I wrote this in an email to someone yesterday...
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There is currently something of a debate going on between those who would prefer to keep a focus on the individual and social/community benefits of higher education, and those who are driving this neo-Liberal agenda around Skills. In other words, is higher education supposed to be for the social or the economic good. Many people in the sector are uneasy about the current focus on skills, and the danger of reducing higher education to training.
In YHELLN we need to tread a middle line through this. The message I would like to convey is that it is possible to embrace the skills agenda (I was serious about the fact that if we don't do this we risk becoming a poor nation) while still maintaining a social agenda. The research reflects this, and so does a lot of the work we are doing within YHELLN. We CAN look at the impacts on individuals and communities that go beyond skills and jobs, but at the same time work with employers to meet their skills needs. And we CAN deliver Foundation Degrees and other forms of vocational higher education that promote critical thinking and wider learning.