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This article explores the workplace experience of seven science, engineering and technology graduates. The research design and methodology used in the study are exploratory, in-depth and qualitative in nature. The case study companies are located in the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland and employ the graduates under the FUSION project. The case study method is among a number of research techniques that has been used in a business setting to improve practice. The literature indicates that graduates need a broad range of knowledge and skills and personal attributes to operate in the workplace, including general and specific knowledge of the industry, discipline-based knowledge, technical competency, commercial awareness and management skills and key personal attributes and skills. The experience of the graduates is explored from three perspectives: the graduate, the academic and the workplace supervisor. The findings indicate that graduates undertake four key roles: technologist, project manager, team worker and graduate. Furthermore, their main responsibilities relate to knowledge of the industry, discipline knowledge, management skills and personal attributes. This article confirms the need for industry and higher education to develop and promote the workplace as a learning environment and to support graduates as they transition into the workplace.

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Purpose This paper aims to explore the experiences, attitudes and expectations of higher education managers in relation to the increased use of metrics. Specifically, the authors examine a system of metrics which was introduced as part of the process for establishing Technological Universities in Ireland. Design/methodology/approach A total of 12 managers were interviewed. The authors present data from the interviews in which the authors explore: the previous use of metrics; the impacts of the introduction of metrics; and the future use of metrics. A mix of narrative structuring and thematic analysis is used. Findings The introduction of metrics evokes a mixed reaction from the managers. The metrics allow performance in a range of activities to be measured, assessed and benchmarked. However, there are both direct and indirect impacts of the transition to a metric-based system, which the authors explore using six themes. Originality/value The authors apply the Academics Responding to Change model proposed by Trowler (1998) as the theoretical lens. This helps to capture the complex mix of direct and indirect effects that metrics can have on activities both at an individual and institutional level.

The literature of adult education commonly suggests that older learners have a distinct set of needs and a unique mode of learning that ought to be honoured by educational institutions; other observers note that education is a process whose generic elements are not age-related. Capilano College, with a strong com- mitment to mature learners as part of its community orientation, surveyed its student population by age grouping to determine the extent to which significant, substantive differences in the self-perceived needs of different age groupings were evident. The survey revealed that, although there were several distinguishing characteristics between students below and above age 25, younger and older students share a large common set of needs; older students seem to have a greater number of needs and appear to feel them more acutely.