Graduate Attributes: Modelling the Roles of Teaching, Learning, and Communicative Factors

Graduate attributes are essential skills, knowledge and values that prepare university students for professional success and responsible citizenship in a globalised world. This study uses structural equation modelling to examine how teaching quality, online learning, academic support, English proficiency, and intercultural contact collectively influence graduate attributes. Data were collected from two cohorts of final-year bachelor students at a major university: the first cohort consisted of 685 students surveyed during the 2022/23 academic year, and the second cohort included 1317 students surveyed in the 2023/24 academic year, for a total sample of N = 2002. Results indicate that English proficiency is the strongest direct predictor of a unified measure of graduate attributes. The findings also identified teaching quality, academic support and intercultural contact as significant direct and mediating pathways in the model which could provide guidance for evidence-based strategies for fostering holistic graduate outcomes. Limitations include the study’s cross-sectional, single-institution design; future research should therefore employ longitudinal methods and investigate the emerging role of Generative AI in moderating the relationship between language proficiency and student development or consider its inclusion as a graduate attribute.