Higher education and work

Abstract

Higher education programmes, even if they are not specifically career-oriented, play an important role in equipping students with the knowledge and skills to enable their participation in future places of work. While there has been considerable critical discussion on the role of work in higher education, this has not been systematically researched, or theorised, to any great extent (Symes & McIntyre, 2000). Higher education has preferred to direct its gaze inward. Educational research in higher education has focused on the acculturation of students into academic disciplines, and their associated practices and languages (Dias, Freedman, Medway & Paré, 1999). While such self-scrutiny is important, it is equally important for educational and workbased researchers to consider how educational programmes and approaches might address the needs of students' participation in, and contribution to their future work environments. To achieve a productive alignment between higher education and workplaces, academic staff should develop an understanding of how to integrate experiences across different areas of learning, both within and outside academic contexts (Miettinen, 1999).