Search

While the context is shaped by the COVID-19 pandemic, the major themes of the Special Issue link directly to fundamental moral questions of the purpose and goals of tertiary education. In presenting the Special Issue, we emphasise the diversity of the world's higher education systems, cultures and practices, to expand our collective imagination of what tertiary education is and could be. How nations assert their national and regional cultures in adapting introduced models of higher education is an emerging topic of some urgency, given the continuing role of Western higher education in neo-colonialism. [Extracted from the article]

Qatar's transition from a hydrocarbon-based to a knowledge-based economy spurred the development of Education City, which houses several International Branch Campuses and one home-grown university, Hamad bin Khalifa University. Through the case study of EC, this paper seeks to improve our understanding of higher education policy borrowing and the complex process of indigenisation. Using secondary data from prior studies, it offers a discussion on the key stages and challenges in Qatar's effort to indigenise higher education and outlines areas for further research. This paper uses Phillips and Ochs four-stage Model of Policy Borrowing in Education, as a guiding conceptual model. The paper is constructed as follows: first, a discussion on international branch campuses in Education City; second, outlining the conceptual model; third, a discussion on Education City through the conceptual model; and finally, the case of the home-grown university, Hamad bin Khalifa University. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper revisits the issue of institutional diversity in Australian higher education, taking account of international trends and research on the subject. Drawing on empirical studies over the last three decades, I adopt a within-country case study approach to analysing institutional diversity in the Australian higher education policy context and consider post-COVID systemic implications. Catalysts for this analysis include revisions to the Australian provider category standards, government policy shifts influencing the undergraduate curriculum, and the systemic impact of a global pandemic. The paper concludes with three propositions, arguing that institutional diversity will be more important than ever to meet the diverse needs of students and the labour market; an ecosystemic approach to post-secondary education will be a key enabler of sector diversity; and a paradigm shift, enabled by such drivers as government policy and proactive institutional leadership, will be essential to achieve enhanced institutional diversity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper provides a critical account of the role of universities in the development of innovation and technology in Hong Kong.To do so, the paper examines the political economy of Hong Kong's innovation and technology development. It outlines a finance-led regime, under which the vision of long-term innovation initiatives is transformed into short-term finance events, and the development of an entrepreneurial culture in society and in universities is neglected. The paper also suggests that the current research funding system and the rise of managerialism in the higher education sector restrict the development of academic entrepreneurship, though universities play a significant role in the innovation system. The paper closes by examining the recent changes in higher education policy and governance, the intensification of integration with mainland China and their implications for prospects of advocating a culture of innovation and promoting innovation and technology in Hong Kong. [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]

In roughly a decade, university rankings gained the foreground in the policy arena for higher education and their influence is not going to decrease. However, several methodological shortcomings and warnings about the unintended consequences for national higher education systems have been raised. Against this background, this paper stresses that the individual recipients of information contained in university rankings are currently overlooked. Indeed, university rankings are addressed to a generic recipient, but actually, there are multiple audiences for rankings, and each of these audiences has different needs and each one attributes a different value to information attached to rankings. Referring to a theoretical tool borrowed from bioethics, this paper highlights that the ranking game involves a variety of recipients and that the current setting of the ranking panorama leaves room for gaps to emerge. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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]

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]

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]

The future of Malaysia as a high-income and competitive nation largely depends on its pool of highly skilled human capital. Hence, the issue of human capital development has taken centre stage in numerous reform agendas of Malaysia. This paper seeks to provide examples of policy initiatives aimed at facilitating the management of highly educated talent in Malaysia. It subsequently considers the role of higher education institutions, particularly the universities, as attractors, educators and retainers of intellectuals, in shaping talent. In conclusion, we argue that more significant underlying shortcomings of talent development are derived from the still transitional nature of the reforms and incomplete structural changes occurring in the national system, and that a change in mindset is the first necessary step towards nurturing and developing a human resource talent pool. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

The role and impact of diversity in higher education has permeated conversations about student access and achievement for many years. Language articulated by various courts suggests that higher education policies should reflect a broad conceptualisation of diversity beyond that of the magnitude and proportion of race and ethnicity, yet institutions struggle to measure diversity in a manner that effectively supports the management of diversity goals and meets the legal requirements for targeted strategies. Building on methodologies from biology and political science, this paper proposes a new way of conceptualising and measuring diversity that addresses the limitations of traditional diversity metrics and accounts for race and race-neutral attributes within a single model. Using data from over 1500 colleges and universities, the development of a composite diversity index is demonstrated as a strategy for meeting organisational need to account for and measure multiple diversity attributes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Between 2005 and 2013, student loan debt in the US increased at a rate of 13.3 per cent per annum. This rise in collegiate student debt has become the focus of any number of new proposals and policies at both the state and national levels. While considering broad policies to stem this rising tide are admirable, they do little to help a graduating high school student interested in minimising their debt level choose between competing institutions of higher learning. In this paper, we analyse the institutional characteristics that result in students assuming higher debt levels. We use a data set compiled from the 2011 Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System and supplement from a variety of sources with additional institutional characteristics such as location and weather to investigate this question. After controlling for the cost of attending the institution, we find that requiring higher standardised test scores on entrance exams and being located in less urban areas result in lower average debt by graduates. Additionally, we identify a non-linear relationship between the income levels of students’ families and the debt with which they graduate, with middle-income students and families being the most heavily burdened by debt. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

This article discusses the role of the media and academic experts in the configuration of educational policy in a neoliberal context. The analysis is based on the discourse on the public/private divide in higher education scrutinising the opinion columns of El Mercurio, a major Chilean newspaper. The authors identify the discursive disappearance of the public university and the reappearance of the 'public' dimension connected to the private sector. The discourse of a 'diverse and mixed' system is accomplished by two discursive devices: (a) Reference to (selected) global trends and (b) Scientific expertise in higher education. The economic and discursive power of El Mercurio enhances the discourses of opinion columnists on the public/private divide. As a result, the concept of the public takes a hybrid turn, detaching itself from the State as its exclusive owner and connecting it to the market. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A key attractor for many international students when choosing to study abroad is the prospect of gaining employment in the host country after graduating. From a university's perspective this becomes an important attraction issue for both maintaining and increasing the number of international students as well as improving graduate employability. A survey was utilised to explore employment intentions and outcomes of international graduate alumni from two Australian universities (n = 511 and n = 648). A comparative analysis between the universities has been undertaken in relation to this and rates of unemployment amongst graduates. The study has coined the term Two-step migration intender for international students/graduates and contributes to a gap in the research in relation to international graduate mobility, career intentions and employment outcomes. The findings have strategic implications for the promotion of Australian higher education to overseas markets and can also inform higher education policy and practice in terms of strategies for promoting international graduate employability. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Work Integrated Learning (WIL) is embraced in Australian higher education (HE) and is a feature of most Australian HE 'entry to profession' engineering education programs accredited by Engineers Australia. Accreditation guidelines articulate the need for curriculum-integrated engagement with professional practice (EPP) and encourage EPP in a separate workplace environment, e.g. WIL. This article reports on the analysis of semi-structured interviews with staff and student engineers from four Australian HE institutions with mandatory engineering WIL. Framed by a Bourdieusian theoretical perspective, the influence of capitals on student access to engineering WIL placements was investigated. The research found that students' capitals influenced access to engineering WIL placements. Policy and educational practice recommendations are made. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

While academic expatriation is a longstanding global phenomenon, Thailand has emerged in recent years as an increasingly popular destination for internationally mobile academics. The objective of this article is to identify current policy dispositions towards foreign academics at the national and institutional levels in Thailand. The article finds that within Thai higher education policy discourse, foreign academics are framed in three primary ways: as opportunities, as absent or unimportant, and as threats to Thailand. While foreign academics are often cast as experts who might accelerate the economic development of the nation and enhance the competitiveness of the Thai higher education sector, they may also be presented as threats to Thai culture, values and security. However, the most prevalent disposition found in this study was one of absence and marginality, suggesting a high degree of ambivalence toward foreign academics. The article concludes with implications for future researchers and policymakers to consider. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article explores the contribution of higher education to the development of numeracy and literacy competencies. To control for other post-schooling determinants of generic skills, the analysis is confined to adults aged 20–24 years who have completed or who are enrolled in tertiary studies. The quality of incoming students is controlled for by estimating the average PISA score attributable to this cohort using a truncated distribution approach. Average tertiary competencies are obtained for 31 countries from the OECD's Programme for the Assessment of Adult Competencies (PIAAC). The empirical findings are that the PISA scores account for most (70 per cent) of the international variation in PIAAC scores. Government expenditure on higher education is found to exert a small positive effect on PIAAC scores, at least for numeracy. The level of national research activity, as measured by research publications, has a small negative effect on PIAAC scores [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The role of mass media in education policy processes is increasingly complex, but research on its contribution is far from adequate. This study uses the higher education quality assurance policies issued in China at the beginning of this century to explore the roles played by mass media in the creation and implementation of education policies. Mass media's current influence on Chinese education policies mainly includes promoting policy agenda setting, enhancing policy legitimacy and monitoring the process of policy implementation. However, its role in constructing a platform for public discussion and improving policy design needs to be strengthened. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Long-established paradigms around intensifying global engagement, internationalism and ‘borderless-ness’ in the UK higher education (HE) sector are being challenged and disrupted by the nationalist drift of global political and socioeconomic forces. This article identifies the core policy themes facing UK international HE and reflects on how these are changing in response to the changing external climate (especially Brexit). It analyses how key stakeholders are responding to the challenges created by a fluid policy context, including increasing calls for greater policy alignment and a co-ordinated national international HE strategy. It also examines how UK institutions currently exercise their autonomy through their strategies, structures and practices, including how they create structures to support ‘global engagement’ and develop strategic partnerships, and how these might help them to transcend national policy concerns and weather global ‘storms’, or to proactively shape policy. Growing national policy divergence and competing policy priorities mean that enhanced co-ordination through a sector-level (and cross-national) body must precede, and facilitate, the development of any UK-wide international HE strategy. This must embrace institutional autonomy and mission diversity, recognise and value the full spectrum of international HE activities and provide sufficient funding to leverage the implementation of institutional strategies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article offers information on the promotion of national identity through higher education and graduate employment . It mentions the economic development of China and the government policy related to higher education in China. The author argues that the policy of the government to promote national identity has failed as a result of policy coordination, policy interpretations and implementation. The government that has rolled out policies to attract foreign students is also offered.

A public university was established in 2014 as a cornerstone of Ecuador’s sweeping higher education reforms. Four years later, Universidad Regional Amazónica Ikiam had developed internationally benchmarked teaching, research and community service missions within the Ecuadorian Amazon. The creation of Ikiam occurred during a period of broad international discourse on the importance to universities of academic excellence, innovation system impact, and regional relevance. This case study tests whether a top-down state-driven development model can establish a university on principles of excellence, impact and relevance. The creation of Ikiam is analysed qualitatively and the results are discussed in context with national and international policy settings for higher education and innovation. This study provides insights for low and middle-income countries to strengthen higher education and innovation systems through university creation. Internationally it provides practical insights for university master planning taskforces to build organisational strength and distinctiveness through excellence, impact and relevance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article draws on stories of success in higher education by mature-age students of diverse backgrounds to highlight some key implications for institutional support. We begin by reviewing the post-World War II background of mature-age study in Australian higher education to provide a context for presenting some major findings from a small, in-depth research project. We examine these findings to focus on the role of institutional support in the success of mature-age students, particularly given recent sectoral factors affecting their access and support. The study findings show students’ primary supports were families and friends. Participants all belonged to equity categories as designated by the Australian government, but many did not use institutional supports. Some lacked the confidence to approach staff; others were unaware support services existed or lacked the time to access them. The participants’ stories demonstrate the complex disadvantages experienced by mature-age students. They highlight universities’ need to ensure support services are ‘student-centred’ in order to ensure improved educational and equity outcomes for their mature-age student populations. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

The growth of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander participation in Australian higher education from 1959 to the present is notable statistically, but below population parity. Distinct patterns in government policy-making and programme development, inconsistent funding and political influences, together with Indigenous representation during the last 50 years have shaped the higher education participation of Australia’s Indigenous populations. In this article, the authors identify a constant ideological flux between welfare, equity and economic priorities in successive Australian government approaches impacting on equal opportunities for Indigenous Australians in higher education. Maintaining and increasing Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander participation in higher education requires a continued focus on targets for higher education enrolments, governance and working with Indigenous educators. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]