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Higher education institutions have undergone essential transformations in recent decades, driven by legislative reforms and changes in social and economic demands. This study examines the factors that influence the continuous improvement of educational quality in Ecuador’s private higher education institutions (HEIs). A quantitative, cross-sectional, descriptive–correlational study was conducted to analyze the adaptation of HEIs to new realities, student mobility, technological development, sustainability practices, and innovation. The results indicate that technological development and environmental sustainability are key elements. There is a strong correlation between technological development and adaptation to the world of work. This suggests that integrating sustainable practices and university–industry cooperation is critical in improving the quality of higher education in Ecuador. In addition, student mobility and graduate follow-up programs are positively related to labor market adaptation and internationalization. These findings suggest the need for a holistic approach to quality assurance and provide practical guidelines for Ecuadorian HEIs to improve their performance in a rapidly changing context.

Europe is geographically divided on the issue of immigration. Large cities are the home of Cosmopolitan Europe, where immigration is viewed positively. Outside the large cities—and especially in the countryside—is Nationalist Europe, where immigration is a threat. This divide is well documented and much discussed, but there has been scant research on why people in large cities are more likely to have favorable opinions about immigration. Debates about geographic differences generally highlight two explanations: contextual or compositional effects. I evaluate the two with data from the European Social Survey, the Swiss Household Panel, and the German Socio-Economic Panel. Results support compositional effects and highlight the importance of (demographic and cultural) mechanisms that sort pro-immigration people into large cities. This has several implications for our understanding of societal divisions in Europe; most notably that geographic polarization is a second-order manifestation of deeper (demographic and cultural) divides.

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is report on findings from a survey of Vietnamese employers in 2008 highlighting key tends in training and future labour needs. Design/methodology/approach – This paper uses data collected from a survey of Vietnamese employers during 2008. The survey was design by the authors and the fieldwork undertaken by representatives of the Vietnamese Chamber of Commerce and Industry (VCCI) with support from the International Labour Organisation (ILO). Findings – The survey shows that Vietnamese organisations understand the importance of training for their young workers but require more support from government and the VCCI to ensure effective training. Practical implications – The paper contains a number of practical implications for Vietnamese employers and the VCCI. Originality/value – Despite some opening of trade between Vietnam and the west, relatively little is still known about work, employment and training in Vietnam and there a few opportunities to undertake research of this nature. The main contribution of this paper is to report on current training practices and labour needs in Vietnam.

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to review empirical research on the measurement of employability, conducted in a 23-year period from 2000 to 2022.Design/methodology/approachA systematic and extensive search of the literature was conducted to select a set of studies that fit the inclusion criteria and addressed the research questions. These studies were conducted worldwide and published anytime from 2000 to 2022. The process of data extraction involved a tabulation of common themes across the studies. Thereafter, the data from the studies were analysed and interpreted to arrive at the findings.FindingsThe findings of this paper show variations in the measures of employability with respect to location, data points, domains and indicators of employability applied. Based on the type of indicators of employability applied, the studies can be categorised as those applying subjective indicators, objective indicators or a combination of the two.Research limitations/implicationsThe paper observed that there has been a great focus on measuring employability using subjective indicators. However, in order to help individuals face the unpredictability of fractious labour markets, going ahead, this measure will not be sufficient. Empirical research needs to focus on applying holistic measures of employability combining both subjective and objective indicators.Originality/valueThis paper presents a detailed categorisation of measures of employability. Thereby, the paper provides useful insights to help practitioners choose a suitable measure of employability for future studies. The paper also makes a case for widening the scope of present measures to apply the construct of employability effectively.

Overseas recruitment has become a common strategy in filling nurse shortages within U.S. health institutions, sparking the proliferation of nursing programs in the Philippines. Export-oriented education exacerbates a mismatch, however, between available jobs (in both the Philippines and the United States) and the number of nursing graduates, thus increasing joblessness and underemployment among Filipino youth. Pursing higher education as a means to migrate also puts Filipino students at risk of getting caught in a migration trap, where prospective migrants obtain credentials for overseas work yet cannot leave when labor demands or immigration policies change. Such problems highlight the complicated impact of immigrant labor niches in places like the United States on developing nations, beyond the brain drain narratives that dominate academic and policy discussions.

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to examine the industry's expectations on the key employability skills of fresh graduates in the communication and media industry. The Fourth Industrial Revolution has raised the question of whether the university should produce work-ready graduates with employability skills. Driven by the theory of human capital, society expects higher education to produce graduates with skills that are useful in their workplace.Design/methodology/approachThe data were gathered primarily through a quantitative survey, which was later extended to include qualitative interviews. Quantitatively, questionnaires were completed by 313 employers from the middle and top-level management from the communication and media industry. This study also expands on qualitative data through in-depth interviews with nine respondents who were among key decision-makers of recruiting graduates to garner their insights on required employability skills.FindingsThe findings revealed the following employability skills required by the industry in the Fourth Industrial Revolution: communication, ICT or digital, leadership, interpersonal, and personal qualities skills.Research limitations/implicationsThese findings are beneficial to education providers as well as media and communication industries in preparing students and developing their skills to adapt to the changes in the workplace.Originality/valueThe authors provide an empirical understanding of industry expectations towards employability skills in the Fourth Industrial Revolution of the communication and media industry within the Malaysian context.

This article seeks to contribute to the existing scholarship on academic mobility in two ways. First, it brings together insights on academic mobility (aspirations, desperations) and higher education internationalisation to show how we may analytically organise these insights to shed light on the shifting global higher education landscape from an experiential perspective. Second, it provides fresh data on the ‘lived experiences’ of mobile faculty members based in an attractive academic destination outside of the traditional knowledge cores—Singapore. As a city state without any natural resources, Singapore has successfully transformed its economy into one that is knowledge-intensive based on combined efforts from grooming locals to recruiting foreign talents to shore up skilled manpower needs. These efforts are reflected in the university sector where Singapore’s comprehensive universities have consistently ranked high across many global university rankings. Using survey and interview data, I show how the mobility and immobility experiences of faculty based in Singapore have contributed to its making as a ‘sticky’ and ‘slippery’ academic destination. My contributions point to the need to integrate individual-level factors underpinning academic mobility decisions with systemic developments to better understand the changing global higher education landscape today.

Objective In this work, I document variation in husbands' participation in household duties, an indicator of gender equality, by comparing ethnoreligious affiliation group, human capital, and autonomy. Background Scholars posit a relationship between religiosity and traditional gender relations, impacted by cultural norms and women's human capital. Israel's diverse ethnoreligious landscape provides an excellent context for empirically evaluating posited relationships. Method The study analyzed quantitative data from the Israel Social Survey on 1,900 married women (1,529 Jews and 371 Arabs). Results Husbands of Arab women were 83% less likely than husbands of Jewish women to share household duties. Among Jewish couples, husbands of traditional‐religious women were 29% less likely than husbands of secular women to share household duties. Further, among Jewish couples, there was no difference in husbands' sharing of household duties between ultra‐Orthodox women and secular women. Among Arabs, Druze husbands were almost 3 times more likely to participate than Muslim husbands. Among Arab Muslims, religious husbands were 2.40 times more likely to share household duties than nonreligious Muslims. Conclusion Findings support C. Goldscheider's culture hypothesis, suggesting that the uniqueness of the affiliation group is most important. However, although human capital did not strongly moderate husbands' participation, women's autonomy did. Implication Public policy should be sensitive to differences between ethnoreligious groups in supporting gender equality. For instance, policy makers should encourage religious leaders to preach values that promote such equality.

This Delphi study identified postsecondary career and technical education (CTE) needs and differences by race in rural areas. Seventeen rural community experts in education, business, and community leadership participated across three rounds. Round 1 involved interviews to compile perspectives about future careers and training. Round 2 used Likert-scale surveys to rate the perceived likelihood of careers and the value of training; consensus was evaluated. Round 3 conducted member checking. Results showed alignment between community-identified labor needs and workforce data. However, Native American members faced distinct qualifying barriers for training programs. Recommendations are that Comprehensive Local Needs Assessments (CLNAs) intentionally include marginalized groups and consider historical and present-day inequities certain students face to better meet the workforce training needs of the entire community. The Delphi method revealed nuanced perspectives and the need for more culturally responsive practice in rural areas.

Information technology (IT) and computing are growing fields, offering far more job opportunities than applicants. Yet, little data are available to indicate how course content, employer needs, and additional learning opportunities work together the prepare graduates to enter the IT workforce. To understand the extent to which learners were prepared to for these highly technical careers, we used text analysis to examine the extent to which course syllabi, job postings, internship postings, and industry certifications from information technology preparation programs at state college and two universities commonly reflected national IT curriculum knowledge areas. Integrated data suggested that while the two-year and four-year programs imparted key technical skills, to qualify employers sought applied, or “soft,” skills such as critical thinking, problem solving, teamwork, and written and verbal communication. These soft skills were more difficult to detect as learning outcomes, but the determination of the extent to which the examined programs foster these skills presents a fertile area for subsequent research.