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22 SES 07 C: The character of higher education
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22. Research in Higher Education
Paper Social Stratification in Higher Education Choice: Evidence from Slovenia 1: National Examinations Centre, Slovenia; 2: Department of Psychology, Faculty of Arts, University of Ljubljana, Slovenia Presenting Author:Abstract Education is often framed as a key mechanism of social mobility; however, educational choices remain closely linked to socio-economic background, even in systems with relatively broad access to higher education. This study examines the role of socio-economic status (SES) in shaping higher education choices in Slovenia, focusing not only on participation in higher education but also on differences across programme types, institutional types, and fields of study. In doing so, it highlights how social stratification operates not only at earlier stages of education but also at the transition into tertiary education. The analysis draws on nationwide administrative data developed in collaboration between the National Examinations Centre and the Statistical Office of the Republic of Slovenia. These data link individual students to their parents’ educational, occupational, and financial records, combining assessment and enrolment information with detailed socio-economic indicators. The resulting dataset enables the construction of a composite socio-economic status (SES) index based on parental education, occupational status, income, and property, following established approaches used in large-scale assessments such as the PISA ESCS index (OECD, 2017). Academic achievement is measured using upper secondary school grades and performance on national examinations, including both the general and vocational matura. Higher education outcomes include enrolment in higher education, programme type, field of study, etc. Descriptive statistics, correlation analyses, and regression models are used to examine associations between socio-economic status, academic achievement, and higher education choices, accounting for prior academic achievement and key demographic characteristics. The study contributes to a more nuanced understanding of educational inequality by showing how socially patterned choices persist at critical decision points in educational trajectories. The findings are expected to show that socio-economic background continues to shape higher education trajectories beyond differences in academic performance, consistent with theories of effectively maintained inequality (Lucas, 2001), relative risk aversion (Breen & Goldthorpe, 1997), and broader models of social stratification. While academic achievement is expected to account for an important share of variation in study choices, socio-economic differences are expected to persist in the selection of study programmes even after controlling for performance, including systematic differences across short-cycle, professional, and university-level programmes. From a broader perspective, these findings inform debates on meritocracy and social reproduction by illustrating how educational inequalities are reproduced through educational decision-making rather than formal barriers alone, with implications for student guidance, admission practices, and equity-oriented policies at the tertiary level. Methodology, Methods, Research Instruments or Sources Used Sample and Data Sources The study is based on a comprehensive population-level administrative dataset developed through collaboration between the National Examinations Centre and the Statistical Office of the Republic of Slovenia. National assessment data (available from the mid-1990s onward) were linked with a range of official administrative registers (e.g., residency, employment, taxation, and property records), enabling the construction of detailed socio-economic indicators. These data were further combined with higher education enrolment records to capture individuals’ study choices. The dataset covers entire student cohorts and supports analysis of transitions from upper secondary to tertiary education, including enrolment status, programme type, and field of study across multiple cohorts. Measures Family socio-economic status (SES) Family socio-economic status (SES) was operationalised as a composite index composed of multiple dimensions of family background, including the highest parental occupational status, the highest parental educational attainment, cumulative household property value, and total annual gross parental income. The index was constructed following established approaches used in large-scale educational assessments, such as the PISA ESCS index (OECD, 2017), and previous Slovenian research (Cankar et al., 2017). Principal component analysis (PCA) was used to derive a single SES component, which was standardised for analytical purposes. Academic achievement Academic achievement was measured using multiple indicators of educational performance, including upper secondary school grades in core subjects (Slovenian, Mathematics, and English), subject-specific results from the general and vocational matura examinations, and overall matura achievement. Higher education choice Higher education outcomes were derived from official enrolment data and captured key dimensions of study choice, including enrolment in higher education, programme type, and field of study. Fields of study were classified using a nationally standardised framework aligned with the International Standard Classification of Education – Fields of Education and Training (ISCED-F 2013), ensuring international comparability. Statistical analysis All analyses were conducted using the R statistical software. Descriptive statistics and correlation analyses were used to explore associations between socio-economic status (SES), academic achievement, and study choices. Logistic and multinomial logistic regression models were then used to examine higher education enrolment, programme type, and field of study, controlling for prior academic achievement and key demographic characteristics. Conclusions, Expected Outcomes or Findings This study focuses on socio-economic differences in higher education choice in Slovenia, with particular attention to how these differences emerge at the transition into tertiary education. Rather than examining access to higher education alone, the study addresses differentiation within higher education by programme type and field of study, thereby contributing to a more detailed understanding of contemporary educational stratification. Drawing on large-scale administrative and assessment data, the analysis is expected to show that socio-economic status remains systematically related to higher education choices, even after controlling for prior academic achievement. In line with theories of relative risk aversion, effectively maintained inequality and social stratification, students from lower socio-economic backgrounds are expected to make more conservative study choices, while students from more advantaged backgrounds are more likely to enter academically demanding and prestigious programmes and fields of study (Hemsley-Brown & Oplatka, 2015; Reay, 2001). The Slovenian context offers a particularly informative case for examining these processes. Despite relatively broad access to higher education (OECD, 2023), previous research has documented substantial socio-economic inequalities at earlier educational transitions (Cankar et al., 2017). This study is expected to demonstrate that similar mechanisms operate at the transition into higher education, where institutional and programme-level differentiation creates new opportunities for social stratification. The study contributes to debates on meritocracy and social reproduction by demonstrating that educational choices remain socially patterned, also within higher education. From a policy perspective, the findings underscore the importance of addressing inequality not only through early interventions but also at critical decision points such as transitions into higher education, with implications for student guidance, admission practices, and equity-oriented policies. References Baker, S., & Brown, B. (2007). Images of excellence: Constructions of institutional prestige and reflections in the university choice process. British Journal of Sociology of Education, 28(3), 377–391. https://doi.org/10.1080/01425690701253455 Bernardi, F., & Ballarino, G. (Eds.). (2016). Education, occupation and social origin: A comparative analysis of the transmission of socio-economic inequalities. Edward Elgar Publishing. https://doi.org/10.4337/9781785360459 Callender, C., & Jackson, J. (2008). Does the fear of debt constrain choice of university and subject of study?. Studies in Higher Education, 33(4), 405–429. https://doi.org/10.1080/03075070802211802 Cankar, G. (2020). Fair educational opportunities in Slovenia: A population study of students with special needs, immigrants, and their socioeconomic status in relation to school achievement. National Examination Center. Cankar, G., Bren, M., & Zupanc, D. (2017). For greater equity in the Slovenian education system: Analyses of student achievement in relation to social, cultural, economic, and regional characteristics of students. National Examination Centre. Corak, M. (2013). Income inequality, equality of opportunity, and intergenerational mobility. Journal of Economic Perspectives, 27(3), 79–102. https://doi.org/10.1257/jep.27.3.79 Crawford, C., & Vignoles, A. (2014). Heterogeneity in graduate earnings by socio-economic background (No. W14/30). IFS Working Papers. https://doi.org/10.1920/wp.ifs.2014.1430 Gogescu, F. (2024). Mapping the distinct patterns of educational and social stratification in European countries. Journal of European Social Policy, 34(3), 271–288. https://doi.org/10.1177/09589287241240966 Haas, C., & Hadjar, A. (2024). Social inequalities in study trajectories: A comparison of the United States and Germany. Sociology of Education, 97(3), 276–296. https://doi.org/10.1177/00380407241228553 Hemsley-Brown, J., & Oplatka, I. (2015). University choice: What do we know, what don’t we know and what do we still need to find out? International Journal of Educational Management, 29(3), 254–274. https://doi.org/10.1108/IJEM-10-2013-0150 OECD. (2017). PISA 2015 technical report. https://www.oecd.org/pisa/data/2015-technical-report OECD. (2023). Education at a glance 2023: OECD indicators. OECD Publishing. Reay, D., Davies, J., David, M., & Ball, S. J. (2001). Choices of degree or degrees of choice? Class, ‘race’ and the higher education choice process. Sociology, 35(4), 855–874. https://doi.org/10.1017/S0038038501008550 Sianou‐Kyrgiou, E. (2010). Stratification in higher education, choice and social inequalities in Greece. Higher Education Quarterly, 64(1), 22–40. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1468-2273.2009.00427.x Triventi, M. (2013). The role of higher education stratification in the reproduction of social inequality in the labor market. Research in Social Stratification and Mobility, 32, 45–63. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.rssm.2013.01.003 Vryonides, M., & Lamprianou, I. (2013). Education and social stratification across Europe. International Journal of Sociology and Social Policy, 33(1/2), 77–97. https://doi.org/10.1108/01443331311295190 22. Research in Higher Education
Paper Class, Gender and Ambition: Working-Class Girls’ Reflexive Pathways into and out of Elite Higher Education in England Manchester Metropolitan University, United Kingdom Presenting Author:This paper examines how the personal process of reflexive deliberation is shaping high-achieving, working-class women’s education and early employment trajectories, from application to elite universities through to their entry into the graduate labour market. Largely informed by Margaret Archer’s sociology of reflexivity (2003, 2007), the paper brings together findings from two qualitative research projects to offer a theoretically informed account of how classed and gendered inequalities are navigated across key educational and occupational transitions. Although the research is located in England, the English HE sector is not unique in experiencing high rates of female participation. In most countries across Europe, more women than men are going to and graduating from university (Eurostat, 2023; UNESCO, 2025). Concerns remain about female access to specific fields, with women persistently underrepresented in science, technology, engineering and maths (García-Peñalvo et al., 2022) and concentrated on care rather than technical courses (Barone, 2011). However, overall female dominance in the arena of HE means that it is often a key site for claims about women’s straightforward success, ambition, opportunity and freedom (Davey, 2025; Allen, 2016; Scharff, 2016). Postfeminist narratives thus position young women as agentic subjects who can ‘do, be and have’ anything they want in a world where sexism no longer exists to slow them down (Pomerantz and Raby, 2017; Kivijärvi, 2021). This characterisation leaves little space to consider how female experiences of HE are located within the parameters of longstanding social structures. Across the European labour market, highly educated female graduates are less likely to find work than their male counterparts (Eurostats, 2025) and, once in work, they receive less pay for the same jobs (Lažetić, 2020). Accordingly, their earlier educational ‘success’ is not easily translated into the workplace. Interacting with gender are also the pressures, constraints and influences of social class. Parental wealth and education are well-known to be highly influential in shaping educational and employment outcomes (Pietrolucci, Dräger, Müller, Albertini, 2025). Likewise, the framing of working-class struggles as personal failings, rather than structural inequalities, can pathologise working-class women for belonging to both a social class and gender perceived as ‘less’ (Lawler, 1999; Reay, 2025). Little attention has, however, been paid to explaining how working-class young women with a strong track record of academic success are navigating these tensions. This paper addresses this gap by examining the experiences of such women in the context of elite HE in England. Here, despite having a highly formalised widening participation agenda, the university system remains hierarchically stratified and deeply embedded in wider social structures (Salmi, 2018; Bathmaker, et. al 2016). With both ‘mass’ and ‘elite’ forms of HE existing simultaneously, it provides a ‘place’ for everyone but these places are not equal (Wheelahan & Moodie, 2020). Indeed, disadvantaged young people three times less likely to attend a top university than their more advantaged peers (DfE, 2025). England thus provides a particularly compelling context in which to explore social class inequalities and problematise the stereotype of trouble-free female success. Archer’s (2003, 2007) understanding of ‘reflexivity’ provides a powerful framework for examining how working-class young women mediate between social structures and personal agency in their trajectories into and out of elite HE. These elements of social reality are not mutually constitutive of one another. Rather, Archer foregrounds the role of internal conversation to explain how individuals actively negotiate the complex structures around them. Instead of positioning working-class young women as passive bearers of gendered and classed dispositions, this paper presents them as active agents, who take a strategic approach to dealing with the constraints and opportunities they encounter in their educational and employment trajectories. Methodology, Methods, Research Instruments or Sources Used The paper draws on two qualitative research projects with high-achieving young women from working-class backgrounds. The first is a completed study of university decision making among a group of sixteen young women aged 16-18 who were intending to progress to elite UK universities. Using pens, paper and stickers, each produced a visual ‘map’ of their life and educational trajectories which was then used to guide an in-depth, face-to-face individual interview. The second is a research project in its early stages, following a group of young women as they complete their final years of study at elite universities and transition into and through the graduate labour market. Combining voice diaries and interviews, it aims to capture the dynamics of how these women define, implement and, if necessary, modify their graduate trajectories over time. Across both pieces of research, the young women had achieved (or been predicted to achieve) high grades in their end-of-school exams. They were also applying to or enrolled at some of the UK’s most academically selective universities, which demand these top grades for entry. While ‘working-class’ is a term beset by problems of definition, it is used here to refer to how these young women are typically the first generation in their families to attend university, have experienced socio-economic disadvantage and/or lived in areas of low HE participation. These measures are applied as a pragmatic solution for capturing the materiality of the young women’s backgrounds and indicate that they were bucking known trends in HE participation for working-class young people. By employing creative, biographical qualitative methods to foreground the young women’s first-person accounts of their life, educational and employment trajectories, the studies pay close attention to the mediatory process through which the young women respond subjectively to their objective circumstances (Archer, 2003). Data were analysed thematically through both an inductive approach, to delineate the girls’ circumstances and their actions and interactions with them, and a deductive approach to categorise how the girls were reflexively navigating their educational pathways. This approach allows the paper to make a theoretical contribution to the study of working-class young women’s decision making, by developing new explanatory frameworks for the reflexive ways in which they make context-dependent yet highly individualised decisions about their education and employment. Conclusions, Expected Outcomes or Findings Drawing on the research findings, this paper presents examples of how the high-achieving young women in the two studies employ distinctive reflexive approaches to capitalise on enablements and circumvent obstacles which may elasticate or contract their intended transitions into and out of elite universities. On the surface, their journeys resemble well-rehearsed stories of high-achieving girls who appear able to glide through education collecting high grades and paving their own ways to bright futures (Pomerantz & Raby, 2017). Yet, as young women from working-class backgrounds who are typically the first in their families to enter HE, they are actively reworking, rather than replicating, the social worlds into which they have been born. Illustrating these complexities, the post-feminist ideals of ambition and freedom have arguably been advantageous in bringing the young women into contact with opportunities they might not otherwise have encountered as they journey into, through and out of elite universities. They construct their pathways individualistically and invest in aspirational futures. Yet this entails taking significant personal responsibility for achieving their academic and employment goals. Consequently, within these high-stakes environments, these young women are under intense pressure to perform. Reflexivity here is not simply about success. Rather, it explains how the young women navigate the risks and possibilities in their lives. Theoretically, the findings challenge dominant Bourdieusian approaches that rely heavily on cultural and social reproduction to explain classed patterns in education and employment. Such perspectives often underplay the degree of agency exercised by working-class young people whose pathways are not the ‘norm’ for their social class. By contrast, using reflexivity as a mediating process explains how individuals adapt to, negotiate and sometimes resist structural constraints. This paper thus offers a dynamic and nuanced account of working-class young women’s lives, contributing to wider debates about classed and gendered inequalities across Europe. References Allen, K. (2016). Top girls navigating austere times. Journal of Youth Studies, 19(6), 805–820. https://doi.org/10.1080/13676261.2015.1112885 Archer, M. S. (2003). Structure, Agency and the Internal Conversation. Cambridge University Press. Archer, M. S. (2007). Making our way through the world: human reflexivity and social mobility. Cambridge University Press. Barone, C. (2011). Some Things Never Change: Gender Segregation in Higher Education across Eight Nations and Three Decades. Sociology of Education, 84(2), 157-176. Bathmaker, A.-M., Ingram, N., Abrahams, J., Hoare, A., Waller, R., and Bradley, H. 2016 Higher Education, Social Class and Social Mobility: The Degree Generation. Palgrave Macmillan. Davey, K. (2025). Striving to Be Super: The Contradictions of Academic Success in High-Achieving, Working-Class Girls’ Pathways to High-Tariff Universities. British Journal of Educational Studies, 73(2), 215–234. https://doi.org/10.1080/00071005.2024.2421206 DfE. (2025) Widening Participation in HE: 2023-24. https://explore-education-statistics.service.gov.uk/find-statistics/widening-participation-in-higher-education/2023-24#dataBlock-1e629e6e-9a7a-4a3b-8106-6bf3de0c4978-tables Eurostat. (2023) Tertiary education statistics. European Union. https://ec.europa.eu/eurostat/statistics-explained/index.php?title=Tertiary_education_statistics#Participation_in_tertiary_education_by_sex Eurostat. (2025) Employment rates of recent graduates. European Union. https://ec.europa.eu/eurostat/statistics-explained/index.php?title=Employment_rates_of_recent_graduates#Recent_male_graduates_in_the_EU_were_more_likely_to_find_work_than_their_female_counterparts García-Peñalvo, F. J., García-Holgado, A., Domingues, A. & Pacual, J. (Eds) Women in STEM in Higher Education: Good practices of attraction, access and retainment in Higher Education. Springer. Kivijärvi M (2021), “Stop whining and be a badass”: a postfeminist analysis of university students' responses to gender themes. Equality, Diversity and Inclusion: An International Journal, 40(6) pp. 690–707, https://doi.org/10.1108/EDI-08-2020-0219 Lažetić, P. (2020). The gender gap in graduate job quality in Europe – a comparative analysis across economic sectors and countries. Oxford Review of Education, 46(1), 129–151. https://doi.org/10.1080/03054985.2019.1687439 Lawler, S. (1999) ‘Getting out and getting away’: Women’s narratives of class mobility, Feminist Review, 63(1), 3–24. https://doi.org/10.1080/014177899339036 Pietrolucci, A., Dräger, J., Müller, N. & Albertini, M. (2025). The educational wealth divide in Europe: Post-secondary enrolment gaps across parental wealth components and countries, Research in Social Stratification and Mobility. 99. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.rssm.2025.101086. Pomerantz, S. and Raby, R. (2017) Smart Girls: Success, School, and the Myth of Post-Feminism. University of California Press. Reay, D. (2025) Miseducation. 2nd Ed. Policy Press. Salmi, J. (2018). All around the world – Higher education equity policies across the globe. https://worldaccesshe.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/12/All-around-the-world-Higher-education-equity-policies-across-the-globe-.pdf Scharff, C. (2016) Gender and neoliberalism: young women as ideal neoliberal subjects. In S. Springer, K. Birch, and J. Macleavy (Eds) Handbook of Neoliberalism. Routledge, pp. 245–254. UNESCO (2025) Global Education Monitoring Report 2025. https://unesdoc.unesco.org/ark:/48223/pf0000393701 Wheelahan, Leesa, and Gavin Moodie. 2020. A Degree is a Degree? The Impact of Elite Universities on Colleges Offering Degrees. International Journal of Training Research 18 (2): 101–105. https://doi.org/10.1080/14480220.2020.1830837. 22. Research in Higher Education
Paper On the Path to Becoming a University: How Far Have New Higher Education Institutions Come in the Past Decade? Edge Foundation, United Kingdom Presenting Author:This research explores new higher education institutions (HEIs) in England, which began life in the last 5-10 years and are now delivering higher education (HE) provision. Earlier research investigated how new HEIs began their journey of setting-up and developing a new HEI, exploring initial visions and how pedagogies and learning approaches were being developed (Emms et al, 2023). It found that new HEIs conceived their mission as addressing deficiencies in existing university provision (BIS, 2016) to prepare students sufficiently for a varied portfolio career in a complex world, responding to concerns that university offerings do not always align with labour market needs (Tomlinson, 2012). In response, the HE sector in England shows a growing trend towards diversifying its provision aiming to enhance graduate employability and address employer demands for work-ready graduates. Research has pointed towards the importance of work-related experiences in HE and equipping students with skills to foster their employability (Donald et al., 2018; Kersh et al., 2025). Germany, on the other hand, has a well-established system in which vocational and HE have co-existed as equally strong parts of the overall transition of young people from school to employment (Ertl, 2021). One specific programme is the hybrid study programme (Kuhlee et al., 2023) that gained prominence in Germany in the early 1970s linking the programme close to labour market needs. While similar programme exists in Austria, its growth has only picked up from 2011 (Haas & Humpl, 2019). A parallel set of challenges across the HE sector relate to growing levels of student disengagement and low attendance levels. Students report feeling little incentive to attend in-person teaching, citing cost-of-living pressures, work commitments and a perceived worthlessness in traditional lecture formats (Otte, 2024). In this context, some new HE provision has been recognised for adopting innovative pedagogies designed to address these issues (Pyakurel, 2024). Institutions offering practically-orientated programmes, for example, emphasise applied learning, industry collaboration and team-based problem-solving, aligning curricula more closely with the world of work (Kersh et al., 2025). Such developments have also been witnessed in Scotland’s HE system with the introduction of Graduate Apprenticeships in 2017, which, in their short lifespan, have already played an important role in Scotland’s work-based learning offer. Emms et al. (2021) found that they have enabled graduates to develop the broader ‘meta-skills’ and rich workplace experience employers’ demand. Despite examples of good practice from some HE providers offering work-related and work-based learning opportunities across Europe, the literature highlights structural and developmental challenges that they have faced. In England, issues have been raised around some of the struggles associated with new HE providers such as striking the right balance between student voice and over-surveying students. Mapletoft et al. (2023) focussed on non-traditional mature degree apprentices from one institution, they found ‘difficulties of embedding meaningful student representation and closing the feedback loop’ in a new provider context. The Higher Education and Research Act (HERA) (2017) afforded the HE sector the ability for new HEIs to apply for their own degree awarding powers (DAPs) with the ultimate aim to gain protected status and title of ‘university’. However, the regulatory framework intended to support innovation can feel overly burdensome for new HEIs and can be a barrier to innovation. Research (Emms et al., 2023) points to tensions between the entrepreneurial agility that should be inherent in these new HE providers and the inflexibility of the legislation designed to bring about innovation, with quality assurance processes sometimes inhibiting curriculum experimentation (Bond et al., 2023). These pressures risk diverting capacity away from core tasks of culture‑building, pedagogic development and student support, when resources are already scarce. Methodology, Methods, Research Instruments or Sources Used New HEIs are a feature, not just across England, but countries across the world are developing new HEIs to respond to the changing needs of students and the world in the 21st century (Penprase and Pickus, 2024). This paper aims to explore how these institutions in England have developed in their journeys to become universities. Specifically, the research aims to answer: • How have the visions of new HEIs evolved over time? • In what way are new HEIs different from ‘traditional’ HE providers? • How are new HEIs’ provision perceived and experienced by students and staff? In order to answer the research questions, the qualitative approach employed semi-structured interviews and focus groups with various stakeholders associated with six new HEIs in England. Online semi-structured interviews took place with senior leadership team members and teaching staff, current and past students. In-person focus group interviews also took place with some of the student groups attending new HEIs. In total 37 participants were interviewed. At the time of interviews, the participating institutions were actively delivering courses. Interviews lasted approximately 60 minutes and all interviews and focus groups were recorded and transcribed verbatim. The qualitative data was analysed using thematic analyses to draw out common themes within the data (Braun & Clarke, 2006). The research adheres to the BERA Ethical Guidelines 2024. Participants received an information sheet and consent form prior to interviews. Participation was voluntary and participants had the right to withdraw at any time. All interviewees and participants will remain anonymous. Conclusions, Expected Outcomes or Findings Findings from the interviews show that new HEIs are challenging traditional HE approaches to respond to crises facing the HE sector, including lack of work-readiness, low attendance, poor engagement with learning, and poor mental health. Interdisciplinary degrees were a feature of many of the new HEIs with institutions claiming to teach beyond the realms of single disciplines, and instead organising learning at a higher level of complex world problems. This facilitated the application of the classroom learning to the real world. The interviewees overwhelmingly highlighted the importance of real-world relevance of the activities and tasks with which students engage during their degree programmes. These activities are often linked to engaging with employers who actively support curriculum delivery. During these activities, students have to marry their theoretical knowledge with practical applications to find solutions to real life problems. These exercises mimic real work situations and students become better prepared for the world of work. One of the most pertinent factors at new HEIs was the individualised support and experience that students felt ran through many aspects of their university experience, giving them what was regarded as a highly personalised experience. This is a result of small cohort sizes, lack of lecture-style teaching and close staff–student relationships which create an environment where ‘everybody knows your name’. Staff are approachable and learners feel genuinely seen. Classrooms were described as collaborative, discursive spaces where students were encouraged to contribute, ask questions freely and receive tailored guidance. Staff were better at supporting students because they knew their individual strengths and weaknesses, therefore staff knew when and how certain students needed help in class. The personalised approach, the real-world relevance of the curricula, along with other features that will be discussed, are all thought to support the work-readiness of the students attending these new HEIs. References BIS (Department for Business, Innovation & Skills). (May 2016). Success as a Knowledge Economy: Teaching Excellence, Social Mobility and Student Choice. https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/ uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/523546/bis-16-265-success-as-a-knowledgeeconomy-web.pdf Bond, K., Gibbs, B., Harris, G., Lewis, E., Pate, A., Renyard, J., Wint, N., & Wood, G. C. (2023). Literature Review: When Quality Assurance Meets Innovation in Higher Education. Working Paper. Available at: https://discovery.ucl.ac.uk/id/eprint/10199545/1/quality-and-innovation-project-literature-review.pdf Braun, V. and Clarke, V. (2006). Using thematic analysis in psychology. Qualitative Research in Psychology, 3 (2), 77–101. https://doi.org/10.1191/1478088706qp063oa Donald, W. E. et al. (2018). Students’ perceptions of education and employability: Facilitating career transition from higher education into the labor market. Career development international. 23 (5), 513–540. Emms, K., Laczik, A., Newton, O. and Wilson, E. (2021). Graduate Apprenticeships: Developing Scotland’s Future Workforce. London: Edge Foundation. Emms, K., Laczik, A. and Patel, J. (2023). New Higher Education Institutions in England: A real chance to innovate? London: Edge Foundation. Ertl, H. (2021): Bildungssysteme im Vergleich: Die britische Sicht auf die deutsche Berufsbildung im Zeitverlauf, in: Bellmann et al. (eds.): Schlüsselthemen der beruflichen Bildung in Deutschland. Ein historischer Überblick zu wichtigen Debatten und zentralen Forschungsfeldern (Bonn: BIBB), 384-398. Haas, J., & Humpl, S. (2019). Duale Studienangebote. Ein Zukunftsmodell für Österreichs Hochschulen? In A. Pausitis, R. Aichinger & M. Unger (Hrsg.), Qua vadis Hochschule? Beiträge zur evidenzbasierten Hochschulentwicklung (pp. 113–127). Waxmann. Kersh, N., Emms, K., Laczik, A. and Latimer, J. (2025). Building bridges between higher education and employment: learning from practically-based HE. London: The Edge Foundation. Kuhlee, D. (2023, 22-25 August). Diversifying the Higher Education Landscape: Facilitating transition from HE and HIVE to the world of work. [Conference presentation]. ECER 2023, Glasgow, UK. Mapletoft, N., Mapletoft, O.C. & Henderson, T. (2023). Being first: the student experience at a new higher education provider. Perspectives: Policy and Practice in Higher Education, 28 (3), 152-159. Otte, J. (2024). ‘I see little point’: UK university students on why attendance has plummeted. The Guardian. Available at: https://www.theguardian.com/education/article/2024/may/28/i-see-little-point-uk-university-students-on-why-attendance-has-plummeted Penprase, B. and Pickus, N. (2024). The New Global Universities: Reinventing Education in the 21st Century. Princeton University Press. Pyakurel, P. (2024). Steps to adapt engineering education to changing skills demands. Times Higher Education. Available at: https://www.timeshighereducation.com/campus/steps-adapt-engineering-education-changing-skills-demands Tomlinson, M. (2012) Graduate employability: A review of conceptual and empirical themes. Higher Education Policy, 25 (4), 407–431. | ||