Pub Date : 2022-03-17DOI: 10.1080/21568235.2022.2049335
Oili-Helena Ylijoki
ABSTRACT Interdisciplinarity has become one of the catchwords in current higher education and science policies, with the underlying rationale being that scientific breakthroughs and solutions to today’s global challenges require collaboration across scientific fields. However, several empirical studies have shown that interdisciplinary promises are not necessarily realised in research practices, due to manifold cognitive, epistemic, cultural and organisational barriers. Drawing on interviews with women academics working in health technology in Finland, this paper traces subtle obstacles, hidden power relations and invisible hierarchies in interdisciplinary research work. A special emphasis is placed on understanding intersections of gender and interdisciplinarity, pointing to gendered implications of the current policy rhetoric of interdisciplinarity.
{"title":"Invisible hierarchies in academic work and career-building in an interdisciplinary landscape","authors":"Oili-Helena Ylijoki","doi":"10.1080/21568235.2022.2049335","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1080/21568235.2022.2049335","url":null,"abstract":"ABSTRACT\u0000 Interdisciplinarity has become one of the catchwords in current higher education and science policies, with the underlying rationale being that scientific breakthroughs and solutions to today’s global challenges require collaboration across scientific fields. However, several empirical studies have shown that interdisciplinary promises are not necessarily realised in research practices, due to manifold cognitive, epistemic, cultural and organisational barriers. Drawing on interviews with women academics working in health technology in Finland, this paper traces subtle obstacles, hidden power relations and invisible hierarchies in interdisciplinary research work. A special emphasis is placed on understanding intersections of gender and interdisciplinarity, pointing to gendered implications of the current policy rhetoric of interdisciplinarity.","PeriodicalId":37345,"journal":{"name":"European Journal of Higher Education","volume":"1 1","pages":"356 - 372"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2022-03-17","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"82198442","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 : 2022-03-14DOI: 10.1080/21568235.2022.2049837
Stefanie Powazny, Victoria Zorn, S. Kauffeld
ABSTRACT Person-Environment fit (P-E fit), defined as the congruence between a student’s attributes and their chosen study programme, is an important indicator of students’ academic success (e.g. retention). Research has shown that students’ informedness regarding the content and conditions of study before starting their studies is vital for this congruence. However, research on the factors that strengthen students’ P-E fit after starting their studies is scarce. Students’ peer networks could serve as a potential source of information, e.g. compensating for lower levels of informedness and thus, enhance students’ P-E fit. Hence, this study investigates peer networks’ moderating role, focusing on two types of P-E fit (Needs-Supplies and Demands-Abilities). Specifically, we examined how the composition of these networks (i.e. the proportion of informed peers) moderates the relationship between students’ informedness at the beginning of their studies and their P-E fit perceptions three months later. Data were collected from 135 German university students. We identified the proportion of informed peers as a moderator between students’ informedness and both P-E fit types. Practical implications for students and universities, as well as pathways for future research, are discussed.
{"title":"How peers’ informedness contributes to students’ person-environment fit","authors":"Stefanie Powazny, Victoria Zorn, S. Kauffeld","doi":"10.1080/21568235.2022.2049837","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1080/21568235.2022.2049837","url":null,"abstract":"ABSTRACT Person-Environment fit (P-E fit), defined as the congruence between a student’s attributes and their chosen study programme, is an important indicator of students’ academic success (e.g. retention). Research has shown that students’ informedness regarding the content and conditions of study before starting their studies is vital for this congruence. However, research on the factors that strengthen students’ P-E fit after starting their studies is scarce. Students’ peer networks could serve as a potential source of information, e.g. compensating for lower levels of informedness and thus, enhance students’ P-E fit. Hence, this study investigates peer networks’ moderating role, focusing on two types of P-E fit (Needs-Supplies and Demands-Abilities). Specifically, we examined how the composition of these networks (i.e. the proportion of informed peers) moderates the relationship between students’ informedness at the beginning of their studies and their P-E fit perceptions three months later. Data were collected from 135 German university students. We identified the proportion of informed peers as a moderator between students’ informedness and both P-E fit types. Practical implications for students and universities, as well as pathways for future research, are discussed.","PeriodicalId":37345,"journal":{"name":"European Journal of Higher Education","volume":"41 1","pages":"367 - 386"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2022-03-14","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"79303037","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 : 2022-03-10DOI: 10.1080/21568235.2022.2049838
Rocco Palumbo, M. Cavallone
ABSTRACT Doctoral degree holders may struggle to find a job, even though they possess the highest level of education delivered by universities. Whilst learning experiences’ quality has been argued to affect the doctoral degree holders’ ability to get a job, little is known about the relationship between these dimensions. To shed light on this issue, the article investigated secondary data collected from the 2018 national survey on doctoral degree holders in Italy. The respondents’ ability to get a job four to six years after the achievement of their doctoral degree was examined. A multinomial polytomous logistic regression model was designed to obtain evidence of the relationship between the perceived quality of learning experiences and the doctoral degree holders’ ability to get a job. The enrichment of learning experiences with practice-oriented educational activities enhanced the PhDs’ ability to get a job. People who were dissatisfied with their relationship with academics were more likely to be unemployed. Tailored interventions are needed to augment the quality of learning experiences and to increase the PhDs’ ability to get a job. Educational services’ co-production and the involvement of business partners in co-designing educational services might contribute positively to the doctoral degree holders’ ability to get a job.
{"title":"Unravelling the implications of learning experiences on doctoral degree holders’ employment: empirical insights and avenues for further developments","authors":"Rocco Palumbo, M. Cavallone","doi":"10.1080/21568235.2022.2049838","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1080/21568235.2022.2049838","url":null,"abstract":"ABSTRACT Doctoral degree holders may struggle to find a job, even though they possess the highest level of education delivered by universities. Whilst learning experiences’ quality has been argued to affect the doctoral degree holders’ ability to get a job, little is known about the relationship between these dimensions. To shed light on this issue, the article investigated secondary data collected from the 2018 national survey on doctoral degree holders in Italy. The respondents’ ability to get a job four to six years after the achievement of their doctoral degree was examined. A multinomial polytomous logistic regression model was designed to obtain evidence of the relationship between the perceived quality of learning experiences and the doctoral degree holders’ ability to get a job. The enrichment of learning experiences with practice-oriented educational activities enhanced the PhDs’ ability to get a job. People who were dissatisfied with their relationship with academics were more likely to be unemployed. Tailored interventions are needed to augment the quality of learning experiences and to increase the PhDs’ ability to get a job. Educational services’ co-production and the involvement of business partners in co-designing educational services might contribute positively to the doctoral degree holders’ ability to get a job.","PeriodicalId":37345,"journal":{"name":"European Journal of Higher Education","volume":"39 1","pages":"387 - 407"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2022-03-10","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"77369100","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 : 2022-03-09DOI: 10.1080/21568235.2022.2047084
Franziska Lessky, M. Unger
ABSTRACT Student employment has become widespread across many European countries, eliciting the question of how working while studying affects student retention. Previous research mostly agrees that it does by arguing that firstly, students who work long hours (i.e. more than 10 h per week) are more likely to leave university early, and also shows that students without academic family backgrounds (i.e. First-in-Family students) are more likely to enter term-time employment. However, little attention has been paid to investigating the factors predicting students’ decision to enter time-consuming employment while studying, and little differentiating between fields of study. Our study, which is based on a sample of 47,228 university students in Austria, reveals that the risk of working long hours differs considerably among various groups of students. Besides financial necessity, the results show that seeking work experience and not coming from an academic family background are also strong predictors for entering time-consuming employment, especially for business students. We suggest that higher education educators should effectively address this issue by working more closely with employers, industry representatives, professionals and students. We stress that universities should support their students in building networks, gaining insights into entry-level work and bridging the gap to graduate employment.
{"title":"Working long hours while studying: a higher risk for First-in-Family students and students of particular fields of study?","authors":"Franziska Lessky, M. Unger","doi":"10.1080/21568235.2022.2047084","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1080/21568235.2022.2047084","url":null,"abstract":"ABSTRACT\u0000 Student employment has become widespread across many European countries, eliciting the question of how working while studying affects student retention. Previous research mostly agrees that it does by arguing that firstly, students who work long hours (i.e. more than 10 h per week) are more likely to leave university early, and also shows that students without academic family backgrounds (i.e. First-in-Family students) are more likely to enter term-time employment. However, little attention has been paid to investigating the factors predicting students’ decision to enter time-consuming employment while studying, and little differentiating between fields of study. Our study, which is based on a sample of 47,228 university students in Austria, reveals that the risk of working long hours differs considerably among various groups of students. Besides financial necessity, the results show that seeking work experience and not coming from an academic family background are also strong predictors for entering time-consuming employment, especially for business students. We suggest that higher education educators should effectively address this issue by working more closely with employers, industry representatives, professionals and students. We stress that universities should support their students in building networks, gaining insights into entry-level work and bridging the gap to graduate employment.","PeriodicalId":37345,"journal":{"name":"European Journal of Higher Education","volume":"34 1","pages":"347 - 366"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2022-03-09","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"79551833","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 : 2022-02-03DOI: 10.1080/21568235.2022.2035240
T. Karabchuk, Y. Roshchina
ABSTRACT The study aims to disclose the role of the universities and students’ backgrounds in predicting student engagement. The study uses Monitoring of Education Markets and Organizations (MEMO) of 2015 and 2017, which is hierarchical nationally representative data set of 5,251 undergraduate students nested into 135 universities in Russia. Four indices were developed to measure student engagement based on behavioural approach, namely, class engagement, learning engagement, research engagement, and extracurricular engagement. The mixed-effects multilevel modelling was used to test the hypotheses on university roles and students’ background characteristics. Students’ parental family characteristics did not appear to have a strong influence on student engagement except mothers’ higher education. High school achievements are very important for further student engagement. The findings highlight the importance of motivation and career ambitions of students. Plans to work within the field of study or to pursue further studies to obtain a MA or Ph.D. degree positively associated with student engagement. The results confirmed that the academic environment is the strongest predictor of student engagement. Universities need to develop active teaching practices to improve the academic environment and increase student engagement.
{"title":"Predictors of student engagement: the role of universities’ or importance of students’ background?","authors":"T. Karabchuk, Y. Roshchina","doi":"10.1080/21568235.2022.2035240","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1080/21568235.2022.2035240","url":null,"abstract":"ABSTRACT The study aims to disclose the role of the universities and students’ backgrounds in predicting student engagement. The study uses Monitoring of Education Markets and Organizations (MEMO) of 2015 and 2017, which is hierarchical nationally representative data set of 5,251 undergraduate students nested into 135 universities in Russia. Four indices were developed to measure student engagement based on behavioural approach, namely, class engagement, learning engagement, research engagement, and extracurricular engagement. The mixed-effects multilevel modelling was used to test the hypotheses on university roles and students’ background characteristics. Students’ parental family characteristics did not appear to have a strong influence on student engagement except mothers’ higher education. High school achievements are very important for further student engagement. The findings highlight the importance of motivation and career ambitions of students. Plans to work within the field of study or to pursue further studies to obtain a MA or Ph.D. degree positively associated with student engagement. The results confirmed that the academic environment is the strongest predictor of student engagement. Universities need to develop active teaching practices to improve the academic environment and increase student engagement.","PeriodicalId":37345,"journal":{"name":"European Journal of Higher Education","volume":"641 1","pages":"327 - 346"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2022-02-03","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"78996941","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 : 2021-12-22DOI: 10.1080/21568235.2021.2010226
Jakob Schwerter, Lena Ilg
ABSTRACT Many women do not work in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) occupations even though they have degrees in these subjects. To shed light on this problem, we use information from the German Graduate Panel and show a significant gender gap among STEM graduates working in degree-related occupations after graduation. Therefore, we focus on university graduates’ transition into the labour market and include male and female non-STEM and STEM graduates. We find that male STEM graduates are more likely to work in a degree-related field than other men. A gender gap in degree-related work in STEM occupations shows that this is not the case for women. Separating STEM into engineering and computer science (EngComp) and mathematics and natural sciences (MatNat) shows that EngComp graduates are the main driver of the STEM effects. The estimations remain robust to a comprehensive set of individual background information. Moreover, bearing children before graduation or at the beginning of one’s professional career does not explain the lower entry behaviour of female EngComp graduates. Possible channels for why women with an EngComp degree are not as likely as men to start their professional life in an EngComp occupation are discussed.
{"title":"Gender differences in the labour market entry of STEM graduates","authors":"Jakob Schwerter, Lena Ilg","doi":"10.1080/21568235.2021.2010226","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1080/21568235.2021.2010226","url":null,"abstract":"ABSTRACT Many women do not work in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) occupations even though they have degrees in these subjects. To shed light on this problem, we use information from the German Graduate Panel and show a significant gender gap among STEM graduates working in degree-related occupations after graduation. Therefore, we focus on university graduates’ transition into the labour market and include male and female non-STEM and STEM graduates. We find that male STEM graduates are more likely to work in a degree-related field than other men. A gender gap in degree-related work in STEM occupations shows that this is not the case for women. Separating STEM into engineering and computer science (EngComp) and mathematics and natural sciences (MatNat) shows that EngComp graduates are the main driver of the STEM effects. The estimations remain robust to a comprehensive set of individual background information. Moreover, bearing children before graduation or at the beginning of one’s professional career does not explain the lower entry behaviour of female EngComp graduates. Possible channels for why women with an EngComp degree are not as likely as men to start their professional life in an EngComp occupation are discussed.","PeriodicalId":37345,"journal":{"name":"European Journal of Higher Education","volume":"8 1","pages":"308 - 326"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2021-12-22","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"78477571","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 : 2021-12-19DOI: 10.1080/21568235.2021.2000881
Maria José Sampaio de Sá
ABSTRACT Students' integration into the environment of the higher education institution (HEIs) is a shared concern found in the literature. This notion of integration is particularly relevant in the first year in higher education, when students face increased difficulties of adapting to a new environment, being the year when a higher number of students drop out. Thus, the main purpose of the study is to grasp students' perceptions of the measures put in place to ease their integration into the academic and social environment of the HEI. This study used a qualitative methodology, and data collection instruments used are twofold: semi-structured interviews with students and document analysis. In Portugal, the welcome to students who enrol in higher education is made in two ways: through a ceremonial proposed by peers and through the institutional welcome promoted by the HEI. The results reveal the relevance students ascribe to strategies for welcoming newcomers in the HEI, promoted both by peers and by the institution itself. Thus, having identified this pivotal dimension of the students' experience, namely in their likelihood of remaining in the institution, HEIs should endeavour to make students feel comfortable in this new environment and perceive the institution as their ‘second home’.
{"title":"‘Welcome to Wonderland’. Integration rituals and ceremonies for higher education first-year students, and lessons for institutions","authors":"Maria José Sampaio de Sá","doi":"10.1080/21568235.2021.2000881","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1080/21568235.2021.2000881","url":null,"abstract":"ABSTRACT Students' integration into the environment of the higher education institution (HEIs) is a shared concern found in the literature. This notion of integration is particularly relevant in the first year in higher education, when students face increased difficulties of adapting to a new environment, being the year when a higher number of students drop out. Thus, the main purpose of the study is to grasp students' perceptions of the measures put in place to ease their integration into the academic and social environment of the HEI. This study used a qualitative methodology, and data collection instruments used are twofold: semi-structured interviews with students and document analysis. In Portugal, the welcome to students who enrol in higher education is made in two ways: through a ceremonial proposed by peers and through the institutional welcome promoted by the HEI. The results reveal the relevance students ascribe to strategies for welcoming newcomers in the HEI, promoted both by peers and by the institution itself. Thus, having identified this pivotal dimension of the students' experience, namely in their likelihood of remaining in the institution, HEIs should endeavour to make students feel comfortable in this new environment and perceive the institution as their ‘second home’.","PeriodicalId":37345,"journal":{"name":"European Journal of Higher Education","volume":"42 1","pages":"292 - 307"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2021-12-19","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"81871325","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 : 2021-11-25DOI: 10.1080/21568235.2021.1999841
Lisa Jasinski, T. Nokkala, Henna Juusola
ABSTRACT When conceived of as both a research strategy and mode to present findings, vignettes can be combined with various qualitative methodologies in higher education research. Rather than being a discipline unto itself, higher education research is best understood as a multi and cross-disciplinary field of study that, we contend, is made richer by its diverse perspectives and methodological eclecticism. Drawing examples from higher education research and other fields, we seek to create a typology to guide higher education scholars through decisions about how, when, and why to use vignettes in their work. Based on our own experience incorporating vignettes in our research, we reflect upon the consequences of these choices for scholars, participants, and studies.
{"title":"Reflecting on the value of vignettes in higher education research: toward a preliminary typology to guide future usage","authors":"Lisa Jasinski, T. Nokkala, Henna Juusola","doi":"10.1080/21568235.2021.1999841","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1080/21568235.2021.1999841","url":null,"abstract":"ABSTRACT When conceived of as both a research strategy and mode to present findings, vignettes can be combined with various qualitative methodologies in higher education research. Rather than being a discipline unto itself, higher education research is best understood as a multi and cross-disciplinary field of study that, we contend, is made richer by its diverse perspectives and methodological eclecticism. Drawing examples from higher education research and other fields, we seek to create a typology to guide higher education scholars through decisions about how, when, and why to use vignettes in their work. Based on our own experience incorporating vignettes in our research, we reflect upon the consequences of these choices for scholars, participants, and studies.","PeriodicalId":37345,"journal":{"name":"European Journal of Higher Education","volume":"2008 1","pages":"522 - 536"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2021-11-25","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"82515101","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 : 2021-11-25DOI: 10.1080/21568235.2021.2004905
Georg Krücken, Shweta Mishra, Tim Seidenschnur
ABSTRACT The issue of theories and methods in higher education research has been discussed for some time now. Earlier accounts have been mostly critical. Though we share this criticism, we also see promising perspectives. Higher education research can be seen as a space of opportunities, which is particularly well suited for allowing fruitful interactions with other research areas and society at large. Such interactions can lead to theory development and methodological advancements that might have an impact not only in higher education research, but in other research areas as well as society. The example of early organisation theory shows that such broader impact is possible. At the end of the introduction, current and future perspectives are mentioned.
{"title":"Theories and methods in higher education research – a space of opportunities","authors":"Georg Krücken, Shweta Mishra, Tim Seidenschnur","doi":"10.1080/21568235.2021.2004905","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1080/21568235.2021.2004905","url":null,"abstract":"ABSTRACT The issue of theories and methods in higher education research has been discussed for some time now. Earlier accounts have been mostly critical. Though we share this criticism, we also see promising perspectives. Higher education research can be seen as a space of opportunities, which is particularly well suited for allowing fruitful interactions with other research areas and society at large. Such interactions can lead to theory development and methodological advancements that might have an impact not only in higher education research, but in other research areas as well as society. The example of early organisation theory shows that such broader impact is possible. At the end of the introduction, current and future perspectives are mentioned.","PeriodicalId":37345,"journal":{"name":"European Journal of Higher Education","volume":"45 1","pages":"461 - 467"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2021-11-25","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"88431310","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 : 2021-11-23DOI: 10.1080/21568235.2021.2004184
R. Bloch
ABSTRACT Organisational actorhood denotes the agency and capacity of organisations to act for and out of themselves. Sociological neoinstitutionalism has shown how notions of empowered actorhood have spread globally and across modern society. It has however neglected how organisations act upon this notion. Drawing on Foucault’s writings on governmentality, actorhood can be conceived as a ‘technology of the self’ that allows individuals (and organisations) to define how to act for themselves. Understanding actorhood as an imperative to take action in the name of the self, the paper extends the neoinstitutional perspective to account for how organisations perform actorhood. Taking organisational action as starting point for analysing organisational actors allows to overcome the passive conformity of organisations vis-à-vis environmental expectations. This perspective is applied to empirical findings on how German universities act as organisations in teaching. Though actorhood was highly scripted by a national funding scheme, universities more or less used the extra resources to pursue their own goals. Focussing on organisational action shows that universities as organisational actors do not just respond to environmental expecations but act within a field of possible actions that simultaneously pushes and constrains actorhood. The paper therefore proposes to study how universities act as organisational actors.
{"title":"The actorhood imperative. On universities as organisational actors","authors":"R. Bloch","doi":"10.1080/21568235.2021.2004184","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1080/21568235.2021.2004184","url":null,"abstract":"ABSTRACT Organisational actorhood denotes the agency and capacity of organisations to act for and out of themselves. Sociological neoinstitutionalism has shown how notions of empowered actorhood have spread globally and across modern society. It has however neglected how organisations act upon this notion. Drawing on Foucault’s writings on governmentality, actorhood can be conceived as a ‘technology of the self’ that allows individuals (and organisations) to define how to act for themselves. Understanding actorhood as an imperative to take action in the name of the self, the paper extends the neoinstitutional perspective to account for how organisations perform actorhood. Taking organisational action as starting point for analysing organisational actors allows to overcome the passive conformity of organisations vis-à-vis environmental expectations. This perspective is applied to empirical findings on how German universities act as organisations in teaching. Though actorhood was highly scripted by a national funding scheme, universities more or less used the extra resources to pursue their own goals. Focussing on organisational action shows that universities as organisational actors do not just respond to environmental expecations but act within a field of possible actions that simultaneously pushes and constrains actorhood. The paper therefore proposes to study how universities act as organisational actors.","PeriodicalId":37345,"journal":{"name":"European Journal of Higher Education","volume":"118 17","pages":"489 - 505"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2021-11-23","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"72394677","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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