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Performance assessment is permeating increasingly diverse domains of higher education, even in areas previously perceived to be too complex and idiosyncratic to quantify. The UK's attempts to assess 'research impact' within the Research Excellence Framework (REF) are illustrative of this trend and are being closely monitored by several other countries. A fundamental rationale for employing narrative case studies to assess impact within REF, rather than taking a (less resource intensive) quantified approach, was that this would allow for the variation, complexity and idiosyncrasy inherent in research impact. This paper considers whether this promise of narrative flexibility has been realised, by analysing a combination of REF impact case study reports and interviews and focus group discussions with actors involved in case study production. Informed by this analysis, our central argument is that the very quality which allows narratives to govern is their ability to standardise performance (albeit whilst retaining a degree of flexibility). The paper proposes that REF impact case studies position narratives of impact as technologies of governance in ways that restrict the 'plot line' and belie the far more complex accounts held by those working to achieve research impact. This is partly because, as research impact becomes institutionalised within universities' measurement infrastructures, higher education institutions become impact gatekeepers, filtering out narratives that are deemed overly complex or insufficiently persuasive, while perpetuating particular approaches to recounting tales of impact that are deemed likely to perform well. Crucially, these narratives not only describe impact but actively construct it as an auditable phenomenon. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Post-pandemic, many universities are seeking ways to better engage students and support them to stay with and succeed in their studies. Immersive scheduling, whereby students complete units over shorter time periods than the traditional 12–15 week semester or trimester, may be a way to do this and improve academic outcomes at scale. This paper focuses on the impact of an immersive scheduling model at a public Australian university where higher education is being delivered over 6-week terms using active learning pedagogy. Student grades (N = 9,655) and unit feedback survey responses (N = 3,267) were collected from a suite of non-award pathways, sub-bachelor and Bachelor units offered in the immersive scheduling model in 2021 and the traditional trimester model in 2019. Results were compared across the two models for commencing, continuing, pathways, undergraduate, on-campus, online and mixed-mode students. Success rates improved in the immersive scheduling model compared to the traditional trimester model to a statistically significant degree for all cohorts, with particularly strong achievement enhancements observed for online students. These improvements exceeded results for a control group of units delivered in the traditional model in both years. Strong improvements in the pathways units, which were delivered using active learning pedagogy before and after the implementation of immersive scheduling, demonstrate that the more focused way of learning created through the model may be an important factor underpinning improved academic success. High levels of unit and teaching satisfaction were maintained in the immersively-scheduled units, indicating that the model supports high student satisfaction. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Due to the changing landscapes of higher education, a large body of research has studied how scholars make sense of academic identities and careers. Yet, little is known about how academics actually 'work' on their identities to navigate normative demands and complex career structures. This paper explores how scholars negotiate career scripts trough identity work. Drawing upon 35 interviews with early career academics in political science and history, the analysis discerns four patterns of identity talk through which academic identities are constructed: achievement talk (signalling achievement and competitiveness), authenticity talk (signalling genuineness and being true to self), loyalty talk (signalling loyalty and willingness of helping out), and personation talk (adjustment to privileged identities). Defining what to display and how to correctly embody its corresponding values, these patterns convey different ways in which scholars manage their identities according to the perceived rules of recognition. Identifying several contrasting understandings of what it means to act and to represent worth, the study shows that successful identity management requires a certain feel for the game of recognition. Involving the symbolic struggle of 'fitting in' and 'standing out,' strategies for identity work are shaped by scholars' social class background and gender. In demonstrating how the prevalence of project-based work accentuates the importance of identity performances on academic markets, the findings suggest that the concept of identity labour may open up new avenues of investigation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Several studies in higher education have attempted to study the impact of quality management practices on organisational innovation processes and outcomes in higher education institutions (HEIs). However, there is relatively limited research examining the impact of multidimensional quality management practices (QM-practices) on academics' innovative behaviour and performance. This paper aims to explore the relationship between QM-practices and academics' innovative work behaviour and examine how innovative behaviour affects academics' innovative work performance. A total of 586 responses were collected from public and private universities with self-accreditation status in Malaysia. The results indicated a significant and positive relationship between Social QM-practices and academics' innovative work behaviour. Also, a significant and positive relationship was found between innovative work behaviour and work performance. However, there is no direct impact between Social and Technical QM-practices on academic work performance. The relationship between Social QM-practices and work performance is indirectly established through innovative work behaviour. The findings signified the importance of innovative work behaviour on academic's work performance and highlighted the indirect impacts of Social QM-practices on innovative performance through innovative work behaviour in Malaysian HEIs. Efforts to improve Social QM-practices especially in promoting leadership for quality management, developing strategic vision, and providing effective educational support, as well as training may facilitate innovative work behaviour and enhance work performance at Malaysian HEIs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper proposes a new application of Stochastic Frontier Analysis (SFA) for estimating the student performance gap and how this can be used to assess changes of teaching quality at the individual unit-of-study level (module-level). Although there have been other examples in the literature that assess 'efficiency' in student outcomes, this is the first study that proposes the use of SFA specifically at the module level and with the goal of creating an aggregate measure of 'quality', thus avoiding the known issue of the statistical inconsistency of unit-specific SFA estimates. A case study is presented on how the approach can be applied in practice, with discussion on potential implementation issues. This paper is targeted to academics and policy makers that are interested in the quantitative assessment of student outcomes and specifically to those who want to assess how changes in module structure and/or delivery have affected said student outcomes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Due to global influence and local demand, Taiwan's higher education system has experienced great changes in policy agenda and system reform over the past few decades. After President Tsai took the presidential office in 2016, the Ministry of Education (MOE) shifted its focus towards universities' autonomy and social responsibility, which encouraged institutions to strengthen their partnerships and collaborations with other ASEAN countries. Based on this new ideological and political paradigm shift, three key national higher education projects, including the new cycle of self-accreditation policy, higher education sprout project, and new southbound policy, were implemented. Therefore, the aim of this paper is to present the current development of these three MOE initiatives since 2016, and analyze the paradigm shift of Taiwan higher education policymaking in terms of egalitarianism. Four major findings are addressed as follows. First, policy and politics mattered in the process of educational policy shift under a doctrine of egalitarianism; second, national accreditation continued to be used by university leaders for institutional effectiveness; third, global competitiveness in Taiwan higher education is declining gradually; fourth, the loss of Chinese students was not offset by the new Southbound program. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper is a response to Cotton, Miller and Kneale's 2017 paper on the current state of higher education research within UK universities. It seeks to contribute to the debate surrounding the inclusion of pedagogic research (PedR) via SoTL in the UK's Research Excellence Framework (REF) in the context of researchers who reside within a disciplinary context. The inclusion of PedR in the REF continues to be contentious, despite recommendations in the Stern Report which could make its inclusion more feasible. This paper focuses on PedR which is conducted, published and disseminated by academics situated within Life Science departments, rather than Schools of Education. The twenty-one teaching-focused academics in this study discussed their commitment to PedR integral to their academic identity, the challenges they faced in carrying out PedR, and their thoughts on REF 2014. Their opinions and conclusions give food for thought on decisions regarding inclusion of PedR in REF 2021. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Universities have responded to the expansion of higher education and restructuring of the labour market by redesigning curriculum to better emphasise transferable skills and embed pedagogies that contribute to graduate employability. However, the ways in which universities judge and share achievement still provides poor evidence of what students can do or the skills and personal attributes that inform job recruitment decisions. Furthermore, assessment provides little opportunity for students to develop the self-knowledge or evaluative judgement needed to portray their professional identity to different audiences. In this paper, we examine shortcomings of current approaches to assessment and propose four principles for redesign of 'assessment for distinctiveness' that recognises students' unique and complex achievements in ways that are relevant to employers, and enable students to understand and appropriately portray their achievements for different audiences. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Amidst the rapidly evolving Higher Education (HE) landscape, this paper provides a systematic review of Academic Development (AD) work, the roles and responsibilities of Academic Developers (ADs) in HE. Beginning from the perspective that HE institutions, as publicly funded organisations, have responsibility to contribute to the public good, more than 100 peer-reviewed papers (1995-2015) are interrogated under five themes. These are: a review of reviews, technology and AD work, their status and identity, assessment of AD work and impact, and the leadership roles of ADs and their impact on institutional leadership. Critical to the evolution of their work has been a more mainstream and public contribution. Their emerging responsibilities in collaboration with institutional leaders, as 'brokers' and 'bridge-builders' position them more strategically within institutions - with potential to be compromised in terms of their espoused values and dispositions while potentially more influential in shaping the futures of their organisations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In an international culture of performance-based funding systems for higher education institutions (HEIs), research productivity and output are essential for the ability of HEIs to continue. While many institutions have performance targets for the next performance assessment, few institutions have an operational strategy for how staff are to produce research publications. A transactional and systems approach to academic writing may be helpful in identifying how academics' structures and beliefs influence their writing productivity. This paper aims to provide an overview and analysis, using a transactional and systems approach, of a selection of theory-based writing programmes available for academics. The authors summarise the strengths and weaknesses of each these programmes and demonstrate the gap in academic writing programmes which currently exists, based on the transactional and systems approach. The paper provides recommendations in terms of strategic development to support academic to increase their research and scholarly output. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Considerable academic attention has been placed on analysing whether, and to what extent, socioeconomic background affects higher education participation. However, the use of socioeconomic status (SES) is problematic as it may be constructed from various data sources. Similar issues can be inherent in study design-related operationalisation decisions. This paper proposes a meta-method analysis to deconstruct the concept of SES and to investigate the study designs in 31 studies reporting on socioeconomic inequalities in Finland and New Zealand. The paper highlights the key operationalisation decisions undertaken and the diversity of methodological approaches, calling into question the within- and cross-country comparability of the findings. The review also produces an improved understanding of limitations and strengths of the existing knowledge based in the two case countries and suggests avenues for further research. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Findings from interviews with mid-career academics in English and Australian universities elucidate how academics interpret and navigate complex institutional contexts in shaping academic jobs. The paper argues that how they do this is a function of what they notice and respond to as well as the mode of reflexivity they employ. Three core areas are seen to affect academics sense of agency as they shape their own jobs: how they orient themselves to the world around them including the academic institution and department; their underlying goals and purposes as they seek to have a fulfilling role; and how they relate to structural conditions of the workplace. The paper argues that understanding academics' differing foci of awareness in these areas is helpful to institutional policies and strategies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The increasingly dynamic and complex higher education (HE) environment calls for high levels of boundary-spanning skills from leaders. The importance of boundary spanning is raised by the need for leaders to engage across internal and external boundaries to formulate new strategic responses to a complex set of forces and pressures facing the sector. This paper investigates the salience of boundary spanning leadership (BSL) practices through qualitative research on a group of leaders in one UK HE institution. The paper finds varying evidence for the range of boundary-spanning activities proposed in previous literature and concludes in the present case that leadership achieves the 'managing boundaries' stage of the BSL nexus, but has more limited achievement at the highest 'discovering new frontiers' stage. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Within any higher education institution, there are great teachers who recognize the challenges to sustaining a commitment to highly effective teaching. The current paper explores the beliefs and practices of 10 faculty members who won an undergraduate teacher of the year award at a research-intensive institution. The paper explores the challenges faculty face in prioritizing teaching, the strategies they use to meet these challenges, and suggests institutional supports with the potential to facilitate high-quality teaching in higher education. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The purpose of this paper is to find out what academics do when approaching retirement, and why; as well as to reflect on the process and consequences of reaching a retirement decision – for themselves, the university system, and the wider community. Our study concentrates on baby boomers, as this large cohort starts to retire or become eligible to do so. Employing a qualitative approach grounded in an interpretive paradigm, data collection took place during 2017–2018 using semi-structured interviews with 45 Social Science Business School academics who have worked in Anglo-Saxon and Latin European universities (the USA, the UK, Spain and France). The findings suggest four core clusters of late career trajectories, with the majority wishing, and planning, to continue work. Theoretical and practical implications are discussed and suggestions for further research outlined. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper uses a 2016/2017 sample of 1107 freshly minted university graduates from a public and a private university in Malaysia. Against a backdrop of an institutional setting very much different from that of western countries' and issues of high living costs and graduate unemployment, we analyse how academic performance affects graduates' employment likelihood, salaries, and salary distribution. Using quantile estimations, we find that academic performance is not a key determinant in whether or not a graduate secures a job upon graduation, and that having better academic performance would only be beneficial if the graduates are working in jobs at the lower half of the salary distribution. We fill the literature gap by analysing how academic performance affects new graduates in terms of where they are on the salary distribution continuum; such analyses are neglected in the literature. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, collaborative autoethnography is used to explore the authors' involvement as participants in and facilitator of an academic development programme that took place in the Kurdistan Region of Iraq. Recognising the significant differences in cultural origin between the Iraqi participants and its British facilitator, the authors share their reflections on the programme. Consideration is given to the implications of cultural differences in respect of the authors' expectations and experiences of this educational encounter, with particular emphasis on different approaches to learning and teaching prevailing in collectivist cultures, compared to those that are more individualist. The authors highlight the importance of early relationship-building in cross-cultural educational encounters, emphasising the two-way nature of this particular learning experience and the subsequent impact on their practice as educators. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Internationally, there has been considerable literature on the predictors of academic performance in higher education. However, the empirical findings are still limited in Cambodia; therefore, this paper was conducted to examine the determinants of academic performance of 329 undergraduate students selected from a university in Cambodia. Based on the findings from the multivariate regression analysis, a number of variables, namely high school grade, English ability, class attendance, study effort, academic self-efficacy, and family socio-economic status were found to be positively associated with academic performance. Term-time employment and family size had an adverse impact on academic performance. However, there was no sufficient evidence to indicate age, gender, household location, parental education, parental involvement, and teaching evaluation to have predictive power on academic performance. Hence, the study concluded that the personal backgrounds played the potential role in predicting academic performance of undergraduate students. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper explores the experiences and perceptions of parent academics and their colleagues, and argues that in the absence of institutional support and guidance, self and peer assessment of academic identity in relation to performance becomes a measure against which academics assess their own academic careers and the academic careers of others. The context of the study is contemporary neoliberal academia in which competition is encouraged, driving individuals to actively self-manage their own academic careers. In-depth interviews were conducted with 32 senior lecturers and associate professors, both parents and non-parents. Three distinct social identity groups were found among the participants: those who placed parenthood ahead of their career; parents who performed 'despite' their children, and a third group of 'surveillers' of other academic parents and their careers. Perceptions of parenthood as detrimental to academic careers was enforced through these identity groups, particularly the 'surveillance' of academic parents by their colleagues. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Universities, across the globe, are increasingly judged on social and economic impact. An important initiative in the UK is the Research Excellence Framework (REF) 2014, which assessed the wider impact of university research. The Impact Case Studies, produced for REF 2014, provide a rich new source of information to explore the wider impact of Business and Management (B&M) research. Each B&M case study, from a structured sample of 194, was read and analysed for this paper. The detailed findings show significant differences between sub-disciplines in demonstrating impact and illustrate why some research reaches a wider audience. The findings show a relatively low level of Mode 2 knowledge production, but a wide range of levels and types of engagement with research users across disciplines. The implications of the findings are discussed in relation to building a more nuanced theory on modes of knowledge production and in relation to policy and academic practice. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Within higher education, the importance of learning outcomes has become well-established. They are expected to guide the teaching and learning process, assessment, and curriculum development, while at the same time act as foundational elements to transitions towards national qualifications frameworks, competency-based education, and international partnerships such as the Bologna agreement. However, as essential as learning outcomes have become, very little is known about the quality of learning outcomes within courses. Through a content analysis of publicly available syllabi, this paper examines course learning outcomes from some of the leading teaching universities in the world. Results of this exploratory study indicate that the quality of learning outcomes is quite poor, and that a great deal of work is required until most outcomes would be aligned with internationally accepted best practices. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the context of a political imperative to reorganise the Portuguese higher education system, a deep knowledge of student choice decision-making processes when applying to higher education is needed. Following a 'combined model' of student choice, which emphasises economic and social factors, this paper aims to answer two main related questions: (i) what are the determinants of student choice consistency? (ii) Does choice consistency affect the admission of students to their top preference? Both are analysed within a multinomial logit framework. The results indicate that males, older students and better performing students are more likely to be consistent in their choices in the various forms it may assume. Students with inconsistent choice sets are more likely to be accepted; nevertheless, they are more likely to get a place in a second-best alternative. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Reforms and changing ideas about what higher education institutions are and should be have put pressure on academic identity. The present paper explores the way academics in Danish universities make sense of their changing circumstances, and how this affects their perceptions of their organization, their leaders and of themselves. The study highlights how the formal organizations' translations of external impulses and ideas constitute a more severe threat on the perceived identity of the academic staff than the impulses and ideas themselves. The findings indicate that with the tighter couplings of top-level management and the political system, the coupling and identification between academic staff and the formal organization may become weaker. Also, the behavioural responses perceived threats are studied, by examining the 'us'/'them' categorizations of the academics, providing a burgeoning conceptual framework for further studies into how academics change their actions as a result of reforms or organizational change. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Expectations around success in academia vary, and early career academics often receive conflicting messages about what they should concentrate on to achieve promotion or tenure. Taking a social constructionist approach, this paper considers the constructs of objective and subjective career success in academia and shares the perspectives of early career academics in three countries in relation to these narratives. Key findings are that objective career success in academia dominates the literature but remains ill-defined in the minds of the early career academics to whom the measures are applied, and that subjective career success in academia needs both more research attention and more consideration in promotion, tenure, and workload deliberations and policies. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

This paper seeks to discover whether the performance of university students has improved in the wake of the changes in higher education introduced by the Bologna Declaration of 1999 and the construction of the European Higher Education Area. A principal component analysis is used to construct a multi-dimensional performance variable called the LEArning Society-adapted Outcome Index. A quantile regression is then applied to ensure that the analysis does not focus solely on average figures, and the performance of students of various types is analyzed. Significant improvements are found in the acquisition of systemic and interpersonal skills and in student satisfaction but not in cognitive aspects. There are improvements in students of all types, but they are smaller among the best students. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Combining work experience with degree-level study is seen as a key differentiator for securing employment upon graduation in a competitive employment market. The positive benefits of sandwich courses, where up to 12 months is spent working in industry, are widely acknowledged in academic literature though data analysis tends to focus on cohorts in single subject areas with course-based factors possibly influencing outcomes. This paper explores the benefits of work placements on a cross-cohort basis with an institutional level study empirically analysing over three academic years the outcomes for placement students in comparison to non-placement students. The study found that completing a sandwich work placement is associated with improved academic performance in the final year of study. Placement students are also more likely to secure appropriate graduate-level work and higher starting salaries upon completion of their degree in comparison to non-placement students. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Academic staff is a key resource in higher education institutions (HEIs) and therefore has a major role in the achievement of the objectives of these institutions. Satisfied and well-motivated academic staff can build a national and international reputation for themselves and their institutions. Moreover, the performance of academic staff impacts student learning. In this context, the study of academic staff job satisfaction and motivation to perform their professional activities becomes crucial, especially as higher education is traversed by multiple changes. The purpose of this paper is to present and analyze the findings of a nationwide study on satisfaction and motivation of academics. All academics working in Portuguese HEIs were invited to complete a survey online. The data obtained from 4529 academics were extensively analyzed and findings are presented here along with their implications for HEIs in Portugal. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Higher education in business school environments is increasingly focused on how to best equip students with the skills necessary for leadership in the global workplace. This paper examines the impact of two particularly important cognitive capabilities – task reflexivity and intercultural sensitivity, on academic performance in an MBA programme. It was hypothesised that in an intercultural learning environment, task reflexivity would be associated with higher academic performance, and that this relationship would be mediated via intercultural sensitivity. Questionnaire data from 77 MBA students was analysed alongside academic performance. Results demonstrated that task reflexivity was indirectly related to academic performance through intercultural sensitivity. These findings suggest that engagement in task reflexivity enables students to develop greater levels of intercultural sensitivity, allowing them to reap the positive effects of diversity in their peer group for their own learning and performance. Limitations and practical implications of the research for professional practice are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

This paper uses national data on 450 Dutch bachelor programs to measure the effect of the introduction of academic dismissal policies on study progress and first-year drop-out. Our results show that these policies increase first-year drop-out on average by 6-7%. They also have the effect of improving the study progress of first-year survivors by 5-9%, as measured by their 4-year completion rate. We conclude that academic dismissal policies can be an effective intervention to decrease the study duration of motivated and talented students. Academic dismissal policies thus do not reduce student dropout, but rather bring it forward in time. While these policies strengthen the selective function of the first year, they do little to put dismissed students on a more successful academic path. The referential function of academic dismissal policies therefore needs further strengthening. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]