This article proffers consideration of multiple factors by higher education institutions to address the complex challenge of preparing students for the changing world of work. We argue that student support should be holistic, offering academic as well as non-academic support and suggest an intervention where 21st Century skills are offered to students, within the intricate context of the fourth industrial revolution (4IR) with its multiple challenges and opportunities. We further argue that an integration of self-determination principles within such an intervention embedded in Self-Determination Theory (SDT) be considered within student education and support. Student integration research (Tinto 2003) underpinned a proposed strategy to answer important questions regarding student support, namely: “What is needed and when?” Complementary to this, the theory of Self-Determination offered a solid conceptual framework where 21st Century skills could practically be implemented and as such answer the question: “How can students be empowered?” The research followed a design-based process, positioned in the pragmatic paradigm. The methodology of Design Based Research (DBR) is known for creating knowledge to solve real-world problems in a practical manner. The study was conducted with students from a residential South African university and reports mainly on qualitative data from three consecutive cohorts of first-year Accounting students. This study proposes action to empower students with 21st Century skills through holistic support, embedded in the Self-Determination Theory, within the context of the 4IR.

中文翻译：

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赋予会计专业学生增强第四次工业革命所要求的自决技能的能力

本文提出了高等教育机构要考虑的多种因素，以应对使学生为不断变化的工作环境做好准备的复杂挑战。我们认为，学生支持应该是整体的，提供学术和非学术支持，并建议采取干预措施，在第四次工业革命（4IR）的复杂背景下向学生提供21世纪的技能，并带来多重挑战和机遇。我们进一步认为，在学生的教育和支持范围内，应考虑将自决原则整合到这种嵌入自决理论（SDT）的干预措施中。学生融合研究（Tinto 2003）为回答有关学生支持的重要问题的提议策略奠定了基础，即：“什么需要什么？什么时候？” 作为补充，自决理论提供了一个坚实的概念框架，可以在其中实践21世纪的技能，因此可以回答以下问题：“如何赋予学生权力？” 该研究遵循基于设计的过程，该过程位于实用范式中。基于设计的研究（DBR）的方法以创造知识以实用的方式解决实际问题而闻名。这项研究是针对一所南非一所住宅大学的学生进行的，该报告主要报告了来自三个连续一年的会计专业一年级学生的定性数据。这项研究提出了在4IR的背景下，通过嵌入自决理论中的整体支持，使学生具有21世纪技能的行动。