The contribution of case studies to conceptualising the implementation of work-integrating higher education

The implementation of work-integrating higher education programmes poses a challenge for universities worldwide. Given the lack of all-encompassing theoretical frameworks that consider pedagogic, institutional, structural and cultural dimensions, the onus lies on individual universities, if not faculties and departments, to develop their very own, uniquely tailored approaches to implementing work-integrating HE programmes. This paper reports on an international good practice case study research project that examined the successful implementation of work-integrating educational offers in the US, England and Denmark. Based on the empirical evidence of the case studies, the paper proposes four key factors that drive transformation and generate positive results. Following the assessment of our cases study design against Ridder’s (2017) framework on the contribution of case studies to formulating theory, the article argues that our research design was rigorous and aptly fitted the aimed contribution to theory, and that our findings contribute to building tentative conceptual building blocks for the implementation of work-integrating HE