Key Factors that Inhibit and Facilitate the Integration of Transferable Skills into Higher Education

The scope of this paper is to review some of the literature which addresses the distinct concept of ‘Transferable skills’ (TS) and specifically their ‘integration’ into Degree programmes in Higher Education (HE). The review will address the three influences on such an integration approach namely: influence at an institutional level, the influence of academics and finally the student influences. In addressing these three factors, each one will be approached from a dyadic perspective dealing principally with how they can inhibit or facilitate integration. The practical perspective of how this occurs in an Irish Higher Education Institution (HEI) will also be examined. The institution in question is Dublin Institute of Technology (DIT).