The International Baccalaureate (IB) programme: An international gateway to higher education and beyond

The aim of this article is to present the International Baccalaureate (IB) Programme and briefly outline its core components, followed by a review of what authoritative reports identify as skills for the future, esteemed by universities and the job market. There is a striking match between these skills and IB outcomes; thus, DP graduates perform well in higher education and add to the reputation of those institutions. After a review of the literature, the authors found the IB Diploma Programme has been studied in many countries by both consultants and educational agencies, and also by a wide array of universities themselves; however, there are fewer qualitative studies concerning the degree to which IB graduates display attitudes, values, and behaviours in line with the IB Learner Profile. This is why the authors stress the claims made are supported by examples of significant research, noting that there is a dearth of qualitative longitudinal studies to sufficiently substantiate the affective domain claims that currently rely more on anecdotal evidence. The authors conclude by pointing out more research is needed in order to substantiate anecdotal evidence regarding future employment success for IB Diploma Programme graduates. DOI: 10.18870/hlrc.v4i3.12