New realities: The relationship between higher education and employment

Abstract

The paper addresses one aspect of the ‘New Realities’ of higher education: the employer‐higher education interface. It explores the development of the ‘employability’ agenda in higher education, examines the nature and implication of organisational change for graduates and assesses what attributes graduates will need in the next decade. Flexible organisations need flexible, and increasingly empowered employees; that in turn calls for transformative and empowering learning. The way that higher education might address this, particularly in the context of lifelong learning, is explored.