Background: As universities in many countries engage more directly with industry, the learning emphasis has moved from the student experience to the work-readiness of the graduate. This focus on the student as potential worker is expressed through graduate attributes: particular sets of employability skills developed by institutions and embedded into the curricula. Main argument: Graduate attributes are problematic, however, since they focus firmly on students' future identity as workers, rather than their current identity as students, and in doing so they offer a simplistic, and -for some -troubling, view of the purpose of universities. In this paper, we advocate a return to consideration of student identity. Conclusion: We suggest that, for students, building an awareness of their student identity as they progress through their higher education experience is not only important for student engagement at university, but is also an integral aspect of shaping their work-readiness as graduates.

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Internationalisation of higher education is big business in Australia, yet, despite the growing body of literature informing learning and teaching of international students, challenges remain. While language and pedagogical differences are well documented from the students' perspective, less known are the challenges to educators and their practices in responding to these named issues. This article explores some implications for educators and their practices, when international students come to study in an English-language university in Australia. A small research project focusing on educators' perspectives reveals the pedagogical challenges, difficulties and differences in approaches to teaching large numbers of international students. Implications for educators are discussed, focusing on the need to respond to policy and institutional demands to participate in these international collaborations, and to engage in building sound and equitable educational provision.

Professionals working in a range of contexts are increasingly expected to engage in ongoing professional learning to maintain their skills and develop their practices. In this paper I focus on professional learning in Higher Education (HE) and challenge the standardisation of professional learning that is becoming prevalent in a number of countries. I argue that professional learning must challenge accepted wisdom, and that this is possible while still adhering to the standards required for professional legitimacy. Developing praxis is suggested as a way of producing relevant and active professional learners while still addressing the professional standards required for quality assurance.

Engineering education agencies worldwide echo the need of graduating engineers to be aware of the societal context of engineering. Service learning is a viable pedagogy that can bring students to understand this dimension in a rather direct way. Undergraduate engineering students visited low-income households in their community and installed insulation materials on doors and windows, thereby reducing heating costs. The students calculated the resulting dollar amount of energy savings using heat transfer principles. A quantitative analyses of the reflections of the students clearly showed that they became more aware and sensitive to their roles as engineers in a societal context.