Pub Date : 2020-07-02DOI: 10.1080/23322969.2020.1790865
E. Hazelkorn, W. Locke
An editorial is presented on coronavirus pandemic affecting and changing people's lives, societies, and economies around the world Topics include colleges and universities around the world adapting quickly and responding with innovative approaches;teaching and learning being shifting on-line with the rapid adoption of new forms of pedagogy and assessment;and potential role of education at all levels in democracy and human rights needs
{"title":"The pandemic, the recovery and broadening our perspectives on higher education policy","authors":"E. Hazelkorn, W. Locke","doi":"10.1080/23322969.2020.1790865","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1080/23322969.2020.1790865","url":null,"abstract":"An editorial is presented on coronavirus pandemic affecting and changing people's lives, societies, and economies around the world Topics include colleges and universities around the world adapting quickly and responding with innovative approaches;teaching and learning being shifting on-line with the rapid adoption of new forms of pedagogy and assessment;and potential role of education at all levels in democracy and human rights needs","PeriodicalId":212965,"journal":{"name":"Policy Reviews in Higher Education","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2020-07-02","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"116084838","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2020-07-02DOI: 10.1080/23322969.2020.1793217
R. Kasa, Ali Ait Si Mhamed, Viktoriya Rydchenko
ABSTRACT Policy implementation research suggests that the likelihood of policy success, i.e. matching policy outcomes with expectations, can be best assessed by engaging the bottom-up perspectives of those who will implement the policy. This paper works from this premise and examines the views of university leaders in Kazakhstan on the potential impact of a per capita per credit higher education funding model proposed for implementation at their universities. The policy expectation is that such a higher education funding model will promote student choice, university quality and competitiveness. Applying resources for a policy implementation perspective, this article discusses concerns associated with the implementation of the proposed model. The findings suggest that the match between the policy expectations and the goal of strengthened student choice will be contingent upon the ability of universities to introduce organisational processes that enable such a choice. Advancing the quality and competitiveness of universities will be conditioned by university access to funding and the acceptance of personnel of both structural and cultural changes associated with the implementation of the new policy. This article contributes to policy implementation studies of higher education systems in transition.
{"title":"Mapping the implementation of higher education funding reform in Kazakhstan: policy resources perspective","authors":"R. Kasa, Ali Ait Si Mhamed, Viktoriya Rydchenko","doi":"10.1080/23322969.2020.1793217","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1080/23322969.2020.1793217","url":null,"abstract":"ABSTRACT Policy implementation research suggests that the likelihood of policy success, i.e. matching policy outcomes with expectations, can be best assessed by engaging the bottom-up perspectives of those who will implement the policy. This paper works from this premise and examines the views of university leaders in Kazakhstan on the potential impact of a per capita per credit higher education funding model proposed for implementation at their universities. The policy expectation is that such a higher education funding model will promote student choice, university quality and competitiveness. Applying resources for a policy implementation perspective, this article discusses concerns associated with the implementation of the proposed model. The findings suggest that the match between the policy expectations and the goal of strengthened student choice will be contingent upon the ability of universities to introduce organisational processes that enable such a choice. Advancing the quality and competitiveness of universities will be conditioned by university access to funding and the acceptance of personnel of both structural and cultural changes associated with the implementation of the new policy. This article contributes to policy implementation studies of higher education systems in transition.","PeriodicalId":212965,"journal":{"name":"Policy Reviews in Higher Education","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2020-07-02","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"122933027","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2020-06-22DOI: 10.1080/23322969.2020.1783697
C. Xu
ABSTRACT Existing scholarship on marginalised academics is mostly western-based and concerned with inequalities caused by class, gender and/or racial and ethnic differences. This article adds to this literature by highlighting how inequalities caused by the urban-rural divide in China adversely impact on the academic trajectories of rural-origin academics from impoverished backgrounds. To mitigate such inequalities, the 26 interviewed academics drew on their academic capital to achieve institutional and geographic mobilities, both within and beyond China. Such educational mobilities further allowed these scholars to convert into and accumulate economic, social, cultural and symbolic capitals (after Bourdieu). Importantly, their rural-origins and disadvantaged positioning had cultivated in them a productive habitus that is characterised by hard work, perseverance and self-discipline. Such a habitus played a pivotal role in orchestrating their academic ascension and upward social mobility. However, despite these successes, this article also reveals these academics’ perennial financial struggles in lifting their rural-based families out of poverty, and the exclusive nature of educational mobilities, which are manifestations of systemic structural inequalities caused by urban-biased policies.
{"title":"Tackling rural-urban inequalities through educational mobilities: rural-origin Chinese academics from impoverished backgrounds navigating higher education","authors":"C. Xu","doi":"10.1080/23322969.2020.1783697","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1080/23322969.2020.1783697","url":null,"abstract":"ABSTRACT Existing scholarship on marginalised academics is mostly western-based and concerned with inequalities caused by class, gender and/or racial and ethnic differences. This article adds to this literature by highlighting how inequalities caused by the urban-rural divide in China adversely impact on the academic trajectories of rural-origin academics from impoverished backgrounds. To mitigate such inequalities, the 26 interviewed academics drew on their academic capital to achieve institutional and geographic mobilities, both within and beyond China. Such educational mobilities further allowed these scholars to convert into and accumulate economic, social, cultural and symbolic capitals (after Bourdieu). Importantly, their rural-origins and disadvantaged positioning had cultivated in them a productive habitus that is characterised by hard work, perseverance and self-discipline. Such a habitus played a pivotal role in orchestrating their academic ascension and upward social mobility. However, despite these successes, this article also reveals these academics’ perennial financial struggles in lifting their rural-based families out of poverty, and the exclusive nature of educational mobilities, which are manifestations of systemic structural inequalities caused by urban-biased policies.","PeriodicalId":212965,"journal":{"name":"Policy Reviews in Higher Education","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2020-06-22","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"124145555","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2020-06-05DOI: 10.1080/23322969.2020.1774408
Y. Owusu-Agyeman, Gertrude Amoakohene
ABSTRACT Transnational education (TNE) has developed over the years as a branch of international education that focuses on cross-border teaching and learning through local partners and branch campuses in host countries. While there have been concerns over the quality of TNE delivery in host countries, there is a paucity of empirical research that highlights education delivery, especially in host institutions. This study examines the benefits, challenges and prospects of TNE delivery in a host institution in Ghana. Using a mixed-method approach, we collected and analysed data from management representatives (n = 2), academic staff (n = 5) and students (n = 197). Results show that TNE enhances students’ learning experiences through diversified and reflective curriculum, highly rated pedagogical approach and acquisition of knowledge in global business practices. Lecturers reported enhanced pedagogical skills and knowledge of cutting-edge quality assurance and assessment processes. Challenges such as lack of clear policy guidelines governing TNE partnership, cultural differences among partners, inadequate learning resources for students, high cost of fees and difficulty in designing a bespoke curriculum to meet local needs were highlighted. The study further articulates the importance of developing policies that guide TNE delivery and the relationship between partners by regulatory bodies in the higher education sector.
{"title":"Transnational education delivery in Ghana: examining the benefits, challenges and future prospects","authors":"Y. Owusu-Agyeman, Gertrude Amoakohene","doi":"10.1080/23322969.2020.1774408","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1080/23322969.2020.1774408","url":null,"abstract":"ABSTRACT Transnational education (TNE) has developed over the years as a branch of international education that focuses on cross-border teaching and learning through local partners and branch campuses in host countries. While there have been concerns over the quality of TNE delivery in host countries, there is a paucity of empirical research that highlights education delivery, especially in host institutions. This study examines the benefits, challenges and prospects of TNE delivery in a host institution in Ghana. Using a mixed-method approach, we collected and analysed data from management representatives (n = 2), academic staff (n = 5) and students (n = 197). Results show that TNE enhances students’ learning experiences through diversified and reflective curriculum, highly rated pedagogical approach and acquisition of knowledge in global business practices. Lecturers reported enhanced pedagogical skills and knowledge of cutting-edge quality assurance and assessment processes. Challenges such as lack of clear policy guidelines governing TNE partnership, cultural differences among partners, inadequate learning resources for students, high cost of fees and difficulty in designing a bespoke curriculum to meet local needs were highlighted. The study further articulates the importance of developing policies that guide TNE delivery and the relationship between partners by regulatory bodies in the higher education sector.","PeriodicalId":212965,"journal":{"name":"Policy Reviews in Higher Education","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2020-06-05","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"128976179","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2020-05-05DOI: 10.1080/23322969.2020.1751688
M. Shattock, A. Horvath
ABSTRACT This article explores the impact of devolution from a centralised UK governance model on universities in Scotland, Wales, Northern Ireland and England, and shows how a unified system of higher education has been transformed into four systems with contrasting aims and objectives. The structure that has been arrived at makes the UK Government directly responsible for English higher education, the largest of the four systems, but the devolved nations often find themselves making policies which are reactive to or opposed to those adopted by the English system. It argues that devolution may not have been good for the English system where the freedom to adopt a fully marketised policy with its consequential reinforcement of differentiation between institutions and its encouragement of the establishment of a ‘business model’ of institutional governance would have been resisted by political representation from Scotland and Wales, both unsympathetic to the approach adopted in England. It concludes that the creation of devolved systems in Scotland and Wales has been successful in that it has increased the diversity of UK higher education and moved universities closer to their regions. However, devolution has not served Northern Ireland well because of the stalemate in the political life there.
{"title":"The decentralisation of the governance of UK higher education: the effects of devolution to Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland, and on England","authors":"M. Shattock, A. Horvath","doi":"10.1080/23322969.2020.1751688","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1080/23322969.2020.1751688","url":null,"abstract":"ABSTRACT This article explores the impact of devolution from a centralised UK governance model on universities in Scotland, Wales, Northern Ireland and England, and shows how a unified system of higher education has been transformed into four systems with contrasting aims and objectives. The structure that has been arrived at makes the UK Government directly responsible for English higher education, the largest of the four systems, but the devolved nations often find themselves making policies which are reactive to or opposed to those adopted by the English system. It argues that devolution may not have been good for the English system where the freedom to adopt a fully marketised policy with its consequential reinforcement of differentiation between institutions and its encouragement of the establishment of a ‘business model’ of institutional governance would have been resisted by political representation from Scotland and Wales, both unsympathetic to the approach adopted in England. It concludes that the creation of devolved systems in Scotland and Wales has been successful in that it has increased the diversity of UK higher education and moved universities closer to their regions. However, devolution has not served Northern Ireland well because of the stalemate in the political life there.","PeriodicalId":212965,"journal":{"name":"Policy Reviews in Higher Education","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2020-05-05","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"134633245","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2020-03-05DOI: 10.1080/23322969.2020.1737959
Kevin J. Dougherty, C. Callender
ABSTRACT England and the United States provide a very interesting pairing as countries with many similarities, but also instructive dissimilarities, with respect to their policies for higher education access and success. We focus on five key policy strands: student information provision; outreach from higher education institutions; student financial aid; affirmative action or contextualisation in higher education admissions; and programmes to improve higher education retention and completion. At the end, we draw conclusions on what England and the US can learn from each other. The US would benefit from following England in using Access and Participation Plans to govern university outreach efforts, making more use of income-contingent loans, and expanding the range of information provided to prospective higher education students. Meanwhile, England would benefit from following the US in making greater use of grant aid to students, devoting more policy attention to educational decisions students are making in early secondary school, and expanding its use of contextualised admissions. While we focus on England and the US, we think that the policy recommendations we make carry wider applicability. Many other countries with somewhat similar educational structures, experiences, and challenges could learn useful lessons from the policy experiences of these two countries.
英国和美国提供了一个非常有趣的配对，这两个国家在高等教育准入和成功的政策方面有许多相似之处，但也有有益的不同之处。我们重点关注五个关键政策方面:学生信息提供;高等教育机构的外联;学生资助;高等教育录取中的平权行动或情境化;以及提高高等教育留校率和结业率的计划。最后，我们总结了英美两国可以相互学习的地方。如果美国效仿英国，使用“进入和参与计划”(Access and Participation Plans)来管理大学的推广工作，更多地利用收入贷款，并扩大向未来的高等教育学生提供的信息范围，美国将从中受益。与此同时，英国将受益于效仿美国，更多地利用助学金资助学生，在政策上更多地关注学生在中学早期所做的教育决定，并扩大使用情境化招生。虽然我们关注的是英国和美国，但我们认为，我们提出的政策建议具有更广泛的适用性。许多具有类似教育结构、经历和挑战的其他国家可以从这两个国家的政策经验中吸取有益的教训。
{"title":"Comparing and learning from English and American higher education access and completion policies","authors":"Kevin J. Dougherty, C. Callender","doi":"10.1080/23322969.2020.1737959","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1080/23322969.2020.1737959","url":null,"abstract":"ABSTRACT England and the United States provide a very interesting pairing as countries with many similarities, but also instructive dissimilarities, with respect to their policies for higher education access and success. We focus on five key policy strands: student information provision; outreach from higher education institutions; student financial aid; affirmative action or contextualisation in higher education admissions; and programmes to improve higher education retention and completion. At the end, we draw conclusions on what England and the US can learn from each other. The US would benefit from following England in using Access and Participation Plans to govern university outreach efforts, making more use of income-contingent loans, and expanding the range of information provided to prospective higher education students. Meanwhile, England would benefit from following the US in making greater use of grant aid to students, devoting more policy attention to educational decisions students are making in early secondary school, and expanding its use of contextualised admissions. While we focus on England and the US, we think that the policy recommendations we make carry wider applicability. Many other countries with somewhat similar educational structures, experiences, and challenges could learn useful lessons from the policy experiences of these two countries.","PeriodicalId":212965,"journal":{"name":"Policy Reviews in Higher Education","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2020-03-05","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"133073738","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2020-01-02DOI: 10.1080/23322969.2019.1679662
S. Young, P. Piche, Glendell Jones
ABSTRACT Over the last 15 years, the government of Ontario, Canada began seeking ways to deliver and expand higher education in a more cost effective and sustainable manner through the introduction of two major policy goals: greater institutional differentiation and the expansion of student pathways. This paper will attempt to determine the compatibility of these two policy goals through a review of the relevant literature to determine if the policies are aligned from an efficiency and effectiveness, and public policy perspective. It will also identify a number of policy levers used in Ontario that may affect the extent of diversity and student pathways through document analysis, to assess their compatibility by making a limited use of the field of organisational theory as a lens to place the policies into context. It will also examine the extent to which various institutional types in Ontario have been engaged in student mobility and will compare and contrast the various strategies used to satisfy these public policy goals through textual analysis to highlight current successful institutional strategies that can be used by other jurisdictions. It will conclude with some key observations that the authors feel are necessary for either policy goal to succeed.
{"title":"Student pathways and differentiation policies in Ontario: are they compatible?","authors":"S. Young, P. Piche, Glendell Jones","doi":"10.1080/23322969.2019.1679662","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1080/23322969.2019.1679662","url":null,"abstract":"ABSTRACT Over the last 15 years, the government of Ontario, Canada began seeking ways to deliver and expand higher education in a more cost effective and sustainable manner through the introduction of two major policy goals: greater institutional differentiation and the expansion of student pathways. This paper will attempt to determine the compatibility of these two policy goals through a review of the relevant literature to determine if the policies are aligned from an efficiency and effectiveness, and public policy perspective. It will also identify a number of policy levers used in Ontario that may affect the extent of diversity and student pathways through document analysis, to assess their compatibility by making a limited use of the field of organisational theory as a lens to place the policies into context. It will also examine the extent to which various institutional types in Ontario have been engaged in student mobility and will compare and contrast the various strategies used to satisfy these public policy goals through textual analysis to highlight current successful institutional strategies that can be used by other jurisdictions. It will conclude with some key observations that the authors feel are necessary for either policy goal to succeed.","PeriodicalId":212965,"journal":{"name":"Policy Reviews in Higher Education","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2020-01-02","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"114728982","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2020-01-02DOI: 10.1080/23322969.2019.1693908
A. Barlete
ABSTRACT This paper seeks to analyse the policy trajectory of the inter-regional plans to establish a common space in higher education (HE) involving the European Union (EU) and Latin America and the Caribbean (LAC) regions. Although both regions developed different formats of higher education cooperation programmes, it was in 1999 that an institutionalised bi-regional dialogue appeared – and HE was defined as a strategic partnership. In November 2000, ministers of education on both sides of the Atlantic launched the largest HE project to date: the EU-LAC (ALCUE) HE Common Area, involving 60 HE systems. Understanding (inter-)regional HE policies as an expression of global education policies, I conducted a historical analysis of this inter-regional policy from 2000 until 2018 using Roger Dale's framework of pluri-scalar governance of education. The tracing of the events since 1999 helped unveil the mechanisms of changes in this inter-regional policy. As a result, I was able to differentiate between two moments in the policy process: the ALCUE Project (2000–2008) and the EU-CELAC dialogue (2010–2018). Results point to the defining role of the EU in shaping the inter-regional dialogue in terms of regional mandate and actorness. The research shows that the advent of CELAC as a regional actor in Latin America in 2010 has strengthened the role of the EU in defining the inter-regional HE project.
{"title":"The policy trajectory of the EU – Latin America and Caribbean inter-regional project in higher education (1999–2018)","authors":"A. Barlete","doi":"10.1080/23322969.2019.1693908","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1080/23322969.2019.1693908","url":null,"abstract":"ABSTRACT This paper seeks to analyse the policy trajectory of the inter-regional plans to establish a common space in higher education (HE) involving the European Union (EU) and Latin America and the Caribbean (LAC) regions. Although both regions developed different formats of higher education cooperation programmes, it was in 1999 that an institutionalised bi-regional dialogue appeared – and HE was defined as a strategic partnership. In November 2000, ministers of education on both sides of the Atlantic launched the largest HE project to date: the EU-LAC (ALCUE) HE Common Area, involving 60 HE systems. Understanding (inter-)regional HE policies as an expression of global education policies, I conducted a historical analysis of this inter-regional policy from 2000 until 2018 using Roger Dale's framework of pluri-scalar governance of education. The tracing of the events since 1999 helped unveil the mechanisms of changes in this inter-regional policy. As a result, I was able to differentiate between two moments in the policy process: the ALCUE Project (2000–2008) and the EU-CELAC dialogue (2010–2018). Results point to the defining role of the EU in shaping the inter-regional dialogue in terms of regional mandate and actorness. The research shows that the advent of CELAC as a regional actor in Latin America in 2010 has strengthened the role of the EU in defining the inter-regional HE project.","PeriodicalId":212965,"journal":{"name":"Policy Reviews in Higher Education","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2020-01-02","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"115228311","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2020-01-02DOI: 10.1080/23322969.2019.1667859
Michelle Stack
ABSTRACT Drawing on the concepts of mediatisation and celebrification, this paper analyses how the Nobel Prize is used as a proxy of excellence by the ‘Big Three’ university rankers and top-ranked universities. Ranking advisories, university leadership at top-ranked institutions, and Nobel Prize adjudication committees are overwhelming from the same demographic: white men from the Global North. Who they deem ‘world class’ is overwhelmingly from the same demographic. Even though universities no longer have policies that keep out equity-seeking groups, the metrics used to determine world-classness re-entrench who is seen as a scholarly and administrative leader in higher education and what is considered world class knowledge. Drawing on social network analysis and multimedia critical discourse analysis, this paper argues that Nobel adjudication committees, ranking advisories and the leadership of top-ranked institutions form an echo chamber that conflates academic excellence with being white, male, wealthy, and famous. The paper concludes with the urgent need to address the cognitive dissonance of universities promoting spurious media-based metrics while at the same time claiming a commitment to equity policies and practices.
{"title":"Academic stars and university rankings in higher education: impacts on policy and practice","authors":"Michelle Stack","doi":"10.1080/23322969.2019.1667859","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1080/23322969.2019.1667859","url":null,"abstract":"ABSTRACT Drawing on the concepts of mediatisation and celebrification, this paper analyses how the Nobel Prize is used as a proxy of excellence by the ‘Big Three’ university rankers and top-ranked universities. Ranking advisories, university leadership at top-ranked institutions, and Nobel Prize adjudication committees are overwhelming from the same demographic: white men from the Global North. Who they deem ‘world class’ is overwhelmingly from the same demographic. Even though universities no longer have policies that keep out equity-seeking groups, the metrics used to determine world-classness re-entrench who is seen as a scholarly and administrative leader in higher education and what is considered world class knowledge. Drawing on social network analysis and multimedia critical discourse analysis, this paper argues that Nobel adjudication committees, ranking advisories and the leadership of top-ranked institutions form an echo chamber that conflates academic excellence with being white, male, wealthy, and famous. The paper concludes with the urgent need to address the cognitive dissonance of universities promoting spurious media-based metrics while at the same time claiming a commitment to equity policies and practices.","PeriodicalId":212965,"journal":{"name":"Policy Reviews in Higher Education","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2020-01-02","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"121100548","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2020-01-02DOI: 10.1080/23322969.2020.1712662
Heike Behle
ABSTRACT Employability has become one of the most important outcomes of higher education despite it being weakly conceptualised for the sector. The lack of an accepted conceptualisation to address students’ and graduates’ employability results in difficulties when comparing research findings and therefore in assessing quality in higher education provision. This paper addresses this gap in the conceptualisation of employability and adapts an established framework so that it aligns with the higher education sector. Employability is defined as ‘the ability to find, keep and progress in graduate employment’. A holistic framework composed of four categories (‘individual factors’; ‘individual circumstances’; ‘enabling support system’; ‘labour market’) is used to classify and measure employability. This allows for an understanding of how specific initiatives enhance the employability of students and graduates, and suggests ways to measure this impact. Also, the limitations of HEIs to impact students’ employability are addressed using the framework. The examples of Germany and England show how differences in employability occur due to differences in the surrounding labour market. The paper concludes that in a complex and holistic discussion it is necessary to highlight the various indicators, including the labour market, which were used to report more nuanced aspects of employability.
{"title":"Students’ and graduates’ employability. A framework to classify and measure employability gain","authors":"Heike Behle","doi":"10.1080/23322969.2020.1712662","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1080/23322969.2020.1712662","url":null,"abstract":"ABSTRACT Employability has become one of the most important outcomes of higher education despite it being weakly conceptualised for the sector. The lack of an accepted conceptualisation to address students’ and graduates’ employability results in difficulties when comparing research findings and therefore in assessing quality in higher education provision. This paper addresses this gap in the conceptualisation of employability and adapts an established framework so that it aligns with the higher education sector. Employability is defined as ‘the ability to find, keep and progress in graduate employment’. A holistic framework composed of four categories (‘individual factors’; ‘individual circumstances’; ‘enabling support system’; ‘labour market’) is used to classify and measure employability. This allows for an understanding of how specific initiatives enhance the employability of students and graduates, and suggests ways to measure this impact. Also, the limitations of HEIs to impact students’ employability are addressed using the framework. The examples of Germany and England show how differences in employability occur due to differences in the surrounding labour market. The paper concludes that in a complex and holistic discussion it is necessary to highlight the various indicators, including the labour market, which were used to report more nuanced aspects of employability.","PeriodicalId":212965,"journal":{"name":"Policy Reviews in Higher Education","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2020-01-02","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"114386261","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
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