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Increasing emphasis is being placed upon employer expectations in research on graduate employability, in response to the widely claimed gap between employer expectations and graduates' understanding of these expectations. For graduates, being uncertain of their employer's expectations may threaten the ease of their transition into the workplace and their job satisfaction, even leading to issues around graduate retention for employers. External influences on the graduate labour market such as differences in industry/sector level expectations and economic/political factors, can pose further complications. This paper presents a cross-industry analysis of employer expectations of graduates, drawing from four selected case study vignettes aimed at uncovering insights into these variances. Findings offer implications for policy makers and higher education providers around the design and delivery of a curriculum that appropriately prepares students for the graduate labour market, whilst also catering for industry-level expectations particularly in light of the UK's forthcoming departure from the EU. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Within Australian higher education, there has been an evolving of employability policy, realised in curriculum, at an intersection of the constructs of employment, work-readiness, life-long learning, and career development. The enactment of employability policy has driven an evolution in the practices of higher education in both curriculum and student support. This paper presents a case study of an Australian university which has reimagined the delivery of career and student support services through a framework that envisions preparing students for future worlds of work. The emergent policy framework has transformed organisational structures, human resources, and connections between student support practices and curriculum design. This transformation has generated new intersections of practice and is challenging institutional constructs of expertise. This case study provides transferrable learnings for broader considerations of higher education policy and practice as employability becomes the core driver of student success, and explores layered discourses of policymaking across an institution. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper examines institutional governance of the public university in China, investigating the extent to which government has sponsored the autonomy of universities since the inception of the opening up reforms of 1978. The paper sets out to explain how the party governance system of China is interconnected with aspects of the university’s governance, little commented upon in academic literature outside of China. In particular, it explores how the Presidential Accountability System under the leadership of the University Committee of Communist Party (UCCP) operates. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

The purpose of the paper is to propose the service-dominant logic in marketing as a framework for analysing the value co-creation process in the higher education sector and present the results of a quantitative study (a survey) conducted among business students from four Polish public universities. The results of the study led to identification of 40 factors of importance, later classified into seven value types expected by business students from their universities: functional, relational, intrinsic, epistemic, conditional, extrinsic and emotional value, with the first three types of value being the most important from students’ perspective. These findings lead to several managerial implications regarding the teaching methods and academic curriculum design, which are presented in the final section of the paper. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Distributed leadership has been explored internationally as a leadership model that will promote and advance excellence in learning and teaching in higher education. This paper presents an assessment of how effectively distributed leadership was enabled at five Australian institutions implementing a collaborative teaching quality development scheme called the Peer Assisted Teaching Scheme. The Scheme brings together expertise from teams of academics, coordinators, and institutional learning and teaching portfolio holders to the shared goal of enhancing learning and teaching quality. A distributed leadership benchmarking tool was used to assess the Scheme’s effectiveness, and we found that (i) the Scheme is highly consistent with the distributed leadership benchmarks, and that (ii) the benchmarking tool is easily used in assessing the alignment (or otherwise) of teaching and learning quality initiatives with distributed leadership benchmarks. This paper will be of interest to those seeking to assess implementations of distributed leadership to improve teaching quality and leadership capacity. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

The objectives of this paper were to explore the existing status of agricultural higher education in India, application of marketing concepts in similar institutions and to find the most appropriate marketing concept to make agricultural higher education more competitive. Extensive searches of relevant agricultural education, business management and higher educational data bases were made. It was found that agricultural higher education in India is stagnant and is facing an identity crisis among its stakeholders. Marketing theories and concepts which are now being applied in higher education across the globe have not been thought of in the context of agriculture education. A review of the literature suggested that considering the objectives, the multiplicity of stakeholders and the nature of public-funded agricultural education, marketing orientation would be most appropriate. Based on the experiences of similar institutions, the paper suggests a three-level strategy for the implementation of marketing orientation in institutions of agricultural higher education. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The unbundling of the higher education sector has led to an increase in the number of academic tribes. One such tribe is that of the 'instructor'. This paper examines how instructors at a university in Trinidad and Tobago are conceptualised at the institutional and individual level. Three data sources were examined: a document review of role descriptions as found in job adverts; quantitative self-perception data and qualitative data on perceptions of job roles. Analysis of the data shows that instructors undertake many of the same roles as lecturers but that this is not recognised in institutional documentation. This local analysis finds that instructors form an academic tribe whose activities appear to be hidden in plain sight. Such a position is likely to have managerial and/or policy implications leading to a re-examination of 'teaching-only' positions which may, in turn, result in a move back towards a re-bundled academic identity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Women constitute just over one fifth of full professors in UK higher education and whilst work has emerged in recent years on professors as leaders, there has been comparatively little research about how this under-represented cadre define and practise their role as intellectual leaders. This paper seeks to analyse how women see their role as full professors through autobiographical accounts of their intellectual and career histories via interviews with women professors, and a small comparison group of male professors. A range of freedoms and responsibilities connected with the professorial role are identified along with personal qualities considered central to success. Both female and male professors understand their role principally in terms of research leadership, but women are more likely to emphasise the importance of academic citizenship, especially mentoring, compared to their male counterparts, an obligation that weighs especially heavily on women working in science, technology, engineering and mathematics areas. While these findings are indicative of the continuing effect of so-called 'academic housework' in holding back the academic careers of women, they are also a positive indicator of a commitment to an all-round role as an intellectual leader. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

An ongoing debate in the literature on the efficiency of higher education institutions concerns the indicator for research output for use in empirical analysis. While several studies have chosen to use the number of publications as this indicator, others rely on the amount of research grants. The present study investigates whether both measures lead to a similar assessment of universities. In addition, the number of publications belonging to the 10% and 1% most frequently cited papers in the corresponding subject category and publication year are evaluated. We show that there is a high correlation of efficiency values between the estimations using these indicators. This correlation is slightly higher when the efficiency values result from a data envelopment analysis than when they are determined with a stochastic frontier analysis. The results of this study provide helpful guidelines for researchers evaluating the efficiency of universities and are valueable for decision-makers in science policy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper reports on research conducted to understand key factors impacting the recruitment and selection of senior academic leaders in Australian universities. A key finding emerging from this research was an increasing reliance on executive search firms when recruiting senior academic leaders. This reliance is driven by a range of factors including an ageing and contracting pool of potential academic leaders, growing competition domestically and internationally and the declining attractiveness of academia as a sustainable career in the context of increased casualisation of the academic workforce. Concurrently, workforce planning and succession planning have not been a high priority for many universities. As a result, Australian universities are finding it increasingly difficult to recruit senior academic leaders without the use of executive search firms. These findings have signifi- cant implications for the higher education sector in Australia and warrant further research. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

For more than 15 years, Vietnam has worked to develop a quality assurance (QA) system as part of its effort to reform higher education. The government's effort seeks to respond to widespread criticism over the quality of training in higher education. The appropriation of western QA mechanisms and the effectiveness of the QA system as it has been implemented, however, is still viewed with scepticism. This paper reports on a study of academics and QA practitioners' perceptions of quality assurance. Documentation and in-depth interviews were used in the study. The findings show that QA remains a new concept in the country, which appears to have promoted a compliance-driven approach to mandated policies rather than a system that promotes academics' engagement in continuous improvement. Moreover, the appropriated mechanism may be seen as contradictory to the values respected by academics and rooted in a Confucian society. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The present affiliation policy regime of Ghana's higher education system has existed for more than two decades. However, empirical studies to examine the policy rhetoric and reality with regard to building quality assurance capacity in mentored institutions appear non-existent. This paper is based on an illustrative qualitative case study undertaken to examine the achievements and challenges of implementing the policy to build internal quality assurance capacities in mentored institutions. The study was guided by Institutional Theory using 12 key informant in-depth interviews and document reviews as data collection sources. The findings indicate a minimal achievement of the policy intent on internal quality assurance capacity building due to key implementation challenges such as a tripartite relationship structure; increasing cost on mentored institutions and increasing workload on mentor institutions. The study concludes that the gap between the policy rhetoric and reality in the studied mentored institutions appears undesirable and requires stakeholders' attention. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Absolute poverty levels are declining around the world but, measured by income and GDP per capita over time, inequality is getting worse between and within many countries. How is this possible when higher education is celebrated as a vehicle for economic success and when the massification and digitisation of higher education means it is available to more people, in more places, than ever? This paper explores these questions with reference to three discourses: on development and global inequality; on the purpose and responsibilities of higher education; and on the disruptive potential of online learning. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

International alumni affairs is a relatively new addition to the landscape of higher education, particularly outside the elite sphere of the Ivy League and Oxbridge. These privileged institutions have seen comparatively high numbers of international students enrol for many years and have gradually developed a formalised alumni presence in any number of countries worldwide. This paper analyses the current public or community service operations of international alumni clubs representing American colleges and universities. An exploratory document analysis will produce an initial typology of service-oriented activity, and in select institutional cases will also evaluate to what extent the priorities of independent alumni clubs align with the institutional priorities of the home institution. Attention is paid to the sustainability of these service-oriented efforts, relevance to the local environment, and direct support of university faculty, staff and students. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The transformation that Irish higher education (HE) has undergone since the mid-2000s has been particularly rapid and unidirectional. Following the Global Financial Crisis, the Irish Government sought to take control of tertiary education in an attempt to shield the country from future economic shocks. This paper succinctly discusses the circumstances leading to the current policy position and what these changes have meant for Irish HE. A postulation that neoliberalism will inevitably deepen further within Irish HE will be explored through the lens of Postcolonial theory. In conclusion, I will show that the application of this theoretical stance may succeed in buffering many of the effects of neoliberalism to ensure ample space in HE for all subject areas and disciplines. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Within the ongoing debate on the roles and tensions between teaching and research in higher education, this paper explores the extent to which the pedagogical case study method can contribute to bridge the gap between teaching and research. Based on an initial survey on 1,057 university academics, the results reveal the existence of five major groups of academics with varying degrees of link between the two topics and demonstrate the variations in the contributions that pedagogical case studies contribute to classroom teaching and to scholarly research for each subgroup. The implications for higher education at both the institutional level and the personal academic level are then explored. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In 2012, government changes to higher education shifted Australia to a demand driven funding model. The consequential increase in student numbers, along with greater focus on retention and student satisfaction, resulted in rising customer expectations. There are now strategic imperatives to change administrative cultures to focus on delivering service excellence. This study analyses customer service behaviours of student administration staff at one Australian university. Using a conceptual framework of motivations, attitudes, perceptions and skills towards customer service, this small-scale study suggests that staff are intrinsically motivated and have largely positive attitudes towards their student customers. A gap was identified between individuals' perceptions of their customer service delivery compared with that of colleagues, while staff learn informally from their supervisors and colleagues. Finally, this paper explores how universities might develop and embed a workforce that is student-centric, delivering outstanding customer service, while at the same time upholding governance and compliance requirements. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Strategic planning was introduced to Australian universities as part of the Commonwealth Government higher education reforms of 1988. The 'Dawkins Reforms' implemented extensive structural reform, changed executive leadership roles and responsibilities, commenced the 'managerialisation' of the Australian university sector, introduced the Higher Education Contribution Scheme and facilitated the transformation of Australian universities from collegial academies to modern, 'enterprise' universities. There is an abundance of published marketing material celebrating 'effective' strategic planning outcomes in the myriad of strategic plans published by Australian universities. Yet, a recent study indicates that strategic planning remains a contested internal leadership function in Australian universities almost 30 years after traditional academic planning was replaced with commercially-focused strategic planning. This paper will review the effectiveness of strategic planning practices in Australian universities guided by the rhetorical question: 'how good are we and how do we know?' [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The sociologist, Max Weber (1864-1920), suggested that few could withstand the frustrations of academic life. As the strategic management of human resources begins to differentiate higher education institutions (HEIs) in league tables, the costs of voluntary staff turnover (attrition) become more significant. In this paper, we consider links between induction (orientation) and retention for academic staff. We report on a qualitative study of thirty academic staff in five United Kingdom HEIs who were recruited on the basis of their professional experience. Their practice-based knowledge lends our participants particular insight into their HEI induction experience which, where found wanting, led in several cases to resignation. We analyse the induction experiences of our participants to glean explanations for these perceived shortcomings. Since induction interventions are thought to lead to improved retention, we recommend policy and practice changes to induction, which may benefit all academic staff. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Most Australian universities have among their goals to increase the number of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander students at their institutions. In the Australian higher education context, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander students are seriously under-represented, particularly in business education compared to other disciplines. An understanding of why a larger proportion of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander students do not choose to study a discipline that provides promising employment opportunities, is fundamental to improving the status quo. This paper reviews the literature to identify key barriers to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander students’ participation and engagement in business education. Apart from multiple general barriers to participation in higher education, factors specific to business as a profession and as an academic discipline are also considered. The paper then discusses a number of strategies Australian educational institutions could pursue when seeking to increase participation and engagement of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander students in business. Drawing on the review, the paper concludes with recommendations for higher education institutional policy to further improve Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander student participation and engagement in business studies. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

The starting point of this paper is the question: Which issues do students think are important when choosing a higher education institution, and how are they related to the factors taken into consideration in ranking institutions? The aim is to identify and rank the parameters students perceive as important when choosing their place of education. The paper is based on a qualitative pre-study and a quantitative main study in which the authors examine what students perceive as important in business school rankings. Our findings show that, by taking the students’ perspective into account, one can see that some of the parameters used in rankings are of less importance to the students: for example, rankings that over-emphasise research. Second, we identify the parameters that could be included in business school rankings to make them more relevant to students: for example, paying more attention to learning outputs in rankings. Our findings highlight the importance of taking individual stakeholders into account in the rankings and understanding how rankings could be made more relevant and valuable for the range of stakeholders. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

The much-discussed potential of ‘technology-enhanced learning’ is not always apparent in the day-to-day use of digital technology throughout higher education. Against this background, the present paper considers the digital devices and resources that students engage most frequently with during their university studies, what these technologies are being used for, and perceptions of ‘usefulness’ attached to these uses. The paper draws upon data gathered from a survey of undergraduate students (n = 1658) from two Australian universities. Having explored a variety of factors shaping student engagement with digital technology within these university settings, the paper considers how ongoing discussions about digital technology and higher education might better balance enthusiasms for the ‘state of the art’ (i.e. what we knowmightbe achieved through technology-enabled learning) with an acknowledgement of the ‘state of the actual’ (i.e. the realities of technology use within contemporary university contexts). [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

The higher education policy of the previous Australian government aimed to achieve an internationally competitive higher education sector while expanding access opportunities to all Australians. This policy agenda closely reflects global trends that focus on achieving both quality and equity objectives. In this paper, the formulation and implementation of the policy are examined according to the policy cycle approach, drawing on additional theories and analytic frameworks as applicable. The analysis explores why such an ambitious policy approach was taken, how it was implemented and factors affecting its achievability. Indicators suggest the policy was not delivered successfully within the term of the Labor administration. It also highlights an ongoing policy trend to unify the higher education sector, despite evident divisions within the sector and between levels of government administration. The paper concludes with recommendations to diversify the system so that the equity and quality policy agendas can be implemented concurrently. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Higher education institutions in the United States and the United Kingdom increasingly require prospective students to disclose past criminal history on admissions applications. However, a social movement aimed at improving opportunities for people with criminal records may force higher education to reconsider this practice. This paper offers a descriptive comparative analysis of admissions policies for people with criminal records in the US and UK by exploring policy contexts, written policies and admissions data. For the first time, admissions data were collected from a sample of UK universities, finding that while thousands of applicants with criminal records apply to universities, only a small percentage are rejected solely on the basis of their convictions. In addition, variation in the tone and scope of policies appears to reflect the variation in national criminal records laws between the US and UK. These, and other findings, have implications for the continued use of these policies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Student attrition remains a persistent problem within the Australian higher education sector. Contributing factors include financial, reputational and quality issues, which can pose significant risks for a university’s sustainability. Institutional culture is fundamental to decisions student make about withdrawing or remaining in higher education. Therefore, student retention requires a sustained, deeply embedded commitment from all parts of the institution, placing student experience at the forefront of all activities in the student lifecycle. Applying a lifecycle approach to the way in which institutions think about student retention benefits students by providing comprehensive and consistent support. Given that less is known about how professional staff contribute to student academic learning journeys as part of whole of institution responses to student retention, this paper focusses on the contributions that professional staff make within the student lifecycle and how they can most readily map their contributions to student retention and success. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Change initiatives in higher education are frequently guided by an institutional change management program which provides employees with a framework and set of skills to better understand problems and facilitate change at the organisational level. In this paper, we explore employee perceptions of Six Sigma as a tool for facilitating change at one public institution of higher education in the southeast United States. Unlike previous research studies that focused on specific results of change initiatives using Six Sigma, our research team considered how individuals, trained in the implementation of Six Sigma techniques and strategies, viewed the potential of the Six Sigma model to enact and sustain change initiatives in a higher education setting. In this case study, we describe Six Sigma as a change management program in higher education based on Lewin’s Three-Phase Model of Change. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Much of the existing literature on student engagement focuses on what happens within the higher education environment or what the institution has direct control over, restricting understanding of how issues outside of the institution affect engagement. This paper argues that efforts to improve student engagement should be broadened to incorporate issues relating to the family. It employed a case study design in order to develop a broad and more in-depth understanding of how family influences the amount of time and effort students invest in their learning in a large public university in Ghana. It was established that engagement is influenced by family expectation, financial and social support, as well as monitoring of students’ academic performance. The unique contribution of the study is that it broadens current understandings of engagement because it adds an aspect that has not been highlighted in current work on engagement, making a case for institutions to work more with families to get a broader understanding of challenges students face in order to provide comprehensive support. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

An online survey of workload activities was circulated to academics across Australia seeking estimates for the time to undertake a range of academic-related tasks associated with teaching, research and service. This article summarises the most important findings from the teaching data of the 2059 respondents. This detail of workload data has not been reported before across the Australian university sector. The findings showing that most academics work more than 50 h per week are consistent with previous studies. Although the estimates of the individuals varied greatly, statistical inquiry indicated the median time required does not vary by experience and online teaching generally requires more preparation time than on-campus teaching. The paper proposes this methodology as a credible means to derive realistic time-based standards for other aspects of academic work and will assist university managers by providing an external benchmark upon which to develop local academic workload models. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper considers the case for reform of management structures in UK universities and offers proposals for change. The model of top-down, performance-led management that characterises many institutions is both outmoded and ill-suited to the challenges of an increasingly turbulent higher education sector. Drawing on the experiences of a university that introduced a new scheme of performance management, I explore alternative approaches to leadership and management, collaborative or partnership working designed to improve employee voice and the need to re-evaluate approaches to Human Resource Management. I conclude with a five-point model for change. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper explores student mobility among Irish higher education students. It specifically focuses on the profile of ‘stayers’, that is, students who have no plans to study abroad, thus addressing an underexplored topic in existing literature on student mobility. The article aims to identify factors that impact on students’ decisions not to pursue study abroad. Drawing on a national survey of students, Eurostudent V, the findings demonstrate that immobility is predicted by mother’s level of education and family income, showing the salience of socio-economic factors. Age and language proficiency are also visible factors, with the main obstacles to mobility being finances, language barriers and not wanting to separate from family and friends. Trends are also visible in the education institution a student is enrolled in, with those in institutes of technology more likely to be immobile than those in universities. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

While several studies have examined the impact of expenditures on graduation rates in higher education institutions, historically Black colleges and universities have strong government dependencies that suggest that these links might be different than for other universities. This paper investigates these links by estimating the production function of a subset of a large panel of 4-year institutions and uses a Chow test to find structural differences in production functions of Black universities and other universities. The analysis finds significant structural differences, notably that administrative expenditures have a significantly negative impact on graduation rates at Black universities. The findings suggest that the need to examine administrative frameworks and to diversify resource streams at Black universities is pressing. Using resource dependence theory, this paper concludes with a discussion about how these universities might mitigate the negative effects of government resource dependence. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Because there is close cooperation on quality assurance in the Scandinavian countries, one would expect there to be convergence of quality assurance policies and practices in Scandinavian higher education. Few studies have analysed these quality assurance policies and practices from a comparative viewpoint. Based on empirical evidence produced in connection with studies of recent quality reforms in Scandinavia and an approach based on linking diffusion and translation theories with institutionalist perspectives focusing on path dependency, the paper contributes to the current debate on Scandinavian quality assurance. The debate is compelling with regard to the Swedish case in particular, with its ‘one size fits all’ approach and exclusive focus on outcomes which has been heavily criticised by the higher education institutions and has turned out to be controversial from the European viewpoint. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Researchers in the field of teaching and learning in higher education have identified concerns with top-down leadership models. Distributed (or shared) leadership approaches may provide more successful engagement with institutional change agendas, and provide more options to reward and recognise staff leading teaching and learning initiatives. Through empirical research, Jones and colleagues have conceptualised the key criteria, dimensions and values that constitute effective distributed leadership in the Action Self-Enabling Reflective Tool (ASERT), together with benchmarks through which action taken to enable distributed leadership can be evaluated. Opportunities for distributed leadership were incorporated into the design of an Australian university’s professional recognition scheme for university educators. Through analysis of this case study in the context of the ASERT attributes and the benchmarks for distributed leadership, this paper explores the potential for systematic professional recognition of university educators to build institutional leadership capacity in the context of university teaching and learning. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Since the turn of the millennium, interest in collaborative and distributed conceptualisations of leadership has gathered momentum, particularly in education. During the same period, higher education institutions have been embedded in practices shaped by New Public Management. The resultant reconfiguration of structural arrangements within institutions has led to the existence of two staff groups, professional and academic. The former is often aligned to the rise in managerial practices over claimed academic collegial practices, thus creating conditions for a possible dualistic positioning with the two groups. Distributed leadership and collaboration are claimed to be approaches that overcome this dualism, yet they may also be susceptible to maintaining this dual state and subtly reaffirm embedded interests and structures. As an alternative, a leadership-as-practice approach ontologically shifts the way in which sense is made of organisations. The practice-based model for understanding organisations presented in this paper offers a theoretical and applied framework that incorporates and also goes beyond collaborative and distributed leadership due to its association with practice theory. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

The higher education sector operates in an increasingly complex global environment that is placing it under considerable stress and resulting in widespread change to the operating context and leadership of higher education institutions. The outcome has been the increased likelihood of conflict between academics and senior leaders, presaging the need for more engaged and broader approach to leadership. Based on empirical research into the Australian university sector, this paper contends that a distributed leadership (DL) approach is appropriate for the higher education sector and offers value for supporting effective change. In acknowledging the paradigm change needed to implement a DL approach successfully, the authors present a process model to underpin the shift from a leader-centric to a DL approach. The Sustainable Enabling and Evaluating Reflective DL change process model presents a synthesis of how a systemic change to DL in higher education can occur. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Higher education is under pressure to advance from a singular focus on assessment of outputs (measurements) to encompass the impact (influence) of initiatives across all aspects of academic endeavour (research, learning and teaching, and leadership). This paper focuses on the implications of this shift for leadership in higher education. Demonstrating the impact of leadership in higher education requires taking a step beyond measuring the skills, behaviours, and achievements of individual leaders to demonstrating how universities can evaluate the impact of actions taken to build leadership capacity across the institution. The authors extend the outcome of empirical research into how a distributed leadership approach can be enabled and evaluated in Australian higher education – to analyse the effectiveness of these processes for both measuring output and assessing the impact and influence of practice. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

While the ascendancy of market behaviours in public research universities is well documented, the extent to which universities have transformed themselves into industry-like organisations has been called into question. So to what extent are universities displaying transformation in their core values? The concept of institutional logics, with its focus on the relationship between organisational design and underlying beliefs and values, shows potential to address this question. Yet study of institutional logics at the campus level has to date been limited. This paper presents an empirical analysis of three US research universities’ organising principles as expressed in key mission and planning documents over a 15-year period. Of the multiple strategies at play in the universities’ responses to potentially competing values, the creation of new, hybrid logics is of particular interest. The concept of hybrid logics suggests a promising framework for understanding how universities can and do manage tensions in their mission. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Australian higher education is currently entering a new phase of growth. Within the remit of this expansion is an express commitment to widen participation in higher education among under-represented groups – in particular those from low socioeconomic backgrounds. This paper argues that one key mechanism for achieving this goal should be the re-evaluation of university selection processes. The paper explores outcomes of an aptitude test pilot study, focusing on issues of access and equity in selection to university. The results show that, in general, those who gain access to university on the basis of results in the aptitude test have different characteristics than are found in the general university population – in particular, they are more likely to come from a low socioeconomic background. The outcomes of the pilot are important in demonstrating how equity in access to higher education can be improved through the use of supplementary selection metrics. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The paper examines the inherent strengths and weaknesses of the higher education system in the United Arab Emirates (UAE). Using a literature review, three elements were examined: its development and structure, quality, and research capacity. The findings reveal that the UAE’s higher education sector has witnessed remarkable growth since 1997, guided by the state’s policy commitment, and few restrictions on foreign universities opening branches in the UAE. This situation has led to substantial growth in the supply of higher education opportunities for the Emirati and expatriate population. Despite the UAE having achieved a high ranking for ‘quality indicators’ on the global level in the World Economic Forum’s Competitiveness Reports, the quality of graduates, education, and research engagement is still debatable. Significant efforts are needed to ensure that these critical issues, as well as the understudied expansion of higher education institutions, are being addressed to erase the misalignment with the UAE’s strategic goals. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

One aspect of the internationalisation of higher education in Australia has been a large growth in the number of international students enrolled in universities. While this has brought a number of benefits to the institutions, the students themselves report varying levels of satisfaction with their experience. One area which can contribute to satisfaction levels is provision of student support services. This paper describes a study which found that international students and support service providers, while sharing perspectives in some respects, had differing views about student service delivery. The paper argues that providers of services for international students need to be more aligned to students' expectations of service provision, and more centred on students' actual needs, if they are to increase students' levels of satisfaction with their international experience. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Concerns regarding the nomenclature of university administration in Australia and the UK have featured in the higher education literature for over a decade. In response, a significant nomenclature shift is occurring, with Australian universities replacing the term ‘General Staff’ to describe all administrative and technical staff, in favour of ‘Professional Staff’. Following nomenclature trends in the UK, this change has been in gestation for some time having been championed by individuals, groups, professional associations and more recently a national staff union. This paper presents the findings of a doctoral study regarding the nomenclature preferences of 194 Australian university research support staff. It provides insight into the motivations behind the nomenclature shift, with an emphasis on the dissatisfaction expressed for the term ‘Non-Academic Staff’. Drawing on these findings, this paper suggests an aspirational framework for university professional staff in the form of a ‘nomenclature ladder’ for sector-wide application. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

There are increasing demands for higher levels of data assurance in higher education. This paper explores some of the drivers for this trend, and then explains what stakeholders mean by the concept of data assurance, since this has not been well defined previously. The paper captures insights from existing literature, stakeholders, auditors, and the university case experience of the authors to produce a logical model of data assurance. The model seeks to make the best use of scarce resources to deliver the stakeholders' assurance expectations, reducing redundancy and minimising the risks of omission. A logical and layered approach to the problem best delivers these outcomes. The paper concludes with a consideration of implementation issues, and demonstrates how traditional differences between academics and administrators in this difficult area may be addressed. While the paper is located in the English context, the principles will have wider applicability under other regulatory regimes. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Although middle-level academic managers really need training in order to perform their roles adequately in the very changing context of higher education, little formal training is provided, particularly in less developed countries. This paper identifies the training needs of Heads of Department in a newly established university in Vietnam as a first step in preparing a professional development program for them that might fill this gap. Through document analysis and interviews with 24 participants, the study finds that the Heads of Department have the most critical training needs in generic management knowledge and skills, the roles of the Heads of Department, English language proficiency, research methods skills and practice. They also have a need to improve their communication and planning skills. These results both confirm and contradict previous studies on Department Heads' training needs from developed Western universities. The paper concludes that the Department Heads' training needs are both context-based and competencies-biased. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In recent years, UK universities have become increasingly concerned with performance management. This trend reflects both growing competition and marketisation within higher education, and the increasing requirements for accountability. In response, institutions have begun to explore the application of formal methodologies for performance management, initially developed in business and industry. One such approach is the Balanced Scorecard. Based on a qualitative study of the application of the Balanced Scorecard in four UK universities and interviews with senior managers, the paper looks at the impact of this technique on the formation, monitoring and evaluation of strategy and policy; issues of motivation, implementation and format are also considered. The paper provides an insight into the application of new management techniques within higher education and identifies key issues to be addressed within the process. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Much emphasis is currently placed on the impact of marketisation on higher education and the damage it has caused to forms of academic and student identity. Evident is a concern that much of value in these identities has been lost amidst the pressure of audit, performance indicators and consumerism. This paper explores the changes to these identities to gauge how appropriate the 'loss' thesis is as a diagnosis of current challenges. In exploring these issues, the paper argues that, while the past is troubling, the reasons for this trouble have as much to do with concerns over democratic accountability as they do with external political interference. The paper concludes by using this ideological tension to characterise the university as 'mediating publicness', a characterisation that may provide an alternative to current concerns over loss, doubt and institutional inertia. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper questions the value of the current trend towards mandating formal teaching accreditation in higher education and argues that the 'just-in-time' nature of short training programmes coupled with on-going occasional mentoring is likely to result in more productive professional development for academic teachers. Specifically, the paper considers the increasing use of the graduate certificate as a means to improve practice despite the sparseness and contradictory nature of evidential data (as opposed to surveys of perceptions) supporting their efficacy as instruments of professional development. Finally the paper presents a case for less formal training and development, arguing that because universities have changed substantially in response to demands for greater access in terms of a much wider intake; in response to the increasing managerial emphasis on productivity and in response to the maelstrom of unmediated communication that has characterised the early part of the twenty-first century, a more pragmatic approach to academic development is required. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper addresses the contemporary development and reform challenges in tertiary education in Malaysia in both national and global contexts. The critical role exercised by the Malaysian Qualifications Agency in driving strategic change in higher education cultures, both in public and private universities is described and analysed. The paper examines the adoption, generation and institutionalisation of global standards of practice in teaching and learning and in other fundamental dimensions of the provision of quality education. Contending ideas, rationales and models of universities and the contributions this institution makes to educational provisions are examined. The analyses are informed by the development reforms in other sectors of government and society within the integrated framework of the nation's strategic vision of development - Vision 2020. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia has invested heavily in its social sector, especially in setting up new schools and universities. The aim of the development is to prepare the Kingdom for a future that is not dependent on its oil resources which are predicted to run out in less than a hundred years. Driven by the country's monarch, King Abdullah, many of the changes in the higher education sector are top-down management decisions that are meeting some resistance in their implementation. This paper considers some causes of the perceived barriers to implementation of Saudi Arabia's national higher education policies, with a specific focus on the dissemination and implementation of the National Qualifications Framework for post secondary education in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia devised by the National Commission for Academic Accreditation & Assessment. The paper proposes a networked management system as a possible solution to overcome the barriers. Finally, it argues that while there are a number of factors that may slow down the Kingdom's development of its higher education sector, they are unlikely to derail it completely. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Drawing on various sources of official discourse and public commentary pertaining to the recent implementation of two large-scale strategies aimed at internationalising student and academic staff populations within Japanese higher education institutions, this paper will present a number of broad multifaceted perspectives addressing those issues which may hinder the success of the two strategies. Announced in 2008 and 2009 respectively, the '300,000 international students plan' and the 'Global 30' Project aim to enable 30 select universities to attract 300,000 international students to Japan by 2020. The 30 institutions, known as centres for internationalisation will each strive to recruit between 3000 and 8000 international students from across the globe. However, since the late 19th century Japanese attempts at the importation of ethnolinguistic diversity into the education system have been greeted with accusations of insincerity and the masking of a predominantly self-serving nationalistic agenda. The current paper will also seek to assess whether the self-serving nationalistic argument is still valid in relation to contemporary internationalisation efforts. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper discusses responses provided by 31 Pro Vice-Chancellors (PVCs) and Deputy Vice-Chancellors (DVCs) who were part of a larger study of more than 500 higher education leaders in roles ranging from DVC to head of programme in 20 Australian universities. Using both quantitative and qualitative data the paper gives an insider's perspective on what the roles of DVC and PVC are like at the daily level. It identifies the key focus of the roles, highlights the criteria these leaders use to judge that they are effectively performing them and outlines the relative impact of different influences on their work. It then discusses their views on what being in such a role is like, including its key satisfactions and challenges; and identifies the capabilities seen to be central to managing in such a context. Finally, it provides insights into how such leaders have gone about learning their role. The paper indicates how these findings can be used to address the current succession crisis for leaders in such critical roles. It shows how the data generated can be used to build leadership from within by identifying leaders with potential early on in their career, how the findings can be used to give selection processes more focus and how leadership development programmes can best be shaped to be effective. Having a high level of emotional intelligence is identified as a key ingredient in the successful delivery of such roles. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]