Shaping the Future of Higher Education: CEO Insights on the Impact of the Universities Accord

Beau Leese, CEO and co-founder of Practera, had the honour of presenting to the National Association of Graduate Careers Advisory Services (NAGCAS) colleagues on the potential impacts of the Universities Accord on educational access. This presentation required diving deep into the Accord’s 400 pages and revisiting several pivotal reports, including the Jobs Ready Graduates, NPILF, Bradley, and WIL in Universities reports. Beau extended his sincere thanks to Marnie Long and Leanne Burke for the invitation and the engaging homework! It was refreshing to delve into policy and strategy. A special shoutout to his co-panelists Denise Bradley, Penny Chancellor, and Michelle Moss for their insightful contributions.

While the Accord awaits Government selection, funding, and implementation of its recommendations, it has set a long-term horizon to 2050. By analyzing broad trends across these policy papers, several clear directional themes have emerged:

1. Workforce Needs and Mass Education: Tertiary education is poised to meet over 80% of Australia’s future workforce needs. Universities, already delivering a mass education model for over 50% of the commencing workforce, will be increasingly called upon by the Government to align with workforce demands through funding mechanisms.
2. International Education: Over the past 25 years, the number of international students has grown tenfold, approaching 1 million out of 21 million people aged over 15. This sector is both socially and economically significant, and thus politically sensitive. Universities will need to recalibrate international education to align with national economic needs, including regionalization, diversification of source countries, addressing housing issues, and workforce shortages.
3. R&D and Innovation: Australia’s investment in R&D and productivity outcomes lags behind most OECD peers. University R&D expenditure now constitutes over one-third of the total. Universities must demonstrate a higher return on investment in national innovation and productivity outcomes.
4. Access to Work Integrated Learning (WIL): Access to high-quality WIL is unequal, with First Nations, low SES, regional, and international students less engaged than their high SES, metropolitan counterparts. This disparity correlates with attainment and employment gaps.

Strategic Implications for Universities and Career Services

Given these themes, what might they imply for the strategic direction of universities and their careers and employability capacities?

Fundamentally, universities must deeply embed and evidence a distinctive theory and framework for employability, career preparation, and attainment within their education strategy. This must align with national skills requirements and institutional contexts. Key strategic imperatives include:

1. Enhancing Experiential Learning: Deepen and broaden the integration of experiential learning, employer engagement, and WIL within the curriculum.
2. Dynamic Programming: Develop dynamic in-curricular and co-curricular programs that address the skills and innovation impacts of new technologies, evolving job gaps, and emerging skills and technologies (including micro-credentials).
3. Equality of Access to WIL: Ensure equal access to WIL for disadvantaged groups, linking this to improved equality in graduate employment and career attainment.
4. Sustainable International Strategies: Develop more sustainable international student recruitment, experience, and alignment strategies.
5. Lifelong Career Support: Shift to a mindset of lifelong career support, partnering with students and alumni throughout their careers, emphasizing skills, experience, and connections.
6. Engaging and Incentivising Students: Systematically engage and incentivize students to participate in extra-curricular, co-curricular, and in-curricular employability activities, and meaningfully verify and credential their achievements alongside their degrees.