Forum & blog submission guidelines
Upcoming Forum themes
2025 Winter Forum – Skill-building for the future
Skill-building for the future
Deadline to submit: 04 August 2025
The European Commission recently published the ‘Union of Skills’ communication, proposing an agenda for retaining talent, boosting skills, and making Europe more competitive— also underlining the need to recognise credentials across borders.
The global demand for skills is, in fact, rapidly evolving, driven by the green transition, technological change, demographic shifts, societal needs and geopolitics. So how can (international) higher education play its role in effectively preparing people – with the right skills – for the future? Universities and universities of applied sciences, polytechnics, vocational training institutions, and lifelong learning initiatives must work in new and different ways to equip learners with future-proof competencies. How can internationalisation be part of the solution?
The Winter 2025 issue of Forum magazine will focus on this key question and seek input from the EAIE community and beyond on this timely topic.
We welcome diverse perspectives on these issues, particularly around:
-
Higher education’s skill-building role: How can higher education institutions balance employability demands with helping students develop cross-cultural sensitivities and personal attributes that transcend ‘job readiness’ strictly speaking?
-
Global talent mobility: Can international student flows address skill gaps through brain circulation without exacerbating the brain drain in their home countries?
-
The skills that matter most: What are the most important skills students need to develop today? How can HEIs teach meaningful skills (like intercultural competence) to domestic and international students globally while meeting local job market skill needs?
-
Micro-credentials as a tool: What are the benefits and challenges of a reliance on micro-credentials for skill-building as students move across borders?
-
What role for language skills? In an era of AI-powered resources and the widespread use of one dominant language, what is the place of national and other language skills? How do we balance the need for a lingua franca with an interest in cultivating diverse language skills?
-
Hard skills vs. soft skills: Will prioritising "technical skills" (such as STEM) divert attention from other crucial areas for skill development, for example, addressing ‘the human side’ of healthcare and education?
-
Managing multiple missions: In a highly competitive (global) environment, how do HEIs respond to the demand to develop the skills of the current and future labour force while balancing other institutional priorities?
We are happy to receive real-world perspectives—success stories, critiques, or case studies—on developing or applying skills across borders. How do we make education flexible and relevant for employment in different places and times without losing depth and focus on education itself? How do we balance the skills needed for local development with the graduates’ preparedness for global competition?
Forum submission guidelines
Submissions to Forum magazine may be submitted up to the listed deadline and should adhere to the following guidelines:
-
Be on topic: Carefully review the issue theme and suggested topics.
-
Ensure the appropriate length: 800–1000 words is ideal; submissions too far outside this range will not be considered.
-
Provide the headline: Suggest a title for your article that is between 50–65 characters in length, along with subheadings to break up the content.
-
Be original: Forum does not accept previously published work, and articles submitted to Forum may not be republished later.
-
Strike the right tone: Forum is journalistic, narrative, and/or conversational in style. The magazine does not publish scholarly articles or personal essays.
-
Cite your sources: A maximum of six citations (in APA format) may be included where strictly necessary, noting that your article should not be overly academic in style.
Articles should be written in British English and submitted in a .doc or plain text format. Any suggested images, videos or polls for inclusion may be included as attachments.
Blog submission guidelines
The EAIE Blog continuously accepts submissions on a rolling basis. An article may be well-suited to the EAIE Blog if it is:
-
Relevant: Blog articles should cover topics in international higher education and will usually correspond to a category listed in the EAIE Taxonomy.
-
Useful: The EAIE Blog is geared towards practitioners and professionals. Blog articles typically share best practices, how-tos, institutional experiences, and other actionable insights that help practitioners in their day-to-day work of internationalisation.
-
Accessible: EAIE Blog readers come from a variety of countries and language backgrounds. Blog articles should be written in British English in a way that is accessible to this diverse international audience.
-
Conversational: The Blog is neither a scholarly journal nor a personal blog, but a space for colleagues to share experiences and expertise. Articles should be neither highly formal nor highly informal but somewhere in between.
-
Non-promotional: Articles that explicitly promote a particular product or service or profile a specific institution or programme without a clear, actionable takeaway for practitioners will not be accepted.
-
Concise: There is no strict word limit for the EAIE Blog, but articles are typically between 500 and 1500 words in length. A narrow angle with a specific focus and concrete takeaways is key.
Blog submissions can be sent at any time. You can also always email us to discuss an idea for a blog or get advice on how to approach and structure your article.