Work-integrated learning in Vietnamese higher education: governance models, institutional diversity and graduate employability in the Asian century

Purpose This paper examines how work-integrated learning (WIL) is conceptualised and implemented across Vietnamese higher education institutions. Drawing on collaborative governance theory and WIL frameworks, it analyses diverse WIL models – corporate-embedded, transnational, state-partnership, internationally co-delivered and enterprise-scale – to identify the governance logics, institutional strengths and persistent challenges that characterise WIL in Vietnam within the context of the Asian Century. Design/methodology/approach A comparative case study methodology is employed, drawing on institutional documents, published policy reports, peer-reviewed WIL literature and secondary data from six Vietnamese universities: FPT University, Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology Vietnam, the University of Economics and Law, the National Economics University, the Foreign Trade University and Ton Duc Thang University. The analysis is situated within Vietnam's higher education policy context and the broader Southeast Asian WIL landscape. Findings Vietnamese universities have developed distinct WIL models reflecting different governance logics and institutional relationships with industry. The cases examined suggest that collaborative governance structures play an important role in coordinating access to workplaces but do not fully determine learning experiences, which remain shaped by workplace affordances, mentoring relationships and individual student agency. The analysis further suggests that sustained and structured industry engagement, supported by shared accountability mechanisms, appears, on the available documentary evidence, to be associated with greater consistency in WIL arrangements than models relying primarily on short-term or voluntary participation. Research limitations/implications The study relies on secondary documentary sources and existing literature. Primary empirical research – including student surveys, supervisor interviews and longitudinal outcome tracking across institutional types – is needed to directly compare learning experiences and test the governance propositions developed here. Practical implications The study suggests that greater attention needs to be directed towards quality assurance mechanisms that address variation in WIL conditions, employer participation and student access to developmental opportunities. The experiences of FPT University and RMIT Vietnam demonstrate that closer university–industry coordination can support more systematic approaches to placement management, assessment and feedback. Originality/value This paper contributes to the scholarship on WIL in Southeast Asia by providing a comparative analysis of WIL models across multiple Vietnamese higher education institutions. Situating these developments within broader debates on higher education in the Asian Century, it examines how different governance arrangements shape university–industry collaboration and WIL opportunities. In doing so, it offers a systemic perspective on institutional diversity in WIL implementation within a rapidly evolving higher education context. Its specific contribution is an empirically grounded typology of five WIL governance models and a distributed-control argument that distinguishes governance over access to workplace learning from the workplace conditions that shape its quality.