Abstract
This literature review considers the role graduate attributes have to play in contemporary higher education (HE). Considering academic literature and reports from government and industry, it argues that there is currently a crisis in HE whereby the financial benefits of having a degree are overwhelmed by the financial burden of obtaining one. This crisis has its roots in the growing trend to perceive the value of HE as the means to the end of employment rather than as an end in itself.
Graduate attributes (the skills and competencies students are supposed to acquire over the course of their studies) have the potential to promote HE as an end in itself. However, in their current form they typically do not have strong theoretical foundations and are too heavily subject to the influence of industry. Furthermore, despite explicit claims that graduates display these characteristics, institutions do not normally measure the attainment of graduate attributes. For graduate attributes to become more useful and relevant, these issues need to be resolved.