The individualised needs of the 21st Century learner and the fading of traditional (student) cohorts, requires universities not only to assess course delivery, but also to rethink the flexibility of internships/work placement programmes.

Rethinking refers particularly to the exposure of (new generation) modality in which learning and professional work, in blend or full, can be expedited electronically. Good-practices of work placements by (flexible) modality, which either stand alone, or blend with existing practices in work placement programmes, require investigation on their alignment with the constraints of the knowledge society in general, and the constraints of the (flexible) lifelong learner, in particular. In addition, when fostering (self) employability, the professional competence of students by lifelong, open and flexible, didactically-innovative and pedagogically-rich learning approaches, must be prioritised.

There must be an effort to the development, extension and expansion of students’ (international) entrepreneurial skills, as well.