This paper aims to develop a systematic review on graduate employability and competence development, intending to present an international perspective on the matter. It analyses the role of higher education institutions in promoting the development of competences for employability. The Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews (PRISMA) statement was used as a formal systematic review guideline for data collection. Data was obtained from research studies over the period 2009–2019. The analysis included a total of 69 papers from Web of Science (WoS) and Scopus databases. Results show that Europe leads the number of publications on these topics during the past decade. One of the main issues associated with competence development and graduate employability found in the review is related to the (mis)match between university graduates’ competences and employers’ needs. Findings indicate that higher education institutions are concerned with using strategies to enhance the development of competences for graduate employability. Graduate employability and competence development around the world depend on a strong sense of innovation and collaboration practices implemented in higher education.

The purpose of this paper is to analyze the effectiveness of Scrum for project and team management in PBL teams in higher education. To attain this goal, a study was carried out to analyze students’ perceptions about Scrum as an effective method for PBL teams. Based on two different editions of PBL that used the Scrum method with different characteristics in each approach, this paper aims to identify the best practices for effective team and project management and draw recommendations for successful use of scrum in PBL approaches. The authors used an exploratory case study carried out within an engineering program at the University of Minho, Portugal. The research design was based on an explorative quantitative and qualitative approach. Implementing Scrum in PBL teams helps students to keep the project running smoothly and draws greater awareness on how to manage the project and teams in a more effective way. Findings show that task assignment, performance monitoring, visual management and regular feedback were considered the main advantages of using Scrum in PBL teams, which had a positive impact on student performance. However, for the success of Scrum, students recognize the role of the Scrum Master and Project Owner as vital to guide the teams in a sustainable way. Research on the application of Scrum in Education is scarce and mostly exploratory. This paper is among the very few empirical studies consolidating knowledge on the implementation of Scrum approaches to improve learning in higher education. More specifically, it brings a valuable contribution on how to improve specifically team performance in PBL teams with the use of agile approaches such as Scrum.

In recent decades, the issue of environmental sustainability has become increasingly important worldwide and there is growing pressure from stakeholders for companies to transform themselves in order to mitigate their environmental impacts. Green Human Resource Management (GHRM) plays an important role in promoting a corporate culture of environmental responsibility, ensuring the effectiveness of companies’ environmental strategy through its direct role with employees. In response to the lack of studies on GHRM and its implementation in the Portuguese business context, this study aims to map the GHRM practices implemented by companies operating in Portugal and to identify the perceived benefits, constraints, and challenges in implementing these practices. A total of 15 semi-structured interviews with human resource managers and environment-related management professionals of companies selected from an Environmental Management Systems—ISO 14001 database were conducted. The results show that organizations in Portugal implement environmental practices that fall within the scope of GHRM. The practices identified also range across transversal categories such as digital, mobility, products and waste management, infrastructure, performance, production, and corporate events. However, a holistic approach is needed and GHRM should be built under a multidimensional and well-planned system. This study argues that perceived benefits are constrained by the specific characteristics of the Portuguese business context which results in obstacles for the implementation and success of GHRM practices. The implications of the results for the organizations are discussed and suggestions are put forward.

Sustainability is a topic that is increasingly discussed in society and organizations, leading many companies to adopt communication strategies focused on this theme. The objective of this article was to identify in the literature the ways, means, or tools that companies use to communicate sustainability. This article was based on a systematic review of the literature on the topic, resulting in a final sample of 18 articles from 14 different journals. Seven potential topics were identified in the systematic review: (i) communication strategies, (ii) the relationship between communication and consumer behavior, (iii) communication and health benefits, (iv) sustainability and corporate social responsibility (CSR), (v) sustainable business models, (vi) sustainability and process optimization, and (vii) sustainability and environmental impact. The results obtained allowed us to conclude that the strategies that companies can use to communicate sustainability are as follows: use new technologies (internet, social networks, websites, etc.), make value propositions based on consumer behaviors, disseminate clear and consistent information, and ensure broader work teams, among others. These results contribute to the advancement of scientific literature and to the definition and implementation of more efficient and effective public policies that facilitate communication between companies and consumers. Finally, this paper offers practical suggestions to formulate sustainable communication strategies.

Trauma scientists have raised the alarm about the devastating consequences of the Ukraine war on mental health. We examined how higher education students—as indirect victims—coped with this conflict and how they emotionally reacted during 2022. We involved 2314 students from 16 countries through an online survey. A structural equation model indicated significant relations between war-related worry about military and macroeconomics domains and two coping strategies (opposition, support giving), in turn significantly linked with six emotions. The model was strongly invariant across gender, study field, and geographic area. The most frequent emotions were anger and anxiety, followed by two future-centred emotions (hopelessness and hope). Emotions were more frequent for females and students of the countries geographically close to the war region. Our findings call for evidence-based policy recommendations to be implemented by institutions to combat the negative short and long-term psychological sequelae of being witnesses of armed conflicts.