Boosting the Employability of Students and Staff at European Higher Education Institutions: An Educational Framework for Entrepreneurship, Internationalisation and Innovation

Globalisation has altered the conditions of work and learning in Europe. Many European countries specialise in non-offshorable, knowledge-and skill-intensive tasks which require a highly educated workforce that is able to interact in global settings. European Higher Education Institutions (HEI) face the challenge of meeting the increased demand for skills of globalised work environments. In order to do this, HEI need to adapt their educational concepts. This involves promoting internationalisation, entrepreneurial and innovation skills. This paper aims to develop an educational framework for boosting student and staff employability at European HEI. It further adds to the practical dimension of HEI internationalisation, entrepreneurship education and innovation pedagogy by presenting an example how these interrelated concepts can be integrated into the curricula of HEI. At the methodological level this implies broadening traditional content-focused curricula and making use of active teaching methods that foster deep learning, best acquired in real work situations. Taking internationalisation serious further entails building up virtual learning networks and tapping the full potential of e-learning.