Graduate Employment and Sustainability in a Global and Changing Labour Market: Challenges and Opportunities for Higher Education

Dear Colleagues,

Higher education institutions are increasingly concerned with the professional insertion of (their) students. While the major concern has been the design of institutional mechanisms that promote students’ transition from higher education to work contexts (formal employment and self-employment), there has been an increased need to integrate the development of personal competences that sustain self-realization and the ability to articulate life goals outside and inside work.

Under the framework of the fourth goal of the Sustainable Development Agenda, namely targets 4.3 and 4.4. (https://www.un.org/sustainabledevelopment/education/) this Special Issue aims to address the relationships between higher education institutions (such as as universities and polytechnic schools) and the employability/employment of graduates from around the world, namely in developed countries, as well as in developing countries, where higher education is presently in significant expansion. Note that this Special Issue integrates as stakeholders not just university teachers/academics, but also institutional leaders and (future) workers, as well as policy makers.

We invite authors to contribute to this Special Issue by submitting empirical or theoretical research triggering a broader reflection on the integration of sustainability, in its diverse definitions and conceptualizations, into the (higher) education of (future) workers from the natural sciences and social sciences.

Contributions around the following themes are particularly welcomed:

- The changing competencies required in order to respond to the needs of a changing labour market and/or societal needs informing future or ongoing work, and education programmes/strategies.

- Development of effective partnerships, including international cooperation, between higher education and employment institutions (both from the private and public sector),

- Design, implementation and evaluation of innovative (higher) education and training programmes integrating work-related skills and non-cognitive transferable skills (such as ICT skills, entrepeneurial skills, etc.), namely  in collaboration with other social partners (HIE from other countries, companies, NGOs, etc.)

Dr. Betina Silva Lopes
Guest Editor

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