ILPC 2026

 Higher education (HE) performs a range of roles within society. Preparing individuals for work is widely understood to be a key function. Many believe that HE’s vast expansion in the last decades is a direct result of a growing demand for university-educated workers. Employers want a well-trained and qualified labour force to serve what is deemed a knowledge-based economy. HE, it follows, has a central role in the skill formation of the modern workplace. Although few would expect the skills demanded in the labour process to be developed in higher education exclusively, there exists an assumption that the core skills of those working in graduate occupations are predominantly developed at university. Yet existing studies show this is not necessarily the case. Specifically, HE will have different roles to play as sites of work skill development for different occupations. This paper investigates this occupational heterogeneity and outlines constraints of HE as a site of skill development. It draws on four occupational case studies on the work of laboratory-based scientists, software engineers, financial analysts and press officers, using interview data with workers, employers and stakeholders in these four occupations. The paper shows that not only do graduate roles not necessarily rely strongly on HE for skill development, clear limits prevent it from doing so.