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UK Higher education has for many years been offered to students at different institution types, one such being colleges of further education. HE offered at further education colleges differs in many ways from that offered to a university. One way in which it differs greatly is the mode of provision. Traditional university degrees typically a commitment to a named three-year programme of study. Provision through colleges differs as students typically enrol on a two-year associate degree, which they may then decide to top up to a full bachelor's degree at either their FEC or at partnered universities (2 + 1 mode). This research sought to investigate what factors students believed to be important when making course choices, and their reflection on the course type they chose. It was found that associate degree students tended to remain at the FEC if top-up options were available, and indicated a preference for the flexibility of the 2 + 1 mode. Factors that the majority of students deemed as important in their choice of top-up course was their career potential; students remaining at colleges were also concerned about the continuity of their educational experience and course content.

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Currently, there is great interest across Ontario in the expansion of pathway programs between colleges and universities. Through strategic partnerships, two Ontario-based postsecondary institutions (a college and a university) have developed innovative and effective pathway programs that facilitate the transition of students between institutions for the completion of degrees, diplomas, and certificates. These programs support the training of highly qualified, market-ready graduates. This paper reports on a mixed-methods study of the successes and challenges of a particular Ontario college and university pathway program, with a focus on the Bachelor of Commerce Pathway program.

Preliminary results indicate that pathway students were more academically successful than their traditional university student counterparts but did experience a number of challenges in transitioning from college into university. Principal challenges included inefficient communication between program administrators, academic advisors, and students; lack of orientation activities for pathway students; lack of college student preparedness in communication and critical thinking skills; and difficulties experienced by college students integrating into the social-cultural life of the university.

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The transnational dimension of culture, science, and technology is constantly growing all over the world. Mobility of high-skilled personnel encompasses PhD students, PhD graduates, and scientists from when they leave their own country to study and work abroad. Mobility can be organised through a variety of programs and schemes that help individuals find the most suitable opportunities for them, that is, the right point in time. Whether it is due to the right point in time in their study process or career to move, or the incentives, or facilities, they can benefit from such a move. Mobility, in its form of brain drain, can produce negative effects on countries, institutions, and people. Positive benefits, however, can also be found. A precise and complete quantitative analysis of flows of PhD students and scientists is far from being attained. There are multiple difficulties in tracking this kind of highly mobile people. Some attempts, however, have been made in order to figure out the main trends and analyse the main reasons that induce mobility.

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This compilation volume includes the 37 subject guides that appeared on the VOCEDplus website up until May 2015. The subjects covered are: Academic workforce development; Apprenticeships; Assessment in VET; Business / education collaboration; Career guidance; Completions; Cross sectoral education; Disability; E-learning; Educational leadership; Employability skills; Graduate employability; Green jobs and skills; Higher education governance; Indigenous education; International education; Lifelong learning; Literacy and numeracy; Migration; Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs); Occupational health and safety; Older workers; Pathways; Qualifications frameworks; Recognition of prior learning (RPL); Science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) workforce; Skills mismatch; Social inclusion; Social mobility; Socioeconomic background; Student mobility; Sustainability; VET in Schools; Vocational rehabilitation; Wellbeing; Work life balance; Youth transitions. Show less

[This] study offers new insights into students' experiences of internationalised higher education, and makes recommendations for the sector to support students in unlocking the potential benefits of these experiences for their personal and professional development. Studying abroad is often heralded as the premier opportunity for students to enhance their employability. Although not all students can or wish to study abroad, there has been a lack of research into the corresponding impacts of home-based extracurricular activities on students' development. The study therefore explores both types of activities through a combination of participant interviews and graduate outcomes datasets.

The study finds that both studying abroad and extracurricular engagement offer gains to students in alignment with the CareerEDGE employability model. Students who studied abroad reported slightly higher rates of postgraduate study and academic performance, were less likely to be unemployed, but also reported lower average first employment earnings, compared to their counterparts who did not study abroad. However, variance in discipline, gender, and internships/placements are also considered as possible contributing factors. A guided reflective process is argued to be a key element in maximising gains for any lived experiences and translating them into employability gains.

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The City of Los Angeles - a vibrant metropolis with a diverse and dynamic population - is a critical economic and cultural hub for the state of California. California's economy is the fifth largest economy in the world, but maintaining this dominance depends, in large measure, on the economic success of Los Angeles and its surrounding regions. Los Angeles' success will be determined by the success of its schools, colleges, and universities in supporting students to enroll in college, complete a bachelor's degree, and join the workforce with the skills and preparation needed to participate in a 21st Century economy.

Ensuring equity in higher education access and success for Black and Latinx Californians requires building and maintaining robust pathways from LA's high schools to its colleges and universities. That includes ensuring Latinx and Black Angelenos are supported to graduate from high school fully eligible to enroll in the state's public four-year systems. LA's leaders must also ensure that Black and Latinx high school graduates enroll in college - community college or a four-year university - and provide them with the support they need to earn a bachelor's degree and fully participate in California's economy.

Mirroring statewide trends that we noted in our 2021 reports, 'The state of higher education for Latinx Californians' [available in VOCEDplus at TD/TNC 146.216] and 'The state of higher education for Black Californians' [available in VOCEDplus at TD/TNC 154.507], Black and Latinx students in Los Angeles do not receive the support or opportunity needed to ensure they enroll in college and earn bachelor's degrees at the same rates as their white peers. And, though California's high schools, community colleges, and public four-year universities have increased enrollment and support for Black and Latinx students who seek associate and bachelor's degrees, the challenges associated with the [Coronavirus Disease 2019] COVID-19 global pandemic threaten to offset and undo years of improvements for California's high schools and community colleges.

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The Commission on International Student Destinations was established in 2013, following the Office for National Statistics' earlier announcement that migration figures were to be disaggregated with student inflow and outflow reported separately. The aim of the commission is to enhance understanding of the journeys that international (non-EEA) students at UK higher education institutions (HEIs) take. This includes consideration of their activities pre-enrolment and post-graduation. Advice to the commission was provided by representatives from Universities UK (UUK), the Home Office, the Office for National Statistics (ONS), the Higher Education Statistics Agency (HESA), the Department for Business, Innovation & Skills (BIS), vice-chancellors and HEI representatives with a responsibility for international students within their own institution. The commission's remit originally focused on the evidence base surrounding numbers of international higher education students departing from the UK within a given year, including the International Passenger Survey (IPS). In doing so, this could enhance the cross-checking of student inflows and outflows. However, its remit was widened to examine and evaluate the available evidence on international students' wider migration patterns; their 'journey through the UK education system'. The commission has not considered in detail statistics relating to students other than those in higher education.

Evidence and data relating to migration into and out of the UK are collated by several bodies, including government departments. Despite the emergence of new data sources and welcome improvements to existing ones, it is nonetheless clear that some key gaps remain in the evidence base around student migration. If addressed, these could greatly inform the broader debate around immigration. The limitations of immigration statistics have been well articulated in recent years, and by various groups, including parliamentary select committees, the Migration Advisory Committee and the UK Statistics Authority which, in 2013, suggested that, at that time, the official 'estimation of emigration (including overseas students returning home...) is particularly problematic and contributes to substantial uncertainty in the net migration estimates for the UK and locally'. The commission met three times in total, with research taking place between meetings. As well as analysing official data releases from HESA, the Home Office and the ONS, the commission investigated what alternative sources of information might already be kept by HEIs themselves (as well as other education providers) that could assist in filling some of these gaps.

The commission noted the following: International students follow a range of different pathways through the UK education system, which affects the duration of their stay; Various agencies collate data on international students, but are often not referring to the same cohorts of migrants, making it difficult to draw firm conclusions about their numbers; There is a wider range of data available on students entering the country compared to numbers leaving, which has implications for the measurement of net migration; There is little uniformity in the way higher education institutions collate information on their international entrants or alumni, although such data could enhance our understanding of student destinations after graduation.

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Graduate entry to nursing programs are new to Australia. This paper reports on an analysis of students enrolled in an accelerated, pre-registration, masters-level nursing course in Melbourne, Australia. Quantitative surveys were used to gather data on a range of demographic characteristics and factors relating to students' choice to undertake nursing. Seventy‑nine students from the first two cohorts of the Master of Nursing Practice participated in the study. Findings revealed higher male participation than traditional undergraduate nursing programs and students originated from a wide range of cultural and disciplinary backgrounds. Students' previous education ranged from bachelor degree to doctoral levels. A wide range of reasons were given for moving to a nursing career. Predominant reasons were career stability, being part of a caring profession and previous personal or family experience with the health care setting. The authors suggest that understanding the characteristics of people attracted to these programs will assist with appropriate tailoring of programs, as well as assisting with marketing the nursing profession.

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Student mobility has been promoted within Europe since the early 1980s and is available to students widely through European educational systems. This chapter examines the extent to which disabled students can participate in this opportunity and the way in which misconceptions of what disabled people can do limit the opportunities for disabled students to gain from European dimensions in their education and training programs. Strategies to address the problem are considered. The author begins by briefly looking at the uniqueness of British approaches to disability in relation to education and training and then reviews European policies, based on the experience of a number of transnational projects at Coventry University. The potential of European programs is considered and practical advice for project developers provided. The author concludes with comment on European differences in perceptions and representations of disability.

The volume from which this chapter is taken is indexed at TD/TNC 70.103. Selected chapters are indexed from TD/TNC 70.104 to TD/TNC 70.112. Show less

Over the few last decades, the competition for international students has heightened significantly. International students are said to contribute financially and academically, integrate more easily, possess host country's language skills and thus constitute ideal candidates to retain as labour migrants. While the state plays a key role in migration policy-making, non-state actors including universities are often neglected in the literature. Yet, they can be important actors in lobbying and facilitating student immigration. How do national policies and university strategies towards international students interact? Drawing on Guiraudon and Lahav's framework on shifting migration control outward to private actors, the paper argues that universities operate autonomously in a global setting, which indicates that institutions are partly disembedded from states in terms of operational functions and direct controls. But they are not outside of, or inconsistent with, state policies. Once this occurs, clashes with the state may take place, hindering their internationalisation efforts. This article examines different national and university internationalisation strategies at Charles University in the Czech Republic, Sciences Po in France and University of Oxford in the United Kingdom. The findings are based on official documents, position statements of relevant stakeholders, and are complemented by interviews with policy-makers and university officials.

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