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One common modality of transnational higher education partnerships is programme articulations. These agreements typically include 1 + 3 or 2 + 2 or 3 + 2 arrangements, whereby students study in their home institution first, and then transfer to complete their degree studies in a partner host institution. In this type of programme articulation agreement, the transfer of students from the home institution to the host institution is not necessarily guaranteed, with many steps and challenges in the students' decision-making process. While there may be an expectation of articulation between countries and institutions when an agreement is signed, relationships, information and communication to support student transfer from home to host institution can be underestimated. This quantitative study examines a programme articulation arrangement between a Chinese polytechnic and a Canadian university, specifically through a student view. Findings identify barriers to articulation and also the information Chinese students identify as necessary to support their decision-making on whether to progress from a diploma (China) to a degree (Canada), and what types and frequencies of communication are expected.

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The increasing focus of universities on employability is stimulating debates about the purpose of higher education. In this article, we consider what attributes society will demand from graduates in the future. We use Wilber's integral theory to tease out some of the issues in the current conceptualisation of graduate attributes and argue that we need to move away from the current emphasis on skills for jobs and individual, material betterment toward a more spiritual and world orientation. Education for the future needs to focus on an agenda of personal responsibility and on individual and social interior attributes and to move away from its present 'exterior systems' focus. Graduate attributes need to address levels of concern that rise through the self and the social toward the welfare of the whole planet.

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The motivation of mid-career students can be expected to be more considered and intense than students whose studies continue from undergraduate programmes. How students perceive their personal circumstances and their career when they first make the decision to enrol and what happens as a result of their studies can reveal how mid-career management programmes can be structured to ensure greater alignment with student needs and therefore greater student satisfaction. It can also inform curriculum development and marketing strategy. This investigation indicates that the motivators that triggered the enrolment decision often evolve into intrinsic motivators as a result of the study experience and this can lead on to deeper learning and greater satisfaction with learning outcomes. Self-determination theory posits the need for autonomy as an antecedent of intrinsic motivation. Providing autonomy support in course content and curriculum design as well as competence support and relatedness in assignments and assessment can be expected to result in greater intrinsic motivation and deeper learning.

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This paper explores the conceptualisation and measurement of higher education (HE) student success relating to the world-of-work. It first considers the factors that catalysed a shift in perception and understanding of student success from engagement and academic achievement at university to post-graduation employment outcomes. It summarises and critiques approaches to measuring graduate employment outcomes for a range of developed countries. There are fundamental flaws in utilising current measures of graduate employment outcomes to gauge student success. These include devaluing the social, cultural and economic value of graduates; favouring full-time employment measures; tracking graduates in their transitional phase to the labour market and encouraging HE providers to manipulate the metrics to raise institutional status. The paper suggests a more coherent approach to gauging student success in the world-of-work, which is aligned to a broader definition of graduate outcomes, realities of contemporary working practices and the sector's locus of control.

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Although governments and universities worldwide recognise the value of study abroad as a means to prepare graduates to live and work in a globalising world, there is a wide gap between the rhetoric and reality. The reasons for this are complex, but one factor, not often discussed, is the role academics play in study abroad. This paper explores academics' perceptions of study abroad in universities within two higher education systems: Australian and Czech. Findings from both countries are considered across four themes: academics' perceived value of study abroad; 'internationalising' academic staff; academics' concerns about student equity; and integrating study abroad into the curriculum at home. The implications for practice and further research are discussed.

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The introduction of a new standards-based secondary school assessment system, the National Certificate of Educational Achievement (NCEA), necessitated significant changes to the admissions processes for New Zealand universities, particularly for competitive-entry programmes such as medicine, engineering and pharmacy. Selection to such programmes was traditionally based on marks or grades in designated science subjects. Under NCEA, the emphasis changed to the number of credits obtained. This article uses the case of pharmacy at the University of Auckland to examine whether the admission criteria under NCEA are 'fit for purpose' in terms of academic progression during the degree. The negative consequences of students having to repeat courses are both academic and financial. Using data from six cohorts of NCEA entrants to the Bachelor of Pharmacy (BPharm) degree, the findings of this study clearly suggest that the best predictor of course success, measured by not failing courses, is the NCEA grade point average. This is at variance with the current practice for admission to pharmacy and other limited-entry degrees which rely on prerequisite courses and the number of NCEA credits gained. These results suggest that a reappraisal of admissions processes for pharmacy and similar programmes is required.

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Increasing the participation of students from low-socioeconomic status (LSES) communities in tertiary education has been a policy focus of successive Australian governments. LSES parents are important influencers, yet are often unsupported in their efforts to help their children. Via two qualitative studies across metropolitan, regional and remote locations in four Australian states, a strengths-based, service-design approach identified four LSES parent personas: magpies, emus, possums and penguin parents. Each parent persona was at a different stage of change, requiring different types of social support. Digital solutions were co-created with LSES parents, reflecting the preferences of each persona. Four additional high-level contributions of this research include identification of the link between stage-of-change and social support requirements, LSES parents' preference for passive or mid-range levels of digital interactivity, differences in social support needs among LSES parents and the preference for and design of a digital transition-to-tertiary study support portal for LSES parents.

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The Dawkins white paper of 1988 [available in VOCEDplus at TD/TNC 87.2305] was introduced by the Australian government to reshape the Higher Education (HE) landscape. Dawkins' discussion paper of 1990, Nelson's policy document of 2003 [available in VOCEDplus at TD/TNC 73.573], the Bradley Review of 2008 [available in VOCEDplus at TD/LMR 85.696] and the Lomax-Smith Review of 2011 [available in VOCEDplus at TD/TNC 107.364] built on and extended Dawkins' white paper. Such policy reforms have transformed the culture of Australian HE and contributed to shaping the employment outcomes of graduates of Australian HE institutions (HEI). However, rather than HE qualifications enhancing a resume, such qualifications are now expected. Today, HE graduates in Australia can face long periods to secure full-time jobs with many experiencing underemployment and unemployment.

Using document reviews to research for this article, the article contributes to the discussion of HE graduates in Australia in several ways. Firstly, it reviews five key policies that led to the massification of HE in Australia. Secondly, it presents a comparison of the composition of university graduates in the period from 1989 to 2019. Thirdly, it examines how policy reforms contributed to shaping graduate employment prior to the [Coronavirus Disease 2019] COVID-19 global pandemic occurring. Finally, and importantly, this article will assist as a point of reference when researching graduate employability outcomes post COVID-19 global pandemic. This article represents a knowledge base for all stakeholders in the HE sector to draw from in terms of policy and planning with the end goal to enhance the employment prospects and employability of HE graduates. This article also presents numerous areas for future research.

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Many doctoral students do not finish their studies. Social support has been shown to lower the likelihood of student withdrawal. I propose peer-mentoring as one of the practices that makes a significant difference in doctoral student attrition. In this longitudinal study, I investigated the influence of peer-mentoring on students' motivation and retention.

Data were collected four times from 35 participants (a total of 140 surveys) in a Canadian university, where senior doctoral candidates mentored first year doctoral students. Data analysis indicates that students who received high levels of peer-mentoring experienced both steady and high autonomous motivation for their studies and low intention to leave. Implications for theory and practice are discussed.

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In this article, findings of a qualitative study of an Indigenous widening participation program are presented. The program, River of Learning, has been in existence since 2010 and represents a powerful collaboration between a rural high school in New South Wales (NSW) Australia, a metropolitan university, Indigenous Elders and non-Indigenous community members. An analysis of the narrative data generated through individual and group interviews with stakeholders provided findings with respect to the program including how it has contributed to the building and strengthening of university and community relationships and how important the interaction with Indigenous Elders and school and university staff is in development of confidence to engage in higher education in the Indigenous students. These findings are discussed and the article concludes with reflections on the learnings generated through such university, school and community collaborations and what these may mean in ensuring greater Indigenous representation in higher education in Australia in the future.

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