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Call for Book Chapters in:

“Managing Higher Education to Develop Socially Impactful Professionals”

Editors: Sofia Daskou, Business College Athens, Greece; Elda Nikolou-Walker, Business College Athens, United Kingdom; Spyros (Spyridon) Kostakis, Business College Athens, Greece

Key Dates:

Chapters’ Proposals Submission Deadline: February 1, 2026
Full Chapter Submission Date: May 17, 2026
Full book expected publication: October- December 2026

Aim of the book

UNESCO recognizes the role  of Higher education in  developing advanced competencies and improving the employability of students (Lokossou, 2025), which in the current era of hyper-information and AI, is more challenging than ever. As the needs of the evolving workforce reflect broader changes, transforming academic institutions (Clark et al , 2025) the editors of the book recognize the efficacy of developing a publication that guides academics, higher education managers and education researchers’ thinking, towards ways of making higher education management more relevant to societal mandates.  The book addresses issues that higher education management may consider in developing programs and curricula which transform students into competent future-ready professionals.

The book attempts to broaden researchers’ understanding of the complexities of the contemporary higher education sector in serving its purpose to prepare graduates for the professional world. It provides conceptual and empirical works that demonstrate best practices of impactful higher education management, which inform academic rigor in grounding future research on the subject. The book welcomes contributions that focus on innovative methodologies, exploring a wide range of issues that affect contemporary higher education, aiming to inspire further academic enquiry on the relevance of higher education management in serving is social role. The book adopts an interdisciplinary epistemological approach, to develop arguments that underpin responsible management of higher education for the purpose of instilling professional competencies in students.  For more information about the Call, please visit the publisher’s link:

Target Audience

The book informs higher education academics and practitioners in discovering collaborative prospects for developing impactful solutions to global educational contexts. These solutions benefit professionals interested in sustainable career development and in tools for achieving positive change and leadership. The book offers Policy makers inspiration in developing higher education policies for positive social impact, that are epistemologically grounded and applicable. It advises researchers and professionals about the plethora of innovative ways to approach meaningful research in the fields of higher education systems and management. It exposes management and education researchers and graduate students to theories and practices of responsible higher education methods and practices.  It also demonstrates to Higher education managers practical means of developing teaching and learning in tandem with the priorities of the professional world’s current and future demands.

Recommended topics include, but are not limited to, the following: 

• The role of Higher Education in constructing future-ready professionals
• The contribution of innovative higher education models and responsible management education in meeting United Nations Sustainability Goals (SDGs)
• Higher Education approaches to building leadership competencies for professionals
• Competencies and tools necessary to shape and continuously develop a career
• Managing changes in Higher Education programs, curricula and collaborative teaching co-creation
• Teaching and learning methodologies for lifelong learning and continuous professional development
• Impactful vocational tools for entering employment markets
• Educational stakeholders’ mechanisms of coping with Change
• Challenges and opportunities for work role development skills
• The value of networking in creating alliances in cutting edge knowledge
• Nontraditional modes of learning and professional doctorates
• Inclusive and problem based leading
• Higher Education approaches to Leadership management
• Internationalizing Higher Education to create social impact
• Contribution of Higher Education in tackling mental health challenges
• The healthy role of AI in developing useful Higher Education systems
• The transferability of synergistic relationships in Higher Education
• The role, impact, and challenges of transnational education (TNE)
• Interdisciplinary approaches to teaching and learning research and pedagogies
• Higher Education academic preparedness for pandemics  (curricula design, institutional   resilience, global policy alignment).

References:

Clark,  C., Cluver, M., Fishman, Kunkel, D. (2025). “2025 Higher Education Trends”, in:   Government and Public Services, Deloitte Center for Government Insights , 07 April:

Lokossou, F.H. (2025). “UNESCO Clarifies Higher Education Scope Amid Global Skills Evolution” , in: NEW Services of ECOFIN Agency, Tuesday, 28 October: .