This chapter provides an introduction to the role of academia in achieving Sustainable Development Goal 8 – to promote inclusive and sustainable economic growth, employment and decent work for all. Diversity and inequality between and within countries is well documented. This makes achieving SDG 8 complex. Action is needed at both global and local levels and by many actors, including governments, policymakers, the private sector and civil society. Knowledge generation to support such actors with evidence is crucial. In this book we emphasise the important contribution that higher education institutions can and should make to achieve SDG 8. The book provides a critical analysis of the SDG 8 targets and indicators to reveal biases, contradictions and sometimes links to other SDGs. It offers a synthesis of research on each target, making it accessible to other researchers, students and policymakers. The book brings together researchers from a range of disciplines, who applied their tools and critical analysis to illustrate how academia can contribute to fulfilment of SDG 8. We argue that higher education institutions share common values, which we list even if they are contested and under threat. We argue that defending these values, in particular academic autonomy and freedom from political interference, is even more urgent in times of increased populism, de-democratisation and societal questioning of scientific knowledge and academic freedom. Among these values is universities’ commitment to education and research in the public interest. This value motivated a response to the call for action around achieving the SDGs. To achieve this, we argue that working across disciplines and in a transdisciplinary manner – that is, with stakeholders – is essential both when it comes to the identification of challenges and in the methods used to address them. Our aim with this book is to provide a compilation from various viewpoints that will be of use to policymakers, scholars and students interested in how economics, innovation, work science, public health, sociology, occupational and environmental medicine, human resource management, migration and tourism research can contribute to the achievement of SDG 8.