Examining the interplay of graduate attributes and a national skills passport in Australia: a tripartite scoping review

Abstract

Purpose – The Australian Government has proposed a National Skills Passport (NSP) to provide a central digital source for an individual’s qualifications, certifications and skills. There is constant debate around the responsibility of universities to prepare graduates for the workforce not just with disciplinary competencies but also with skills directly applicable in an employment scenario. This paper aims to explore the role played by universities in articulating the non-technical skills of their students and consider their utility in a new NSP. Design/methodology/approach – This scoping review encompasses academic literature, grey literature, expert interviews, and peer-to-peer dialogue in an interdisciplinary, innovative educative partnering of academic-industry-student. This methodology was adopted to broaden the remit of the research, and the recency of the Australian Government announcement necessitated outreach to understand stakeholder perspectives and shed light on areas not yet fully explored in academic literature. Findings – The review finds that despite their ubiquity in Australian higher education, institution-stated ‘graduate attributes’ struggle to resonate with both students and industry. An NSP provides an opportunity for higher education institutions to reframe the content, disciplinary connection and usage of these attributes, delivering tangible buy-in from industry and amplifying the likelihood of adoption by students as the first users of the Passport. Originality/value – This study brought together an industry organisation, the Universities Admissions Centre (“UAC”), the University of Sydney and its students in partnership to consider this complex problem in an experiential, interdisciplinary work-based learning environment. It is believed to be the first demonstrable output of academia-student-industry co-designed scholarly research on this topic, activating student agency in this manner, in Australia.