JPB). Ajzen's Theory of Planned Behaviour (TPB) was utilised as a theoretical framework to model the…

This study developed and tested a model of higher education environmental science program review through industry-wide surveys of environmental science graduate employers. We surveyed 62 environmental professionals who manage recent environmental science graduate employees in eastern Australia. The survey captured expectations of graduates' skill…

This study draws on social cognitive career theory to test a moderated mediation model of self-employment preparatory behaviours in university students undertaking placement learning in a business organization (PLBO). Using time-lag data from 337 university students undertaking work placement in 123 business organizations, the study hypotheses…

To curtail difficulties in higher education relating to students' learning with few or no real-life examples, poor acquisition of practical skills, a lack of confidence concerning their prospective career, and a fear of unemployment, it is imperative to engage students in real-life work environments before graduation. Drawing on the integration of…

Industry reports show that fresh engineering and non-engineering graduates from Indian universities are not readily employable. The Government-owned Andhra Pradesh Information Technology Academy (APITA) seeks to equip graduates from the state's degree and engineering colleges with industry-relevant skill sets for gainful employment. This study…

This article explores the workplace experience of seven science, engineering and technology graduates. The research design and methodology used in the study are exploratory, in-depth and qualitative in nature. The case study companies are located in the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland and employ the graduates under the FUSION project. The…

This paper assesses students' perceptions concerning the level of campus placement activities of their higher education institution (HEI) and determines the order of importance of various factors, as perceived by students, relating to employers' selection criteria. Primary data based on the responses of 621 students in 29 HEIs operating in the…

For civil engineering undergraduates, short-term industrial work placement provides an invaluable learning experience. Notwithstanding the near-universal endorsement of short-term placement programmes, the resulting experience is rarely articulated through the student voice. This article provides an analysis of 174 questionnaires returned by…

This article explores the concept and measurement of placement value, underexplored in theory and practice to date. The article makes a theoretical contribution to the placement value discourse by examining and articulating the placement value concept. It also offers a practical contribution by exploring a piloted tool to evaluate employer…

This article explores the varied learning experiences among third-year students undertaking a structured work placement module in the furniture and wood manufacturing industries. Using situated learning theory, the article considers the outcomes of in-depth interviews with 10 students and offers an insight into the multifaceted interactions…