The Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area is becoming a new world economic centre, but research on the law of academic talent mobility in the Greater Bay Area is still scarce at present. This study builds an overall analysis framework, introduces the curriculum vitae analysis method, and systematically collects resumes of academics from universities in Guangdong, Hong Kong, and Macao. Through this, we try to find the stock, distribution, study origin and inflow of academic talents in the Greater Bay Area, the internal mobility of academic talents in the Greater Bay Area, and the global mobility network of academic talents in the Greater Bay Area. Academic mobility is a significant topic in higher education research, closely related to higher education's competitiveness and attractiveness. This research is of positive significance for clarifying the basic situation of academic talents in the Greater Bay Area, scientifically carrying out talent planning during the new stage of China's national economic and social development, and scientifically attracting talents based on the law of talent mobility.
{"title":"The distribution and mobility of academic talents in the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area","authors":"Songyue Lin, Jin Liu, Ying Hu","doi":"10.1111/hequ.12503","DOIUrl":"10.1111/hequ.12503","url":null,"abstract":"<p>The Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area is becoming a new world economic centre, but research on the law of academic talent mobility in the Greater Bay Area is still scarce at present. This study builds an overall analysis framework, introduces the curriculum vitae analysis method, and systematically collects resumes of academics from universities in Guangdong, Hong Kong, and Macao. Through this, we try to find the stock, distribution, study origin and inflow of academic talents in the Greater Bay Area, the internal mobility of academic talents in the Greater Bay Area, and the global mobility network of academic talents in the Greater Bay Area. Academic mobility is a significant topic in higher education research, closely related to higher education's competitiveness and attractiveness. This research is of positive significance for clarifying the basic situation of academic talents in the Greater Bay Area, scientifically carrying out talent planning during the new stage of China's national economic and social development, and scientifically attracting talents based on the law of talent mobility.</p>","PeriodicalId":51607,"journal":{"name":"HIGHER EDUCATION QUARTERLY","volume":"78 4","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":2.8,"publicationDate":"2024-02-23","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"139948519","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}
Reina Takamatsu, May Cho Min, Rumana Aktar, Lina Wang, Xingjian Gao, Daisuke Akamatsu
Psychological studies of the denial of prejudice and discrimination have suggested that although members of target groups are sensitive to episodes of discrimination, they may deny episodes of discrimination to maintain a positive self-image. Here, through two studies, we investigated the role of the perceiver and target gender in shaping perceived barriers to education from a transnational feminist perspective. The participants were 132 Japanese university students (Study 1) and 1143 students from four Asian countries (Bangladesh, China, Myanmar, and Japan) (Study 2). They read three vignettes depicting different types of obstacles to higher education and rated the extent to which each example constituted a barrier to education. Our results support the sensitivity hypothesis. Regardless of their cultural background, the female participants tended to perceive more barriers to education than their male counterparts. However, the denial hypothesis was not consistently supported. The authors discuss the meaning of denial of educational barriers among female students and future directions.
{"title":"Gender and conceptual breadth of barriers to higher education in Asian countries","authors":"Reina Takamatsu, May Cho Min, Rumana Aktar, Lina Wang, Xingjian Gao, Daisuke Akamatsu","doi":"10.1111/hequ.12505","DOIUrl":"10.1111/hequ.12505","url":null,"abstract":"<p>Psychological studies of the denial of prejudice and discrimination have suggested that although members of target groups are sensitive to episodes of discrimination, they may deny episodes of discrimination to maintain a positive self-image. Here, through two studies, we investigated the role of the perceiver and target gender in shaping perceived barriers to education from a transnational feminist perspective. The participants were 132 Japanese university students (Study 1) and 1143 students from four Asian countries (Bangladesh, China, Myanmar, and Japan) (Study 2). They read three vignettes depicting different types of obstacles to higher education and rated the extent to which each example constituted a barrier to education. Our results support the sensitivity hypothesis. Regardless of their cultural background, the female participants tended to perceive more barriers to education than their male counterparts. However, the denial hypothesis was not consistently supported. The authors discuss the meaning of denial of educational barriers among female students and future directions.</p>","PeriodicalId":51607,"journal":{"name":"HIGHER EDUCATION QUARTERLY","volume":"78 3","pages":"1016-1030"},"PeriodicalIF":2.8,"publicationDate":"2024-02-23","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"140437747","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}
This study comprehensively identifies the determinants in students' campus selection decisions, emphasizing the crucial role of brand pride in the process. With the participation of 704 students in an online survey through the Google Forms platform and analysis using SEM-SmartPLS 4.0 Structural Equation Modelling, this study presents a solid empirical foundation. The results confirm that social media and content marketing strategies are not just supporting tools, but play a significant role in building brand equity. In addition to being relevant for understanding the dynamics of student decisions, this research provides in-depth insights into the optimization of university brand image through social media and content marketing. Its contribution is not only limited to the academic realm, but also has practical implications that can help universities increase institutional appeal through improving their marketing strategies.
{"title":"Finding reasons to choose a campus: The impact of social media and brand strategy","authors":"Nofrizal, Undang Juju, Aznuriyandi","doi":"10.1111/hequ.12495","DOIUrl":"10.1111/hequ.12495","url":null,"abstract":"<p>This study comprehensively identifies the determinants in students' campus selection decisions, emphasizing the crucial role of brand pride in the process. With the participation of 704 students in an online survey through the Google Forms platform and analysis using SEM-SmartPLS 4.0 Structural Equation Modelling, this study presents a solid empirical foundation. The results confirm that social media and content marketing strategies are not just supporting tools, but play a significant role in building brand equity. In addition to being relevant for understanding the dynamics of student decisions, this research provides in-depth insights into the optimization of university brand image through social media and content marketing. Its contribution is not only limited to the academic realm, but also has practical implications that can help universities increase institutional appeal through improving their marketing strategies.</p>","PeriodicalId":51607,"journal":{"name":"HIGHER EDUCATION QUARTERLY","volume":"78 3","pages":"988-1015"},"PeriodicalIF":2.8,"publicationDate":"2024-02-23","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"139948633","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}
E. Marano, P. M. Newton, Z. Birch, M. Croombs, C. Gilbert, M. J. Draper
Remote or online proctoring (invigilating) is a technology primarily used to improve the integrity of online examinations. The use of remote proctoring increased significantly as the world switched to online assessment during the COVID-19 pandemic. Remote proctoring received negative media attention, including concerns about user privacy, discrimination and the accuracy of automated systems for detecting and reporting cheating. However, it is unclear whether these media concerns fully reflect the experiences of students. Online assessment offers a number of potential advantages to learners and education providers, and it seems likely that it is here to stay. It is essential to fully understand the learner experience of remote proctoring, with a view to ensuring it is as effective as possible while meeting the needs of all stakeholders, especially those being proctored. We undertook a scoping review of research into the student experience of online proctoring, with a pragmatic focus, aimed at developing guidance for higher education providers, based on the student experience. We reviewed primary research studies which evaluated the student experience of the use of remote proctoring for summative assessment in Higher Education. We used the Education Research Information Center database (ERIC) and Google Scholar. 21 papers were identified, from which the positives and negatives of the student experience were extracted, along with the main recommendations from the research. These were then synthesised into a series of summary recommendations by thematic analysis, by a team of researchers that included students and academic staff. We found that student experience was largely negative, influenced by concerns over privacy, technological challenges, fairness and stress. Recommendations were to include the student voice in decisions about how and why to use remote proctoring and limiting the use of remote proctoring. Working with students as partners and limiting the use of remote proctoring where possible, are key to ensuring a positive student experience.
{"title":"What is the student experience of remote proctoring? A pragmatic scoping review","authors":"E. Marano, P. M. Newton, Z. Birch, M. Croombs, C. Gilbert, M. J. Draper","doi":"10.1111/hequ.12506","DOIUrl":"10.1111/hequ.12506","url":null,"abstract":"<p>Remote or online proctoring (invigilating) is a technology primarily used to improve the integrity of online examinations. The use of remote proctoring increased significantly as the world switched to online assessment during the COVID-19 pandemic. Remote proctoring received negative media attention, including concerns about user privacy, discrimination and the accuracy of automated systems for detecting and reporting cheating. However, it is unclear whether these media concerns fully reflect the experiences of students. Online assessment offers a number of potential advantages to learners and education providers, and it seems likely that it is here to stay. It is essential to fully understand the learner experience of remote proctoring, with a view to ensuring it is as effective as possible while meeting the needs of all stakeholders, especially those being proctored. We undertook a scoping review of research into the student experience of online proctoring, with a pragmatic focus, aimed at developing guidance for higher education providers, based on the student experience. We reviewed primary research studies which evaluated the student experience of the use of remote proctoring for summative assessment in Higher Education. We used the Education Research Information Center database (ERIC) and Google Scholar. 21 papers were identified, from which the positives and negatives of the student experience were extracted, along with the main recommendations from the research. These were then synthesised into a series of summary recommendations by thematic analysis, by a team of researchers that included students and academic staff. We found that student experience was largely negative, influenced by concerns over privacy, technological challenges, fairness and stress. Recommendations were to include the student voice in decisions about how and why to use remote proctoring and limiting the use of remote proctoring. Working with students as partners and limiting the use of remote proctoring where possible, are key to ensuring a positive student experience.</p>","PeriodicalId":51607,"journal":{"name":"HIGHER EDUCATION QUARTERLY","volume":"78 3","pages":"1031-1047"},"PeriodicalIF":2.8,"publicationDate":"2024-02-23","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/epdf/10.1111/hequ.12506","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"139948488","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
The literature on higher education includes a substantial genre devoted to the theme of crisis. While higher education is not alone in this, higher education researchers and writers all too often reach for the language of crisis to describe what they are experiencing or finding. Crises are identified at institutional, disciplinary, national and international levels, with radical and far-reaching solutions to them sometimes set out. This article will explore and synthesize the crisis literature in higher education, attempt to explain its prevalence and speculate on how it might be resolved or taken forward.
{"title":"The crisis literature in higher education","authors":"Malcolm Tight","doi":"10.1111/hequ.12504","DOIUrl":"10.1111/hequ.12504","url":null,"abstract":"<p>The literature on higher education includes a substantial genre devoted to the theme of crisis. While higher education is not alone in this, higher education researchers and writers all too often reach for the language of crisis to describe what they are experiencing or finding. Crises are identified at institutional, disciplinary, national and international levels, with radical and far-reaching solutions to them sometimes set out. This article will explore and synthesize the crisis literature in higher education, attempt to explain its prevalence and speculate on how it might be resolved or taken forward.</p>","PeriodicalId":51607,"journal":{"name":"HIGHER EDUCATION QUARTERLY","volume":"78 4","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":2.8,"publicationDate":"2024-02-20","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/epdf/10.1111/hequ.12504","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"139948487","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
This article broadens the knowledge about the experience of academics in relation to how the internationalization of research has changed in a southern country and tensions that have risen depending on the different disciplines. This work resulted from interviews and documentary data collected mainly through semi-structured interviews with 57 administrators (including University rectors, provosts, vice-rectors and deans from multiple disciplines) who had been involved in developing the research strategies. Findings suggest that trends between disciplines differ notoriously. Publishing in foreign countries is more likely to happen to academics from hard sciences. Social sciences and humanities' research activities are often performed in books and book chapters. This translates into an initial disadvantage for social sciences in terms of internationalization since the result of their work is often less visible abroad than scientific indexed papers. This difference might be problematic if used as an indicator of academic productivity and recognition without considering disciplinary differences, especially in countries where research capacities and internationalization are still under development.
{"title":"Internationalization and disciplinary differences: Tensions in the academic career in Chilean universities","authors":"Daniela Véliz, Pìo Marshall","doi":"10.1111/hequ.12501","DOIUrl":"10.1111/hequ.12501","url":null,"abstract":"<p>This article broadens the knowledge about the experience of academics in relation to how the internationalization of research has changed in a southern country and tensions that have risen depending on the different disciplines. This work resulted from interviews and documentary data collected mainly through semi-structured interviews with 57 administrators (including University rectors, provosts, vice-rectors and deans from multiple disciplines) who had been involved in developing the research strategies. Findings suggest that trends between disciplines differ notoriously. Publishing in foreign countries is more likely to happen to academics from hard sciences. Social sciences and humanities' research activities are often performed in books and book chapters. This translates into an initial disadvantage for social sciences in terms of internationalization since the result of their work is often less visible abroad than scientific indexed papers. This difference might be problematic if used as an indicator of academic productivity and recognition without considering disciplinary differences, especially in countries where research capacities and internationalization are still under development.</p>","PeriodicalId":51607,"journal":{"name":"HIGHER EDUCATION QUARTERLY","volume":"78 3","pages":"957-970"},"PeriodicalIF":2.8,"publicationDate":"2024-02-20","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"139956596","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}
Are public policies effective in enhancing gender balance in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) graduate education? Although the literature is rich in studies that prescribe micro-level interventions to promote gender balance in specific STEM areas or institutions, there are surprisingly few studies that quantitatively evaluate existing macro-level policies. Using Germany's Excellence Initiative as an event study, I analyse changes in cohorts of doctorate recipients in STEM fields and investigate whether the Excellence Initiative's graduate school line of funding, which is a large-scale public policy that aimed to create and sustain STEM graduate programs, also succeeded to increase women's share among STEM doctorate recipients. Assessing difference-in-differences in natural sciences and mathematics doctorate recipients between 2000 and 2014, I find no statistically significant evidence that the Excellence Initiative led to any significant increase in women's participation in STEM studies beyond already existing trends in these fields. I find, however, significant differences between funded and non-funded STEM graduate programs in their rate of internationalization, which was another major policy target of the Excellence Initiative.
{"title":"Women in STEM graduate education: Case of the German excellence initiative","authors":"Ali Sina Önder","doi":"10.1111/hequ.12507","DOIUrl":"10.1111/hequ.12507","url":null,"abstract":"<p>Are public policies effective in enhancing gender balance in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) graduate education? Although the literature is rich in studies that prescribe micro-level interventions to promote gender balance in specific STEM areas or institutions, there are surprisingly few studies that quantitatively evaluate existing macro-level policies. Using Germany's Excellence Initiative as an event study, I analyse changes in cohorts of doctorate recipients in STEM fields and investigate whether the Excellence Initiative's graduate school line of funding, which is a large-scale public policy that aimed to create and sustain STEM graduate programs, also succeeded to increase women's share among STEM doctorate recipients. Assessing difference-in-differences in natural sciences and mathematics doctorate recipients between 2000 and 2014, I find no statistically significant evidence that the Excellence Initiative led to any significant increase in women's participation in STEM studies beyond already existing trends in these fields. I find, however, significant differences between funded and non-funded STEM graduate programs in their rate of internationalization, which was another major policy target of the Excellence Initiative.</p>","PeriodicalId":51607,"journal":{"name":"HIGHER EDUCATION QUARTERLY","volume":"78 3","pages":"971-987"},"PeriodicalIF":2.8,"publicationDate":"2024-02-20","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/epdf/10.1111/hequ.12507","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"139948486","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Higher education seems to be in a perpetual state of ‘crisis’. The many hundreds of books and papers containing this specific, or other relevantly similar expressions, convey a sense of fear and angst. Yet, what are these various crises about, and which values and beliefs are seen as threatened or ‘under attack’? This paper will provide an analysis of the ‘crisis’ literature and identify four major crisis themes – massification, marketisation, restitution and geopolitics, linked to their ideological basis and influences—including meritocracy, liberalism, restorative justice, and justice globalism. The second part of the paper analyses the massification crisis in Britain between the 1940s and the 1970s as a case example identifying how the principles of a meritocratic society played an influential role in the debate. It will be argued that the notion of ‘universities in crisis’ needs to be understood critically in terms of ideology and historically via the shifting and reshaping of such beliefs over time.
{"title":"The ideology of crisis in higher education","authors":"Bruce Macfarlane","doi":"10.1111/hequ.12500","DOIUrl":"10.1111/hequ.12500","url":null,"abstract":"<p>Higher education seems to be in a perpetual state of ‘crisis’. The many hundreds of books and papers containing this specific, or other relevantly similar expressions, convey a sense of fear and angst. Yet, what are these various crises about, and which values and beliefs are seen as threatened or ‘under attack’? This paper will provide an analysis of the ‘crisis’ literature and identify four major crisis themes – <i>massification</i>, <i>marketisation, restitution</i> and <i>geopolitics</i>, linked to their ideological basis and influences—including <i>meritocracy</i>, <i>liberalism</i>, <i>restorative justice</i>, and <i>justice globalism</i>. The second part of the paper analyses the massification crisis in Britain between the 1940s and the 1970s as a case example identifying how the principles of a meritocratic society played an influential role in the debate. It will be argued that the notion of ‘universities in crisis’ needs to be understood critically in terms of ideology and historically via the shifting and reshaping of such beliefs over time.</p>","PeriodicalId":51607,"journal":{"name":"HIGHER EDUCATION QUARTERLY","volume":"78 4","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":2.8,"publicationDate":"2024-02-19","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/epdf/10.1111/hequ.12500","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"139926779","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
C. Lane, N. Saronga, R. Fowell, R. Berretta, K. Blackmore, L. Momenzadeh, A. Giacomini, S. Ware, J. Milam
This qualitative study explored a targeted recruitment initiative that was designed to attract and recruit female academic staff in STEM disciplines at an Australian University. Semi-structured, one-on-one interviews were conducted with female and male key informants: 16 Panel Members and six Applicants. Codebook Thematic Analysis was applied using a feminist methodological lens. Results showed several themes (categorised as barriers and facilitators) impacting the implementation and success of targeted recruitment. The majority of themes were associated with Panel Members, underpinning the importance of panels' support for targeted recruitment. Nearly all barriers were gender-related, disadvantaging female applicants and emphasising a need to address gender inequity broadly. Key recommendations for future improvement were strategies to improve the support of panels (e.g., gender bias training, improved communication of responsibilities in targeted recruitment and ensuring an equity and diversity ‘champion’) and efforts to strengthen the positive diversity reputation of the University.
{"title":"Does targeted recruitment turn the dial for gender equity? A qualitative study at an Australian University","authors":"C. Lane, N. Saronga, R. Fowell, R. Berretta, K. Blackmore, L. Momenzadeh, A. Giacomini, S. Ware, J. Milam","doi":"10.1111/hequ.12499","DOIUrl":"10.1111/hequ.12499","url":null,"abstract":"<p>This qualitative study explored a targeted recruitment initiative that was designed to attract and recruit female academic staff in STEM disciplines at an Australian University. Semi-structured, one-on-one interviews were conducted with female and male key informants: 16 Panel Members and six Applicants. Codebook Thematic Analysis was applied using a feminist methodological lens. Results showed several themes (categorised as barriers and facilitators) impacting the implementation and success of targeted recruitment. The majority of themes were associated with Panel Members, underpinning the importance of panels' support for targeted recruitment. Nearly all barriers were gender-related, disadvantaging female applicants and emphasising a need to address gender inequity broadly. Key recommendations for future improvement were strategies to improve the support of panels (e.g., gender bias training, improved communication of responsibilities in targeted recruitment and ensuring an equity and diversity ‘champion’) and efforts to strengthen the positive diversity reputation of the University.</p>","PeriodicalId":51607,"journal":{"name":"HIGHER EDUCATION QUARTERLY","volume":"78 3","pages":"934-956"},"PeriodicalIF":2.8,"publicationDate":"2024-02-09","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/epdf/10.1111/hequ.12499","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"139849987","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Are the many crises of higher education real, or are they in the eye of the beholder? They are evidently something of both: The crises to which we are characteristically alerted are manifestations in the real of the world and indicate much about our scholars' perceptions and even their values. To say this, however, invites the question: can we sort the wheat from the chaff? Might there be a way of validating any effort to identify a crisis that lies in the world, independently of claims made about it? There is straightaway a fundamental difficulty after all; namely, that the very concept of crisis is fact and value, both pointing to a phenomenon in the world and making a judgement about it. It seems then that, in the language of crisis, we may be conflating ontology with epistemology and ethics. When we hear talk of crisis, we may be being told more about the claim-maker than the feature of the world that is in question. However, I suggest that, if we deploy the artifice of ecosystem, and so adopt an ecological approach to the matter, we can move on two planes at once: We can point to phenomena of crises in higher education that are in the world and that also warrant our evaluative judgements of them.
{"title":"Crisis, what crisis? Real impairments and absences in the ecosystems of higher education","authors":"Ronald Barnett","doi":"10.1111/hequ.12498","DOIUrl":"10.1111/hequ.12498","url":null,"abstract":"<p>Are the many crises of higher education real, or are they in the eye of the beholder? They are evidently something of both: The crises to which we are characteristically alerted are manifestations in the real of the world and indicate much about our scholars' perceptions and even their values. To say this, however, invites the question: can we sort the wheat from the chaff? Might there be a way of validating any effort to identify a crisis that lies in the world, independently of claims made about it? There is straightaway a fundamental difficulty after all; namely, that the very concept of crisis is fact and value, both pointing to a phenomenon in the world and making a judgement about it. It seems then that, in the language of crisis, we may be conflating ontology with epistemology and ethics. When we hear talk of crisis, we may be being told more about the claim-maker than the feature of the world that is in question. However, I suggest that, if we deploy the artifice of ecosystem, and so adopt an ecological approach to the matter, we can move on two planes at once: We can point to phenomena of crises in higher education that are in the world and that also warrant our evaluative judgements of them.</p>","PeriodicalId":51607,"journal":{"name":"HIGHER EDUCATION QUARTERLY","volume":"78 4","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":2.8,"publicationDate":"2024-02-08","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/epdf/10.1111/hequ.12498","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"139793673","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}