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The closing chapter offers additional reflection on two substantial threads which run throughout the volume. Firstly, quality education (SDG4). Contributors to the volume have articulated with varying degrees of explicitness what quality education means in their specific contexts. Complementary perspective is offered in the closing chapter, through the inclusion of personal interpretations from two students in their last but one year of high school in the United Kingdom. The students are reflecting back on a week of work experience in a university and looking forward to their university journey. Amrita Narang has kindly provided a response to these personal reflections, drawing on her experience of learning and working in various national higher education contexts. Aspects the two students highlight resonate with the ethos of entrepreneurial education. An example of entrepreneurial learning in a collaborative Sino-UK higher education venture is therefore included here, showcasing ways in which students can further grow their strengths, with bespoke entrepreneurial mentoring support.

The mentoring thread running throughout the volume is picked up in the final chapter with specific reference to contracting (a staple element of formal mentoring relationships, achieved in complex and subtle ways in informal ones), closure and co-learning. All chapter contributions focus on long-term, ongoing mentoring relationships, in which closure is temporary and is viewed as a stepping stone for subsequent learning opportunities. To facilitate continued learning in readers, the final section in the chapter invites them to pause and reflect, signposting three sources of insight and wisdom for sustainability-oriented lifelong learning and action.

At the centre of Chapter 2 is higher education that places greater emphasis on lifelong learning journeys and equitable access to quality education at all stages of an individual's life and career. This chapter articulates the relevance of learning outcomes for both the world of work and for citizenship in a global and interconnected world. One way to operationalize this dual emphasis is through micro-credentials, which offer a flexible and modular way to learn new skills and knowledge. The chapter notes current challenges with implementing micro-credentials in a robust and quality assured manner, and suggests ways to overcome these.

Mentoring is a valuable support system for academics wishing to implement micro-credentials and contribute to the achievement of all sustainable development goals. Mentors can help nurture initial ideas, guide the design and delivery of micro-credentials and ensure that they are aligned with the needs of students and university external stakeholders. The dialogue included in this chapter illustrates a specific scenario at undergraduate level. There is, however, recognition that a broader range of contexts for micro-credentials exists, where mentoring can provide equally valuable support towards achieving desired goals.

With specific reference to mentoring, the chapter discusses ways in which mentoring relationships can develop and be maintained over time. It considers the impact that the setting in which mentoring meetings take place can have on the quality of the learning experience. Equally importantly, discussion touches on digital dimensions of mentoring – the metaverse as a setting and artificial intelligence complementing a real mentor or coach.

The introductory chapter in the volume offers a rationale for bringing together, in an edited collection, contributions from authors who emphasize the continued relevance of mentoring in academia. The focus of mentoring in the volume is on enabling academics to orient their practice towards the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs); the introduction highlights the selection of SDGs discussed, as well as critically reflective responses to these in existing literature. The structure of the volume and of individual chapters is mapped for the benefit of readers. The volume is a hybrid text, combining academic scholarly reflection with narrative vignettes and with dialogue excerpts, to illustrate more fully SDG-oriented mentoring practices and experiences. The principles underpinning the writing methodology and the sources which have helped shape these principles are discussed here. As well as unpacking the writing methodology, the introductory chapter spotlights three core texts on mentoring which informed the volume at proposal stage and throughout the writing process. A personal note on mentoring from the volume editor is followed by a ‘pause and reflect’ section, which offers questions for the reader to consider when engaging with some or all the chapters in the volume.

The purpose of this paper is to identify major healthcare service quality (HSQ) dimensions, their most preferred service levels, and their effect on HSQ perceptions of patients using a Taguchi experiment.

This study adopted a sequential incidence technique to identify factors relevant in HSQ and examined the relative importance of different factor levels in the service journey using Taguchi experiment.

For HSQ, the optimum factor levels are online appointment booking facility with provision to review and modify appointments; a separate reception for booked patients; provision to meet the doctor of choice; prior detailing of procedures; doctor on call facility to the room of stay; electronic sharing of discharge summary, an online payment facility. Consultation phase followed by the stay and then procedures have maximum effect on S/N and mean responses of patients. The appointment stage has a maximum effect on standard deviations.

Theoretically, this study attempted to address the dearth of research on service settings using robust methodologies like Taguchi experiment, which is popular in the manufacturing sector. The study implies the need for patient-centric initiatives for better HSQ through periodic experiments that inform about the changing priorities of patients.

The trade-off between standardization and customization create challenges in healthcare. Practically, a classification of processes based on standardization vs customization potential is useful to revamp processes for HSQ.

This study applied the Taguchi approach to get insights in re-designing a patient-centric healthcare servicescapes.