Exploring the value of values - Does higher education need to abandon a ‘skills transferability’ focus in favour of ‘values transferability’?

Oct 15, 2026

Uploaded by Putri

Higher education institutions in Australia responded to employability pressures by prioritising graduate skills, but this shift has sparked criticism for creating a “job factory” while underemphasising lifelong learning orientations and students’ own values. Using a quasi-field experiment with phenomenology and surveys, the study exposed 15 undergraduate and postgraduate students to experiences about values in career choice and development. Findings show values as a key currency in employability, yielding five themes: career awareness, entrepreneurial thinking, anxiety, educational purpose, and personal values.

LanguageEnglish

CategoryResearch & Report

FormatPDF

Pages20

Reading Time50 min

AccessFree to download

Abstract

Introduction

Literature review

Stakeholders’ philosophical positions on higher education

Materials and methods

Findings

Discussion

Conclusion

The Journal of Teaching and Learning for Graduate Employability ISSN: 1838-3815 (online) Journal Homepage: [https://ojs.deakin.edu.au/index.php/jtlge/](https://ojs.deakin.edu.au/index.php/jtlge/) Exploring the value of values: Does higher education need to abandon a ‘skills transferability’ focus in favour of ‘values transferability’? Jeffrey Naqvi1 Corresponding author: Jeffrey Naqvi ([jeffrey.naqvi@sydney.edu.au](jeffrey.naqvi@sydney.edu.au)) 1 Division of Curriculum Futures/Education and Students Portfolio, University of Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. Abstract Higher education institutions (HEIs) in Australia have responded to their environment – driven by government and industry-and cultivated a skills focus when it comes to employability of its graduates. However, this has led to criticisms of a ‘job factory’ with minimal thought given to longer-term lifelong learning orientations and at the core, the students themselves and their values. With a quasi-field experiment design, using both phenomenology and surveys, 15 undergraduate and postgraduate students were exposed to a range of experiences exploring the role of values in career choice and career development. Findings reveal that students appreciate the focus on values as a currency of the employability equation. Five core themes arose out of the research: amplified career awareness; entrepreneurial thinking; anxiety; educational purpose; and understanding personal values. These findings pose questions for HEIs: whether to incorporate a discussion on values as part of employability; how to achieve this in a manner which reaches all students; and when is best to do so. Participants unanimously felt that the penultimate year of study is the ideal time to have a conversation with students not based on skills transferability into the workplace, but values transferability. Keywords values, higher education institutions, employability, personal identity, career development Introduction Governmental shifts in higher education policy settings in Australia have contributed to a generational change in positioning of the role of higher education. The proposals of late 2024 to adjust the number of international students entering Australia to study at a higher education institution (HEI) and its consequential impact to the funding of the sector, was arguably met with an indifference from much of Australian society (Karp, 2024) . Indeed, just 14% of Australians believe universities should be a funding priority for the national government (Australian Marketing Institute, 2024) . With the international student cohort lacking a voting voice in Australia’s electoral system, and tepid activism from many stakeholders, it seemed no one was willing to go into bat for the sector. How did it get to this point? Naqvi, J. (2026) . Exploring the value of values: Does higher education need to abandon a ‘skills transferability’ focus in favour of ‘values transferability’? Journal of Teaching and Learning for Graduate Employability, 17(1), 1–20. 1 For many years, industry has expressed concern over the calibre of graduates from HEIs (Steed, 2018) . The lack of graduate skills such as teamwork, critical thinking and communication has been reported by industry (Singh et al., 2014; Karimi & Pina, 2021) . Long-held pillars of industry’s connection to academia such as internships are no longer the guaranteed pipeline to employability that they once might have been (Naqvi, 2024) . These dynamics have created a tension within university environments. Academic traditionalists with an Aristotelian view of valuing curiosity, a commitment to ‘truth’, and a desire to use knowledge for students to be a better person in themselves (Neem, 2013) sit alongside institutional drivers of graduate employment outcomes, industry partnerships, and competitive positioning (Smyth & Smyth, 2017) . This conflict is nestled within a decreasing domestic (Learning Creates Australia, 2023) and i

FAQs

What employability focus did higher education institutions adopt, and why is it criticised?

Higher education adopted a skills-oriented employability focus in response to government and industry pressures. Critics argue it can become a “job factory,” with insufficient attention to lifelong learning orientations and students’ values.

How was the study designed to explore the role of values?

The study used a quasi-field experiment design combining phenomenology and surveys, exposing 15 undergraduate and postgraduate students to experiences related to values in career choice and development.

What key themes emerged from the research on values and employability?

The research identified five core themes: amplified career awareness, entrepreneurial thinking, anxiety, educational purpose, and understanding personal values.

Oct 15, 2026

Uploaded by Putri