Considering your learners and other stakeholders
Consider generations
Adapted from: Bryant, P. (2025). Horizon-Scanning Report on Current and Future HE Student Profiles.
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Millennials (1981–1996)
- View education as lifelong and purpose-driven
- Value flexibility, work–life balance, experiential learning, and peer collaboration.
- Engage with postgraduate education cautiously due to cost, debt, and time commitments.
- Seek alternative formats like micro-credentials and stackable qualifications.
Generation Z (1997–2012)
- Most diverse and digitally fluent generation.
- Expect flexible, tech-integrated, values-aligned education.
- Are sceptical of the ROI ocanva
- f traditional degrees; motivated by social justice and inclusion.
- Prefer practical, skill-based learning and short, modular formats.
Generation Alpha (Post-2013)
- Digital immersion from early childhood.
- Likely to enter HE with AI familiarity, high customisation expectations, and strong parental influence (Millennials).
- Shaped by global crises, individualism, and constant connectivity.
Consider other characteristics:
- gender
- race
- culture
- religion
- disability
- neurodiversity
- etc.
Who are the other stakeholders?
- Employers | Industry
- PSRBs
- QAA benchmarks
- University
- Wider society
- Parents of learners, children of learners
- etc.
Ask critical questions
- Are current HE models and curricula aligned with generational values, expectations, and learning behaviours?
- Can traditional degrees remain relevant amid alternative learning platforms and rising costs?
- What kinds of learning environments best support wellbeing, adaptability, and lifelong learning across generations?
- How can HEIs design learning that resonates over time (“resonant learning”)—not just deliver short-term credentials?
- Are HEIs ready to co-design education with students as partners, not just recipients?
Reflect on key challenges
- Misalignment between institutional offerings and what students actually value.
- Rising financial precarity and mental health concerns.
- Technology expectations vs. institutional capabilities.
- Emerging preference for non-traditional, career-relevant pathways.