The Higher Education Academy (2015) highlighted attainment alongside access, retention and progression as key areas of foci in order to fulfill the aspiration to provide all students with the opportunities and support required to succeed in Higher Education (HE). Although previous research into academic advising has focused on the impact upon student satisfaction and retention, the impact upon attainment is underexplored. This research aims to explore the extent of the relationship between advising and attainment and answers the call by bodies such as Advance HE (formerly the Higher Education Academy) to recognize that academic advising is vital to student success. This research provides a contribution to the body of knowledge around academic advising, in the form of a case study undertaken to identify the impact of academic advising on student attainment at Sheffield Hallam University. A focus group and questionnaire were employed to gather data from final year undergraduate students at Sheffield Hallam University. Findings indicate that the impact of academic advising on attainment is both explicit and implicit, with support in areas beyond academic studies having a significant impact on student experiences. In addition this research also questions the perceived meanings of attainment in HE and proposes that attainment should be viewed as holistic attainment whereby students are developed as a whole, better enabling them to deal with the HE environment and beyond rather than being limited to academic numerical attainment.

Building on the work of lifestyle migrant researchers where hospitality and tourism are key drivers for migrants’ location decisions, this article considers the complexities of work choices made by lifestyle migrants. Discussion leads to the proposition of linking lifestyle migration, work–life balance and work choices to provide a basis upon which to explore this group of workers and their relationship with work post-migration. To do this the study reflects on semi-structured interviews with 33 UK lifestyle migrants living in the Chamonix Valley, France and working in hospitality and tourism.

Globalisation and an increasingly fluid world have given rise to a greater focus on lifestyle and identity development. The desire for a better lifestyle has seemingly continued to increase as individuals search for ways to bring greater meaning to their lives (Stone & Stubbs, 2007; Walmsley, 2003). Such shifts in societal dynamics have in turn seen an increase in the integration of work as part of a wider lifestyle choice in which non-work and work activities amalgamate to create an overall assimilated lifestyle (Duncan et al., 2013; Shaw & Williams, 1994). Resulting from this, we now see a range of lifestyle operators, who are making work choices with varying degrees of lifestyle focus. Many such lifestyle operators are seen within tourism and hospitality, attracted by low barriers to entry and flexible work offered by temporal trading. Whilst previous studies of temporality in tourism have largely focused on temporality as a problem (Baum & Lundtorp, 2001), there are now indications of some individuals proactively using temporality to facilitate a desired lifestyle, through having redefined the conventions of delineated ‘work’ and ‘non-work’ time.

Authentic conflict scenarios are an essential basis for learning activities and assessment tasks in the conflict management and resolution field. Authentic scenarios allow students to apply theories and skills to realistic situations, enhancing their learning experiences and workforce readiness. However, finding suitable conflict scenarios for use in teaching and learning is challenging due to a) Confidentiality: limiting the types of conflicts that can be used; b) Evolving resources: conflicts already in the public eye are often complex and continue to evolve which requires a great deal of effort by educators to update content, restricts the diversity of resources available, and makes it difficult to impartially present all aspects of a conflict in an engaging way; and c) Lack of engaging resources: fictitious scenarios are often presented in written text only, failing to provide interactive and engaging resources. In 2016, the James Cook University (JCU) Conflict Management and Resolution (CMR) Program, with the support of a Student Services and Amenities Fee (SSAF) grant, created an authentic and digitally accessible conflict scenario designed to address these challenges and deliver improved learning experiences for postgraduate conflict management and resolution students and educators. This article discusses the value of authentic scenarios to improve postgraduate student experiences and career outcomes in the dispute resolution field, the approach taken by the JCU CMR Program to develop the scenario and presents findings from preliminary feedback from students' and educators' experience using the conflict scenario in postgraduate course work.