Pub Date : 2022-04-03DOI: 10.1080/13596748.2022.2042907
Hessa Al-Thani, Youmen Chaaban, Xiangyun Du
ABSTRACT The study explored teacher educators’ experiences in navigating the process of responding to disruptive education due to the COVID 19 pandemic. From a complexity theory lens, the concept of simplex system was used to examine three teacher educators’ narratives on their teaching experiences prior to, during and post pandemic, as they responded to institutional top-down policy mandating the emergency shift from face-to-face to full-scale synchronised online teaching. Findings of the study suggested that the teacher educators all struggled within the intrapersonal space, consisting of beliefs, motivation, efficacy and emotions during the emergent transition to full-scale online teaching, while they also experienced change of interpersonal relationships with students and colleagues. The study also revealed variations in their individual coping strategies for self-organisation in response to the emergent policy change, utilising their individual sources and prior experiences. The study called for the need to better understand teacher educators’ simplex system at both the individual level and institutional level. Further, it was highly recommended that teacher educators become actively involved in the policy making process and communications; in order to enhance their understanding of complex situations and support their agentic actions in accomplishing their goals.
{"title":"Teacher educators’ simplex system in navigating the process of responding to disruptive education – a case from Qatar","authors":"Hessa Al-Thani, Youmen Chaaban, Xiangyun Du","doi":"10.1080/13596748.2022.2042907","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1080/13596748.2022.2042907","url":null,"abstract":"ABSTRACT The study explored teacher educators’ experiences in navigating the process of responding to disruptive education due to the COVID 19 pandemic. From a complexity theory lens, the concept of simplex system was used to examine three teacher educators’ narratives on their teaching experiences prior to, during and post pandemic, as they responded to institutional top-down policy mandating the emergency shift from face-to-face to full-scale synchronised online teaching. Findings of the study suggested that the teacher educators all struggled within the intrapersonal space, consisting of beliefs, motivation, efficacy and emotions during the emergent transition to full-scale online teaching, while they also experienced change of interpersonal relationships with students and colleagues. The study also revealed variations in their individual coping strategies for self-organisation in response to the emergent policy change, utilising their individual sources and prior experiences. The study called for the need to better understand teacher educators’ simplex system at both the individual level and institutional level. Further, it was highly recommended that teacher educators become actively involved in the policy making process and communications; in order to enhance their understanding of complex situations and support their agentic actions in accomplishing their goals.","PeriodicalId":45169,"journal":{"name":"Research in Post-Compulsory Education","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":0.7,"publicationDate":"2022-04-03","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"49362022","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 : 2022-04-03DOI: 10.1080/13596748.2022.2042911
Diana Pereira, I. Cadime, M. Flores
ABSTRACT Drawing upon a wider piece of research, this paper focuses on students’ views of assessment in higher education. It reports on data collected from a total of 5,549 students in five Portuguese public universities. The study aims to investigate the psychometric properties of two scales, one measuring the purposes and effects associated by students with assessment; and the other determining the most commonly used assessment methods. Both scales demonstrated adequate validity based on internal structure and acceptable reliability. Findings indicate that students reported more purposes and effects associated with a summative dimension of assessment than with a formative dimension. The most commonly used methods were written tests/exams and collective methods. Statistically significant differences were found in assessment methods, purposes and effects.
{"title":"Investigating assessment in higher education: students’ perceptions","authors":"Diana Pereira, I. Cadime, M. Flores","doi":"10.1080/13596748.2022.2042911","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1080/13596748.2022.2042911","url":null,"abstract":"ABSTRACT Drawing upon a wider piece of research, this paper focuses on students’ views of assessment in higher education. It reports on data collected from a total of 5,549 students in five Portuguese public universities. The study aims to investigate the psychometric properties of two scales, one measuring the purposes and effects associated by students with assessment; and the other determining the most commonly used assessment methods. Both scales demonstrated adequate validity based on internal structure and acceptable reliability. Findings indicate that students reported more purposes and effects associated with a summative dimension of assessment than with a formative dimension. The most commonly used methods were written tests/exams and collective methods. Statistically significant differences were found in assessment methods, purposes and effects.","PeriodicalId":45169,"journal":{"name":"Research in Post-Compulsory Education","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":0.7,"publicationDate":"2022-04-03","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"48215845","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 : 2022-04-03DOI: 10.1080/13596748.2022.2042910
Ewan Ingleby, Gary R Currie, Ryan Williams
ABSTRACT This article exemplifies the advantages that researchers have if they apply visual methods and in particular photo-elicitation to qualitative research. The research context is post-compulsory education with the field of study being a new vocational degree programme, and the theoretical content of the article draws on the work of Goffman, alongside theories of literacy as social practice. It is interesting that the policy documents that are framing new vocational degrees are texts written in particular ways and that in the UK these texts are informed by political and economic agendas. However, the texts that have given rise to new vocational degree programmes do not appear to necessarily align with the rich subjective practices which are occurring within this form of post-compulsory education. The research that is presented in this article from selected students and academics who are working on a particular vocational degree reveals profound interpretations of the purpose of new vocational degrees. The imaginative and creative images that are captured by the application of photo-elicitation to this study reveal a fascinating interplay between the policy texts and the subjective interpretations of the purpose of post-compulsory education.
{"title":"The advantages of visual methods in exploring hidden subjectivities in post-compulsory education","authors":"Ewan Ingleby, Gary R Currie, Ryan Williams","doi":"10.1080/13596748.2022.2042910","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1080/13596748.2022.2042910","url":null,"abstract":"ABSTRACT This article exemplifies the advantages that researchers have if they apply visual methods and in particular photo-elicitation to qualitative research. The research context is post-compulsory education with the field of study being a new vocational degree programme, and the theoretical content of the article draws on the work of Goffman, alongside theories of literacy as social practice. It is interesting that the policy documents that are framing new vocational degrees are texts written in particular ways and that in the UK these texts are informed by political and economic agendas. However, the texts that have given rise to new vocational degree programmes do not appear to necessarily align with the rich subjective practices which are occurring within this form of post-compulsory education. The research that is presented in this article from selected students and academics who are working on a particular vocational degree reveals profound interpretations of the purpose of new vocational degrees. The imaginative and creative images that are captured by the application of photo-elicitation to this study reveal a fascinating interplay between the policy texts and the subjective interpretations of the purpose of post-compulsory education.","PeriodicalId":45169,"journal":{"name":"Research in Post-Compulsory Education","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":0.7,"publicationDate":"2022-04-03","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"41771965","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 : 2022-04-03DOI: 10.1080/13596748.2022.2042906
Martin E. Purcell
ABSTRACT This paper explores the implementation of an innovative three-year (2017 to 2020) community learning initiative led by a partnership of third sector organisations in a district in the north of England. It explores the initiative’s arrangements for the design and delivery of a varied curriculum and assesses its impact on the lives of participants in a range of community learning activities delivered in diverse settings throughout the district. Around forty formal interviews were conducted with commissioners, providers and participants; informal discussions were held with more participants during thirty observations of community learning activities. The findings demonstrate how a person-centred approach engaged marginalised and vulnerable individuals (many of whom had struggled previously to engage in formal learning programmes) in learning activities. Examples illustrate the transformational potential of community learning in addressing the needs and interests of individuals, contributing to their progression towards higher level learning opportunities and the workplace as well as to enhanced social and emotional outcomes. As society emerges from the constraints of the Covid-19 pandemic, the paper foregrounds this kind of sympathetic community learning provision as a means of supporting the continued engagement and development of individuals likely to be further marginalised by the impacts of the crisis.
{"title":"Hope in ‘catastrophic’ times: participants’ stories of nurture and transformation from an innovative community learning initiative","authors":"Martin E. Purcell","doi":"10.1080/13596748.2022.2042906","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1080/13596748.2022.2042906","url":null,"abstract":"ABSTRACT This paper explores the implementation of an innovative three-year (2017 to 2020) community learning initiative led by a partnership of third sector organisations in a district in the north of England. It explores the initiative’s arrangements for the design and delivery of a varied curriculum and assesses its impact on the lives of participants in a range of community learning activities delivered in diverse settings throughout the district. Around forty formal interviews were conducted with commissioners, providers and participants; informal discussions were held with more participants during thirty observations of community learning activities. The findings demonstrate how a person-centred approach engaged marginalised and vulnerable individuals (many of whom had struggled previously to engage in formal learning programmes) in learning activities. Examples illustrate the transformational potential of community learning in addressing the needs and interests of individuals, contributing to their progression towards higher level learning opportunities and the workplace as well as to enhanced social and emotional outcomes. As society emerges from the constraints of the Covid-19 pandemic, the paper foregrounds this kind of sympathetic community learning provision as a means of supporting the continued engagement and development of individuals likely to be further marginalised by the impacts of the crisis.","PeriodicalId":45169,"journal":{"name":"Research in Post-Compulsory Education","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":0.7,"publicationDate":"2022-04-03","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"42507966","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 : 2022-04-03DOI: 10.1080/13596748.2022.2042909
Victoria Wright, Sandi L. Bates, Theresa M. Loughlin, N. Clarke, Dayna Hale
ABSTRACT The paper captures the professionalisation of teachers in the further education sector by shining a light on their everyday struggle to uphold their ethical goals in support of their students in a climate of performative and regulatory expectations. It reports on a small-scale qualitative study in which the six participants were either on the Postgraduate Certificate in Post Compulsory Education course (PGCE in PCE) or on the Masters degree in Professional Practice and Lifelong Education (MA PPLE). They were therefore either student teachers or experienced teachers with different lengths of experience. Students were asked to rank order a set of cards and clarify their decisions. Semi-structured interviews were then undertaken in which the participants were asked to bring artefacts of their choice (potentially from their course of study). Reflection points included the construction of self as teacher and the tensions and impact of a range of expectations nationally and locally. Participants shared responses to continuous change in the sector, their institutions and within their practices. All expressed a common and sustained mission to make a difference, no matter how small, to their students’ lives.
{"title":"Exploring the professionalisation of further education teachers in England","authors":"Victoria Wright, Sandi L. Bates, Theresa M. Loughlin, N. Clarke, Dayna Hale","doi":"10.1080/13596748.2022.2042909","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1080/13596748.2022.2042909","url":null,"abstract":"ABSTRACT The paper captures the professionalisation of teachers in the further education sector by shining a light on their everyday struggle to uphold their ethical goals in support of their students in a climate of performative and regulatory expectations. It reports on a small-scale qualitative study in which the six participants were either on the Postgraduate Certificate in Post Compulsory Education course (PGCE in PCE) or on the Masters degree in Professional Practice and Lifelong Education (MA PPLE). They were therefore either student teachers or experienced teachers with different lengths of experience. Students were asked to rank order a set of cards and clarify their decisions. Semi-structured interviews were then undertaken in which the participants were asked to bring artefacts of their choice (potentially from their course of study). Reflection points included the construction of self as teacher and the tensions and impact of a range of expectations nationally and locally. Participants shared responses to continuous change in the sector, their institutions and within their practices. All expressed a common and sustained mission to make a difference, no matter how small, to their students’ lives.","PeriodicalId":45169,"journal":{"name":"Research in Post-Compulsory Education","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":0.7,"publicationDate":"2022-04-03","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"48977021","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 : 2022-01-02DOI: 10.1080/13596748.2021.2011515
Janet Hobley
ABSTRACT Following the unexpected lockdown of education in March 2020 and again in February 2021, this research looks at the subsequent online learning that took place during the second lockdown at a vocational further education college located in the south of England. These online sessions used Google Meet as a forum and teachers at the college suddenly had to adapt their planned teaching to suit this new environment, Observation data was collected using an assessment tool consisting of 11 criteria with which to assess these sessions. This was followed up with teacher self-assessment using the same criteria and students surveyed for their perspective after the lockdown had finished in March. The data shows some discrepancy between what the observer 'saw' and what the teachers thought about their own TPACK levels in terms of outcomes and the student data indicates that online learning was 'unengaging' in terms of activities. The conclusion looks to the concept of digital wisdom as a means of using technology as a meaningful learning tool rather than as simply a different way to cover content in the light of the changes to curriculum delivery.
{"title":"Will computers blow up the school: or is our digital wisdom evolving?","authors":"Janet Hobley","doi":"10.1080/13596748.2021.2011515","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1080/13596748.2021.2011515","url":null,"abstract":"ABSTRACT Following the unexpected lockdown of education in March 2020 and again in February 2021, this research looks at the subsequent online learning that took place during the second lockdown at a vocational further education college located in the south of England. These online sessions used Google Meet as a forum and teachers at the college suddenly had to adapt their planned teaching to suit this new environment, Observation data was collected using an assessment tool consisting of 11 criteria with which to assess these sessions. This was followed up with teacher self-assessment using the same criteria and students surveyed for their perspective after the lockdown had finished in March. The data shows some discrepancy between what the observer 'saw' and what the teachers thought about their own TPACK levels in terms of outcomes and the student data indicates that online learning was 'unengaging' in terms of activities. The conclusion looks to the concept of digital wisdom as a means of using technology as a meaningful learning tool rather than as simply a different way to cover content in the light of the changes to curriculum delivery.","PeriodicalId":45169,"journal":{"name":"Research in Post-Compulsory Education","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":0.7,"publicationDate":"2022-01-02","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"43226884","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 : 2022-01-02DOI: 10.1080/13596748.2021.2011507
Haniye Seyri, A. Rezaee
ABSTRACT Despite the substantial growth of research on identity construction in real-life contexts, little is known about PhD students’ online identities, especially their identity shift from real-life to virtual contexts. The present study aimed to address this gap by examining the identity development of ten PhD students from the field of Applied Linguistics during the Covid-19 pandemic, by adopting narrative inquiry. Data analysis revealed that PhD students’ identity was marked by four major components including professional development, sense of self-development, social interactions in community of practice, and their perceptions. The study concludes with implications for both PhD students, administrators and instructors by raising their awareness of the importance of facilitating the change from face-to-face to online contexts.
{"title":"PhD students’ identity construction in face-to-face and online contexts","authors":"Haniye Seyri, A. Rezaee","doi":"10.1080/13596748.2021.2011507","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1080/13596748.2021.2011507","url":null,"abstract":"ABSTRACT Despite the substantial growth of research on identity construction in real-life contexts, little is known about PhD students’ online identities, especially their identity shift from real-life to virtual contexts. The present study aimed to address this gap by examining the identity development of ten PhD students from the field of Applied Linguistics during the Covid-19 pandemic, by adopting narrative inquiry. Data analysis revealed that PhD students’ identity was marked by four major components including professional development, sense of self-development, social interactions in community of practice, and their perceptions. The study concludes with implications for both PhD students, administrators and instructors by raising their awareness of the importance of facilitating the change from face-to-face to online contexts.","PeriodicalId":45169,"journal":{"name":"Research in Post-Compulsory Education","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":0.7,"publicationDate":"2022-01-02","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"45687582","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 : 2022-01-02DOI: 10.1080/13596748.2021.2011504
H. Sadia, Pauline Prevett, Drew Whitworth, Nurdiana Gaus
ABSTRACT The article explores female Pakistani students’ narratives of transition on moving to the UK and into post-graduate higher education. It draws on a qualitative longitudinal study with six female Pakistani students at one university to reveal the complex ongoing transformation of their thinking, feeling and believing. An analysis of troubles of identity during the year are suggestive of their seizing a ‘modicum of control’: a kind of agency that doesn’t resist power structures, but does make an individual feel that they are choosing. As a result our participants went on to make profound changes to some of the ways they thought about and lived their lives. The results have implications for Universities, policy makers and tutors to transcend an institutional focus into a broader enculturated view that highlights an irreversible change to their past identities, which needs support both for students’ transitioning to the UK University and on their return.
{"title":"Transition of Female Pakistani Students to both the UK and Postgraduate Education Context: Constructing Hybrid Identities through a modicum of control","authors":"H. Sadia, Pauline Prevett, Drew Whitworth, Nurdiana Gaus","doi":"10.1080/13596748.2021.2011504","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1080/13596748.2021.2011504","url":null,"abstract":"ABSTRACT The article explores female Pakistani students’ narratives of transition on moving to the UK and into post-graduate higher education. It draws on a qualitative longitudinal study with six female Pakistani students at one university to reveal the complex ongoing transformation of their thinking, feeling and believing. An analysis of troubles of identity during the year are suggestive of their seizing a ‘modicum of control’: a kind of agency that doesn’t resist power structures, but does make an individual feel that they are choosing. As a result our participants went on to make profound changes to some of the ways they thought about and lived their lives. The results have implications for Universities, policy makers and tutors to transcend an institutional focus into a broader enculturated view that highlights an irreversible change to their past identities, which needs support both for students’ transitioning to the UK University and on their return.","PeriodicalId":45169,"journal":{"name":"Research in Post-Compulsory Education","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":0.7,"publicationDate":"2022-01-02","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"46953656","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 : 2022-01-02DOI: 10.1080/13596748.2021.2011510
Paul Tully
ABSTRACT Professionalism is an important issue for policymakers in post-16 education because of its established links to competence, morale and staff continuity. Arguably, it is the pursuit of professionalism that ensures high quality teaching and learning, satisfied students and stakeholders, and the ongoing esteem of the general public. However, despite its alleged importance, professionalism has been largely missing as a topic from policy narratives. This lacuna may be linked to common perceptions that professionalism is complex, opaque and difficult to operationalise. Redressing this issue, this article examines what professionalism means to practitioners who work in the English Further Education (FE) sector. 461 practitioners working in teaching, management and curriculum settings completed an online survey, responding to the question: ‘What does being professional mean to you in the context of your working role and duties’? Perceptions of professionalism were content analysed and reported thematically. Using two-way correspondence analysis, the results were theorised as a tripartite model comprising three intersecting professionalism schemas: expertise, service and compliance. This model provides the basis for understanding and exploring the contested properties of professionalism expressed across the FE literature. Uniquely, the model emphasises the role that recognition plays in respondents’ constructions. The article concludes by suggesting a number of ways professionalism in FE might be supported.
{"title":"Joining the dots: theorising professionalism in the English Further Education Sector","authors":"Paul Tully","doi":"10.1080/13596748.2021.2011510","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1080/13596748.2021.2011510","url":null,"abstract":"ABSTRACT Professionalism is an important issue for policymakers in post-16 education because of its established links to competence, morale and staff continuity. Arguably, it is the pursuit of professionalism that ensures high quality teaching and learning, satisfied students and stakeholders, and the ongoing esteem of the general public. However, despite its alleged importance, professionalism has been largely missing as a topic from policy narratives. This lacuna may be linked to common perceptions that professionalism is complex, opaque and difficult to operationalise. Redressing this issue, this article examines what professionalism means to practitioners who work in the English Further Education (FE) sector. 461 practitioners working in teaching, management and curriculum settings completed an online survey, responding to the question: ‘What does being professional mean to you in the context of your working role and duties’? Perceptions of professionalism were content analysed and reported thematically. Using two-way correspondence analysis, the results were theorised as a tripartite model comprising three intersecting professionalism schemas: expertise, service and compliance. This model provides the basis for understanding and exploring the contested properties of professionalism expressed across the FE literature. Uniquely, the model emphasises the role that recognition plays in respondents’ constructions. The article concludes by suggesting a number of ways professionalism in FE might be supported.","PeriodicalId":45169,"journal":{"name":"Research in Post-Compulsory Education","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":0.7,"publicationDate":"2022-01-02","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"47316534","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 : 2022-01-02DOI: 10.1080/13596748.2021.2011503
Buly A. Cardak, M. Brett, Sally K. Burt
ABSTRACT Australia established a demand-driven funding model for government-subsidised undergraduate places at public universities between 2012 and 2017. This allowed public universities to expand subsidised undergraduate places over this period. However, private universities and colleges did not have access to demand-driven funding but nonetheless grew domestic student enrolments by 38% over the same period, an unexpected difference given that demand-driven funding allowed public universities to expand enrolments with few limitations. To explain differences in growth by institution type, a supply and demand model relevant to public universities and private universities and colleges is developed. The model is used to understand enrolment dynamics and how providers responded to the demand-driven funding environment. Drawing on novel higher education statistics, four hypotheses for the unexpected enrolment growth in private universities and colleges are tested: reputational factors; disciplinary specialisation; price; and appeal to disadvantaged student groups. The data reveal some support for each hypothesis but show disciplinary specialisation is the strongest explanation of enrolment growth outside public universities. The findings illustrate how less established private institutions can grow and compete with more established public universities by responding to market demand and offering specialised programmes to meet that demand.
{"title":"Explaining domestic student enrolment growth in Australian private universities and colleges","authors":"Buly A. Cardak, M. Brett, Sally K. Burt","doi":"10.1080/13596748.2021.2011503","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1080/13596748.2021.2011503","url":null,"abstract":"ABSTRACT Australia established a demand-driven funding model for government-subsidised undergraduate places at public universities between 2012 and 2017. This allowed public universities to expand subsidised undergraduate places over this period. However, private universities and colleges did not have access to demand-driven funding but nonetheless grew domestic student enrolments by 38% over the same period, an unexpected difference given that demand-driven funding allowed public universities to expand enrolments with few limitations. To explain differences in growth by institution type, a supply and demand model relevant to public universities and private universities and colleges is developed. The model is used to understand enrolment dynamics and how providers responded to the demand-driven funding environment. Drawing on novel higher education statistics, four hypotheses for the unexpected enrolment growth in private universities and colleges are tested: reputational factors; disciplinary specialisation; price; and appeal to disadvantaged student groups. The data reveal some support for each hypothesis but show disciplinary specialisation is the strongest explanation of enrolment growth outside public universities. The findings illustrate how less established private institutions can grow and compete with more established public universities by responding to market demand and offering specialised programmes to meet that demand.","PeriodicalId":45169,"journal":{"name":"Research in Post-Compulsory Education","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":0.7,"publicationDate":"2022-01-02","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"44913271","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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