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The purpose of this paper is to analyse the presence of the sustainable development goals (SDGs) proposed by the UN (2015) in university degrees within the fields of education, humanities and environmental sciences (ES) at Andalusian public institutions (Spain).

This paper shows an empirical analysis from a mixed methodological model on a total of 99 syllabi and training programs from nine different universities. The collection of information has been carried out through a rubric specifically designed within the framework of this body of research.

The results show that the syllabus of the subjects in the faculties of education includes the SDGs related to the social aspect of sustainability, with special focus on SDG4, SDG5, SDG10, SDG16 and SDG17, whereas others like SDG6 and SDG7 are less represented. SDGs are present in the majority of syllabus of the subjects analysed. It is certainly a positive finding which shows predisposition and a high interest on by the teachers involved. However, this is not enough as there is still a long way to go until achieving a thorough and complete incorporation of the principles of sustainability.

This research sheds light on the changes and transformations that the discourse linked to sustainability is generating in the university syllabi. Taking the SDG as a framework this paper highlights the most original aspects: a replicable methodology that allows diagnosing the level of curricular greening of the university syllabi is provided to other contexts the innovative value of connecting teaching with local and global environmental problems in their physical-chemical social and economic dimensions is shown and it has been possible to compare the difficulties of some universities in addressing compliance with the SDGs and curricular sustainability from a systemic and integrative perspective that will lead to methodological transformation and pedagogical renewal.

The purpose of this paper is to point to the inefficiency of the Italian educational system as a key factor of persistent differences between the distribution of incomes (skewed) and that of talents (normal), stated in the Pigou paradox. In fact, against the intention assigned to it by the Italian constitution, the educational system is designed in such a way to reinforce, rather than weaken, the current unequal distribution of incomes.

The authors study the socio‐educational background of AlmaLaurea graduates by way of correlation and regression analysis. The AlmaLaurea databank is the most important source of statistical information of its type in the country. The authors, consider several indicators of performance, such as the probability of getting a degree, the final grade achieved and the length of studies.

Parents’ educational level appears to be the main determinant of the grade achieved at secondary high school and at the university. The effect of family background on children's success at the university is not direct, but through the high school track. In fact, although any secondary high school gives access to the university, nonetheless lyceums provide students with far higher quality of education than technical and professional schools. Parental background affects also the length of studies, which suggests that the indirect cost of tertiary education is much higher for those with a poorer educational background and limited means.

Increasing the average educational level was one of the promises of the “3+2” university reform implemented in 2001. This objective has been achieved only in part, due to the continuing high indirect cost of tertiary education, which particularly affects individuals with limited means. More coordination in the interpretation and implementation of the aims of the reform would have prevented the main actors of the reform from failing it. School tracking should be reformed so as to allow more consideration for low school grades in the choice of parents and provide more on‐the‐job training to students in the professional/technical schools.

The paper proposes an interpretation of the Pigou paradox in Italy, based on the inefficiency of the university system, due to the peculiar school tracking and the ensuing high indirect cost of education. On this, the paper provides new circumstantial evidence based on the AlmaLaurea database almost ten years after the “3+2” reform.

The purpose of this paper is to determine how and why differences in gender affect entrepreneurial intention (EI). Although there are many studies in this area, scholars have yet to reach a consensus.

This study uses a survey of students at Malaga University in two stages to introduce a new perspective that links gender and university degree subject with the predisposition towards business creation. Structural equation modelling (SEM) is applied.

Comparing the explanatory power of an additive model and a multiplicative model, this paper confirms that socialisation conditions both men and women in their choice of university studies. Consequently, gender and university degree subject choice are shown to be linked and both affect EI.

These findings provide a starting point for closing the information gap in the literature, but deeper analysis is required to combine other factors, such as international variations and the influence of different education systems on entrepreneurship.

These results are of special value to universities interested in fomenting entrepreneurship in their graduates, allowing them to better propose educational policies and communication campaigns reducing the effect of gender on degree choice.

The contribution of this research is the development of introducing university degree subjects as tied to gender. The study forms one construct together, and not a descriptive variable of the sample selected or as two independent exogenous variables, as is the case in most of the literature in this area.

The government’s ambition is to have three million more apprentices by 2020. The newness of degree apprenticeships and insufficient data make it difficult to assess their relative importance in boosting the UK economy, meeting higher skills needs of employers, closing educational attainment gaps, increasing social mobility and supporting under-represented groups into professional employment. The purpose of this paper, led by the University of Winchester and delivered by a new collaboration of private and public sector partners, is to build a pipeline between those currently failing to progress to, or engage with, degree apprenticeships and employers seeking higher skills and a broader pool of applicants.

The paper provides an analysis of collaborative initiatives and related research in England as the context for university involvement in degree apprenticeships. The case study illustrates the benefits of collaboration in targeted outreach initiatives within the local region to address gaps in progression to degree apprenticeships.

This paper illustrates how establishing a regional picture of degree apprenticeship provision, access and participation can inform effective partnerships and build capacity locally to deliver the higher skills employers need, further demonstrating the potential benefits of university involvement in degree apprenticeship provision in contributing to local and national policy ambition. It also shows how effective targeted interventions can help under-achieving groups, including those in social care and women in digital enterprises.

The authors believe this paper is the only academic analysis of the impact of Degree Apprenticeship Development Fund activity in the region.

Production and operations management (POM) is a key factor for the competitiveness of any business and university training in POM is a critical element in the preparation of future managers. The course contents, the teaching staff and the teaching methodology used are three of the most important aspects of successful training. These aspects have been explored in an empirical study of the current status of the teaching of POM in Spanish universities, based on a survey of the total population of instructors of this discipline. This is the first study to reveal an in‐depth and comprehensive picture of this topic in a country of the European Union, and it is hoped that this will encourage analogous studies of other countries in Europe and beyond. In the present paper, we shall discuss the more relevant results in respect of the content of POM programs being taught; we illustrate the type of instruction available in Spanish universities, indicate the differences between the main academic degrees in which the discipline figures, and undertake a constructive critical analysis. The teaching staff and methodologies used are analyzed in another article in this journal.

The online degree and education market represents a crossroad for Higher Education. Outlines some issues the HE community must now face and several factors to success for their online degree programs. Universities have played an important role in the formation of the Internet and application of online education. The question remains, will universities actively participate and lead this market or sit on the sidelines and watch an opportunity for education slip away? Universities must act now.

The purpose of this paper is to investigate/explore the possibilities of nationwide networked electronic theses in Japan.

The main points of the revised degree regulations, the activities of related organizations corresponding to the revised degree regulations, and the future direction of networked electronic theses which can be realized due to the network of institutional repositories are described and explained.

In Japan, following the revision of the degree regulations, nationwide electronic thesis networks will be formed, which are rarely observed in other countries, and an infrastructure will be constructed, by which institutional repositories in Japan can be harvested by the Networked Digital Library of Theses and Dissertations. A well-established community of institutional repositories has enabled this achievement to take place.

Very few national laws and regulations oblige a person who has been conferred a doctorate to publicize the thesis through the internet. There are only a few countries where the standard for metadata was established and metadata harvesting using the Open Archives Initiative Protocol for Metadata Harvesting is being performed, providing one-stop services through portal sites. Therefore, this case study on the possibilities of nationwide networked electronic theses attributable to policies and the innovations of the repository network in Japan can provide useful information not only for persons in charge of digitizing dissertations but also for those concerned about open access generally.

This paper aims to present a methodology for analysing the extent to which students of a university degree perceive that they have received a good education for sustainable development (ESD). The methodology enables us to quantify this perception, which, in turn, allows us to determine: to what extent the objectives related to ESD are achieved in the degree, and to compare the learning in ESD perceived by students of different degrees. The methodology is applied to nine engineering degrees and nine education degrees in the Spanish university system.

ESD is analysed from the students’ learning perception. This perception is measured by comparing the responses of first- and fourth-year students to a questionnaire about their sustainability competencies. Two indicators have been designed to analyse the results. The first indicator, learning increase, measures the declared learning difference between fourth- and first-year students. The second indicator, learning percentage, measure the amount of learning as reported by fourth-year students compared to how much they could have learned.

The results show that the average learning percentage perceived by students is higher in engineering degrees (33%) than in education degrees (27%), despite the fact that the average learning increase declared by students at the end of their studies in both areas of knowledge is similar (66%). Engineering students report having achieved higher learning than education students in all sustainability competencies, with the exception of ethics.

This paper analyses ESD from the student’s perspective. Furthermore, to the knowledge of the authors, this is the first study that compares the perception of ESD between engineering and education students. This comparison allows us to determine the different approaches that university Professors take to ESD according to the discipline they teach.

The purpose of this paper is to present observations of a EUR-ACE accreditation process in a Finnish university. The study demonstrates the effects (benefits, effort and resources required) of accreditation as seen by the university management and teaching staff.

The material of the study was gathered by conducting an interview and questionnaire survey after the accreditation processes of six degree programmes at Lappeenranta University of Technology, Finland, in 2011.

Besides certain shared views, the survey reveals some differences in opinions between the university management and the teaching staff: The management at all levels of the university valued the significance of accreditations somewhat higher than the teaching staff. Most of the interviewees found that accreditations have had an important effect on the curriculum work and thereby on the development of teaching and education. However, the effects on single courses were considered less significant.

The study focuses on one university with a limited number of responses and one accreditation agency only (ASIIN, Germany).

The engineering degree programmes were the first ones to obtain a EUR-ACE accreditation both in Finland and in the Nordic countries. Thus, the results have a novelty value for Nordic universities and stakeholders in the education sector.

There have been a number of studies of church‐state relations and the place of religion in education in nineteenth and early twentieth century Victoria. However, these studies, including J. S. Gregory’s authoritative Church and State, offer no significant discussion of Rationalism. This is somewhat surprising, since Gregory’s influential earlier discussion of church, state and education up to 1872 had included a few paragraphs on Rationalism. It is even more surprising that it was overlooked in Gregory’s later and larger study, which extends to the early twentieth century, since Rationalism was by then a much more powerful force. A consequence of this omission, together with the general shift of scholarly interest away from the church‐state issue, is that little is known about Rationalism and its approach to church‐state relations in the period when, arguably, it was a force to be reckoned with. This article helps correct this omission, first, by examining the development of Rationalism in Victoria up to the early 1900s, and second, by exploring its successful campaign against the Protestant attempt to install a divinity degree at the University of Melbourne.