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Within the Caribbean, the number of students pursuing postgraduate studies in higher education institutions (HEIs) has increased over the years. Consequently, locally contextualised epistemologies and empowering methods are needed to help adult learners in Caribbean higher education (HE) navigate their studies. This paper presents findings from a photovoice study undertaken with postgraduate adult learners at an HEI in Jamaica. Participants used photographs, written reflections and group discussions to explore their HE journey. Given the intervening nature of the pandemic in the immediate period after the study was conceptualised and participants engaged, this paper focuses on the ways in which photovoice offered participants opportunities to make meaning of their HE journey. Findings demonstrate that the use of photovoice was transformative in how it empowered participants through the opportunity to engage in self-discovery and discuss their thoughts and emotions, facilitated peer support, and how it enabled adult learners to forge resilience as they undertook their studies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Higher education has seen a significant shift in the last two decades, with contemporary students representing more diverse cohorts who are increasingly balancing study alongside competing life-roles and responsibilities. Given the rise in student attrition and concerns regarding engagement, we saw a visible need to consider how our students could be better supported in managing their study requirements which might improve retention and engagement. We asked students what best helps them to manage their learning and time, and this study reports on responses from 430 students over 8 course offerings between 2019 and 2021. Responses were coded using inductive category development and grouped into internal and external locus of control. The findings reveal 52.6% students demonstrated an interplay of internal and external locus of control factors, while 29.5% identified fully internal and 17.9% indicated fully external LOC. The study highlights that flexible, multi-pronged strategies and institutional supports are fundamental in supporting diverse modern tertiary student populations. The paper concludes with considerations for educators and higher education institutions, drawing on the principles of Universal Design for Learning and pedagogical care that may address many aspects raised by students that are outside their locus of control, which may consequently benefit student retention and engagement. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In immersive block models students learn over shorter teaching periods and with fewer concurrent units than in typical semester or trimester models. A core aim of many such innovations is to enhance students’ learning outcomes; however, there are few investigations of student satisfaction at scale in immersive block models. This paper reports on an exploratory study of results from an institution-wide student feedback survey administered at an Australian public university that has introduced a 6-week immersive block model across the institution. Two strands of analysis were undertaken. Strand 1 (N = 4,157) compared satisfaction ratings across units delivered in the immersive block model in 2021 with ratings from the trimester model in 2019. Strand 2 (N = 1,925) explored the relative strengths of correlations between individual survey items and overall unit and overall teaching satisfaction in the immersive block model. The research found that overall, five of seven unit satisfaction indicators and all six teaching indicators improved to a statistically significant degree in the immersive block model. While student perceptions of workload appeared to be most susceptible to negative change, the correlation between workload and overall unit satisfaction was relatively weak compared to other unit indicators, suggesting that students have some tolerance for reduced satisfaction with workload. Meanwhile, the data suggest that students’ overall satisfaction with their units in the immersive block model appears most strongly tied to their satisfaction with teaching. Overall satisfaction with teaching appears most strongly associated with academics presenting content in a clear manner while showing concern for students’ learning. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Teaching quality assurance has become a common concern and a common pursuit for institutions of higher learning around the world. This paper takes teaching quality as a governance issue in higher education, as different governance systems entail different approaches to quality assurance. Through a detailed examination of the Chinese system in teaching administration in comparison with the Canadian system, this study aims to provide insights on different approaches to teaching quality assurance in more centralised and decentralised governance structures. Based on the findings of this study, no winner can be declared between centralised and decentralised systems in the area of teaching quality assurance. Instead, the study points to different strengths in each system. With more local autonomy, the decentralised system better respects disciplinary uniqueness and academic freedom in teaching. With more national planning, the centralised system secures a system-wide threshold in teaching quality and an optimal long-term development. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Knowledge exchange (KE) is increasingly important in higher education internationally, yet relatively little attention has been paid to it as a pedagogic opportunity for students. This paper draws on 26 interviews with stakeholders within and outside HE to develop a model of studentled knowledge exchange as a guide for learning through KE. The model includes the following elements: Preconditions, Prior Knowledge, Planning and Place, Pedagogic Context and Product, and offers an analysis of different forms of KE which occur between individuals in a learning triad consisting of student, facilitator and external participant. The research foregrounds a social view of learning where valid knowledge comes from diverse participants in the exchange, including students themselves. Students act as a catalyst for multi-directional KE – a finding which challenges the implied hierarchies evident in much of the literature on this topic. The model is offered as a starting point for developing a pedagogy of KE in higher education. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper draws on findings from the From Adversity to University project, a unique widening participation initiative developed by one university to support a diverse range of people into Higher Education through engagement with a 12-week bridging module. This small-scale case study presents an in-depth exploration of how learning space shaped students' experience of a bridging module during the COVID-19 pandemic. Space is conceptualised through a theory of embodied cognition which recognises the complexity of social, cultural, and cognitive inter-relations between space and students' learning experience. An interpretative narrative methodological approach was taken, drawing on the Listening Guide [LG]. Semi-structured interviews were carried out with five students who completed the bridging module during the start of the COVID-19 pandemic. All had been affected by homelessness and most were in recovery from alcohol and/or drug addiction. For all participants, there was a complex and dynamic interconnectivity between learning spaces and their experience of the bridging module. The findings demonstrate for the five students how learning spaces (including the flexibility of the space) contributed to participants' sense of belonging, recovery from drugs and alcohol addiction, mental health and well-being. Implications of the study point towards the need for further research into the connection between learning space and the creation of a sense of belonging particularly for students from marginalised groups. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Most of our current university student cohort, known as GenZ, have grown-up in a digitally connected world with access to various technological devices and social-media platforms. While technology can assist to engage students, in the learning environment many students spend a significant amount of time switching between devices engaging in non-learning activities. This results in decreased engagement which can adversely affect their academic performance. Conversely, students who can self-regulate their technology usage are more likely to be engaged in the learning process. Mindfulness is a strategy that can encourage students to self-regulate their thoughts and behaviours to stay on task. Previous research has focused on student's in-class technology usage, self-regulation and mindfulness to enhance engagement. This study adds to current research by investigating short mindfulness practices in a higher education first year business degree. The paper examines the usefulness of two mindfulness interventions to encourage students to self-regulate their in-class technology use and enhance engagement. Using a critical realist lens, the paper incorporates quantitative and qualitative data analyses through student surveys and focus groups. Twenty-nine first year undergraduate students were exposed to the mindfulness interventions. Results indicate the mindfulness interventions improved students' ability to self-regulate, contributing to student engagement and feeling connected at university. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Despite the viva being an essential component of all PhD and other doctoral qualifications in UK universities, there is little research into their accessibility for autistic students, or the process of adjusting them to individual students' needs. Autistic student voices about the viva are almost completely absent from the literature. This paper is the first to employ a collaborative, ethnographical case study to explore the doctoral viva voce experience of an autistic student, directly from their perspective and from the perspectives of non-autistic academics central to the process. The experiences we share highlight the limitations of 'reasonable accommodation' plans, if they offer only generic support based on a diagnostic label, rather than taking account of the individual needs, and the importance of recognising the unique role that the viva voce holds within doctoral studies. We present a 'reasonable accommodations' discussion document, to facilitate autistic student-centred discussions and ensure the viva process is fair and accessible. We further assert that accommodations should be formally noted within the examination report as to their use and impact. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Technicians and technical staff are making increasingly significant contributions to the teaching and learning of undergraduate and postgraduate students in the UK. This paper reports on a survey of 1766 technical staff regarding their roles within teaching and learning environments, and a series of follow-up focus groups with 44 technical staff further exploring the roles, visibility, and recognition of technical staff. Analysis suggests many technicians' roles have transitioned to such an extent that traditional lines between academic and technical teaching responsibilities, expertise, and contributions are becoming increasingly blurred. This trend is particularly noticeable for disciplines within creative arts but is also found in other discipline areas. This is likely accelerated by a competitive higher education environment and global graduate job market which incentivise skills-based learning and graduate employability, with a general transition towards increased value of 'know-how' as well as 'know-what'. Although this can greatly enhance students' skills-based learning at the hands of experienced practitioners, there is a danger that under-valued 'cheap labour' could be used to replace under-resourced academic teaching communities, or that technical staff find expansion of their teaching responsibilities are not being matched with adjustments in value, recognition, or reward. Specific examples are explored, and the impact of COVID-19 related disruption is further used to highlight these overall themes. The authors advocate for common understanding and recognition of teaching roles throughout the higher education sector, regardless of job family. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Motherhood is often positioned as incompatible with further education, and various cohort studies have revealed the many ways in which mothers are discouraged from and disadvantaged in higher education. Guided by role theory, we investigated the experiences of more than 1300 'PhD mums' from across the world as they simultaneously navigate the roles of doctoral researcher and mother (or mother-like role). Using a mixed-methods survey design, qualitative and quantitative results were analysed to reveal the contradictions and complexities of the PhD mum experience, with motherhood both straining and enhancing the doctoral journey. Motherhood may place considerable strains on doctoral researchers, including on their ability to conduct and write-up their research. These strains are exacerbated by inequitable and gendered role expectations, finite resources, and limited support, often at the expense of doctoral researchers' physical and mental well-being. However, it is not all negative, and PhD mums can bring a range of skills and attributes that are valuable to individual doctoral studies as well as doctoral programmes and institutions more broadly. The benefits also extend to the PhD mums themselves, their families, and their communities. This paper challenges unfounded assumptions about the commitment and ability of mothers to succeed in doctoral education, but also raises serious concerns about the role of institutions in perpetuating social inequalities while espousing commitment to diversity, equity, access, and inclusion. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Various models of writing groups for doctoral candidates are effective in developing research writing skills. While most groups focus on writing and providing feedback, less is written about groups that focus on empowering the research-writer through social interaction. This paper explores the impact of an ongoing fortnightly writing group as a regulated writing space for promoting wellbeing and fostering research-writer identity among doctoral candidates, whilst developing cognitive and social skills. Eight participants and the facilitator reflect on the effectiveness of this group using collaborative autoethnography. What began as a group of higher degree research students who wanted to develop their research writing skills, became a supportive community of practice which enhanced individuals' confidence to write, their research writing identities and wellbeing. Of significance was the writing expert as a facilitator. The study recommends that institutions value and create regular writing spaces for doctoral candidates to write, discuss their experiences as research-writers and in so doing, address their research writing identity and wellbeing, particularly given current concerns about mental health. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

COVID-19 has recently driven a shift in formal education environments through the transition from on-campus to online learning. The urgency of this transition has challenged the traditional perception of what a higher education experience should look like for educators and higher education institutions. However, flexibility in the delivery of formal education environments is not new. This paper explores the development of flexibility as a concept within higher education against an established flexibility framework. This paper adapts the 'Roberts Model' to reflect contemporary definitions of flexibility and uses this adapted framework to evaluate 12 online courses to validate/moderate. It then considers the implications for institutions who are increasingly exploring online delivery models appropriate for the contemporary student. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper aims to conceptualise the changing nature of work within Higher Education that continues in response to a number of drivers, not least the impact of neo-liberal ideas. One important aspect of the discourse on changing work practices is the blurring of historic boundaries between academics and administrators as universities search for more efficient ways of managing resources and inter-disciplinary teams. In particular, the idea of the 'third space' has been put forward to explain the emerging dynamics within Higher Education – but how inclusive is this conceptualisation of the working environment within universities? This paper reports on the perceptions of Associate Lecturers of their position within a Business School and suggests that we may need to think beyond the third space in order to understand their experience of work, and explore the possibility of a fourth space. The research was conducted through interviews and informed by Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis. The findings support the idea of a fourth space to locate Associate Lecturers and inform a conceptual framework centred on the key findings of context, contract, communication and coherence. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Studies debating the applicability of conventional human resource management to higher education institutions relating to particular characteristics of academic staff members and their roles have not considered Middle Eastern countries such as Jordan. This research explores challenges to incorporating effective human resource management in Jordanian higher education institutions based on in-depth interviews with 21 academics with experience working in public and private universities in Jordan. Five major challenges were identified: (1) the lack of a comprehensive evaluation system for academics; (2) the negligence of the significant role human resources departments may play; the nature and characteristics of academic institutions themselves; (3) the underdevelopment of human resource management practice in Jordan; (4) the ethos of academic staff members; and (5) the role of wasta (a local variant of nepotism) in influencing various human resource-related decisions. This paper provides unique insights on the successful management of human resources in academic institutions locally, regionally, and possibly internationally, giving due consideration to contextual factors (e.g. national culture) that affect operations. The theoretical and practical implications of this study are presented at the end of the paper. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Given the exponential growth of international students in China, understanding the advantages of studying there is under-researched. This paper investigates benefits of such study, using 30 semi-structured qualitative interviews with international students from Asia, Africa and Western countries enrolled at two prestigious universities in Beijing and Hubei Province. The analysis identified three sets of mutually inclusive economic-, social-, cultural- and educational-related benefits: employment prospects, learning Mandarin, and building knowledge, skills and experiences. The analysis illustrates the interplay of individual and external benefits, especially the contribution to the home country, through the employability lens. The paper contributes to new insights into important nuances of the key benefits of international education relating to career and employment opportunities in home and host countries, learning Mandarin for future trade dealings and acquiring business knowledge, investment skills and management experience to benefit countries of origin. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper presents the findings of a systematic literature review (performed from 2010 to 2020) about classroom management (CM) in higher education. The purpose of this article is to present the state of CM in higher education. Search terms identified 129 papers, from which 42 relevant articles met the inclusion criteria of the current review. Data extraction was initially conducted based on title, keywords, and abstract; it continued with a full-text analysis for the final set of 42 included studies. Based on the reviewed articles factors affecting CM are classified according to students, instructors, and the system. The results show that novice instructors need training about CM and instructors should integrate active learning strategies for better CM. The results also point to a need for researches in online CM. Finally, the findings provide suggestions for future research on CM in higher education. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Consumerist views have increased in English higher education. At the same time, the wellbeing of university students is of growing concern. Some research suggests that consumerist views amongst students link to lower wellbeing and achievement. This prompted the current paper which speculates that the concept of autonomy (as depicted in self-determination theory) might provide a useful lens through which to analyse consumerist attitudes in UK higher education and their possible effects on students. Self-determination theory posits that people are fulfilled and have optimal motivation when their basic needs for competence, relatedness and autonomy are met. These three basic needs are complementary. Each could provide a lens for examining the facilitators or barriers to optimal motivation within higher education. This paper focuses on autonomy and explores possible links between a consumerist orientation and student wellbeing and achievement in English universities. Using self-determination theory, autonomy-enhancing ways of framing policy and managing the student experience and teaching and learning are outlined. The concept of autonomy offers a useful framework for potential enhancement of student motivation and wellbeing at policy, institutional and programme levels. Further empirical work could usefully explore and refine the hypotheses advanced. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

As the English Higher Education (HE) system becomes characterised by centralised regulation, many professional services staff increasingly occupy significant positions sitting between traditional administrative roles, academia and management with responsibility for interpreting and implementing key policies. This study presents findings from a nested institutional case study, in a research-intensive institution, of the experiences of professional services staff implementing the Teaching Excellence Framework (TEF). Examining how policy 'landed' in two academic schools, the findings present staff acting as both operational and strategic drivers: experiencing the regulatory policy cycle as opportunities, subjugation and threat. On the one hand, the high-stakes nature of the TEF led to the development of policy-specific, third space-type roles with enhanced employment contracts, prestige, and agency and the reformulation of working relationships. On the other, the TEF, as but one feature of the regulatory burden on institutions, provided only a limited kind of agency – a term referred to here as 'structured agency' to staff. Through analysis of the diversity of roles, experiences and skills within the professional services workforce, this paper highlights the critical importance of professional services staff in a complex regulatory policy process, and the ways in which policy enactment in this space both constrains some individuals while, given adequate resource, enables others to carve out new career spaces and career trajectories. As the Office for Students (OfS) continues to normalise its power in institutions, these insights have important implications for labour force management, in turn allowing for the meaningful enactment of central policy within universities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

University student wellbeing is increasingly seen as a concern, and as demands on university staff time for research, teaching, leadership and pastoral support also increase, this is mirrored in concerns about staff wellbeing. Dominant sectoral narratives frame student and staff wellbeing as oppositional, with initiatives to support student wellbeing positioned as creating additional practical and emotional demands on staff time and resources. Using a large qualitative dataset collected in the UK, including staff and students, this paper argues that that this does not have to be the case. Instead, there is a need to look beyond the provision of reactive services or isolated individual interventions, to proactively and cohesively embed cultural and structural change across the whole institution to support positive wellbeing outcomes for the whole university community. We report on the intrinsic interconnection between staff and student wellbeing; the importance of formal institutional policies in supporting or impeding staff and student wellbeing; access to training interventions to support staff and student wellbeing as a practical manifestation of these policies; and the impact of workplace culture and the centrality of compassion and community. The paper finds that it is important that institutions within higher education acknowledge and respond proactively to both staff and student wellbeing issues. To do so, institutions should seek to foster a sustainable and effective academic environment with a whole university approach. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article reviews available research literature in the field of lecturer self-efficacy beliefs produced between 1988 and 2020. Given the growing interest in lecturer self-efficacy beliefs in recent years, and the global challenges the Higher Education sector will face following the current Covid-19 pandemic, the time to conduct such a review seems appropriate. Fifty-five empirical papers in English, Spanish and Portuguese were identified and examined. Findings show that papers investigated the beliefs of lecturers from 23 countries using mostly quantitative cross-sectional approaches involving questionnaires. Among the eight main themes that emerged, 'teaching self-efficacy' featured prominently and received most attention, while other aspects of the work of lecturers, including research, service-related and other administrative activities, were also considered. Concerning personal variables like gender, there was no consensus over whether different characteristics affected self-efficacy beliefs more than others. Conclusions point to the need for additional mixed-methods and qualitative studies with more refined and contextualised methodological approaches to better understand the field, to identify actual sources of self-efficacy themselves and to more fully inform policy, practice, the distribution of resources and building capacity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The paper provides an overview of the global research on graduate education. The study applied a combination of a bibliometric and social network analysis methods to bibliographic data from Thompson Reuters' Web of Science. More specifically, a keyword search approach was used to retrieve 2,454 articles on graduate education from 1996 until 2020. The set was processed with the VantagePoint software. The paper reports the findings in the form of lists of top scholars, research centres, and countries contributing to research on graduate education. The findings include similar lists of the key funding agencies, contributing disciplines and publication venues, as well as maps representing collaborative activity in the field between institutions, and countries. Finally, the frequency of utilisation of groups of author-supplied keywords is analysed to determine the basic thematic structure of the research on the topic. The originality of the paper consists in the fact that it represents the first attempt to map the landscape of research on graduate education using bibliographic data. It can be used to supplement the results of literature reviews on the topic, which apply a more in-depth content analysis-based approaches to a limited number of papers to determine the thematic structure of the field. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Over the course of the previous two decades, successive governments have attempted to attract students from diverse backgrounds as part of an overarching ambition to widen participation in Higher Education (HE). As part of those efforts, there has been a proliferation of Further Education Colleges (FECs) utilised to meet those ends. In 2021, approximately 10% of – or c.137,000 – Higher Education (HE) students were enrolled at FECs which represents an important research area under the broad umbrella of UK HE. Based on semi-structured interviews with prospective first year student-participants, this paper sought to examine the reasons behind students' decisions to study College Based Higher Education (CBHE) so as to better-understand and inform student recruitment, retention and success in this area. Twelve participants were selected from two FECs where those students were intent on studying for their HE. The findings revealed that students place substantial value in teaching standards and in the lecturers with whom they build relationships. These features are inextricably linked with broader feelings of community, belongingness and accessibility on the part of students which attracts them to study CBHE. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Alongside unprecedented shifts in health care, and widespread lockdowns and stay-at-home orders, the Covid-19 pandemic brought an almost immediate shift towards digitally supported remote delivery in higher education. This paper explores the experiences and perceptions of 15 teaching academics from five universities in Victoria, Australia during this time. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with academics after they had been delivering teaching, learning and assessment remotely for a six-month period. The analysis showed that while the remote delivery environment enhanced many aspects of teaching and learning, including agile and adaptable academic skill-sets, there were challenges. The academics' sophisticated teaching skills and experience, that were intuitively relied upon in the face-to-face setting, did not always translate to the online environment. In particular, this was noticed in terms of the relational approach to teaching and learning, including relationships, rapport, and connectedness within classes, and the absence of social formative assessment cues to evaluate learners' understandings. Students were not asking questions in class and required additional support from academics, which subsequently increased already overburdened workloads. After considering the findings of our work and others, we provide recommendations to support high quality teaching and learning in digitally supported remote delivery. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Urbanisation and industrialisation have contributed to significant and detrimental changes in the earth's natural environments. The concept of social-ecological resilience can assist this problem, by integrating the consideration of human and ecological systems in decision-making. An implication is that built environment professionals must be competent in social-ecological resilience knowledge and skills to ensure cities are well adapted to current environmental challenges, and do not further contribute to them. Yet the capabilities of built environment professionals to incorporate resilience thinking (theory and knowledge) into their work (skills and practice), is not well understood and is not well addressed in education theory. This paper contributes to this gap by: exploring the social-ecological resilience knowledge, skills, and practical experience of Australian built environment professionals, thereby identifying gaps to address in further and higher education. Results indicate that built environment professionals' know about social-ecological resilience, but they identify their practical experience is low. Additionally, respondents are more confident with their abilities, compared to colleagues, and their profession at large. The results indicate that further and higher education offerings (e.g. university education, continuing professional education, and practice) must assist built environment professionals to further develop social-ecological skills. As one respondent stated – it will require 'rethinking the way we practice our professions'. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Recognising the changing landscape and financial costs, changes in the higher education sector continue to challenge the purpose and operations of universities, notably the shift towards student consumerism. Given this, what it means to be a student in contemporary higher education can evolve and would arguably have implications about the expectations of university students and staff for learning and teaching practice. To promote greater transparency of expectations, this paper develops the concept of the ideal student further with closer look into the spheres of influence that shape university students' construction of the ideal student. We draw on 23 focus groups with 105 university students to explore the key factors that contribute to how the ideal student is developed and recognised. Our findings indicate that students' construction of the ideal student is closely shaped by and rooted in their prior educational experiences, interaction with their peers and the curriculum, and perceptions of lecturers, institution and employer expectations. All these influences lead to a fluid and complex negotiation process as students navigate the meanings of being a university student. We conclude with practical implications for learning, teaching and curriculum development in higher education. The paper therefore provides a platform for key stakeholders to discuss different influencing factors as we support student transition and progression and manage their expectations of higher education. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Successful retention of students through understanding their motivations and behaviours is a challenge to universities worldwide. Whilst the impact of withdrawals is an issue for all institutions, attrition for distance-learning providers is particularly problematic owing to higher non-completion rates, less physical visibility, and because distance-learners tend to have more complex lives. This paper examines students' personal stories explaining their decisions to withdraw from university study. It considers 641 written discourses initiated by students as part of their requests to withdraw, covering the challenges they face, and the complex combinations of factors that contribute to their decisions to give up. This qualitative approach was adopted as a necessary complement to the quantitative rush of metrics information that universities now provide on withdrawal figures. Three themes selected are: deferral/withdrawal, time available, and preparedness for study. The paper concludes that complementary qualitative insights both add clarity and detail to institutional understanding and reduces oversimplification of complex decision-making from unidimensional quantitative approaches. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The widening participation (WP) policy agenda directs higher education institutions (HEIs) in England to deliver measures aimed at increasing participation rates among under-represented groups. A central aspect of this is the idea that targeting must be used to reach individuals belonging to these groups. However, the detail of how to go about putting this into practice has largely been left to the interpretation of HEIs and the staff working within them to deliver WP. Drawing upon in-depth interviews with WP practitioners to gain insight into how this policy is being enacted on the ground, this paper will demonstrate how external and situated contexts shape the interpretation of targeting; in particular, the closely interlinked contextual factors of an institution's position in the HE market, makeup of its student body, and nature of its relationship to the regulator. Furthermore, examining how social class, ethnicity and gender feature within targeting approaches, it will show how different contextual factors make certain target groups possible while effectively precluding others. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Twenty-first-century doctoral candidates face a consistently evolving employment landscape. This paper explores how gender and age influence doctoral students' perceptions of employability preparedness provided by their higher education institution for future career pathways. A survey-based study (n = 222) was undertaken at a large regional Australian university to assess what employment pathways graduates intend to pursue, how prepared they feel for these pathways, and what strategies could be utilised to increase the effectiveness of doctoral training with a view to employability. Transition pedagogy is used as a lens to unpack and explore participants' perceptions about systems designed to support success. Key findings include (i) a surplus of candidates seeking academic careers; (ii) candidates reporting doctoral training inadequately prepares them for their preferred career path; and (iii) young males feeling most prepared by their doctoral programme and older females feeling the least prepared. We discuss how preparedness is not experienced equally, and how the conditions of higher education are constructed with assumptions of who a doctoral candidate is, with implications for who is most likely to benefit from it. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Against the backdrop of a diverse and challenging Higher Education (HE) environment within the United Kingdom (UK), this paper extends existing debates around extracurricular activities (ECAs) and considers students' engagement in ECAs within this context. Adopting a case study approach, and involving a team of student researchers, students' perceptions of ECA-programmes at a post-1992 Higher Education Institution (HEI) are explored. A total of 38 students took part in a series of six focus groups. The data collected was thematically analysed and two key themes emerged, namely: perceptions that there is a hierarchy of ECAs, and an enhanced awareness of the barriers to students' participation in ECAs, including the potential for harm. This paper examines the prospective impact of these findings and makes recommendations for the future development of ECA-programmes within HEIs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

As professional demands in an increasingly competitive academic environment are growing, professors are often assigned to teach outside their area of expertise. This paper investigates the experience of teaching new courses that are outside a faculty member's immediate area of expertise. Key questions concern the extent to which faculty members appreciate the opportunity to be content novices and whether they accept to appear as such in front of their students. This paper uses an online qualitative survey of 70 international faculty members from diverse academic disciplines. It also employs the computer-assisted qualitative data analysis software (CAQDAS) package NVivo (Version 12) to conduct a series of qualitative analysis. Our findings suggest a fluctuation in the faculty members' responses about the importance of mastering the subject matter and the joy of teaching as a content novice. The study finally provides practical suggestions on how to succeed in teaching outside one's area of expertise. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Inspiring learning and teaching are a matter of growing importance in today's marketised higher education sector. To date, much research in this area has a focus on reviewing literature or adopting a single-stakeholder perspective – typically that of staff or students. This paper reports on the findings of a qualitative study adopting a multi-stakeholder perspective on inspiring learning and teaching. The study sought to address the following questions – what is inspiring learning and teaching, and what are the conditions under which universities might achieve it? Thirty-two participants from three English universities took part in the study including heads of learning and teaching [n = 4], academic staff [n = 13], and students [n = 15]. Adopting a phenomenological position using interviews and focus groups, the study found that rather than being a tangible 'something', inspiring learning and teaching is the outcome of a complex interplay between all relevant stakeholders, requiring an authentic commitment to learning. Drawing on the findings, the authors propose a model that captures the multi-faceted and multilateral nature of inspiring learning and teaching, demonstrating the inter-relatedness of the following factors: authentic relationships, partnership and collaboration, student reciprocity, and pedagogical leadership. The authors conclude by exploring the necessary institutional conditions required to apply the framework in practice in order to foster inspiring learning and teaching, such as recognising and rewarding inspiring teaching; providing professional development opportunities for staff who are keen to develop inspiring teaching; and having time and space to nurture authentic and trusting relationships with students in learning and teaching. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Many studies have found a greater risk of dropping out among students from modest social origins compared to those from families characterised by high levels of education. This paper investigates social differences in student completion rates in short professional programmes, such as nursing, social work, early childhood and primary school teacher education. These programmes differ from regular undergraduate programmes, both in terms of student recruitment patterns, as more students are recruited from less privileged backgrounds, and through the types of jobs they lead to, which almost always grant the degree holder employment in the public sector. By using Norwegian register data on students starting a higher education degree programme in the period 2000 to 2010, we investigated how completion rates in nursing, social work, early childhood and primary school teacher education varied according to gender, grades and parental educational level. We found significant differences based on grades and gender but surprisingly small differences related to parental education. These findings were contrasted with earlier findings regarding patterns of completion and dropout in more disciplinary-oriented programmes. Conceptually, the analyses draw on the work of Tinto and Gambetta. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Over the past forty years, scholars have been studying students' choice of higher education programmes to unravel the complexity of the choice process. Recent studies have shown that students may commit to a programme, i.e. they make a choice to enrol in that programme, when they find a programme that attunes well with their interests. Students may nonetheless decide to switch from one programme to another before final enrolment and research has not yet sufficiently explained why they do that. The present study therefore focused on the mechanisms underlying students changing their minds after they had previously committed to a higher education programme. Eighteen semi-structured interviews with Dutch pre-university students in their final year at school were held just before final enrolment: students retraced their higher education programme choice process over time with the help of a timeline and a storyline. Interviews were thematically analysed. We identified two mechanisms whereby students, sometimes quite suddenly, switched in their commitment from one programme to another and two mechanisms that could hold them back from committing to another programme despite having doubts. This paper provides detailed theoretical insight into how students make higher education programme choices over time and concludes with practical recommendations on how to support students. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The foundation degree was introduced by David Blunkett in England in the year 2000 to widen participation and raise the skill level of the labour market. Foundation degrees have had some successes in widening participation as they are usually vocation based and appeal to the non-typical student. However, the outlook for the foundation degree is uncertain as student numbers on foundation degrees are at their lowest whilst the number of students in higher education is at its highest; thus, demonstrating that the foundation degree's appeal is reducing. The foundation degree had an additional aim in the early years sector to contribute to the professionalisation of the early years workforce. Nonetheless, recent policy development has diluted earlier aspirations for a professionalised early years workforce with failures to recognise the senior practitioner role or provide appropriate levels of funding. This has resulted in a significant pay disparity for students who complete foundation degrees in the early years when compared to typical graduate salaries. This paper presents findings about the differences in pay for participants from one cohort of students who have recently completed a foundation degree. This study contributes to the literature that is available as it presents findings that identify why this higher education impacts on pay in the early years sector for some students, which mostly relates to changes in professional roles and responsibilities opposed to recognition of the qualification in the sector. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Postgraduate taught student experience (PGT) is the product of a complex journey. During study, PGT students face an array of emotions and stressors associated with biopsychosocial-cultural processes interacting in, across, and in response to various dynamic systems that serve to threaten or challenge their study journey, making wellbeing an important factor in their experience. This paper unfolds and examines the utility of an integrated model for exploring, understanding, and responding to student experience according to these interacting processes and dynamic systems. Using an integrated framework, we conceptualise student experience as a transactional process arrived at through person–environment interactions informed by the synergistic effect of biopsychosocial-cultural processes, emotion responses, and wellbeing. We use a meta-appraisal approach to explore the intra and interpersonal processes that inform PGT student interactions in and across the complex systems of higher education and the role of the student as an active participant within their own eco-system. This approach is appealing as it engages multiple perspectives, exploring the individual according to four intersecting, ontological dimensions: mind, body, culture, society and overcoming any ontological or epistemological priorities assigned through a reductionist lens. Through this multifaceted conception we propose new potential for enacting practices and contexts to actualise the transformative potentials of higher education to support sustainable development. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper investigates the expectations and culture that first-year students encounter when entering higher education. Induction activities are the first encounter with the new institutional setting and cultural context of the study programme, thus the students' first opportunity to develop ideas about what studying entails and what is expected of them. The study is based on data produced through participant observations in induction activities, and interviews with the senior students organising these activities, for the following three study programmes at a Danish university: biotechnology, philosophy, and film and media studies. By applying the concepts of rituals, the implied student and students' identity work, the analysis explores a ritual within each programme. The findings show that the rituals reflect patterns and cultural elements that the students also experience later on in their first year. The rituals differ in how they relate to the content of the programme and which available identities they present to the students. However, in all three programmes, senior students play a key role in communicating norms and traditions. We argue that although transitioning is an ongoing process throughout higher education, it is still relevant to consider what happens during induction and what is communicated to the students. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In Peer Assisted Learning (PAL) programmes, students provide academic and social support to fellow students. Recent PAL iterations include drop-in programmes to improve higher education students' general academic literacy in an open, non-judgemental, learning environment led by experienced students. The majority of the PAL literature, however, focuses on curricular programmes, with limited understandings on processes enabling positive outcomes for students. This study contributes to the PAL literature through the investigation of factors and mentoring strategies underpinning effective peer learning in drop-in PAL programmes. Participants were students attending an academic drop-in PAL programme, and the peer mentors employed by the programme. Results suggest that students' expectations about the type of support provided by PAL mentors may jeopardise the learning objectives of the programme. The analysis of PAL mentors' experiences reveals how the use of strategies to enhance social and cognitive congruence between peers supports the development of effective peer learning partnerships. Mentors' approachability alongside their ability to provide practical strategies and academic examples tailored to students' learning needs characterised peer learning interactions between students. Mentors also encouraged students to engage in active help-seeking behaviours. This paper examines strategies to enhance peer learning interactions that support the development of independent and transferable academic skills in students seeking peer support. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper explores the factors that influence attendance to taught sessions in higher education. Absenteeism is approached as a complex phenomenon that is problematic when considering how students, lecturers and universities relate to it. Our study is conducted as a case study based on a large post-92 university in England, focusing on the undergraduate Education Studies programme. We took a collaborative approach with students and staff as research partners. Data were collected through one-to-one interviews with different members of staff and focus groups with students in all the 3 years of the programme. We used a thematic network analysis to generate a visual representation of the subthemes that emerged from collaborative analysis. Our findings show that attendance is a situated decision that can be articulated in relation to two sets of factors. The first set refers to university imperatives, and which relate to discourses of performativity and accountability. The second set relates to the complexities of students' lives. In the intersection between these two clusters of concerns, the tension between the two sets of discourses plays out and has implications for the degree of engagement that students have with the university and their courses. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Across the Higher Education sector, there is growing interest regarding the 'value for money' of a university education, and in response to this, universities may need to consider how to evaluate the perceived learning of students alongside their actual learning. Learning Gain maybe helpful in this regard, but there is currently no agreed method for evaluating the Learning Gain achieved, or perceived, by any particular student. This paper discusses a new model that can be used for evaluating such student perceptions. The model itself considers both the Distance Travelled (explicit knowledge) and the Journey Travelled (tacit knowledge) reported by students. The model employs a self-certified reflective survey method. A study, using a cohort of final year undergraduate dissertation students is undertaken to evaluate the potential usefulness of this model. The primary results obtained from this study provide an interesting perspective on how students perceive their own learning, which in turn has implications for understanding how our own teaching is viewed by students. The outcome of this research is that further testing is recommended using a wider variety of courses, and larger cohorts of students. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Past studies revealed that Resident Assistants' (RAs) behavioural patterns are related to experiences and life outcomes of student residents. In this paper, the researchers aimed to investigate the struggles that new RAs encounter in university residential halls in Hong Kong, and to provide practical recommendations based on the findings. Photovoice was adopted to facilitate the participatory approach of the study; and six new RAs were recruited from different residential halls in a university for one semester to co-construct reliable knowledge. Four domains of struggles were identified in the study; difficulties to blend in, levels of involvement, workloads and performance, and role ambiguity. Further research is needed in different contexts to provide more insights to refine policies and approaches for better RAs' residential environment, as it is believed that by improving their residential experiences, it can further enhance students' residential experiences and foster positive residence life outcomes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In response to the rapid development of educational technology and the desire to offer flexible learning opportunities, the implementation of blended learning is a burgeoning trend in contemporary higher education. However, limited research has been conducted into the professional identities of faculty members as they navigate this considerable shift in pedagogical practice. Through a qualitative, interpretivist approach, in-depth semi-structured interviews are utilised to elicit the subjective experiences and beliefs of a cohort of expatriate lecturers in the pilot stage of a blended learning initiative in a Middle East higher education institution. Applying the lens of positioning theory to analyse the subject positions both constituted and rejected by the participants, and subsequent to a thematic analysis of respondent narratives, five inductive themes of professional identity are presented. Contributing to the contemporary discourse of teacher professional identity, the findings reveal significant complexities and uncertainties facing educators in hybrid delivery modes which trigger misalignment with established pedagogical beliefs and invoke disruptions to professional personas. The paper concludes by comparing the findings with relevant, extant studies and addressing implications for policymakers implementing future-blended models. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper addresses Hong Kong Chinese undergraduate students' conceptions of teacher care informed by their experiences of teacher-student relationships within university context. Utilising the concept of teacher care from Nodding's (1984) ethics of care from a Confucian-Vygotskian perspective, this research considers emergent themes of teacher care from the narrative accounts of final-year students majoring in management and bilingual studies. Results indicate that teacher care is perceived as a deepening of trust, mutuality, responsiveness, and reciprocity between students and teachers, and an enrichment of caring scope, embodied in the conceptualisation of 'Pedagogical Care' to 'Holistic Care' and then onto 'Sustainable Care'. A dialectical framework of teacher care within Hong Kong higher education context is proposed, based on the psycho-social make-up of students and socio-cultural context of learning. This study exposes the importance of teacher care in students' learning as influenced by relational dynamics, and proposes the adoption of caring pedagogy in universities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

To date, research has focussed on understanding how various contextual factors facilitate students' adjustments to university as they begin their studies. However, there seems to be limited or no research and instruments that have specifically conceptualised and measured students' adjustments, considering their transitional challenges, emotional wellbeing, and barriers to seeking help. Incorporating these factors, we previously developed a model of students' adjustments, titled Transition, Wellbeing, Help-seeking and Adjustments (TWHAS). Building on this model, this paper aims to empirically validate the hypothesised TWHAS model using a validated survey and data collected from 306 first-year students transitioning to an Australian university. The strength of the predictive relations among the selected variables was tested by the significance of the path coefficients of the model. Our findings show a good fit to the theoretical model developed and demonstrate how students' sociodemographic barriers to seeking help and moods (e.g. anxiety) can create a psychological barrier (e.g. lack of openness to seeking help) and how psychological barriers can further inhibit students' overall adjustments to university. These findings have important implications for higher education policymakers, staff as well as administrators, counselling and support services future research on promoting students' the positive adjustments to transition to university. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

With the rapid expansion of online learning as a dominant pedagogical approach in higher education, significant research has been undertaken to explore the impacts of internet-based technologies to promote student engagement. Current advances in online learning have fostered innovative, and often nuanced approaches to teaching and learning that have the potential to promote rich and potentially transformative learning outcomes for higher education students. However, there is a growing body of evidence that clearly highlights that online learning may have a deleterious impact on a student's sense of connection, leading to experiences of isolation and disempowerment. Such experiences call for an ongoing reimagination of the online teaching space to ensure that students maintain a strong sense of identity within their virtual educational community. This paper emphasises an approach to online learning that serves to foster positive engagement across the student lifecycle. Using Nell Noddings' framework of Moral Education, we engaged in the process of critical reflection on our own teaching over time, using student data to support analyses. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]