Exploring the evolution of higher education’s role in human capital formation: a bibliometric analysis from 2000 to 2024

This study addresses three core research questions: (1) What are the principal trends in higher education and human capital research from 2000 to 2024, and what are the critical areas of focus? (2) Which countries and journals have contributed to the study of human capital effects in higher education? (3) How have the forms of higher education and human capital evolved over time? Using bibliometric methods, this study analysed 766 articles published between 2000 and 2024 indexed in the SSCI database to map the evolution of research on higher education and human capital. The findings reveal a shift from macro-level analyses of education’s economic returns and social productivity to micro-level investigations of graduate employability, skills development and individual outcomes. Keyword co-occurrence and co-citation analyses identify three major thematic clusters: graduate skills and employability, human capital accumulation and economic returns and institutional environments and learning experiences. The study further highlights how the role of higher education has expanded beyond knowledge transmission to actively shaping human capital through adaptability, equity and lifelong learning. These findings provide valuable insights for policymakers and researchers seeking to understand the changing dynamics of higher education’s contribution to human capital formation.