HIGHER EDUCATION QUARTERLY最新文献

Forms of academic democracy, such as shared, collegial and participatory governance where students and staff have a substantive role in institutional oversight, have long been an aspiration at many universities and colleges worldwide. Yet, concrete efforts to realise self-governance often prove incompatible with the legal and fiduciary requirements of trustee boards, rector councils and the like governing contemporary higher education institutions. This has led to significant controversy at times over how universities are controlled and the extent to which their communities can have a meaningful role in governing them. It raises the question of whether widening democratic participation in university governance is possible and desirable. This conceptual study examines three core challenges to furthering academic democracy that include ambiguity over who can have legitimate oversight of academic and other matters, common logistical challenges in integrating staff and students into governance processes, as well as the limits that external influences can place on what is possible for internal governance. Drawing on deliberative democratic theory, this paper explores practical approaches to navigating these challenges through interlinked governance structures that can maximise participation and ensure a reasonable expectation of meaningful decisions within the constraints of corporate governance.

This study explores the influence of student-generated electronic word-of-mouth (eWOM) on university image within the context of an increasingly competitive higher education landscape. Drawing on social identity and congruence theories, we examine how both satisfied and dissatisfied students' positive and negative eWOM influences the higher education institution's brand perception. The study reveals that dissatisfied students demonstrate social creativity. Despite their dissatisfaction, they spread positive eWOM, which further increases their self-brand incongruity. Student (dis)satisfaction has a significant impact on the detrimental effect of students' negative eWOM on the educational institution's brand image. Students' (dis)satisfaction also moderates the influence of commitment on self-brand incongruity. It is imperative for educational administrators to foster a strong relationship between students and their institution, as high levels of commitment can mitigate the perceived incongruence of dissatisfied students and enhance the institution's image. The study's insights highlight the strategic value of managing eWOM for policymakers and administrators in higher education.

Despite globally increasing numbers of university students participating in paid employment during their studies, there is limited evidence on whether working during the lecture period (i.e., term-time) is beneficial for graduate outcomes, especially from an intersectional perspective. Using Austrian national administrative data on all university graduates between 2009 and 2018 (N = 90,026), we examine how student employment is associated with graduate outcomes for university graduates taking intersectional effects of ‘first-generation status’ and ‘gender’ into account. Our results extend existing research by showing that First-Generation graduate men and women tend to benefit differently from engaging in term-time employment. This accentuates the need for further research in higher education studies investigating graduate outcomes by taking intersectionality into account. Based on the results of this study, we discuss implications for policy and practice of employability-related activities at higher education institutions.

Public higher education institutions in developing countries have faced a steady increase in student enrolment, driven by historical factors such as the expansion of access to education following the end of apartheid in South Africa and other policies aimed at addressing socio-economic inequalities. This increase, however, has led to challenges in adequately meeting the growing demand for resources and services, often resulting in institutions operating at or beyond their ideal capacity. Coupled with a reduction in state funding, these conditions have uncertained the future of higher education financing. This study examines how university students in South Africa use the book allowance provided by the National Student Financial Aid Scheme (NSFAS). The study employed a survey strategy to collect data from 358 randomly selected university students using a structured questionnaire. The findings revealed that only 19.3% of students used their book allowance to purchase academic textbooks. The study highlighted that external financial pressures, such as family obligations and living expenses, led to the diversion of funds away from textbooks. Additionally, many students opted to purchase information and communication technology (ICT) devices, reflecting a shift from traditional print media to digital learning materials. All demographic groups, including gender, age and academic faculty, observed this trend. However, the study found that students from lower socio-economic backgrounds were more likely to reallocate their allowances due to greater financial pressures. On the basis of these findings, the study recommends implementing more differentiated funding mechanisms that account for varying poverty levels among students, increasing support for affordable online academic resources, providing targeted financial literacy programmes and improving accountability in using financial aid.

This research focuses on developing a comprehensive accreditation model for online, electronic, and distance education in higher education institutions (OEDE-HEIs). The surge in OEDE's global prevalence necessitates an evolved accreditation framework that addresses unique institutional needs. This study employs a mixed-methods approach, combining a deductive meta-synthesis of existing literature with an inductive, qualitative analysis of expert opinions. The objective was to integrate various accreditation criteria into a cohesive checklist tailored to OEDE-HEIs, ensuring robustness and relevance in the rapidly changing educational landscape. The research identified 5 principal themes and 45 subthemes, encompassing organisational structure, educational dimensions, research integration, support systems, and technological infrastructure. Key findings include the importance of organisational adaptability, emotional and administrative support, and the critical impact of technology on all facets of OEDE. This led to the creation of a novel, all-encompassing accreditation checklist, offering a holistic view of essential factors for high-quality, responsive online education. Additionally, the study highlights potential limitations, including regional biases from expert feedback and the dynamic nature of technological advancements. Recommendations for future research include broadening expert perspectives, regular updates to the accreditation criteria, and examining practical application challenges. This research contributes to the field by providing a detailed framework for accrediting OEDE-HEIs, fostering a more holistic, adaptable, and student-centric approach. Its implications extend to practitioners, policymakers, and educators, guiding operational strategies, policy formulation, and educational delivery enhancements in OEDE-HEIs.

This study provides empirical insights into the impact of research productivity on Africa's productive capacity, contingent upon government education expenditure. Using a panel of 52 African countries from 2010 to 2022, the dynamic system generalised method of moments (GMM) estimation technique was employed as a robust alternative to Pooled OLS. The analysis yielded several key findings. First, the system GMM results emphasise the importance of aligning research and development efforts with educational investments, as the effect of research productivity on productive capacity is influenced by government education expenditure. Second, governance quality, per capita income and industrial value-added emerged as key drivers of productive capacity, while natural resource endowment was found to be a limiting factor. Based on these findings, the study highlights the need for increased government education funding, collaborative research initiatives, professional development for educators, infrastructure investment, public-private partnerships, open data initiatives and technology integration to boost research productivity and enhance Africa's productive capacity. The study discusses how the research can be improved with other non-linear techniques.

This study explores the challenges faced by parenting doctoral students, focusing on their research collaboration experiences, collaborative competency, and barriers to develop collaborative competency in comparison to their non-parenting counterparts. The research employs data collected through an online survey of doctoral students at a leading research university in South Korea in 2024. The results reveal that female parenting students report lower participation in international collaborations and face greater barriers in developing global competencies compared to male and non-parenting students. However, parenting students, particularly females, exhibit higher levels of self-perceived collaborative skills and attitudes. Notably, these differences are more pronounced in non-STEM fields, with no significant sex or parenting effects observed in STEM fields. The study highlights the need for higher education institutions to ensure that research collaboration opportunities are equally accessible to all students regardless of parenting status, sex, or discipline. The findings are timely given the global concern over declining fertility rates and their potential impact on the academia.

This study discusses the relationships between resource dependence, and reputation management (RM) through interviews with university managers regarding the use of social media by Chinese and UK Higher Education Institutions (HEIs). This research enriches existing literature by providing a new and comprehensive understanding of the factors influencing university communication and reputational behaviour through the lens of Resource Dependence Theory (RDT) post COVID-19. The recruitment of international students in the chosen UK and Chinese HEIs is intricately tied to securing resources—but that these resources were valued differently at the case study HEIs. Nineteen interviews were conducted across the case universities and content analysis was employed to explore the perspectives of university managers. Our findings show that the admission of international students responded to the need to acquire legitimatory (in China) and financial resources (in the UK). These results signal an important difference in how international students, as resources, are perceived by these administrators. This insight explains why the UK and Chinese case universities' use of social media, especially after COVID-19, reflected their dependency on non-diversified (China case) and diversified resources (UK case). This insight is significant for policymakers and university staff who manage international student recruitment and also for the critical debate about students as ‘resources’.