Abstract
Abstract This paper discusses how leading innovative universities and their master's programmes reflect rapidly changing social-economic technological trends. The increasing focus on the STEM subjects, the changing profile of business and MBA programmes, and the ratio of interdisciplinarity provide insights into the development of future-oriented higher education. In the scope of this study, 2,708 master's programmes were surveyed globally based on their online representation, and 1,750 training programmes from this list were analysed in terms of employability rankings. According to our findings, Western Europe offers the largest number of master's programmes. STEM studies are overrepresented at the top innovative universities, and interdisciplinary studies account for fifteen percent of the programmes. Additionally, business studies with interdisciplinary programmes were identified in a higher proportion as compared to business-only studies. The findings signal the labour market's preferences toward future-oriented, personalised and responsive knowledge. The present study contributes to future education through a global analysis, and supports the strategy creation of higher education institutions (HEIs). Therefore, this article is especially informative to representatives, policy makers or researchers at future-oriented HEIs.
Highlights
Education is per definitionem about the future
It may be obvious that research universities are dominant among the most innovative higher education institutions (HEIs) since these have an indisputable advantage with their focus on innovation through scientific publications, patents and industryuniversity collaborations
When we look at the proportion of business programmes and interdisciplinary business programmes on the consolidated list, we can see that their proportions are exactly the same as the ones featured in the list of innovative universities
Summary
Education is per definitionem about the future. At least two facts support this: first, higher education (HE) must react to changes in social, economic, environmental and technological circumstances. HE can be an active agent in shaping society and the labour market This “double vision” requires adaptation from higher education institutions (HEIs) and prompts them to assume an active change agent role in such processes. Master’s programmes require complex knowledge and skills to be applied for problem solving and network building on the global or local labour markets, they strongly represent the profiles and future visions of the universities. Their online representation communicates and advertises the programmes to experienced professionals who typically have high expectations. This is especially true for top-class innovative universities, where futureorientated studies could considerably support the image of the university and offer a tentative prognosis of future directions in education
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