INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF STRATEGY AND GOVERNANCE IN EDUCATION
Research Article
Jun 30, 2026 4 2

Embedding Employability in Higher Education: Virtual Internships, Experiential Learning and Curriculum Governance

Patrick Harte 1,
Ana Paula Fonseca 2 * ,
Sarah Borthwick Saddler 1,
Emma Hill 3,
Stephen Yorstone 4
1 Edinburgh Napier University2 Heriot-Watt University3 Edinburgh Napier University 4 University of Texas at Arlington, USA * Corresponding Author
International Journal of Strategy and Governance in Education, 1(1), June 2026, 57-77
Publication date: Jun 30, 2026
Full Text (PDF)

ABSTRACT

Employability has emerged as a central strategic concern in higher education, requiring institutions to adopt integrated, system-level approaches rather than fragmented skill-based interventions. This study develops a Cognitive Model of Employability that aligns Daubney’s KASE framework (Knowledge, Attributes, Skills, Experience), Kolb’s experiential learning cycle, and Social Cognitive Career Theory (SCCT) to examine how employability is constructed, governed, and operationalised within digital learning environments. Drawing on a systematic theory mapping approach and a thematic analysis of 100 undergraduate student reflections from a virtual internship platform, the study demonstrates how cognitive mediating factors—such as self-regulation, motivation, and metacognition—link experiential learning processes to the development and articulation of employability outcomes. The findings position employability as a cognitively mediated and strategically governed process, shaped by institutional design, pedagogical structure, and individual agency. The study contributes to the field of strategy and governance in education by proposing that employability should be understood as an interaction among designed learning, embedded cognition within curriculum governance, and an integrated system in which employability is strategically scaled, rather than as a fixed list of skills.

KEYWORDS

educational strategy governance in higher education experimental learning digital learning curriculum governance.

CITATION (APA)

Harte, P., Fonseca, A. P., Saddler, S. B., Hill, E., & Yorstone, S. (2026). Embedding Employability in Higher Education: Virtual Internships, Experiential Learning and Curriculum Governance. International Journal of Strategy and Governance in Education, 1(1), 57-77.
Harvard
Harte, P., Fonseca, A. P., Saddler, S. B., Hill, E., and Yorstone, S. (2026). Embedding Employability in Higher Education: Virtual Internships, Experiential Learning and Curriculum Governance. International Journal of Strategy and Governance in Education, 1(1), pp. 57-77.
Vancouver
Harte P, Fonseca AP, Saddler SB, Hill E, Yorstone S. Embedding Employability in Higher Education: Virtual Internships, Experiential Learning and Curriculum Governance. International Journal of Strategy and Governance in Education. 2026;1(1):57-77.
AMA
Harte P, Fonseca AP, Saddler SB, Hill E, Yorstone S. Embedding Employability in Higher Education: Virtual Internships, Experiential Learning and Curriculum Governance. International Journal of Strategy and Governance in Education. 2026;1(1), 57-77.
Chicago
Harte, Patrick, Ana Paula Fonseca, Sarah Borthwick Saddler, Emma Hill, and Stephen Yorstone. "Embedding Employability in Higher Education: Virtual Internships, Experiential Learning and Curriculum Governance". International Journal of Strategy and Governance in Education 2026 1 no. 1 (2026): 57-77.
MLA
Harte, Patrick et al. "Embedding Employability in Higher Education: Virtual Internships, Experiential Learning and Curriculum Governance". International Journal of Strategy and Governance in Education, vol. 1, no. 1, 2026, pp. 57-77.

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  39. De Blaquière, G., Nolan, J. E., & Wray, K. (2019). Joining up the dots: Telling the story of skills. How can students in Higher Education be supported to better understand and articulate their employability? Journal of Teaching and Learning for Graduate Employability, 10(2), 15–35. https://doi.org/10.21153/jtlge2019vol10no2art699
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  45. Karadzhov, D., Sharp, L., Hatton, G., Stubbs, F., & Langan Martin, J. (2024). More than just an add-on: Enhancing discipline-specific employability skills and awareness via the virtual learning environment. Journal of Perspectives in Applied Academic Practice, 12(1). https://doi.org/10.56433/jpaap.v12i1.568
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  49. Lent, R.W., Brown, S.D. and Hackett, G. (1994) Toward a unifying social cognitive theory of career and academic interest, choice, and performance. Journal of Vocational Behavior, 45(1), pp.79–122.
  50. Mohammed, U. I., & Obida, J. A. (2024). Reading comprehension process as precursory to memory processes; incorporating the relevance of Atkinson and Shiffrin’s (1968) Multi-store model. Journal of Science, Technology and Education (JSTE), 8(11), 116–124.
  51. Ning, H. K., & Downing, K. (2012). Influence of student learning experience on academic performance: The mediator and moderator effects of self‐regulation and motivation. British Educational Research Journal, 38(2), 219–237. https://doi.org/10.1080/01411926.2010.538468
  52. Ning, H. K., & Downing, K. (2015). A latent profile analysis of university students’ self-regulated learning strategies. Studies in Higher Education, 40(7), 1328–1346. https://doi.org/10.1080/03075079.2014.880832
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