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Byline: Peter Karmel (1) Abstract: The Commonwealth Governmentshould move to the funding of undergraduate coursesfor Australian students through the studentsrather than by way of direct grants toinstitutions. An independent coordinating bodyshould be re-established to report on thehigher education sector, advise theCommonwealth and administer Commonwealth highereducation programs. Public funding ofundergraduate education and research trainingshould be decentralised through a system ofscholarships. Undergraduate scholarship holdersshould pay charges determined by universitiesunder HECS (Higher Education ContributionScheme) arrangements. HECS arrangements alsoshould apply to full fee paying undergraduatesand PELS (Postgraduate Education Loan Scheme)arrangements to full fee paying researchstudents. Institutional research fundingshould be on a disciplinary basis, takingaccount of the volume and quality ofoutputs. Author Affiliation: (1) Australian National University, Canberra, ACT, 2600, Australia Article History: Registration Date: 11/10/2004

Jonathan Shay argued that social, relational, and institutional contexts were central to understanding moral injury and conceptualised moral injury as a normative response to the betrayal of an individual's understanding of what is right by a more senior/authoritative 'other'. Using the conceptual lens of moral injury, this paper investigates academic staff experiences of HE during the COVID-19 pandemic and explores the rapid transition back to face-to-face teaching that took place in autumn 2020. To collect data, we used an online survey that opened in January 2021 and ran until the end of March 2021. A total of 663 complete questionnaires were received across the survey period. The questionnaire was comprised of ten topic-related questions, each of which included follow-up sub-questions and also invited participants to write in additional information. The majority of participants felt that during the course of the COVID-19 pandemic, they had acted in ways that put their own health and wellbeing at risk. Of those who had acted in ways that put their health and wellbeing at risk, they believed that their senior management were the most responsible for them acting in such ways, followed by the UK government. Qualitative data showed a systemic absence of leadership in the sector during the time, a sense of betrayal of staff and students by senior management and the government, and feelings of compulsion to act in ways which put lives at risk. On the basis of these results, we argue that there could be synergies between the situation facing healthcare staff and academics during the pandemic. Many of the experiences of HE academic staff during the pandemic reported to us in this research are resonant with the concepts of betrayal and moral injury and resulted in affective responses which we understand here in relation to feelings of guilt, shame, and anger, leading ultimately to poor mental health and wellbeing. This paper discusses implications for the HE sector going forward., Author(s): Paul Hanna [sup.1] , Mark Erickson [sup.2] , Carl Walker [sup.2] Author Affiliations: (1) https://ror.org/00ks66431, grid.5475.3, 0000 0004 0407 4824, University of Surrey, , Guildford, UK (2) https://ror.org/04kp2b655, grid.12477.37, [...]

Experience of higher education (HE) has come to characterise many contemporary political divisions, including those related to Brexit, Trump and coronavirus policy. However, the academic literature is unclear whether HE plays a causal role in changing peoples' political attitudes or is simply a proxy. Furthermore, in many contexts, there is limited descriptive evidence on whether students' political attitudes change during HE. This paper focuses on the UK, using data from the British Election Study, to make a twofold contribution. Firstly, the paper introduces recent political science theorising on the nature of contemporary political divisions, which has remained largely outside the HE literature to date. This theorising is illustrated through a cross-sectional analysis, comparing the political attitudes of those with and without experience of HE, showing that the former tend to be more left-leaning and less ethnocentric. Secondly, a longitudinal analysis is performed to assess how students' political attitudes change during their time in HE. While in HE, students tend to make small movements to the left and become less ethnocentric, representing approximately 20-33% of the overall division between those with and without experience of HE. These findings are interpreted through a critical realist lens-they evidence that HE could have a causal role to play in creating contemporary political divisions. However, to establish whether HE does play a causal role, further intensive research is needed to explore how particular aspects of HE might bring about these changes and how this varies for different students in different contexts., Author(s): Tom Fryer [sup.1] Author Affiliations: (1) grid.5379.8, 0000000121662407, Manchester Institute of Education, University of Manchester, , Manchester, UK Introduction Experience of higher education (HE) has come to characterise many [...]

During COVID-19, universities across the globe experienced a rapid requirement to move to online learning and teaching provision. This rapid move has been explored as emergency remote education (ERE). This paper reviews and presents some emerging literature regarding ERE, demonstrating how this created an environment where technology-mediated abuse could arise within the university context. Intentional and unintentional forms of technology-mediated abuse, within a global context, are considered with account of how intersectional characteristics can impact. The paper concludes with a set of provocations explored within an example framework. The provocations are given to situate ways of thinking which are facilitative of safer and more respectful use of technological spaces. Both the provocations and example framework aim to be useful critical tools for program and module teams to adapt in higher education institutions within the online sphere. The phenomenon of ERE is an opportunity to consider what can be learned with regard to management of technology-mediated abuse. However, a focus on ERE presents limitations in the paper because of the smaller number of academic sources at this time, due to recency of the COVID-19 pandemic., Author(s): Helen Bovill [sup.1] Author Affiliations: (1) grid.6518.a, 0000 0001 2034 5266, School of Education and Childhood, University of the West of England, Frenchay Campus, , Coldharbour Lane, BS16 1QY, [...]

Crisis makes bold policy actions possible. In responding to socioeconomic and technological ruptures, policymakers create new imaginaries or revitalise existing ones. With the Australian Government's Job-Ready Graduates (JRG) reform during the COVID-19 pandemic as an empirical case, this paper shows how crisis instrumentalism and policy imaginaries intersect to effect swift policy changes. Drawing on a thematic analysis of key documents that constitute the JRG reform, we highlight three findings. First, the reformers used a new crisis context to repackage pre-existing policy agendas. Second, in justifying the timeliness of the reform, rather than constructing new imaginaries, the Government reactivated old neoliberal visions of society and the economy. Finally, the reform agendas are characterised by reductionist accounts of the value of university education, a nativist view of the future workforce, and the omissions of key issues: research training, social justice, and the urgency of decarbonising the economy. We close the paper by arguing that crisis makes swift reform possible to the extent that key actors can mobilise new or pre-existing policy imaginaries., Author(s): Tebeje Molla [sup.1] , Denise Cuthbert [sup.2] Author Affiliations: (1) grid.1021.2, 0000 0001 0526 7079, School of Education, Deakin University, , Melbourne, Australia (2) grid.1017.7, 0000 0001 2163 3550, [...]

Drawingupon French philosophy, this study offers a novel empirical and conceptual understanding of the newly launched European Universities Initiative. In 2019, higher education institutions across the European Union created 17 new alliances as part of the first pilot phase of the initiative. This is an experiment in European and global higher education. This paper offers a conceptual contribution to the field of higher education studies, making use of a rhizomatic analysis to explore how university alliances build what the European Commission refers to as the 'European universities of the future.' Based on the conceptual reflection and findings from a small-scale empirical study, this paper concludes that the alliances within the European Universities Initiative rely on pre-existing higher education and research partnerships while at the same time experimenting to foster a diversity of institutional forms to achieve the ambitious goal of creating 'European Universities.', Author(s): Antonin Charret [sup.1] , Maia Chankseliani [sup.1] Author Affiliations: (1) grid.4991.5, 0000 0004 1936 8948, Department of Education, University of Oxford, , 15 Norham Gardens, OX26PY, Oxford, UK Introduction [...]

In educational research, there has been much stricture of neoliberalism as a scourge. In the higher education sector, the neoliberal turn has been observed as eroding academic freedom and deprofessionalising academics. Early career academics are often described as victims of neoliberalism. In this paper, we take a positive perspective through a deep dive into resilience that enables self-transformation and, potentially, system change. Our paper is situated in the Chinese higher education context where the 'up-or-out' system has been put in place, mirroring the neoliberal university at a global range. We - a mid-career researcher and an early career academic - analyse our collective narratives generated through WeChat text and voice message. Drawing insight from Bourdieu's reflexive sociology, our narratives lead to four themes: capital accumulation and self-transformation, shaping the publication habitus, emancipation from symbolic violence, and resilience to symbolic domination. We conclude the paper with a call for sociology of resilience and recommendations for deneoliberalising higher education., Author(s): Yue Melody Yin [sup.1] , Guanglun Michael Mu [sup.2] Author Affiliations: (1) grid.258151.a, 0000 0001 0708 1323, Jiangnan University, , No.1800, Lihu Avenue, Binhu District, Wuxi City, Jiangsu Province, [...]

Representations of higher education in fiction-based sources contribute to forming public perceptions of academia, and so are a form of public pedagogy. Within popular culture representations, understandings of academics are constructed using particular tropes which build shared meanings of the profession. Conferences are one of these tropes and can thus be used as a focus to explore the construction of the academic profession in popular culture representations of higher education. This paper draws on a research project which explored representations of conferences in narrative fiction texts (novels, graphic novels, short stories). In this paper, we analyse references to conferences for what they teach us about the academic profession. The paper is based on analysis of 98 symbolic references to conferences from a sample of 23 fictional texts. Symbolic references are short references which serve as a shorthand to signal aspects of the academic profession, and in this paper, they have been analysed in terms of what they portray and where they position the reader. The paper argues that popular culture representations of academia are pedagogical, in that they show the profession to be desirable to others but encourage a disidentification with academics, reinforcing the exclusionary nature of the profession., Author(s): Emily F. Henderson [sup.1] , Pauline J. Reynolds [sup.2] Author Affiliations: (1) grid.7372.1, 0000 0000 8809 1613, Department of Education Studies, University of Warwick, , Coventry, UK (2) grid.267057.1, [...]

In higher education institutions, critical race theory (CRT) is known to be associated with fields that study racial disparities or systemic oppression such as law, education, and ethnic studies. The impression that CRT is unrelated to fields like business or computer science may have led scholars and practitioners from these disciplines to put their focus on elsewhere than on racial inequality and its implication in their research and practice, despite apparent need. To counter such fallacy, this review article-focusing primarily on the US context-discusses CRT literature in fields where its presence is less known which are nevertheless among the major domains of higher education institutions: health sciences, computer science and information technology, sports, business, and religion. By discussing example research of how scholars have utilized CRT in different fields to challenge the race-neutral thinking that often obscures structural racism, this paper exposes racism's ability to alter manifestations and to appear through various shapes and forms within the higher education context. Initial recommendations on how educators may engage in further discussions or actions will also be considered. This paper concludes that racist ideologies are often hidden behind discipline-specific vocabulary or technical language, and it is by tackling the ideologies at work underneath the technicalities can we address the chameleon-like nature of racism more effectively., Author(s): Judith C. P. Lin [sup.1] Author Affiliations: (1) grid.253563.4, 0000 0001 0657 9381, California State University, , Northridge, CA, USA Introduction Critical race theory (CRT) is an intellectual movement [...]

Until recently, modern science had been dominated by a handful of Western countries. However, since the turn of the millennium, the global science landscape has undergone dramatic changes. The number of nations where a significant proportion of research done is of high international standard has now increased considerably. China particularly stands out and is today one of the leading science nations in the world. Overall, Chinese research collaborations with countries in the Western world exemplify the general trend towards increasing complexity in the global research landscape. It has gradually become obvious that differences between institutional settings need to be managed more systematically to promote cross-border research cooperation for shared benefits, from individual to institutional levels. An informed discussion of managing complex conditions necessitates an understanding of the relationship-level dynamics of research collaborations. In order to identify what aspects of international research collaborations are the most pertinent to systematically manage at individual and institutional levels, this paper investigates projects in a bilateral Swedish-Chinese funding program. The paper finds that the majority of collaborations funded had yielded positive impact in terms of publications, strengthened research capacity in research groups, and resource accumulation. The challenges found in the collaborations are related to needs such as improving transparency, ethical concerns, and imbalances in reciprocity., Author(s): Tommy Shih [sup.1] , Erik Forsberg [sup.2] [sup.3] Author Affiliations: (1) grid.4514.4, 0000 0001 0930 2361, Department of Business Administration, Lund University, , Box 7080, 222 07, Lund, Sweden [...]

This paper looks at youth mobility as an ongoing, dynamic, processual experience in the making of an educational trajectory. By exploring the experiences of students who have undertaken more than one mobility experience under the Erasmus + program, we reflect on how underlying motivations change over the course of subsequent mobility experiences. In contrast to existing research, where the focus has been on reported motivations for one-off mobility experience, we discuss the latent motivations driving super-mobile educational trajectories. In doing so, we observe the ongoing reconfiguration of these trajectories through the concept of spatial reflexivity, which results in articulated and augmentative dynamics over time. Methodologically, the paper is based on qualitative material collected in person and online with such mobile young people across Europe., Author(s): Valentina Cuzzocrea [sup.1] , Ewa Krzaklewska [sup.2] Author Affiliations: (1) grid.7763.5, 0000 0004 1755 3242, Department of Political and Social Sciences, Università Degli Studi Di Cagliari, , Cagliari, Italy [...]

This paper examines the recent growth of experiential learning (EL) and the university-community (or so-called town-gown, TG) connections created as a result of this expansion. The research is framed by critical scholarship on the nature and role of the university and the place of liberal education specifically, as well as policy drivers aimed at social and economic impacts from EL. Two subthemes are also examined: first, the role of the arts, humanities and social sciences disciplines in EL expansion and, second, the extent to which TG connections focus on the university's local host community as opposed to more distant and even international arrangements. Mixed research methods including public document analysis and key informant interviews are used to document and interpret EL developments across nine varied universities in Ontario, Canada. The results underline broad sector commitment to EL that in turn creates new and different TG connections for the university. Rapid expansion has brought a variety of challenges identified both by universities and community EL partners. The paper concludes with discussion of policy implications and consideration of the future of EL in light of the 'digital pivot' of the COVID-19 pandemic., Author(s): Michael Buzzelli [sup.1] , Emmanuel Asafo-Adjei [sup.1] Author Affiliations: (1) grid.39381.30, 0000 0004 1936 8884, Department of Geography and Environment, The University of Western Ontario, , London, ON, Canada [...]

Nursing is an old vocation but is relatively new to the academy, with schools of nursing being established in Western universities in the late twentieth and early twenty-first centuries. Their establishment was presaged by earlier moves of the preparation of pre-registration nurses from apprenticeships served in hospitals to tertiary education institutions (mainly community colleges and polytechnics) during the last quarter of the twentieth century. Preparation for a life in the professions has been a feature of universities since their inception. Nevertheless, changing a university's offerings is contested, and new disciplines and the new academics within them often struggle to establish their legitimacy within the academy. This paper challenges contemporary accounts of nursing as a discipline the weak disciplinary boundaries of which undermine its place in the academy and hamper nurse academics' development of an academic identity. Drawing on data from interviews with nursing academics, the paper discusses the ways in which the participants are, by their own actions, devising, amending and reinforcing the structures, code, rules and conceptual frameworks of the Nursing discipline. It also considers how, as they do so, these academics achieve a level of ontological congruence that is only possible as their internal biography, the nature of their day-to-day work and the expectations of their employer are able to 'rub along' together without creating the conditions for (self) destructive resistance or the exercise of coercive institutional power., Author(s): Mark Barrow [sup.1] Author Affiliations: (1) grid.9654.e, 0000 0004 0372 3343, Faculty of Education and Social Work, University of Auckland, , Auckland, New Zealand Introduction Throughout, history universities have [...]

This paper examines the volume and type of anonymous comments academics receive in student evaluations of courses and teaching (SETs) at the 16,000 higher education institutions that collect this data at the end of each teaching period. Existing research has increasingly pointed to the negative issues of student surveys, but very little research has focused on the volume, type, and impact of anonymous student comments on academics. This paper analyses the survey results of 674 academics to inform higher education leaders and the sector more widely of the amount and type of abusive comments academics are receiving. The work also demonstrates that the highest volume, most derogatory, and most threatening abuse is directed towards women academics and those academics from marginalised groups. The paper finds that previous estimates of the rate and severity of abusive comments that academics receive, and the impact to academics' wellbeing, mental health, and career progression, have underestimated what is taking place. The paper argues that many universities are failing to protect their staff from this abuse, and the prejudice nature of SET results, which will continue to have a negative impact on the career progression of marginalised academics - a major flaw in a sector that prides itself on diversity and inclusion., Author(s): Troy Heffernan [sup.1] Author Affiliations: (1) grid.1018.8, 0000 0001 2342 0938, La Trobe University, , Plenty Rd & Kingsbury Dr, 3086, Bundoora, VIC , Australia Introduction This paper evaluates [...]

This introduction to the 50th anniversary special issue of Higher Education recounts the history of the journal and reflects on the evolution and expansion of the journal and the field. Higher education studies is an object-oriented field that combines academic explanations with practical interventions. The journal takes an agnostic approach to disciplinary frameworks, theories, and methodologies and an eclectic and inclusive approach to topics. It began in 1972 with a preoccupation with the nature and implications of mass higher education systems, including internationally comparative analyses, and with a focus on policy and planning. Most of the earlier themes of research in the field have continued to the present, but as mass higher education systems have spread across the world, so has the journal's author list and editorial group. Higher education studies remain biased to the Anglophone and Euro-American worlds in their topics, theorizations, and author lists. Between 1996 and 2018, the USA and other English-speaking countries accounted for about 70% of authorship in the six journals with the highest impact factor. However, in Higher Education, that proportion was just over 45%, indicating some progress in the journal's efforts to pluralize, partly through the growth of papers from China. The introduction looks forward, anticipating growth in contributions from the global South, and further inquiry into the purposes of higher education and into its relations in social context. Finally, the introduction discusses the 50th anniversary papers that follow, contributed by twelve present and past editors of the journal., Author(s): Brendan Cantwell [sup.1] , Jenni Case [sup.2] , Simon Marginson [sup.3] [sup.4] Author Affiliations: (1) grid.17088.36, 0000 0001 2150 1785, Michigan State University, , East Lansing, MI, USA (2) [...]

The 2002 'glonacal' paper described higher education as a multi-scalar sector where individual and institutional agents have open possibilities and causation flows from any of the interacting local, national and global scales. None have permanent primacy: global activity is growing; the nation-state is crucial in policy, regulation and funding; and like the other scales, the local scale in higher education and knowledge is continually being remade and newly invented. The glonacal paper has been widely used in higher education studies, though single-scale nation-bound methods still have a strong hold. Drawing on insights from human geography and selected empirical studies, the present paper builds on the glonacal paper in a larger theorization of space and scale. It describes how material elements, imagination and social practices interact in making space, which is the sphere of social relations; it discusses multiplicity in higher education space and sameness/different tensions; and it takes further the investigation of one kind of constructed space in higher education, its heterogenous scales (national, local, regional, global etc.). The paper reviews the intersections between scales, especially between national and global, the ever-changing ordering of scales, and how agents in higher education mix and match scales. It also critiques ideas of fixed scalar primacy such as methodological nationalism and methodological globalism-influential in studies of higher education but radically limiting of what can be imagined and practised. Ideas matter. The single-scale visions and scale-driven universals must be cleared away to bring a fuller geography of higher education to life., Author(s): Simon Marginson [sup.1] [sup.2] Author Affiliations: (1) grid.4991.5, 0000 0004 1936 8948, Department of Education, University of Oxford, , 15 Norham Gardens, OX2 6PY, Oxford, Oxfordshire, UK (2) grid.1008.9, [...]

To understand how the digitalization of higher education influences the inter-relationship between students, teachers, and their broader contexts, research must account for the social, cultural, political, and embodied aspects of teaching and learning in digital environments. Digital ethnography is a research method that can generate rich contextual knowledge of online experiences. However, how this methodology translates to higher education is less clear. In order to explore the opportunities that digital ethnography can provide in higher education research, this paper presents a methodological review of previous research, and discusses the implications for future practice. Through a systematic search of five research databases, we found 20 papers that report using digital ethnographies to explore teaching and learning in higher education. The review synthesizes and discusses how data collection, rigour, and ethics are handled in this body of research, with a focus on the specific methodological challenges that emerge when doing digital ethnographic research in a higher education setting. The review also identifies opportunities for improvement-especially related to participant observation from the student perspective, researcher reflexivity in relation to the dual teacher-researcher role, and increased diversity of data types. This leads us to conclude that higher education research, tasked with understanding an explosion of new digital practices, could benefit from a more rigorous and expanded use of digital ethnography., Author(s): Lasse X Jensen [sup.1] [sup.2] , Margaret Bearman [sup.2] , David Boud [sup.2] [sup.3] [sup.4] , Flemming Konradsen [sup.1] Author Affiliations: (1) grid.5254.6, 0000 0001 0674 042X, Department of [...]

This paper, while conceptual in nature, is informed by both research and practice. Exploring the 'engagement interface' as the site for student engagement (SE), we offer a conceptual contribution in engaging with the Kahu and Nelson (2018 (See CR24)) model by bringing in a fuller understanding of SE grounded in the higher education context rather than being uncritically transplanted from a compulsory education context. This involves consideration of the multiple facets of SE as well as the dynamic, shifting and multilocal nature of the construct. The paper then proceeds to enhance the details of the model, grounding them in a finer-grained reading of the literature and relating educational constructs to the model's proposed 'mechanisms' in a conceptually substantiated way. This further extends Kahu and Nelson's aim of illuminating the 'black box' of SE. Our third contribution is to practice by proposing tactics: informed by the literature, we invite practitioners to consider ways in which they can increase the likelihood of facilitating engagement with, and by, students more constructively., Author(s): Vicki Trowler [sup.1] , Robert L. Allan [sup.1] , Jaroslaw Bryk [sup.2] , Rukhsana R. Din [sup.1] Author Affiliations: (1) grid.15751.37, 0000 0001 0719 6059, School of Applied Sciences, [...]

Humanitarian events are increasing globally, both in number and intensity. In response, the international community spends approximately US$30 billion annually to alleviate both the immediate consequences of these climatic, geographic, and human-induced events but also to support mitigation and recovery. Over the past two decades, the humanitarian sector has increasingly professionalised. One under-studied aspect of this professionalisation is an increase in postgraduate studies in humanitarian action over the last 20 years. Despite this increase, there is no agreement on core curriculum or pedagogy across humanitarian studies courses. How do current Masters of Humanitarian Assistance (MHA) offerings converge and differ, and how can such courses further their contribution to the humanitarian endeavour? This paper surveys 26 anglophone courses offered in the United States, Europe, the United Kingdom, Australia, India, and Nigeria, exploring key characteristics of course entry requirements, flexibility, research, practical components, and academic foci. It does not recommend what a core curriculum for humanitarian courses should be, but does argue that core curriculum for humanitarian courses should be identified by relevant and diverse stakeholders such as affected communities, humanitarian agencies, disaster management bodies, and governments, to ensure that courses in this field provide appropriate learning outcomes. The paper suggests how such a 'charter' may be developed., Author(s): Adriana A. Stibral [sup.1] , Nazanin Zadeh-Cummings [sup.1] , Matthew Clarke [sup.1] Author Affiliations: (1) grid.1021.2, 0000 0001 0526 7079, Deakin University, , Melbourne Burwood Campus, Burwood, Australia Introduction [...]

This paper contends that the inclusion of meso- and micro-level perspectives has been under exploration in the study of the internationalization of humanities and social sciences, in particular, in a state-mandated system where policy interventions in higher education and knowledge production have typically been aligned with state construction and national development. It argues that institutional and individual responses to state policies on the internationalization of humanities and social sciences should be investigated due to their respective roles in policymaking and implementation. It has, therefore, retrieved recent and historical policy documents during the post-WTO period and collected empirical data from two Chinese universities. A constructivist-interpretivist qualitative approach and a qualitative case study strategy were adopted for this investigation. Based on an in-depth analysis of the empirical data, this paper reveals the gap between the macro-level ambition of achieving outward-oriented diffusion of innovations and the local-level realities, as well as institutional dilemmas and conflicts in facilitating the internationalization., Author(s): Jie Zheng [sup.1] , Hantian Wu [sup.2] Author Affiliations: (1) grid.22069.3f, 0000 0004 0369 6365, Faculty of Education, East China Normal University, , Shanghai, China (2) grid.13402.34, 0000 0004 [...]

Although scholars have noted the detrimental nature of the various changes in higher education prompted by neoliberalism, its impact on the experiences of international Higher Degree by Research (HDR) students has yet to be adequately studied. Informed by Bourdieu's concepts of doxa, field, habitus, and capital, this paper examines the ways in which neoliberalism as doxa in the Australian higher education field has colonised the perception and practice of Chinese international HDR students whilst some students were able to demonstrate resilience to the pervasive neoliberal practices. The paper draws on a larger qualitative research project including interviews with 18 Chinese HDR students from four Australian universities. Data suggest that Chinese HDR research students gradually developed intensified dispositions of self-reliance and self-exploitation in response to neoliberal academic practices whilst others were enculturated into a floating habitus (or vulnerable position) in relation to academic publishing as they attempted to negotiate the tensions across fields and over time. Data further reveal that some participants demonstrated resilience to neoliberalism when empowered by their supervisors with less utilitarian and more critically reflexive supervisory practices. The paper argues that the embrace of neoliberalism in the Australian higher education field has become widespread yet controversial, and that thinking and enacting resilience sociologically may de-neoliberalise the higher education field in Australia and beyond., Author(s): Congcong Xing [sup.1] , Guanglun Michael Mu [sup.1] , Deborah Henderson [sup.1] Author Affiliations: (1) grid.1024.7, 0000000089150953, School of Teacher Education & Leadership, Queensland University of Technology, , Victoria [...]

Literature offers a theoretical framework exemplifying the inherent tensions between 'becoming Chinese' and 'remaining global' in the evolution of the international status of Hong Kong. Adopting this framework, this paper examines the global position of Hong Kong's higher education through an investigation of universities' participation in China's Belt and Road Initiative and Greater Bay Area development plan. Specifically, drawing on data from interviews about universities' engagement with the two Chinese grand strategies, the paper discusses university leaders and academics' experience and perception of Hong Kong's global status against a policy context that foregrounds a deeper integration with the Chinese national development. This discussion offers a theoretical dialogue that reveals different but overlapping scenarios for the future of Hong Kong's higher education and sheds light on the link between the changing geopolitical contexts and international higher education., Author(s): William Yat Wai Lo [sup.1] , Jack T. Lee [sup.2] , Dana Abdrasheva [sup.1] Author Affiliations: (1) grid.419993.f, 0000 0004 1799 6254, Department of International Education, The Education University [...]

The increased use of student internships and other forms of work placements in higher education programmes brings recognised benefits to students but also changes the risks for higher education institutions (HEIs) globally. This paper responds to the under-addressed problem for HEI managers of understanding the varying levels of risk of harm to students and HEIs, and the HEIs' strategic responsibilities to understand how to mitigate the risk for both parties. We develop a typology of the main types of internship placements and theorise their associated levels of risk according to the HEI's levels of responsibility and operational control. The risk types are then plotted in a model of risk mitigation, mapped against the frequency of their occurrence and the severity of their impact, with a focus on HEIs and students. We conclude with practical and policy implications for HEIs and their managers. Our paper argues that HEIs must balance their risks and responsibilities with the costs and benefits of student internships and work placements, and contributes to understanding potential gaps between HEI strategic decision-making and operational practice at the programme level, along with solutions to address these., Author(s): Denis Odlin [sup.1] , Maureen Benson-Rea [sup.2] , Bridgette Sullivan-Taylor [sup.2] Author Affiliations: (1) grid.252547.3, 0000 0001 0705 7067, Department of International Business, Strategy and Entrepreneurship, Auckland University of [...]

Internationally, much has changed in the governance of universities since the adoption of corporate management approaches. A strong focus on efficiency, productivity and accountability arising from these approaches has been well documented in the literature. Reductions in government funding have caused universities to become more competitive and entrepreneurial. However, little is known about the impacts of these changes on the working lives of individual academics. This paper is part of an ongoing study exploring the lived experiences of 2526 Australian academics who responded to a national questionnaire. This paper builds on earlier work by holistically drawing together the earlier findings which separately analysed the teaching, research and administration/service aspects of their work. In examining the effectiveness of universities through the ability of their academics to undertake their roles, we found the voices of academics that need to be heard in the development and implementation of key policies, such as academic workload and performance, to preserve the essentially self-managed nature of their work. By combining the learning from the project through the literature review, the statistical analysis and themes from the open-ended questions, we developed a set of principles to underpin these policies in universities. These principles can guide universities to shift towards a more collaborative working relationship with academics, based on trust, and actively encourage them to play be more active in institutional decision-making, especially in relation to policies that directly affect their work. These results have implications for improving the productivity of academics and the institutions in which they work., Author(s): John Kenny [sup.1] , Andrew Edward Fluck [sup.1] Author Affiliations: (1) grid.1009.8, 0000 0004 1936 826X, Faculty of Education, University of Tasmania, , Locked Bag 1307, 7250, Launceston, TAS, [...]

While many papers have focused on socially unequal admissions in higher education, this paper looks at the persistence of class differentials after enrolment. I examine the social class gap in bachelor's programme dropout and in the transition from bachelor's to master's in Denmark from the formal introduction of the bachelor's degree in 1993 up to recent cohorts. Using administrative data, I find that the class gap in bachelor's departures has remained constant from 1993 to 2006, with disadvantaged students being around 15 percentage points more likely to leave a bachelor's programme than advantaged students, even after adjusting for other factors such as grades from upper secondary school. Importantly, the class gap reappears at the master's level, with privileged students being more likely to pursue a master's degree than less privileged students. The size of the class gap is remarkable, given that this gap is found among a selected group of university enrolees. As other studies have found that educational expansion in higher education is not necessarily a remedy for narrowing the class gap in educational attainment, scholars need to pay more attention to keeping disadvantaged students from leaving higher education., Author(s): Jens-Peter Thomsen [sup.1] Author Affiliations: (1) The Danish National Centre for Social Science Research, , Copenhagen, Denmark Introduction > Class differentials in higher education persist despite the massive expansion [...]

Since 1990, a large and dynamic global science system has evolved, based on grass roots collaboration, and resting on the resources, infrastructure and personnel housed by national science systems. Euro-American science systems have become intensively networked in a global duopoly; and many other countries have built national science systems, including a group of large- and middle-sized countries that follow semi-autonomous trajectories based on state investment, intensive national network building, and international engagement, without integrating tightly into the global duopoly. The dual global/national approach pursued by these systems, including China, South Korea, Iran and India, is not always fully understood in papers on science. Nevertheless, China is now the number two science country in the world, the largest producer of papers and number one in parts of STEM physical sciences. The paper investigates the remarkable evolution of China's science funding, output, discipline balance, internationalisation strategy and national and global networking. China has combined global activity and the local/national building of science in positive sum manner, on the ground of the nationally nested science system. The paper also discusses limits of the achievement, noting that while China-US relations have been instrumental in building science, a partial decoupling is occurring and the future is unclear., Author(s): Simon Marginson [sup.1] [sup.2] Author Affiliations: (1) grid.4991.5, 0000 0004 1936 8948, Department of Education, University of Oxford, , 15 Norham Gardens, OX2 6PY, Oxford, Oxfordshire, UK (2) grid.410682.9, [...]

A quarter of a century after South Africa's transition to democracy, the rhetoric of 'transformation' remains firmly ingrained in its higher education policy and discourse. In many of the reviews, reports, proposals, and frameworks on the transformation of the South African university system, one thing stands out: an oversupply of rhetoric and a dearth of empirical data. This article is a direct response to how infrequently data has been used and seeks to reveal the actual quantum of change, albeit with a focus on an admittedly singular element on the transformation spectrum but one which nevertheless preoccupies South Africans: equity (or race). The evidence presented in the paper shows that the absence of a clear articulation of transformation, accompanied by a lack of indicators and targets to track progress over time, hinders the progression of the discourse to equally important dimensions of performance such as efficiency, success and productivity-all of which are critical in determining the university's role in national development. The paper goes on to show that based on the data available, the public university system in South Africa is transforming given the increases over time in the number of black students and staff. However, without a clearly articulated idea of what constitutes change, one cannot claim a transformed system, and the political narrative of no transformation is likely to prevail., Author(s): François B. Van Schalkwyk [sup.1] , Milandré H. van Lill [sup.1] , Nico Cloete [sup.1] , Tracy G. Bailey [sup.1] Author Affiliations: (1) grid.11956.3a, 0000 0001 2214 904X, DSI-NRF [...]

This paper uses register data to study how a particular age reward feature affects admission into two highly competitive study programs: medicine and law. The Norwegian admission system to higher education is centralized, and applicants compete in two quotas: one quota almost entirely based on grade point average from upper secondary education and one quota where students can compete with improved grades and where being older automatically increases the chance of acceptance, by awarding age points. For these study programs, we find that the admission system creates a waiting game, as gaining admission in the second quota is nearly impossible without accumulating a substantial amount of age points. If age predicts completion in higher education, this waiting game might be justified. However, if anything, we find the opposite to be true. Our paper suggests that age should carry less weight in admission decisions and that countries and/or higher education institutions should carefully consider how their admission system affects student incentives and how applicants are selected., Author(s): Astrid Marie Jorde Sandsør [sup.1] , Elisabeth Hovdhaugen [sup.1] , Ester Bøckmann [sup.1] Author Affiliations: (1) grid.425896.4, 0000 0004 0444 9534, Nordic Institute for Studies in Innovation, Research and [...]

Amid internationalizing shifts in higher education, universities around the world are simultaneously becoming more integrated and more disparate. This paper examines the role of immigration policy in producing convergent and divergent educational attainment among international and domestic students at Indian and US universities and shows that student and work visas influence international students' decisions about where to study, what to study, and how much education to pursue. Using original data sources and a transnational data collection strategy, this study develops new approaches to measuring international student mobility and offers a window into transnational phenomena not easily observable in other datasets. An analysis of 7177 education histories and 105 in-depth interviews with international students, university administrators, and immigration lawyers shows that migration policy contributes to the growth of international student enrollment and multinational educations but also creates asymmetrical student flows and funnels international students into certain fields of study. The results of this study indicate that migration policies simultaneously contribute to integration and differentiation between the US and Indian university systems. The findings show that immigration policies play an important role in regulating the flow and nature of international student migration streams and lead to simultaneous convergence and divergence in the educational attainment and field of study between Indian international students enrolled in US universities and their domestically educated peers in India. Through an empirical case, this paper develops a conceptual bridge between two dominant frameworks on internationalization and theorizes the central role of migration policy in shaping processes of higher education internationalization., Author(s): Elizabeth Jacobs [sup.1] Author Affiliations: (1) grid.25879.31, 0000 0004 1936 8972, Department of Sociology, University of Pennsylvania, , 3718 Locust Walk, McNeil Building, Philadelphia, PA, USA The internationalization of [...]

Life outcomes for people who spent time in the care of the state as children ('care-experienced') are known to be significantly lower, on average, than for the general population. The reasons for this are complex and multidimensional, relating to social upheaval, disrupted schooling, mental and physical health issues and societal stigmatisation. Previous studies across several countries have demonstrated that they are significantly less likely to participate in higher education and more likely to withdraw early. However, little is currently known about their outcomes after graduation. This paper therefore explores the initial outcomes for the 1,010 full-time students identified as care-experienced within the cohort graduating from an undergraduate degree programme in the UK in 2016/17-the most recent year for which data are available. They were found to be slightly more likely to be unemployed and less likely to be in work (and particularly professional work) than their peers, but, conversely, more likely to be studying. These differences largely disappeared once background educational and demographic factors were controlled. The paper discusses the relationship between care-experience and other sites of inequality, concluding that care-experienced graduates are crucially over-represented in groups that are disadvantaged in the graduate labour market-e.g. by ethnicity, disability or educational history. This intersectional inequality largely explains their lower graduate outcomes. While there are important limitations with the data available, this speaks for the transformational potential of higher education in enabling care-experienced graduates to transcend childhood adversity. Recommendations for national policy and local practices conclude the paper., Author(s): Neil Harrison [sup.1] , Zoë Baker [sup.2] , Jacqueline Stevenson [sup.3] Author Affiliations: (1) grid.4991.5, 0000 0004 1936 8948, Rees Centre, Department of Education, University of Oxford, , Oxford, [...]

In recent years, government policies that target the rapid internationalization of Japanese higher education have provided new career opportunities especially for scholars with experience of studying and teaching abroad. This autoethnographic paper draws on such 'migrant' faculty's engagement in formal curriculum development to illustrate their active negotiations within the micro-level processes of internationalization of a Japanese University. More specifically, the analysis focuses first on the enactment of agencies to negotiate diverse understandings of 'culture' and 'discipline' in the process of building a 'Japanese Studies' curriculum. The paper then draws on those negotiations to show how those agencies were transformative; namely how they impacted on and challenged the framing and the practice of the official framework of 'Japanese Studies' at University X. This study aims, therefore, to shed light on the ways individual migrant faculty members of diverse backgrounds, may constructively contribute to internationalization processes of higher education when such faculty's active interactions are carefully looked at and sought for, beyond established and often imagined cultural, disciplinary, and institutional boundaries., Author(s): Ioannis Gaitanidis [sup.1] , Satoko Shao-Kobayashi [sup.1] Author Affiliations: (1) grid.136304.3, 0000 0004 0370 1101, Chiba University, , 1-33 Yayoi-cho, Inage-ku, Chiba-shi, 263-8522, Chiba, Japan Internationalization/globalization and nationalization of [...]

This paper summarizes the discourse on student ratings of teaching in higher education. It reconceptualizes student ratings within a larger process of promoting quality in teaching and student learning. As students engage in productive dialogue with teachers and administrators, metrics drawn from decontextualized surveys are admittedly a vital resource. Our paper contends, however, that student ratings can only become a tool for enhancement when they feed reflective conversations about improving the learning process and when these conversations are informed by the scholarship of teaching and learning. We illustrate this view with a case study of an Engineering Faculty that uses three interconnected initiatives to support an evolving conversation on quality among teachers in partnership with students. The role of student engagement in enhancement efforts is discussed as well as potential challenges to implementation. Our purpose is to spark wider discussion of a systems perspective on student ratings that supports a coherent discourse towards positive change., Author(s): Torgny Roxå [sup.1] , Arshad Ahmad [sup.2] , Janette Barrington [sup.3] , John Van Maaren [sup.4] , Robert Cassidy [sup.5] Author Affiliations: (1) grid.4514.4, 0000 0001 0930 2361, Faculty [...]

Black and minority ethnic (BME) communities continue to experience differential outcomes within the United Kingdom (UK) mental health system, despite increased attention on the area. The trauma of racism for BME academic and professional staff within higher education remains problematic against a backdrop of cultural and organisational institutional racism. Within higher education (HE), BME staff consistently face barriers in terms of accessing contextually appropriate mental health interventions that recognise the sophisticated nature of insidious racism in all its overt and covert manifestations. This paper attempts to address the issues facing ethnic minority staff within the Academy with regard to accessing mental health services at university. Importantly, this paper explores the impact of racial discrimination on BME faculty within the sector and the impact upon mental health, in addition to considering the paucity of psychological interventions available in dealing with discriminatory episodes and the need for universities to diversify healthcare professional cohorts. This study utilises the narratives of 40 BME academic and professional university staff to examine the impact of negotiating racial inequality and discrimination at university and the impact upon mental health. Other aspects examined consider the impact of belonging, isolation and marginalisation on mental health and how this consequently affects BME university staff. Conclusions and recommendations provided advocate greater diversification of mental health support systems for BME staff within universities. Conclusions drawn will also consider how existing systems can function to dismantle racial inequality and improve mental health invention for ethnic minority service users., Author(s): Jason Arday [sup.1] Author Affiliations: (1) grid.8250.f, 0000 0000 8700 0572, Department of Sociology Higher Education and Social Inequalities, Durham University, , 32 Old Elvet, DH1 3HN, Durham, UK [...]

Widening participation (WP) in Higher Education (HE) is often positioned as key to resolving social inequality; it underpins arguments that increasing levels of education lead to reduced levels of poverty. Located within the tension of duty and need, WP is positioned as both the responsibility of the University and a financial imperative. This paper considers the student experience of this tension, specifically the contradictions between discourses of equality and diversity and neoliberal conceptualisations of HE as market. Drawing upon qualitative research conducted during the closure of a WP satellite campus, the paper explores the consequences of the withdrawal of HE provision for 'local' students. Utilising focus group methodologies to develop an approach for 'thinking with' seven WP students, the paper explores the material, social and affective contexts within which students experience university in their 'hometown'. Foregrounding participants' critical understanding of their 'place' within a marketised HE sector, we consider the formation of student identity as a site of struggles for value. We argue, the closure of satellite campuses must be understood within the context of deepening social-spatial inequalities. Developing a critique of individualised constructions of 'social mobility', we outline an alternative imaginary of HE as an intergenerational community resource., Author(s): Sarah Leaney [sup.1] , Shadreck Mwale [sup.2] Author Affiliations: (1) grid.12477.37, 0000000121073784, University of Brighton, , Brighton, UK (2) grid.414601.6, 0000 0000 8853 076X, Brighton and Sussex Medical School, [...]

International students form an important element of most universities' internationalisation strategies, especially for research and the recruitment of high calibre PhD students (PGRs). Despite the numerous studies of PGRs' post-arrival experiences, there is a major dearth of research into their pre-arrival, application experiences. Given the worldwide competition for high calibre PGRs, along with impact posed by the Covid-19 pandemic and by Brexit for the UK, it is vital for universities to ensure that factors clearly under their control, such as the information on their websites and the way they communicate, are as informative and helpful as possible. In this article, we draw on social media data to examine the challenges and uncertainties that Korean PGR applicants experienced in navigating the process of applying to UK universities. The paper compares their confusions with information available on university websites and recommends a series of points that higher education institutions should check for. It also reveals and discusses issues associated with communication. While the data has been collected from Korean social media websites, we argue that our paper has broader relevance for the following reasons. First, the same fundamental intercultural issues-different educational systems and different background knowledge-apply to PGR applicants from other countries and so their queries are likely to be similar or comparable. Second, the insights gained from social media websites to facilitate the application process and thereby enhance recruitment can usefully be applied to other countries and levels of study, in a way that has rarely been done to date., Author(s): Kyung Hye Kim [sup.1] , Helen Spencer-Oatey [sup.2] Author Affiliations: (1) grid.16821.3c, 0000 0004 0368 8293, Shanghai Jiao Tong University, , Shanghai, China (2) grid.7372.1, 0000 0000 8809 1613, [...]

Current understanding of international academic mobility tends to view migrant academics as career-oriented actors who can follow opportunities across borders with relative ease. This paper offers a more nuanced reading of international mobility in academia by analysing how the professional context influences migrant academics' decisions to come to and remain in the United Kingdom (UK). Drawing on data from 62 semi-structured interviews with foreign-born academics employed in the UK, the paper argues that the availability of (relatively) good-quality employment shapes international academic mobility more than country preferences. However, academics may become 'stuck' in the country of residence even when employment conditions deteriorate, not only because they are gradually tracked into country's higher education system and culture but also because they lose the credentials, work experience and networks that may be needed to make another international move. This paper therefore shows that 'stickiness' in international mobility involves not only being 'locked into' a country but also being 'locked out' of another, and in so doing contributes to knowledge about the ways in which migrant academics become stuck whilst working abroad., Author(s): Toma Pustelnikovaite [sup.1] Author Affiliations: (1) grid.44361.34, 0000000103398665, School of Business, Law and Social Sciences, Abertay University, , Dundee, UK Introduction Migrant academics (MAs), understood as foreign-born individuals employed [...]

Higher education institutions (HEIs) have experienced severe cutbacks in funding over the past few years, with universities examining options for alternative funding streams, such as alumni funding. Identifying the factors influencing their alumni's intentions to invest in their alma mater can be of significant importance when establishing a sustainable revenue stream. Within this context, empirical research on the potential role of trust is scarce. This paper aims to deepen the analysis of the relationship between alumni trust and engagement as well as three outcomes, namely support, commitment, and attitude toward donation. A structural equation model was tested on two samples of US (n = 318) and Italian (n = 314) alumni. Although both countries are affluent and developed countries, the USA has an established tradition of alumni donations, which is not such a developed practice in Italy. For both countries, results confirm that engagement is an antecedent of trust, which in turn leads to the three investigated outcomes (support, commitment, and attitude toward donations). In contrast, the effect of commitment on attitude toward donations is significant only for the USA universities. The paper has interesting theoretical and managerial implications. From a theoretical point of view, the study aims to address a gap concerning the role of trust in the HE context. Managerially, the study has significant implications for universities that want to change alumni attitude toward donations., Author(s): Barbara Francioni [sup.1] , Ilaria Curina [sup.1] , Charles Dennis [sup.2] , Savvas Papagiannidis [sup.3] , Eleftherios Alamanos [sup.3] , Michael Bourlakis [sup.4] , Sabrina M. Hegner [sup.5] Author [...]

While the prevalence of group work in higher education in Australia can be construed as a cultural or institutional practice, it has become a site of struggle for many international students who must negotiate the normative practices embedded in group work. This paper aims to investigate how six Japanese international students at Australian universities explore, negotiate and respond to the normative practices of group work through group projects. The findings reveal that students actively sought and negotiated hidden and implied normative practices of group work. Their responses to the norms were underpinned by the norms being inculcated into their dispositions or, namely, habitus, in the form of beliefs and values, which enabled them to critically examine their group practices. Additionally, when they identified a mismatch between their perceived norms and the responses of their peers, which is realised through Bourdieu's concept of 'hysteresis', they were found to take leadership opportunities. We contend in this paper that when their practices or group practices are at odds with the perceived or identified norms, it induces their hysteresis encounters, which represent initiation of alternative actions and capacity to embrace learning opportunities. We also argue that the investigation into this phenomenon is vital in identifying practices that reproduce fallacies and missed opportunities or prevent students from embracing true virtues of group work., Author(s): Kaoru Matsunaga [sup.1] , Melissa Marie Barnes [sup.1] , Eisuke Saito [sup.1] Author Affiliations: (1) grid.1002.3, 0000 0004 1936 7857, Faculty of Education, Monash University, Clayton Campus, , 19 [...]

Despite decades of managerial university reforms, collegiality emerges as an idea that unites academics, and that both symbolises and legitimises the collective aspirations of the academy. Typically, collegiality is positioned as an unquestionably 'good thing'-an unproblematic academic ideal or an academic structure-obscuring the contingency of social arrangements in universities. This paper investigates the plurality of collegial practices that unfold 'on the ground' in the context of university reforms and the diversification of the academic workforce over recent decades. The paper presents a qualitative and exploratory study of collegial practices in seven contemporary Australian and New Zealand/Aotearoa universities, employing a social cartographic analysis. Eleven types of logics underpinning collegial practices are identified and described in detail, by drawing on examples of collegial practices offered by fifteen research participants. A reconfigured picture of academic relations is presented, revealing the range of collegial practices that tend to be subsumed under a generic notion of collegiality. The effects of different types of collegial practices are examined, contesting exclusionary collegial relations and highlighting practices that have the potential to produce a more inclusive and socially just academy., Author(s): Giedre Kligyte [sup.1] Author Affiliations: (1) grid.117476.2, 0000 0004 1936 7611, Faculty of Transdisciplinary Innovation, University of Technology Sydney, , Ultimo, Australia Introduction Internationally, despite decades of managerial university [...]

University teachers' practices of resistance against dominant epistemological norms have been described in recent critical higher education literature, but comparatively little work has explored students' practices of intellectual resistance and negotiation within the university. As part of a larger study on students' experiences of study-life overlap in health professional education, this paper examines students' responses when their knowledge arising from life experience was marginalised. Students used five epistemological strategies to respond to this side-lining of lived knowledge, i.e. building the case that lived knowledge is 'academic', switching to institutionally recognisable language, considering epistemological framing when responding to discrimination or assumptions, sustaining friendships as epistemological work and seeking out settings where their lived experience was valued. This paper argues for the need to understand students as active epistemological agents within the university. It adds to existing critical scholarship on staff practices of intellectual resistance by considering students' practices as part of the academic community., Author(s): Emma Osborne [sup.1] [sup.2] , Vivienne Anderson [sup.1] , Bridget Robson [sup.2] Author Affiliations: (1) grid.29980.3a, 0000 0004 1936 7830, Higher Education Development Centre, University of Otago, , Dunedin, [...]

Higher education systems are caught between two dynamic processes, one referring to economic value and the other to status value. Although these political rationalities are presented as part of a coherent programme of reform and 'modernization', they pull higher education systems and the actors within them in contradictory directions. Their impact can collectively be referred to as research selectivity, since these rationalities encompass both research performativity and institutional practices of recognition and reward and subjective strategies. In this paper, we first aim to map the dominant orientations of higher education studies research and how they reflect the relationship between neoliberalism and the restructuring of higher education systems and research infrastructure. Our reading shows that this is a significant context for inquiring into research selectivity as it is enacted and, at the same time, suggests that we need to pay attention to the privileging of existing centres of higher education research and the relative absence of sustained focus on research selectivity in the non-core regions of Europe. Secondly, the paper puts forward the case for a sustained research agenda that focuses specifically on the identification of the differential impact of processes of research selectivity in non-core regions of Europe, organized around three intersecting themes - linguistic, epistemological, and disciplinary impact. Arguing for the importance and relevance of this research agenda for empirical research in Europe and globally, the paper emphasizes that its main objective is to create a critical space within which we can, collectively, think higher education otherwise., Author(s): Simon Warren [sup.1] , Marcin Starnawski [sup.2] , Anna Tsatsaroni [sup.3] , Areti Vogopoulou [sup.3] , Pavel Zgaga [sup.4] Author Affiliations: (1) grid.11702.35, 0000 0001 0672 1325, Roskilde Universitet, [...]

This paper analyzes the development of social inequality in the Polish higher education system during its expansion after 1990 using data from the Polish General Social Survey. Focusing on the special case of a former socialist society, where higher education expansion has been very rapid and achieved mainly through marketization, this paper highlights the micro-level mechanisms that underlie the inequality dynamic. It shows how actor preferences embedded in the specific historical context shape educational behavior, producing moments of equalization and de-equalization. Class inequality regarding access to tertiary education decreased in the early 1990s and then increased again, as participation in the working classes stagnated at a low level in the later phases of the expansion. In contrast, no equalization has been observed between children of different educational origins. The analysis shows a persistent intergenerational reproduction of educational disadvantage in spite of the expansion. Lastly, consistent with the Effectively Maintained Inequality thesis, this paper provides evidence for underprivileged strata being diverted into second-tier, lower-prestige educational opportunities in the private sector., Author(s): Katarzyna Kopycka [sup.1] [sup.2] Author Affiliations: (1) grid.10789.37, 0000 0000 9730 2769, Institute of Economics, University of Lódz, , Rewolucji 1905 r. 41/43, 90-214, Lódz, Poland (2) grid.9018.0, 0000 [...]

State policies regarding the internationalization of higher education (IHE) in China have undergone significant shifts between 1949 and 2019. This paper advances the proposition that these shifts in policies pertaining to IHE can be understood as part of a process of ongoing Chinese state formation in relation to national and global developments and does so by examining the history of IHE policy and policy changes between 1949 and 2019 to demonstrate this possibility. We consider three specific periods to make this case, including (1) the period of Marxist-Leninist socialist nationalism, patriotism and proletarian internationalism and the early engagements of IHE (1949-1976); (2) neoliberal globalization and opening-up: a return to the international stage and further IHE (1977-2002); and finally, (3) state developmentalism and the era of globally engaged higher education (HE) (2003-2019). In conclusion, the current implications of a neoliberal (capitalist) globalization are discussed in terms of real and potential implications for Chinese state formation, Chinese HE and society. The paper aims to investigate the historical underpinnings and formation of international HE in China and contribute to the significant gap in our current literature regarding IHE in China as a socio-historical phenomenon. It not only offers a detailed documentation of how policy on IHE has evolved and shifted in the context of significant changes in political and economic directions in China but also teases out influences of national concerns such as ideological and cultural considerations as well as neoliberal globalization., Author(s): Jie Zheng [sup.1] , Dip Kapoor [sup.2] Author Affiliations: (1) grid.22069.3f, 0000 0004 0369 6365, Faculty of Education, East China Normal University, , 3663 North Zhongshan Road, 200062, Shanghai, [...]

This paper critically interrogates the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) in relation to higher education in low-income countries. While the SDG Goal 4, Target 4.3, calls for ensuring 'equal access for all women and men to affordable and quality technical, vocational and tertiary education, including university' around the world by 2030, the SDGs lack targets that would make this a reality in many countries where higher education requires reform and rebuilding. Instead of providing assistance to these countries to (re)build and strengthen their fragile higher education systems and institutions, the SDGs, as expressed in Target 4.7, aim to only provide opportunities to a select group of individuals to study at universities in developed and some developing countries. This approach has failed in the past and will only lead to the creation of dependency on foreign aid and assistance and continuation of chronic lack of capacity in many countries. This paper will show that despite the rhetoric about leaving no one behind, the SDGs will leave many behind through the neglect of higher education in low-income countries. Building local institutional and other forms of capacity in the higher education sector in low-income countries should have been one of the priorities in the SDGs. This way countries would be able to develop and strengthen universities and other institutions of higher learning and deliver quality education to their populations. The paper will map out a possible way forward for those interested in assisting low-income countries to strengthen their higher education systems and institutions as this is a prerequisite for inclusive socio-economic development and environmental sustainability., Author(s): Savo Heleta [sup.1] , Tohiera Bagus [sup.2] Author Affiliations: (1) grid.412139.c, 0000 0001 2191 3608, Nelson Mandela University, , Port Elizabeth, South Africa (2) International Education Association of South [...]

The relevance and prominence of the partial least squares structural equation modeling (PLS-SEM) method has recently increased in higher education research, especially in explanatory and predictive studies. We therefore first aim to assess previous PLS-SEM applications by providing a systematic review; second, we aim to highlight and summarize important guidelines for conducting a rigorous PLS-SEM analysis of the current state of results reporting in higher education journals. Specifically, this study focuses on empirical PLS-SEM applications in 14 major higher education journals indexed in the Thomson Reuters Web of Science and in the Elsevier-Scopus databases between 1999 and 2018. We initially identified 49 relevant papers published in 10 higher education journals. Based on these papers' generally followed guidelines, we thereafter identified various issues related to data screening, model characteristics, measurement model evaluation, structural model evaluation, and the application of state-of-the-art PLS-SEM advanced methods requiring particular attention. Furthermore, we recommend recent guidelines to improve PLS-SEM applications and practices, besides providing specific suggestions regarding utilizing the method's strength in terms of relevant higher education research questions. Our findings remind researchers, reviewers, and journal editors to remain vigilant, should help them avoid inaccuracies in future publications, and ensure rigor., Author(s): Majid Ghasemy [sup.1] , Viraiyan Teeroovengadum [sup.2] , Jan-Michael Becker [sup.3] , Christian M. Ringle [sup.4] [sup.5] Author Affiliations: (1) grid.11875.3a, 0000 0001 2294 3534, National Higher Education Research [...]

International scientific mobility and research careers are two concepts that are intimately related. Yet, it has been very difficult for scholarship to pinpoint exactly how international mobility impacts on research careers. This paper contributes to this question by investigating links between international mobility, research career stage progression and job changes. It does so using a large-scale survey (MORE) which targets researchers based in European universities. The results establish that the profile of international mobility varies by academic research career stage. They also show that for researchers in the established mid-career phase who are working internationally, there are career advancement benefits associated with return mobility to their home country. However, these benefits may reduce if the timing of return is too delayed. The paper concludes by discussing the implications of these results for researcher mobility policy in the context of the European Higher Education Area and the European Research Area., Author(s): Carolina Cañibano [sup.1] , Pablo D'Este [sup.1] , F. Javier Otamendi [sup.2] , Richard Woolley [sup.1] Author Affiliations: (1) grid.157927.f, 0000 0004 1770 5832, INGENIO (CSIC-UPV), Universitat Politècnica de [...]

Little research addresses graduate transition issues faced by transnational education (TNE) stakeholders. This paper's conceptual framework situates alumni as central stakeholders and potential partners in developing crucial insights into TNE graduate transitions. We interviewed alumni of an Australian university campus in Vietnam (AUV) about their TNE education experience and how students might be successfully supported to transition to local careers. Alumni were satisfied with the AUV's role in developing skills, English ability, and confidence. They noted the value of work integrated learning (WIL) internships. However, they highlighted aspects of their experience where the university could provide greater employability support and cultural relevance. Moreover, they expressed a desire for greater ongoing connection with the university as their careers progressed. The findings ground the paper's proposals for institutional transnational campus graduate transition support at three stages of the transnational student experience: enrolled student, transitioning student and graduate alumnus., Author(s): Christine Bilsland [sup.1] , Leanne Carter [sup.1] , Leigh Wood [sup.1] Author Affiliations: (1) grid.1004.5, 0000 0001 2158 5405, Macquarie Business School, Macquarie University, , 2109, Sydney, Australia Introduction [...]

This paper aims to understand the effect of international mobility in higher education on Brazilian education inequality by examining the Science Without Borders programme for undergraduate students. The SWB aimed to award 101,000 scholarships for Brazilian undergraduate students to conduct part of their studies in a foreign university between 2011 and 2015. This paper draws on research on education inequalities and international mobility to investigate the patterns of inequality among undergraduate students participating in the SWB, considering the period of higher education expansion in Brazil. Using the ENEM datasets, inequality of access and inequality within the programme were analysed. The results show that students with parents with higher levels of education and higher income were more likely to participate in the SWB programme. Moreover, students with higher parental education and family income tended to study at a prestigious university during the programme., Author(s): Alice Dias Lopes [sup.1] Author Affiliations: (1) grid.4305.2, 0000 0004 1936 7988, School of Social and Political Sciences, Sociology, University of Edinburgh, , 4F1/21 Buccleuch Place, Edinburgh, UK Introduction [...]

The literature suggests that recent years have witnessed a fundamental shift in higher education internationalisation. This paper argues that a reorientation of policy, which is upheld through an initiative known as the Higher Education Sprout Project, indicates the fundamental shift in higher education internationalisation in Taiwan. The paper begins with an explanation of how the notion of world-class university induced elitism in East Asian higher education. Next, it reviews the last two decades of Taiwan's efforts on developing world-class universities. In particular, the paper explains how perceived domestic problems in higher education, such as an overemphasis on certain performance indicators and the resulting effects of homogenisation, and the phenomenon of emphasising research but neglecting teaching, are considered the consequences of emphasising global competition and the associated quest for building world-class universities. The paper argues that the recent policy change reveals an intention to uphold egalitarianism, thereby reaching a balance between fulfilling global ambition and addressing local needs in higher education. This intention highlights the political essence of internationalisation policy for higher education. It also reaffirms the significance of the global-local dynamics in higher education policy., Author(s): William Yat Wai Lo [sup.1], Angela Yung-Chi Hou [sup.2] Author Affiliations: (1) grid.419993.f, 0000 0004 1799 6254, Department of International Education, The Education University of Hong Kong, , 10 [...]

Neoliberal theories-whether the new public management, principal-agent theory, or performance management-have provided the rationale for sweeping reforms in the governance and operation of higher education. This paper expands our understanding of neoliberal theory and practice by examining a leading neoliberal reform: performance-based funding (PBF) for higher education in the USA, Europe, Canada, Australia, and elsewhere. Our analysis of PBF examines not only its impacts but also its origins and implementation. Neoliberal theory has been used not only prospectively to design and argue for certain public policies but also retrospectively to analyse the origins and implementation of neoliberal policy. Hence, this paper examines this retrospective neoliberal analysis in order to determine how well neoliberal theory helps us understand the origins and implementation of neoliberal policy: in this case, the socio-political forces that gave rise to PBF; and the political and organizational features of the processes by which PBF was implemented., Author(s): Kevin J. Dougherty [sup.1], Rebecca S. Natow [sup.2] Author Affiliations: (1) grid.21729.3f, 0000000419368729, Department of Education Policy and Social Analysis, Teachers College, Columbia University, , Box 11, 525 W. [...]