The private higher education (HE) sector in the UK is subject to little oversight or regulation. Consequently, it remains a largely unknown quantity. Yet, the UK government is keen to foster the growth of private providers as a means of stimulating competition across the "entire" HE sector that will purportedly lead to 'a greater choice…

Public and private organizations--including higher education institutions--frequently adopt the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) to facilitate a better future. In their efforts to realize the Agenda 2030, universities are focusing on how teaching and curricula shape students' competencies in interpreting and contributing to current societal…

This paper examines the potential earnings premium associated with a doctoral degree (PhDs, ISCED9) over postgraduate degrees (PGs, or Masters, ISCED7) in the UK. We assess this premium using a decade-worth of UK Labour Force Survey data (2011-2020). To explore the possible endogenous choice of post-graduate tracks, this paper deploys linear…

Despite vast research on transitioning to higher education and student diversity, little longitudinal evidence exists of how individual differences of first-year students predict their graduation times. The present study explored the relation between first-year students' study profiles and graduation times in two different disciplines, by…

This review intends to reveal the current status of the instructional practices used to enhance Critical Thinking (CrT), Clinical Reasoning and Clinical Judgement (CJ) skills and dispositions in Health Sciences Higher Education programmes. After a three-step filtering process, 28 empirical studies on the effectiveness of the instructional…

The purpose of this paper is to expound on an innovative approach to cultivating work-based Doctorates and Masters of Philosophy degrees, which involves close collaboration between industry organisations and a tertiary institution. This paper also reports on an examination of the programme's structural ability to help develop the learning…

This study investigates the mismatch between the educational attainment of a graduate with a Master of Engineering (MEng) degree and the industry needs in China. A competency list for MEng graduates from the perspective of industry needs was constructed. And a survey was conducted among MEng graduate students, alumni, and employers to assess the…

Although the system of educational credentials differs in many important ways from country to country, all western countries have experienced a similar trend in the form of an increasing number of graduate degrees. Graduate degrees have also taken on a bewildering range of forms and content. As a consequence, not all graduate degrees have the same…

Student-centred learning has gradually come to the foreground of the Bologna Process. In parallel, learning outcomes have been advocated as key degree descriptors, illustrative of student-centred approaches. This paper examines learning outcomes in their diverse understandings and enactment in three European countries--England, Portugal and…

The changing market for doctorally prepared workers led one institution to examine its overall approach to defining and supporting professional doctorates. After a review of existing scholarship and internal practices, a white paper was created to capture the various ways that these degrees can be distinguished from the academic doctorate (PhD) at…

Although the coursework master's degree is becoming the principal conduit for the delivery of continuing education to the professions, it is one of the least understood or researched academic levels in higher education. Furthermore, little is known of coursework master's graduates' experience of research or research supervision following the…

This article reports on part of a study of dissertation work in taught Masters courses. It focuses on presenting findings from interviews with 13 supervisors in a faculty of education concerning the normative order that they believed should prevail within the supervisory relationship, and their complex representation of student agency and of…