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The purpose of this study is to explore how the phenomenon of academic professional development looks through the eyes of graduate students navigating the increasing complexity of postgraduate careers. This study pays particular attention to how current students navigate the interplay between their beliefs, intentions and behaviors when it comes to making choices regarding their engagement in professional development.

This is a qualitative study, based on a phenomenological analysis of seven in-depth interviews with advanced PhD students from the earth sciences college at a large, public, research-intensive university located in the mid-Atlantic area of the USA (Penn State).

Framed in the Theory of Planned Behavior, the findings of this study suggest that the interviewees varied across all aspects of Theory of Planned Behavior: in their beliefs about valued career paths, in their convergence or divergence from the departmental or institutional norms they perceived and in their sense of control over their career pathways. They all shared, however, a strong desire to successfully navigate the widening array of possibilities to achieve a range of personal and professional goals, but they often lacked the ability to align those intentions with actions related to professional development.

This study suggests that institutions may wish to rethink their positionality in the professional development of graduate students, moving away from centralized models of direct support and towards more indirect, informal and co-created means of exerting influence and building community.

The purpose of this paper is to delineate a model of library publishing, the library as publishing partner, that reflects the diversity of institutions in higher education.

The model is based on a particular case, but also on the integration of literature on institutional theory, emerging scholarships and library science.

The paper argues that increasing diversity in higher education requires us to think creatively and strategically about different models for library publishing. The library as publishing partner model is presented as an alternative to a one-size-fits-all model based on the experience of research institutions.

The library as publishing partner model is intended to spark further research and conversations about models for other institutional types.

The library as publishing partner model has potential applications at other public comprehensive institutions (or those with similar missions).

The library as publishing partner model is intended to combat the tendency in higher education toward academic drift and to contribute to an increasingly diverse landscape in higher education.

This paper presents an original model, the library as publishing partner, but also argues for an original perspective, in which academic libraries at different types of institutions can be constructively differentiated from each other.

We analyze the relationship between initial vocational education and training (VET) and training policies by looking at the ways and extent to which different approaches foster the acquisition of general and transferable skills. The factors that particularly affect the investment in training and the investment in transferable skills are analyzed both from the point of view of the individual and the employer. We argue that with the reform of their national training systems, Spain and the United Kingdom have followed different routes in order to foster precisely an increase in the investment on transferable skills. Those pathways differ in the extent to which policy strategies have aimed at reducing either individual worker or firms’ constraints to receive or invest in transferable training, and in the extent to which the emphasis for certification focused on “demonstrated learning outcomes” as opposed to “particular learning processes or places.” The paper concludes with the presentation of some policy implications.

Making a classroom a space that can become a place of lively discussion and interaction is a goal of many instructors, but it can be challenging to assess the extent to which classroom engagement is resulting in meaningful participation. The use of an assessment tool called classroom mapping provides a way to trace and analyze students’ interaction, performance, and involvement in a class. It maps discussions and shows feedback on what is going on; including who is talking, for how long, what subjects and instructional strategies engage which students, and what kinds of connections are being made with the students and the instructors. This chapter considers the broader implications of using technology to elevate classroom mapping from formative assessment to potential learning analytic, with particular attention to the practical, pedagogical and ethical implications of recording and mapping how students engage in their classes.

Contemporary labor economics has a ready explanation for the role of job training in the labor market. The human capital framework pioneered by Becker (1962, 1993) and Mincer (1962) and now extended by many, many others sees training as an investment in productive capacity that benefits both workers and employers. Employers enhance the productivity of their firms by investing in the skills of their workers, and these productivity gains are passed on to workers in the form of higher wages. Key to all of this is the distinction between general and specific skill. According to the theory, employers will not pay for or provide general skills (i.e. those that are transferable and hence valuable to other employers), because they are averse to being “poached” by more high-wage employers. They will, however, invest in workplace-specific skills, which assure them a return on their training investments.

The strictest definition of teaching and learning is no longer what it used to be with innovation becoming an important component of classroom teaching. The fact that classroom teaching has moved beyond the walls and to the homes of students confined to hand-held device or their computer is in itself a rare feat that academics couldn’t imagine even a few years ago. Innovation in teaching and learning is bringing qualitative change in higher education along with quantitative expansion. Changes are essential part of teaching and learning as it helps in improving the quality and equity in creating learning opportunities for students. Teaching and learning have been undergoing rapid changes and is never considered to be a change averse sector; however, in certain parts of the world, the acceptance toward change has been very slow and they are lagging behind in adopting technology, improving efficiency, and productivity and the quality standard of education.

The book volume highlights some interesting interventions practiced around the world by higher education instructors who were forced to make necessary changes in the conversion from face-to-face instruction to the use of online and virtual platforms owing to COVID pandemic. Instructors took help of modern technology and used virtual exchange platform to create meaningful classroom discussions and lively interactions between learners and faculty. Quality assurance was a priority with regular monitoring of students’ interaction, performance, and involvement in a class. Changes in a conventional way of teaching are the need of the hour and technology is expected to bring some radical improvement in this field.