Search Results for
"Higher education"

Vocational education and training (VET) systems are characterized by both gender-specific occupational segregation and vertical occupational segmentation, leading to considerable differences in income and employment stability prospects across individual training occupations. For refugee men and women in particular, whose labor market positioning is crucial for their socio-economic integration in the host country, it is therefore not only important that they enter VET, but also which specific occupation they enter. This article investigates, first, whether the dual training occupations pursued in Germany by men and women with a refugee background differ from those pursued by those from the majority population in terms of prospective income and employment stability; and second, whether these differences are mediated by variations in search and application strategies as well as network resources, on the one hand, and differences in school-leaving qualifications, on the other. Drawing on data from the BA/BIBB Applicants Survey and the Refugee Migration Study (N = 6,055), the results show that men and women with a refugee background are more likely to enter training occupations with significantly lower occupation-specific salaries than their counterparts in the majority population. Refugee men also tend to pursue occupations with higher occupation-specific unemployment rates, whereas no such difference is found for women. These disparities are only marginally mediated by variations in search and application strategies and network resources, but are largely explained by differences in school-leaving qualifications. When controlling for these resources, women with a refugee background are more likely to enter training occupations with even lower unemployment rates than women from the majority population. © The Author(s) 2025.

Background: Young adults not in education, employment, or training (NEET) represent a significant global issue, with varying challenges across different countries. Research indicates a strong association between NEET status and negative outcomes such as mental health difficulties, low self-esteem, and social exclusion, though the direction of causality is often complex and bidirectional. This scoping review aimed to provide a comprehensive mapping of international research on NEETs, including risk factors, characteristics, and effective interventions to inform future policy and practice. Methods: This scoping review was conducted following the Joanna Briggs Institute (JBI) framework, incorporating the PRISMA-ScR checklist. The review included six key stages: identifying the research question, identifying relevant studies, selecting studies, charting the data, collating, Summarizing, and reporting the results, and consultation. A systematic search was conducted in PubMed, Scopus, and Web of Science, covering literature from 2021 to April 2024. Eligibility criteria were established using the population-concept-context (PCC) framework. Results: A total of 159 studies were included, classified into 11 topics. The review identified a diverse range of factors that influence the status of NEET, including individual, family, and systemic elements. Key determinants such as cognitive abilities, noncognitive skills, and socioeconomic background were highlighted. Psychological issues, including mental health problems and low self-esteem, were prevalent among NEETs. Social issues such as inequality, discrimination, and social exclusion were also significant. The review found that NEET status is associated with long-term socioeconomic disadvantages, including lower educational attainment, higher unemployment rates, and increased mental health risks. The effectiveness of the interventions varied, some showing positive outcomes in terms of employment and mental health, while others had limited impact. Conclusions: The NEET phenomenon is complex and requires a holistic approach that integrates the health, welfare and work life sectors. Effective interventions should be tailored to the specific needs of NEET individuals, considering their mental health, self-esteem, and social connections. Policymakers should focus on developing comprehensive support systems that address the diverse challenges faced by NEETs, ensuring sustainable transitions to education, employment, or training. More research is needed to explore the long-term effectiveness of various interventions and to identify best practices to support NEETs worldwide. © The Author(s) 2025.

Clinical training preparedness is defined as the degree of competency of a veterinary student to work and learn at an expected level. The aim of this study was to quantitatively investigate the level of importance and agreement attached to each of 91 clinical training preparedness factors by practice-based clinical supervisors and faculty veterinary academics in three veterinary programmes with remote distributed models of workplace-based clinical training. The data was collected using an online questionnaire from academics and preceptors at the School of Veterinary Medicine, University of Surrey; the College of Veterinary Medicine, University of Arizona; and the College of Veterinary Medicine, Western University of Health Sciences. The participants were requested to rate each factor according to an ordinal five-point impact Likert scale. Impact was defined as how much effect a factor would have on a student being able to learn and participate. There were 115 preceptor and 44 academic responders. There was a high level of agreement between the preceptors and academics within, between and across each of the three schools for the factor rating mean, median and mode values. The impact on learning and engagement were all rated moderate or higher. The outcomes of this quantitative survey provide strong evidence that the student preparedness factors investigated were considered important by the preceptors and the academics. When adopting the preparedness framework within the curriculum it is important that academics, preceptors and students share a common understanding of what preparedness for clinical training means. © 2025 Elsevier Ltd

This study retrospectively investigates the academic and psychological readiness of final-year university-level Technical and Vocational education and Training (UL-TVET) students in Nigeria following the prolonged 2022 Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) strike. The study is significant because while prior research has examined the causes and immediate consequences of academic disruptions, little is known about how extended strikes affect students’ ability to reintegrate academically and psychologically, especially in vocational disciplines where practical readiness is critical. Anchored in Opportunity Structure Theory, this study adopts a qualitative design involving semi-structured interviews with 58 final-year students across three public universities in different geo-political zones. Thematic analysis revealed three dominant themes: academic transition challenges and institutional compression; psychological fatigue and emotional disengagement; as well as adaptive coping strategies. Findings indicate that compressed academic calendars, disrupted Students’ Industrial Work Experience Scheme (SIWES) placements, and weak project supervision significantly undermined students’ academic depth and vocational preparedness. Psychologically, students reported concentration difficulties, burnout, and motivational decline, exacerbated by the absence of structured reintegration support. Although some students employed peer-led study groups, faith-based resilience, and time management tools to cope, these strategies were unevenly distributed and insufficient to offset systemic gaps. The study concludes that readiness was not uniformly restored and calls for institutional frameworks that integrate academic and psychosocial recovery in post-strike contexts. By highlighting these gaps, the study contributes to ongoing debates on higher education resilience in developing contexts and offers policy directions for post-strike recovery frameworks in TVET institutions. © The Author(s) 2025.

In STEM education, the development of thinking skills is increasingly viewed as essential for preparing students to navigate complex and uncertain futures. However, the field remains conceptually fragmented, with diverse and sometimes overlapping terminologies, definitions, and theoretical models. This study presents an LLM-powered systematic literature review, following the ENTREQ framework to ensure methodological transparency and rigor, aimed at identifying and mapping the thinking skills most frequently discussed in STEM higher education over the past decade. Using the AI tool Elicit, 170 peer-reviewed journal articles were analyzed. The review synthesizes definitions, conceptual frameworks, and interrelations among skills such as Critical, Systems, Computational, Mathematical, Spatial, Creative, Design, Reflective, Scientific, and Complexity Thinking. The results reveal eleven core thinking skills and highlight the conceptual overlaps and distinctions between them. AI use not only expedited literature screening and coding but also mitigated selection bias by systematically applying inclusion criteria, overcoming common limitations of manual reviews such as inconsistency and time lag. This overview contributes to greater clarity and consistency in the field and provides a foundation for future curriculum design and research, supporting a more coherent integration of thinking skills in STEM education. © The Author(s) 2025.

Architectural Registration in Nigeria has faced considerable challenges over the past eight years (2015–2023), impacting the profession's growth. This study identifies areas for improvement and offers recommendations to strengthen the registration process and enhance the architectural workforce in Nigeria. In an attempt to identify best practices and potential solutions to address the Architect's registration crisis in Nigeria. The study relied on thirty-four (34) structured interviews with Provisionally Stage II registered architects and fully registered architects from different parts of Nigeria, case studies examining twelve (12) architectural registration processes two from six continents and literature review aimed at discerning critical concerns and obstacles associated with the architectural registration crisis in Nigeria. The research findings reveal key challenges, including legislative and policy issues, institutional issues, and power struggles between architectural associations and regulatory bodies. The comparative analysis between architectural registration systems in various countries revealed similarities in areas such as education, experience, and differences in Continuing professional development (CPD), exam administration, and regulatory authority. The study discusses challenges for Nigerian higher national diploma (HND) graduates and recommends amending the Architects registration council of Nigeria (ARCON) Act for clarity and collaboration. The research findings contribute to the existing literature on architectural registration by providing valuable insights and recommendations that can inform policy-making and decision-making processes in Nigeria. By addressing the registration crisis, the study aims to improve the professional environment for architects, enhance public safety, and foster the development of the architectural industry in Nigeria. © The Author(s) 2025.

This study examines the impact of high-impact practices (HIPs) on non-cognitive skill development among vocational college students, a relatively understudied area. Using data collected from 7274 students across three vocational colleges in China in 2022, this study employs a cross-sectional survey design and applies advanced methods such as Coarsened Exact Matching (CEM) and Structural Equation Modelling (SEM) to confirm the significant positive effects of HIPs on non-cognitive skills including communication, problem-solving and innovation among vocational college students. The study also reveals important differences across groups, showing that students from vocational high schools, Han ethnicity and higher academic ranks benefit most. Crucially, teacher-student and student–student interactions are identified as key mediators that strengthen HIPs' impact. These findings challenge traditional views of vocational education and highlight the value of HIPs in fostering well-rounded student development. The results offer valuable guidance for policymakers and educators to integrate HIPs into vocational curricula, improving graduates' employability and adaptability. This research provides fresh insights and a strategic framework for advancing vocational education reform in China and beyond. © 2025 John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

To effectively prepare students for navigating complex societal and sustainability challenges, higher education institutions are increasingly experimenting with transdisciplinary learning environments (TLEs) in which students collaborate with external stakeholders across disciplinary and sectoral boundaries. This empirical study explores how TLEs in Dutch higher education are designed to support co-creation and co-learning between students and societal actors. Using a multiple case study design, eleven TLEs across research universities and universities of applied sciences were analysed. The findings reveal three types of TLEs: Consultancy TLEs (C-TLEs), where students address real-world problems posed by commissioners; Participatory TLEs (P-TLEs), where all participants are explicitly positioned as learners in co-creation processes; and Student-Led TLEs (SL-TLEs), where students initiate the challenge based on their intrinsic motivation and seek out relevant stakeholders. The pedagogical and design decisions made within each type were identified, focusing on how co-creation is facilitated across the phases of co-design, co-production, and co-dissemination, and to what extent co-learning is an explicit goal. While co-creation was often supported, co-learning—especially for stakeholders—was rarely intentionally designed for or assessed. P-TLEs were most explicit in embedding co-creation and co-learning in goals, activities, and support structures. Across cases, several enablers and barriers were identified, such as teacher roles, assessment alignment, use of physical spaces, and institutional embedding. Our findings highlight the importance of designing for “freedom within structure,” recognising learning surprises, and enabling reciprocal partnerships to strengthen TLE impact. The conclusion stresses that while TLEs hold great promise for transformative education and societal engagement, the concept and practice of co-learning remain underdeveloped. These findings call for more research and practical experimentation into supporting, assessing, and making visible the co-learning processes of all actors involved—students, teachers, and stakeholders alike—as a critical step toward realising the third mission of higher education. © The Author(s) 2025.

Evidence for the ordering of the effect between interest and achievement remains an unresolved issue. Previous studies in this field predominantly rely on data from school contexts and STEM disciplines. The aim of this research is to analyse reciprocal effects between subject interest and achievement, focusing on long-term effects among students in higher education programmes. Data is used from a three-year longitudinal design with three annual measurements, based on cooperative education, involving 1828 participants. A random intercept cross-lagged panel model was used to test hypotheses. The analyses reveal positive reciprocal effects across subsequent time lags: from achievement to subject interest, and then from subject interest to achievement. However, these effects are not consistent and depend on specific conditions, including time-dependent factors, such as the phase of the study programme. Further research using other study formats and research designs is necessary to examine the robustness of the results. © 2025 The Authors.

Graduate employability remains a critical challenge in higher education in fields with diverse career pathways like physical education and sports science (PESS). Despite efforts to enhance employability through curriculum improvements and institutional support, gaps persist in workforce integration, particularly for non-teaching graduates. This study investigates the relationship between higher education experiences and employment outcomes among PESS graduates. Using data from 274 alumni of a state university in the Philippines, the study employed binary logistic regression to assess the influence of specialization, postgraduate education, and institutional support on employability. Results indicate that graduates in the teaching track were significantly more likely to secure employment as professional educators, while non-teaching graduates faced challenges aligning their careers with their academic background. Enrollment in postgraduate education emerged as a strong predictor of employment, however, curriculum evaluation and overall university experience were not immediate predictors of employability, though long-term employment outcomes were positively associated with graduates’ perceptions of their academic training. These findings reinforce the need for higher education institutions (HEIs) to strengthen career development initiatives for non-teaching graduates and enhance work-integrated learning (WIL) opportunities. © 2025 Institute of Advanced Engineering and Science. All rights reserved.