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This chapter deals with aspects of the overall criticism in regard to higher education and its growing discrepancy between theory and practice, and the meaning of problem-based and authentic learning. The chapter is based on two specific cases that illustrate how higher education is organized in Sweden, and how education could be organized to correspond to the demands of authentic learning and a new form of knowledge production. Work-based learning started as an alternative to the ordinary three-year nursing program at a university college in the western part of Sweden. One main finding was that the students experienced the relation between the different types of teaching in the program as weak, and the different learning contexts in the program as being separate from each other. Higher Vocational Education (HVE) is a market-oriented vocational higher education program with close cooperation between an educational provider and working life. Work-based learning is a cornerstone of HVE, and authentic learning in a real-life setting constitutes a single course governed by its own syllabus. One main finding, was that students experienced a lack of progression in the work tasks and the subject content of the school-based education was not advanced enough. Workplace learning can serve as a structuring resource in education, but it can also be problematic because knowledge is inherent in routines and technologies.

Much rhetoric around the construct of a work-ready graduate has focused on the technical abilities of students to fulfill the expectations of the future workplace. Efforts have been made to extend from the technical skills (e.g., skills in calculation for engineers) to include soft or behavioral skills (e.g., communication). However, within previous models of understanding of the work-ready graduate there has been little done to explore them as critical moral agents within the workplace. That is, whilst the focus has been on being work-ready, it is argued here that in current and future workplaces it is more important for university graduates to be profession-ready. Our understanding of the profession-ready graduate is characterized by the ability to demonstrate capacities in critical thinking and reflection, and to have an ability to navigate the ethical challenges and shape the organizational culture of the future workplace.

This chapter aims to explore a movement of thinking away from simply aspiring to develop work-ready graduates, expanding this understanding to argue for the development of profession-ready graduates. The chapter begins with an exploration of the debates around the characteristics of being work-ready, and through a consideration of two professional elements: professional identity and critical moral agency, argues for a reframing of work-readiness towards professional-readiness. The chapter then considers the role of work-integrated learning (WIL) in being able to support the development of the profession-ready graduate.

In this chapter, we present the Mobile Technology Capacity Building (MTCB) Framework, designed to enhance students’ appropriate use of personal mobile devices (PMDs) in workplace learning (WPL). WPL is a concept that denotes students’ learning that occurs in workplaces as part of their university curriculum. The workplace provides an environment for university students where learning and working and theory and practice are entwined. As such, WPL is an in-between or hybrid space where traditional roles, identities, and cultures are fluid and in transition. In the 21st century, where PMDs are more and more intricately interwoven into everyday personal, educational, and professional practices, learning with mobile technology offers new opportunities and possibilities to enhance WPL. The MTCB Framework for WPL focuses on cultivating agency and thoughtful consideration for practice contexts. Its development is underpinned by three sets of theoretical ideas: agentic learning, activity-centered learning design, and the entanglement of technology, learning, and work. Its design also draws on empirical data derived from surveys and interviews from 214 participants, including students, academics, and workplace educators that highlight the importance of considering workplace cultures. We conclude that the MTCB Framework addresses an urgent need for all stakeholders in WPL to build their capacity to use mobile technology effectively to contribute to enhancing WPL. Without a shared understanding of the role of mobile technology in WPL, it will remain difficult for students to make the most of the learning opportunities afforded by the use of PMDs in WPL.

The study was conducted to assess the extent of readiness of higher education curriculum in Nigeria in meeting the demands of the 21st century, to identify the possible challenges facing higher education institutes in Nigeria in meeting the demands of the 21st century and to suggest ways of restructuring higher education curriculum in Nigeria to make it responsive to economic social and political demands of the 21st century. The sample for this study consisted of two hundred (200) respondents drawn from the stakeholders in the education industry which includes curriculum planners, lecturers and students. The study employed the descriptive survey design. The instrument for data collection consisted of structured questionnaire and focus group discussion. The findings from the study revealed, among other things, that higher education curriculum in Nigeria is not yet ready to meet the demands of the 21st century. The reasons for this include poor funding, poor infrastructural facilities, corruption, poor technological/ICT knowledge, lack of collaboration between higher education curriculum planners and labour force, etc. Based on the findings of this study, it was recommended that funding higher education in Nigeria should be given priority, and the stakeholders in the labour force and industry should be involved in curriculum planning. Higher education curriculum should encourage practical hands-on experience for graduates of higher education in Nigeria to make them relevant in the 21st century.

The involvement of stakeholders such as employers, alumni, and students has always been considered a key element in improving the higher education (HE) system. While considering stakeholders as key players in serving the market and in improving HE instruction, a two-sided collaborative involvement should aim at satisfying the mutual interests and overcoming existing barriers. Quality assurance systems have always supported crossing these barriers to link with the external stakeholders. However, many of the external quality assurance agencies (EQA) in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region specify a group of external holders, limiting the various types of key stakeholders needed to enhance the academic programs. On the other hand, there are encountered risks in involving stakeholders if left with no objective guidance, especially that quality agencies are formidably urging the universities to consider the external stakeholders’ inputs to satisfy the quality assurance standards. The main objective of this chapter is to investigate the types of stakeholders’ and their levels of involvement within the local higher education institutions (HEIs). The chapter aims to provide an insight to invest in this involvement and utilize it to further improve the programs and their graduate attributes and suggests actions that would proficiently and truly enhance the involvement of external stakeholders. The outcomes of this chapter are expected to guide the EQAs and the HEIs to develop new practices in involving stakeholders, such as curriculum input, collegiate internships, aligning graduate attributes to market needs, financial support through endowments, professional development, and partnerships in service-level agreements.

This chapter reviews previous research on allyship: non-minority individuals who choose to support minorities while working to end discrimination and prejudice. In particular, the focus of this chapter is on how allyship applies to the workplace. We argue that allyship can be a diversity management tool to help reduce workplace discrimination.

To explore this topic, we conducted a literature review on allyship in the workplace and synthesized previous research together. We examined research from both organizational and non-organizational settings.

Our review of previous literature is divided into three sections. First, we discuss what all entails allyship, including knowledge, communication, and, in particular, action. Next, we discuss the many outcomes previous research suggests comes from allyship (including benefits to other individuals, benefits to the overall culture, and benefits to the ally him or herself). Finally, we conclude with a discussion of who is likely to become an ally as well as the journey a person goes through to become a true ally.

This chapter can be useful for practitioners who wish to promote allyship within his or her workplace. Organizations that want to strengthen their diversity and inclusion climate can consider developing ally training programs and promoting ally culture. Additionally, this chapter can be useful for researchers who wish to study the topic. Currently, there is a dearth of research on allyship specifically within the workplace; this chapter can help future researchers identify areas for empirical exploration.

Since its conception, the community of practice (CoP) theory has become a popular framework in a plethora of disciplines and settings. In the field of higher education, this versatile social theory of learning and identity that is compatible with theories of language and discourse has been used for the exploration of a variety of topics such as quality assurance, language socialisation in study abroad, medical student workplace learning and the learning of science. This theoretical model offers a framework based on collectives attached by their practice and mutual relations, which suits a priori some institutionally recognised clusters within higher education, such as research groups (RGs). These groupings, composed of pre- and post-doctoral researchers, form a domain of sustained relations and interactions through which learning may occur, but the extent to which the RG constitutes a CoP remains uncertain. This chapter discusses the suitability of the CoP model for the study of RGs in the light of ethnographic data gathered from two RGs.