Exploring the value of higher education to the economy

The second conference of the ACU’s Graduate Employment Network

Thursday 11-Saturday 13 July 2013
University of Auckland Business School
Auckland, New Zealand

This conference, which the ACU is proud to be presenting in association with Universities New Zealand, provides an excellent opportunity for us to celebrate our Centenary in New Zealand.

This conference will draw from our Centenary theme – Future forward: design, develop, deliver – which addresses key issues relating to the future of international higher education: designing academics and universities for the future, developing tools to meet new challenges, and delivering, recognising and measuring growth, impact and success.

The theme for the Graduate Employment Network conference – Exploring the value of higher education to the economy – will examine the extent to which university graduates are able to meet their own aspirations as well as society’s expectations of them.

In the difficult economic climate of today, universities all over the world are exercised by questions about the contribution their graduates are – or are not – capable of making to society, and about how the value of that contribution is measured. The universities of New Zealand, which have embarked on a unique, longitudinal study of their graduates over a ten year period, provide a particularly fertile background against which to explore these issues.

This conference will address questions such as:

• Are today’s graduates employable?
• How do we measure their value to the economy?
• Are universities fit for the future?
• Should graduate employability be a key measurement criterion?
• Should there be greater mobility between the TVET and HE sectors?
• Is student dissatisfaction becoming an increasingly important issue?

Who should attend?

This conference will be of value not only to those in careers services but also, and essentially, to those responsible for the strategic direction of universities, for curriculum development, and for the development of partnerships – internationally, with industry, with the private sector and with alumni.

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