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This paper takes a look backward while simultaneously looking to the future for MIS departments that are making the transition to Analytics departments. MIS has a long past of providing a base of skills supporting organizations. We examine this history as well as how the blending of MIS with business translator and modeling skills has led to the development of analytics programs and concentrations. While the transition to analytics has taken place in many MIS departments at least partially, the question is how long analytics will remain a focus and when will the next major shift occur.

Building on the importance of experiential learning for early career success, this paper presents a blueprint for a multiple-tier co-op approach, where students as early as high school will be selected by employers, will learn skills relevant to the employer's needs, and will get hands-on experience while enrolled in a relevant educational program. This program is currently being developed by a partnership of industry professionals, university faculty, and local school district faculty and administrators in Anchorage, Alaska. After identifying a need for more and better qualified candidates for many unfilled IT positions, a consortium of hiring authorities in Anchorage initiated discussions with educators to better align curriculum with employers' needs and to establish a pipeline in the education system for better recruiting, growing, and retaining technology talent. Two high school courses have been developed as a result of this collaboration and are being offered with direct assistance and involvement from the business community. In the courses, students are evaluated against a series of 13 micro-credentials relevant for IT professionals. An articulated pathway into university degrees and an extension of the pipeline into middle school are under development.

Evaluating academic papers and groups is important in scholar evaluation and literature retrieval. However, current evaluation indices, which pay excessive attention to the citation number rather than the citation importance and unidirectionality, are relatively simple. This study proposes new evaluation indices for papers and groups. First, an improved PageRank (PR) algorithm introducing citation importance is proposed to obtain a new citation-based paper index (CPI) via a pre-ranking and fine-tuning strategy. Second, to evaluate the paper's influence inside and outside its research field, the focus citation-based paper index (FCPI) and diversity citation-based paper index (DCPI) are proposed based on topic similarity and diversity, respectively. Third, aside from the statistical indices for academic papers, we propose a foreign academic degree of dependence (FAD) to characterise the dependence between two academic groups. Finally, artificial intelligence (AI) papers from 2005 to 2019 are utilised for a case study. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article is the second in a series of three articles about academic fraud. The first, "Diploma Mills and Counterfeit Operations, Part 1" by Allen Ezell College and University v94 n3 Sum 2019 described the history and growth of diploma mills and counterfeit operations. This article provides an in-depth look at the operations of the world's largest diploma mill, Axact, Ltd., a criminal enterprise with more than 8 million customers worldwide that has generated several billion dollars. The third article will detail how to identify diploma mills and Axact websites. [For "Diploma Mills and Counterfeit Operations, Part 1," see EJ1225180.]

In an uncertain labour market, the questions around the employability of graduate students take on a new urgency. Fears about the graduate market in the coming years are acute and are compounded by a sense that there is a large disconnect between a university education and what is expected in the workplace. Australian labour market trends clearly demonstrate that the skills most in demand by Australian graduate employers are precisely the transferrable skills which are honed by doing a HASS degree at the university. However, HASS academics do not usually talk about the skills and attributes students are gaining during their university studies and how this is useful in the workplace. Creating this awareness in both staff and students is immensely important for future graduates to survive and excel beyond university. Based on focus groups, interviews, and student-led projects over the last three years, this paper explores how to balance the need to engage with deep disciplinary knowledge with the understanding that this knowledge is only useful in the real world if accompanied by explicit skills. By using a case study, this paper showcases how to articulate skills and knowledge to HASS students to prepare for workforce. Furthermore, it focusses on how graduate attributes and learning outcomes can be connected from assessment tasks to classroom teaching.

The Bologna Process represents the most significant extensive reform of higher education in Europe. The particular aspects of the Bologna Process still incite critical evaluations as regards the successfulness of its implementation. The theoretical part of the paper analyzes the fundamental principles defined in the Bologna Declaration, requirements and critical views of the Bologna Process, as well as the relevant research conducted on this issue used for the comparative analysis. The introduction of the Bologna Process into the Serbian university education has initiated numerous changes, the increase of the student mobility being the most striking one. The empirical part of the paper focuses on the study of the following problem: the manner in which students of social sciences and humanities perceive the Bologna Process fifteen years after its implementation into the Serbian university education. Consequently, the subject matter of the research is the observation and description of students' attitudes to this phenomenon with the purpose of acquiring relevant information "firsthand." The achievable objective of the presented research reviews the context and condition of the Bologna Process during 2019/2020 academic year and its feasible improvements, which can contribute to comparative study of similar researches in the time of the pandemics. The specific research tasks include the study of the Bologna requirements, attitudes to the Bologna Process, benefits and restrictions of this reform, and particularly the attempt to suggest the improvement of the Bologna Process realization from the perspective of students of social sciences and humanities. The research sample consisted of the Bachelor students of social sciences and humanities from the Faculty of Philosophy in Niš (N=150). The survey technique and the scaling technique with a rating scale questionnaire were used (BOL-JM-JOZ). The questionnaire had five closed-ended questions, while the Likert scale was comprised of 23 items. The test of the instrument consistency proved its reliability. The obtained results were shown by the chi square test, which proved a statistically significant difference in the respondents' answers as regards the year of study, p<0.05. The main factors were extracted from the assessment scale by the application of the factor analysis. These factors examined the students' perceptions of the Bologna Process, comparing the answers provided by the students of the first, second, third and fourth year of study of social sciences and humanities, p<0.05.

One only needs to listen to the news reports to recognize that the gap between securing the enterprise and cybersecurity threats, breaches, and vulnerabilities appears to be widening at an alarming rate. An untapped resource to combat these attacks lies in the students of the secondary educational system. Necessary in the cybersecurity education is a 3-tiered approach to quickly escalate the student into a workplace-ready graduate. The analogy used is a three-legged-stool, where curriculum content, hands-on skills, and certifications are equal instruments in the edification of the cybersecurity student. This paper endeavors to delve into the 3rd leg of the stool by developing the concept of vendor-specific and vendor-neutral certifications to educate the cybersecurity student and test their capability of protecting the workplace. The research data was drawn from companies in the Atlanta, Georgia area, who employ and hire cybersecurity recruits. The data from the research proves certifications are necessary as an addition to the cybersecurity curriculum in the secondary education arena. The paper reviews the need for cybersecurity graduates, the balance between cybersecurity theory and applied skillsets, the difference between a certificate and a certification, benefits to the community, classifications of certifications, relevancy of a college degree in today's workforce, and recommendations for further study.

Purpose: The primary aim of this paper is to illuminate the critical issue of the degree awarding gap in the UK, which significantly impacts students from lower socio-economic backgrounds and minority groups. By conducting a systematic review of existing literature following the PRISMA protocol, this study seeks to uncover the complex web of explanatory factors that mediate the relationship between contextual indicators, institutional culture, and degree awarding disparities. Addressing this gap is vital for promoting social justice, enhancing the economy, safeguarding the reputation of UK universities, and adhering to legal responsibilities. This paper endeavours to provide a comprehensive understanding of the underlying causes of degree awarding gaps and offer evidence-based recommendations for the higher education sector to mitigate these disparities. Design/methodology/approach: This study employs a systematic review design, adhering to the PRISMA protocol, to meticulously analyse the existing body of literature concerning the degree awarding gap in UK higher education. By systematically gathering, evaluating, and synthesizing relevant studies, the review aims to identify and understand the multifaceted factors mediating the link between contextual indicators, institutional culture, and the disparities observed in degree awarding. This methodological approach ensures a rigorous and transparent examination of the literature, enabling the identification of both the breadth and depth of research on the topic. Through this design, the paper aspires to uncover nuanced insights into the mechanisms driving degree awarding gaps. Findings: The review's findings reveal that degree awarding gaps in UK universities are influenced by a constellation of factors, highlighting the complexity of this issue. Key among these are unconscious bias, limited student engagement opportunities with academic staff, institutional racism, inadequate support systems, and a scarcity of social and cultural capital. These factors collectively contribute to significant disparities in degree outcomes, disproportionately disadvantaging students from lower socio-economic backgrounds and minority groups. The evidence suggests that institutional practices and culture play a pivotal role in either exacerbating or alleviating these disparities, indicating the need for targeted interventions to address the root causes of degree awarding gaps. Research limitations/implications: One strength of conducting a systematic review is its rigorous and meticulous nature, which ensures that the process is carefully planned and executed. This comprehensive approach allows for the elimination of biases, as the review systematically gathers and analyses existing literature on the topic. By adhering to a structured methodology, the systematic review enhances the validity and reliability of the findings, providing a robust and unbiased synthesis of the available evidence. This strength lends credibility to the research and reinforces the confidence in the conclusions drawn from the review. Practical implications: The practical implications arising from this information indicate that universities need to address the identified issues directly by implementing supportive strategies and interventions. By doing so, they can create a learning environment that is more inclusive and equitable, allowing all students to unlock their full potential. This may involve measures such as raising awareness about unconscious bias, promoting engagement between academic staff and students, implementing anti-racist policies, establishing comprehensive support systems, and actively fostering social and cultural capital. Such practical actions will contribute to reducing the degree awarding gaps and promoting equal opportunities for all students, ultimately leading to a more equitable and successful educational experience. Social implications: The social implications derived from this information are significant. By implementing supportive strategies and interventions to address the identified issues, universities can contribute to creating a more inclusive and equitable learning environment. This has the potential to have a transformative impact on society by providing equal opportunities for all students to unlock their full potential. By raising awareness about unconscious bias and implementing anti-racist policies, universities can foster a more diverse and inclusive community. Promoting engagement between academic staff and students and establishing comprehensive support systems can enhance social cohesion and create a sense of belonging. Ultimately, these efforts can lead to reduced degree awarding gaps and contribute to a more equitable and successful educational experience, positively influencing broader social equality and cohesion. Originality/value: This paper contributes significantly to the literature by offering a comprehensive, systematic review of the factors contributing to the degree awarding gap in UK higher education, highlighting its originality and value. By focusing on the interplay between contextual indicators, institutional culture, and degree awarding disparities, the study provides novel insights into how these dynamics contribute to educational inequities. Furthermore, the evidence-based recommendations for institutional interventions presented in this paper furnish the higher education sector with actionable strategies to foster a more inclusive and equitable learning environment. This work not only advances academic understanding of degree awarding gaps but also offers practical value to policymakers and educational institutions aiming to enhance social justice in higher education.

This paper provides a critical analysis of Freire's Italian reception and argues that reinventing Freire requires us to historicise and to contextualise his legacy, which in Italy makes sense in consonance with the already existing Italian popular education tradition. Based on the case study of his 1989 honorary degree at the University of Bologna, this article investigates Freire's influence in academia by comparing two generations of scholars and activists who have received Freire in different ways. Drawing on interviews to key informants who belong to two generations of educators influenced by Freire, this paper argues that the Italian Freire's renaissance is associated with the growing need for a generation of militant educators to find a theoretical framework to oppose the hegemony of both neo-liberal and neo-nationalist discourses in education. The reasons for Freire's reinvention in the academic sphere are investigated and the profile of the second generation of Freireans in Italy traced out, highlighting both continuities and tensions with the first one. Finally, the motives for Freire's success in today's Italy are presented in seven main theses, showing that many of them are made possible by virtue of the political, cultural and pedagogical background that made Freire's re-invention in an Italian context possible.

This paper reviews theories regarding online learning communities in higher education and their relevance to online degree programs. While these theories are used extensively to promote and maintain community within online courses, little attention has been placed on broader factors that can influence perceptions of online community. Based on our research as well as an extensive review of the literature, this paper articulates limitations in current research and posits a framework to look at institutional, program, and professional layers. The framework also considers community salience from these layers at various points in a learner's program. Based on the layers presented, the framework proposes that true communities are shaped by myriad partners and that these partnerships should not be ignored in community research. Furthermore, it admonishes educators to provide guidance to learners regarding the purposes of community formation both during and beyond program completion. Lastly, the paper articulates needs for further research as online degree programs consider community development and maintenance through more holistic approaches.

This paper used data from a multi-institutional study of community colleges developing and implementing degree reclamation strategies (adult reengagement and reverse credit transfer) to understand and unpack the factors that influence implementation and capacity development. The data come from seven colleges that are implementing equity-focused degree reclamation strategies aimed to reduce the population of "some college, no degree." The research team used an interdisciplinary lens to identify these factors drawing from literature on capacity-building. Prior to the start of implementation, researchers surveyed institutions and institutional stakeholders to assess baseline capacity, and they tracked institutional participation and engagement in the strategy development and implementation process. This paper highlights findings from this research to identify which factors are most related to implementation variation and strategy outcomes.

This paper examines data from the Digest of Educational Statistics and other sources to investigate Latinx educational achievement rates between 2005 and 2019. After comparing educational attainment rates from white, Black, Latinx, and Asian students, the paper documents the improvement in education among Latinx students in recent years despite falling behind other groups. The data suggests that the educational transition rate from secondary school to postsecondary school is an urgent concern to be addressed by educational leaders. To further analyze differential attainment rates, the paper discusses preliminary findings from an ongoing within-group study comparing the eleven largest Latinx communities residing in the United States. Finally, the paper tries to demonstrate that the legacy of national development and a structuration theoretical framework could potentially be useful to explain different rates of educational achievement.

Purpose: Building on the concepts of learning communities of practice, the paper aims to evaluate their application within degree apprenticeships (DAs) to support pedagogic engagement and inclusive education within a university setting. Design/methodology/approach: A case study of an existing B2B sales degree apprenticeship reviewed relevant programme documents and evaluated apprentice learner experience through an anonymised online survey. Findings: The study found that sales apprentices had a reflexive awareness of how learning communities operated within this context and raised some valuable insights about their perceptions of inclusive education. These communities have differing dynamics that value engaging with workplace professionals, peers and university. Apprentices prefer tuition that accommodates their shared interests as employee learners within an occupational role. Issues surrounding inclusive education are seen as integral to the experience of being an apprentice. Practical implications: Post-COVID engagement could be used to frame more effective social learning for work-integrated practice and programme teams could advocate for a greater integration of DAs within institutional settings. Originality/value: This research indicates that B2B sales degree apprentices see themselves as operating within distinctive learning communities of practice that support their work-integrated (WIL) studies in higher education. The paper recommends programme teams provide more collaborative engagement within learning communities to support inclusive education goals.

Purpose: This study aims to investigate the attributes of the online programme that are considered and compute their relative importance in the purchase decision. This study aims to identify the most lucrative bundling of these attributes and their levels that can be used by online education companies to craft their product design strategy to attract customers with the most attractive offering. Design/methodology/approach: This research paper endeavours to identify the attributes of online education, which customers consider for making a purchase decision. Exploratory factor analysis followed by confirmatory factor analysis was used to identify the key attributes of online education programmes. This paper uses the conjoint analysis technique to identify the most preferred bundling of attributes, which online education companies can package to attract customers. Findings: Based on various attributes and their respective levels, it is evident the most lucrative design for attracting customers to buy online education programmes is to provide certification from a reputed international university, which requires an investment to the tune of 3,000-5,000. The duration of four weeks with asynchronous pedagogy and access to course material vial uniform resource locator (URL) is a preferred feature. Access via a mobile application is more preferred over Web access. A phone application is known to be optimised, and most people are using mobile phones to access the internet. Online certification or degrees that are considered as valid employment qualifications were most preferred over other reasons. Originality/value: There is a dearth of studies on massive open online courses (MOOCs) from a product design perspective. There is a gap in the context of the features to be included in the MOOCs package so that the customer can find more value in it, and the companies can benefit by expanding their customer base. The research question which this study endeavours to explore is what attributes consumers of MOOCs consider when making a purchase decision. This study will also find the relative importance of these attributes.

This paper discusses Finnish-Russian relations from the perspective of cooperation in higher education, and particularly Finnish-Russian double degree programmes prior to 2022. It asks how internal stakeholders, in double degree programmes perceived the role of their cooperation from the point of view of interstate relations, and how cooperation had changed (if at all) after the political crisis intensified between the EU and Russia in 2014. The paper draws on research on EU-Russia relations, and on the link between higher education (collaboration) and international politics. The empirical part of the paper is based on a case study of double degree programmes between Finnish and Russian universities. Semi-structured interviews with internal stakeholders such as administrative and academic heads/coordinators of these programmes serve as the main source of primary materials. The study reveals that even though internal stakeholders explicitly wanted to depoliticise higher education cooperation and denied that interstate (or EU-Russia) relations would have had any impact on their collaboration, many of them still hoped that HE cooperation would help in improving the given relations. Accordingly, they argued for education diplomacy in the sense of 'higher education for diplomacy', but denied it in the sense of 'diplomacy for higher education'.

This document provides a comprehensive list of scholarly events, books, and papers in Hungarian legal history in 2022. The articles cover a wide range of topics, including the Golden Bull, criminal law, military jurisdiction, and the history of legal institutions. The publications offer valuable insights into the development of legal systems and the impact of historical events on legal practices in Hungary and beyond. Researchers interested in studying Hungarian law and its historical development will find this document to be a valuable resource. [Extracted from the article]

People have been raising the alarm about a language education crisis in the UK, particularly in England, for twenty years. Yet the crisis continues: the number of young people studying languages at school is low, especially in socioeconomically less-privileged areas. University programmes -- particularly in universities with below average entry tariffs -- are closing, but we do not understand the regional impact of this decline. This paper fills that gap by identifying 'cold spots': areas of the country where no universities offer language degrees. The programming language R was used to analyse the location of universities at various entry tariffs, and areas of the country further than a commutable distance of 60 km were identified. Large cold spots were found in the North, East and South West of England for universities offering languages at below average entry tariff, with the cold spot in the South West also present at higher entry tariffs. This is a social justice issue, since most students attend university close to home, with students from less-privileged socioeconomic backgrounds and some ethnic minority backgrounds more likely to commute. This leads to a key strategic recommendation: to open language degree programmes at one lower tariff university in each cold spot.

Interdisciplinary education has become increasingly prominent as a core instrument to prepare the next generation workforce. Yet, little is known about the impacts of long-term degree-oriented interdisciplinary education on post-graduation outcomes. This paper aims to investigate the influence of long-term degree-oriented interdisciplinary education on graduates' post-graduation plan choices and labour market outcomes using unique administrative micro-data and career-tracking data from a comprehensive research university. Our results indicate that higher levels of engagement in interdisciplinary learning increase the probability of pursuing future study and employment in a field that differs from a graduate's college degree, and are also associated with a higher probability to enter the workforce. Yet, this positive association between interdisciplinary learning and the probability of entering the workforce is specific to graduates from traditional disciplinary programmes. Additionally, our findings suggest that the impact of long-term degree-oriented interdisciplinary education on early labour market outcomes is overall beneficial but varies across degree fields. The findings of our study provided partial evidence in support of the influence of long-term degree-oriented interdisciplinary education on post-graduation plan choices and early labour market outcomes. We suggest that given resource constraints, higher education institutions could consider relaxing module choice restrictions in traditional disciplinary programmes to promote interdisciplinary education. However, it is important to note that higher education institutions should carefully consider the potential trade-off between the breadth of interdisciplinary content and the depth of specialist content, in order to strike a balance.

Publishing English papers in journals listed in Science Citation Index (SCI) has become a requirement for degree conferment for doctoral science students at many universities in China. The publication requirement engenders high pressure for doctoral students and their supervisors and shapes the politics of the relationship between the two parties. This is illustrated in the present paper which reports a study conducted at a prestigious university in east China. Focusing on the case of a research group in biochemistry led by an expert writer (the supervisor), the study aimed to find out, from the supervisor's perspective, what revising papers for the students means to him, and what the students learn as a result of their papers being revised. It is shown that the students depend on the supervisor to meet the publication requirement, and the supervisor believes an average student cannot write a publishable paper. The paper discusses the disempowering effect of the publication requirement, and concludes that there is a role for a course on academic English writing, and that the focus on “publishing SCI papers or no degree” should be shifted at the policy level and long-term planning should go into the training of EAP-qualified language professionals. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The ambiguous identity of the digital media field, the ubiquity of media, and rapid and persistent technological change and innovation pose inimitable challenges for academic programs in digital media. Digitization of media is an underlying impetus for today's rapid innovation that compels related academic programs in higher education to re-examine themselves to keep pace and to better understand their epistemological foundations. Digital innovation helped spur renewed awareness of human-centered design to solve ill-structured, highly complex problems. Design and Design Thinking (DT) provide a potential framework to aid in academic program assessment. In this paper I explore precepts of design and DT as a potential frame of context to aid in curriculum design. I present a case study example that examines the process to assess a digital media curriculum using a DT framework, an iterative process involving students, faculty, and academic and industry partners.

Purpose: The paper innovates on the existing literature by assessing the gender gap in Science, Technology, Engineering and Maths (STEM) tertiary education enrolment and career choice in a small country setting and by extending on Master and Meltzoff (2016) theoretical framework to provide a holistic explanation of the gender disparity through a mix of personal, environmental and behavioural factors. The study first probes into the existence of potential gender disparity in STEM tertiary enrolment in Mauritius. Second, in contrast with existing studies where selective factors are used to measure the gender gap in STEM education, this paper investigates into a combination of personal, environmental and behavioural factors that may influence participation in STEM education and career. Design/methodology/approach: The study uses a survey of 209 undergraduates enroled in the main public university and investigates into the existence of a gender gap in STEM tertiary education enrolment and the reasons behind this disparity. Consistent with the theoretical model, the empirical analysis also investigates into the work environment (which cannot be measured from the survey), via semi-structured interviews of 15 women in STEM professions. Findings: The logit regression results first reveal the existence of a gender disparity in the choice of STEM-related degrees. The probability of a female student to enrol in a STEM degree is lower than that of a male student, after controlling for all the personal, environmental and behavioural factors. The most important set of reasons influencing the student's STEM degree choice are self-efficacy and the student's academic performance in STEM subjects at secondary school level. The findings also demonstrate that young women are relatively more likely to choose STEM degrees than their male counterparts when they are supported by their family, school and teachers. There is further evidence of lower participation of women in STEM professions as well as significant challenges which women in STEM careers face compared to their male colleagues. Originality/value: This study adopts a holistic framework to assess the factors that hinder women's participation in STEM tertiary education and career in Mauritius.

The need to increase the number of African American women who obtain STEM degrees has been well documented in the literature by researchers, scientists, and policymakers. Increasing the participation of this group of women and other underrepresented groups in STEM is both an issue of social justice and economic advancement on a national scale. Despite decades of efforts to address this need through research and funding, the participation of African American women in STEM is still low. In part, this may be due to the limited number of studies that include the voices of African American women. Drawing upon the theories of cultural border crossing and resiliency, this paper highlights the stories of eight successful African American women who earned a terminal degree in a STEM field. The purpose of the study was to identify and describe the key factors that these women said aided in their persistence and resilience during two key periods: "before postsecondary" education and "during" postsecondary education. We use a case study approach to interpret their stories about the obstacles they faced and the strategies they employed to overcome them. Our findings suggest that experiences outside of school are more important than experiences inside school. The paper concludes with a discussion of the finding's implications and recommendations for African American women's recruitment and retention in STEM.

This paper aims to highlight a) the adult educator's necessity to take into account the broader philosophical framework that governs his thoughts and practices in the teaching process, b) the prevailing educational philosophy or philosophies in active adult educators and c) the gender's and degree's impact on educator's theoretical identity. The research tool is the questionnaire by Lorraine Zinn, "Philosophy of Adult Education" (PAEI) (Zinn, 1983). Both the PAEI and a researcher- created demographic sheet were used to describe and analyze the adult educational philosophies of active adult educators in Greece (?=399) which guide them and the factors which have impact on these "philosophies". Frequencies, means and correlation analyses were used to describe the results. The research results were shown that the prevailing educational philosophies are the humanism and the progressivism and also that gender and the scientific training of each educator do not appear to influence her/him in terms of the educational philosophy she/he adopts.

Studies have shown the ways in which non-Western middle- and upper-class families are seeking to educate their children in the West. The rationale for this kind of social reproduction strategy is the acquisition of 'valuable' cultural and symbolic capitals which can be advantageous in the graduate job market of both their home country and internationally. Presenting a case study of four middle-class Nigerian fathers, the paper reveals the rationale behind these fathers' decision to opt out of the Nigerian HE sectors. The paper focuses on three Western capitals -- specifically institutional (a Canadian degree), embodied (high proficiency in English language) and symbolic (Canadian citizenship) -- capitals which will position these parents' children advantageously in the future. The paper concludes by presenting an argument that in seeking these Western capitals for their children, these parents become implicated in the Western hegemonic discourse of 'West is best'.

The higher education system of India is one of the largest systems on the globe, where there is a huge young population. The central government aims to increase the higher education gross enrolment ratio, which will improve the living and economic standards of youth. However, enrolment in higher education is lower for many reasons, including the accessibility of institutions in the rural region and the affordability of learning. The institutional capacity cannot be expanded in an accelerated manner with more than three times the existing capacity in a short period of time. As an alternative, the regulation to award degrees and diplomas through online education is formulated with the assurance of recognition on par with regular degrees and diplomas. The regulatory norms, recognition process, human resources, infrastructure requirements, and quality mechanisms of online programs are reviewed in this paper.

The Bologna process and the 3+2-degree structure presents students with several decision points in higher education, both which bachelor's programme to choose, and whether to continue beyond bachelor. Based on a small-scale survey containing both closed and open-ended questions, this paper studies reasons the students give for entering a master's programme. We compare students in Norway and Denmark who have entered a master's programme in educational studies. In both countries, students mention multiple reasons for choosing to enter the master's level, and reasons related to career and access to interesting jobs were most frequently mentioned. Additionally, academic motives and identity motives were mentioned. There are also differences between Norwegian and Danish students, but these differences are mainly linked to aspects of the transition. In Denmark, students who change institution when entering the master's level state different reasons, while in Norway, differences are related to whether students enter a master's programme directly or delayed. Further, differences in labour market structure also affects these transitions. These differences point to historical understandings of national status differences between degrees and institutions still being important, even if the implementation of the Bologna structure in the educational system should have led to a harmonisation.

Much research has been made in recent years on the effect of over and under education on earnings. In this paper, I examine the validity of the assumption that the return to over (under) education is independent of the level of education. I use data from the PIAAC survey to estimate the return to education. The findings show that while this assumption might be valid for the return to under-education, it seems to be wrong for estimating the return to over-education. I offer an alternative model where the return to over-education or under-education is not linear and depends on the level of education.

Inequality in students' degree outcomes has been a concern for the higher education sector and the UK government for more than a decade. Since its inception in 2018, the Office for Students in England has prioritised the need for evidence of causality through requiring institutions to evaluate the effectiveness of their initiatives as set out in Access and Participation Plans. This policy development responds to several reports which identify a dearth of evidence-based interventions and scant knowledge of 'what works'. This paper traces the interplay between policy and research, focusing on the assumptions they make about causality. It concludes that unwarranted positions are taken in both spheres of practice, making progress unlikely. A conception of causality situated in extant formal theory on evidential pluralism and that draws on current practices would help us address inequality more effectively. Alternative framings of the problem of inequality in students' degree outcomes is offered.

This paper draws on critical race theory to analyse testimonies from students that help explain why minoritised ethnic communities studying geography, planning, geology and environmental sciences in the UK, have a lesser chance of being awarded a 'good' degree (i.e. an upper second- or first-class), in comparison to White British people. There are very low levels of ethnic diversity across these subject areas. We conducted peer research, including student-led semi-structured interviews at one British university over a five-month period (involving 38 participants in total). Our analysis explores the processes of minoritisation owing to cultures of Whiteness. These relate to teaching and learning spaces, off-campus encounters, university societies, student representation/committees, social interactions, part-time employment and caring responsibilities. We conclude with a call for action to reframe and disassemble the 'degree awarding gap' through student and staff co-design of policies and actions that will not only confront, but also subvert exclusionary cultures of Whiteness in its various manifestations across university life.

Purpose: The current "Anthropocene" epoch has witnessed an imbalanced global change, but it is an opportunity to design a better and sustainable future. Sustainability criteria need to be fully implemented in political institutions, companies and universities. Moreover, sustainable pedagogies must accompany the process in terms of students' professional competences to overcome crisis situations. This paper aims to evaluate geography degrees in Spain to corroborate whether students and teachers consider that students are prepared to address the challenges of global change. Design/methodology/approach: The research is focused on the sustainable development goals (SDGs), a clear and easily identifiable framework for society that reflects the principles of the UN 2030 Agenda. A statistically validated questionnaire answered by 319 respondents has been used. Data analysis with descriptive and inferential techniques was performed. Findings: The results show that geography degrees do not meet the needs of students, for whom career opportunities will be related to the implementation of the 2030 Agenda; there are significant gaps between the perception of teachers and students; some geographical topics are undervalued; SDGs are more present in optional subjects; and there is a need to "sustain" the curriculum, following this highly valued framework. Originality/value: Geography educative programs had scarcely been empirically evaluated to check a sustainability framework implementation. This research provides innovative and unprecedented self-assessment results from higher education agents, in an empirical and statistically validated way.

Purpose: This paper aims to analyze the presence of sustainability in 16 Spanish higher education curricula in the fields of education and engineering. Design/methodology/approach: The methodology uses two instruments: sustainability map and sustainability presence map. These instruments enable analysis of the number of subjects that develop sustainability and the sustainability presence level in each curriculum; identification of what domain levels of the learning taxonomy sustainability is most developed; and analysis of whether a correlation exists between the sustainability presence and the number of subjects that develop sustainability in each curriculum. Findings: A wide variety of subjects develop sustainability in a given degree, depending on the university. The presence of sustainability is more homogeneous in education degrees than in engineering degrees. Education degrees have a greater presence of sustainability in the lower domain levels of taxonomy, while in engineering degrees the lower levels of taxonomy have a lower presence of sustainability than the higher levels. Finally, a correlation appears to exist between the number of subjects that develop sustainability in the curriculum and the sustainability presence. However, engineering degrees seem to need fewer subjects than education degrees to achieve the same degree of sustainability presence. Originality/value: This paper proposes a methodology to measure sustainability presence that can be applicable to the curricula of a higher education degree if the corresponding sustainability map is available. To the authors' knowledge, this is the largest study yet conducted to analyze the presence of sustainability in different higher education curricula.

Studying abroad as part of a degree has become commonplace for many students in European and other developed countries. Universities actively promote opportunities as part of internationalization strategies. Whilst research has looked into the 'abroad' aspect of study abroad, there is less literature on the 'study' aspect, and in particular, the effects that the period has on academic achievement. This article provides evidence that studying abroad has a beneficial effect on overall academic achievement. The article compares the final degree grades of students at Sheffield Law School (UK) who participated in a year studying abroad, with those who did not. Interviews with students across the period deepen the qualitative dimension to the research by exploring how students felt about their academic experience. Whilst few students opt to go abroad for the purposes of improving grades, most feel that the additional confidence and maturity, alongside deeper knowledge of their subject and a break in the pattern of their studies, contributes to their higher achievement. [This paper was presented at the 'Legal Education in the Context of Globalization' conference, Doshisha University, Japan, December 2016; 'Brexit and the Northern Law School', University of Liverpool, June 2017 and the Westminster Higher Education Forum Keynote Seminar, London, March 2018.]

The bonds that unite partner institutions in the delivery of shared transnational collaborative programmes are critical in the effective management of these education partnerships. A crucial component in this unification is social capital, where partners connect and develop networks, lubricated by trust, which facilitates cooperation and commitment to the venture, producing purposive and beneficial outputs. This paper explores this phenomenon by investigating the way social capital manifests between operational colleagues tasked in the delivery of collaborative joint-degree programme partnerships. Initially, the paper explores the relationship between 'partnership' and 'social capital'. It then analyses three sociological perspectives of social capital, the "rational," "critical" and "democratic" strains, before examining them in relation to empirical data collected from three collaborative programme partnerships. The paper concludes there is evidence of all three strains, but advocates partner institutions observe four recommendations, so to encourage the manifestation of the beneficial "critical" and "democratic" strains.

Academics are under increasing pressure to publish, particularly in peer-reviewed journals. This external pressure is clearly expressed by the "publish or perish" dictum. Studies have shown that academics' engagement in research and their research productivity are influenced by personal as well as environmental factors. Based on an extensive review of literature, this paper demonstrates that the various factors affecting research engagement and productivity of academics can be classified into three different levels: individual, institutional, and national. All these factors can be schematically summarised into an analytical or conceptual framework to study research engagement and productivity, particularly in developing countries. Pointing to the "North-South" gap in knowledge production and its implications for building knowledge economies, the paper concludes with directions for further research.

This article examines the educational experiences of Eastern European Roma undergraduates and analyses how the mobility process influences their access to university in different countries of the European Union. Drawing on 20 in-depth semi-structured interviews, the paper highlights the ability of students to (re)define their identity and to utilize the language skills acquired practicing mobility across several countries as well as the university degrees obtained, to combat Roma discrimination after finishing their studies. Findings suggest that education may become a tool to overcome the marginality and stigmatization of Roma. The paper concludes with observations about the new ways opened up by undergraduate Roma, which demand the reinterpretation of mobility and identity as a transformative experience and an essential strategy to fight the discrimination against and the exclusion of mobile Roma citizens.

People starting cybersecurity careers have three main avenues for achieving entry-level job qualifications: learning in-demand skills, earning industry certifications, and graduating with a college degree. Though people can pursue skills, certificates, and degrees together, financial and time constraints often make people focus their efforts to what they feel would help them most in their careers. Those seeking careers in information systems are reasonably asking themselves if the cost of a college degree is a worthwhile investment. In this paper, we analyze 11,938 entry-level job postings for cybersecurity jobs on Dice.com to determine required and desired qualifications. The results show that 7,177 (60%) of entry-level cybersecurity jobs require a college degree in a related field. Of those, 2,851 (24% of jobs) prefer a graduate degree. 3,406 (29% of jobs) require a certification. Structured query language (SQL), testing, Java, Excel, Oracle, consulting, and database skills are listed in 16% of jobs. The most popular certifications are "Certified Information Systems Security Professional CISSP" (listed in 4.8% of jobs), "Information Technology Infrastructure Library ITIL" (listed in 3.9% of jobs), "Security+" (listed in 2.9% of jobs), "Project Management Professional PMP" (listed in 2.8% of jobs) and "Information Assurance Technical IAT" (listed in 2.4% of jobs). The selected snapshot data show that college degrees are required for 60% of jobs--evidence that college degrees are still in high demand for the field of cybersecurity. However, employers are also looking for certifications and skills.

This paper is the result of a research carried out under the umbrella of the "UNESCO UniTWIN Network on Media, Gender, and ICTs" Project, and it tries to determine the presence of subjects with a specific focus on gender in the current Communication Degrees offered at Spanish universities. The inclusion of subjects about gender equality in relation to media follows the suggestions of the IV World Conference on Women in Beijing (1995). The main objective of this research will be to investigate the presence of these subjects in Communication Degrees, identifying the elements that define them at a thematic, methodological and relevant levels within the curriculum. A mixed methodological design is proposed based on ex-post-facto research, with a descriptive orientation and the search for improvement, a qualitative analysis of study plans using ATLAS.ti and a panel of experts. The results reveal a scarce presence of this type of subjects, with a higher percentage in public universities than in private ones, and also a minimal relevance as compulsory subjects. This research study reveals the current formal training in gender studies of future generations of media professionals and serves as an endorsement for forthcoming changes of curricula in the European Higher Education Area context.

This paper gives an assessment of the social and motivational value of scientific degrees of Russian university teachers. The author analyzes the historical experience and current trends in the transformation of the system of degrees. The paper shows the dynamics and structural characteristics of teachers with different professional and qualification status in the context of modernization of higher education. An assessment of salary level according to scientific degree is given. Based on the results of a sociological survey, behavior strategies in respect of earning a degree of candidate and doctor of sciences are identified. The principal status advantages of degree holders are described. Reasons for the discredit of the Russian system of scientific degrees are identified.

This paper outlines results from an online survey of recent distance graduates. The study, based in Dublin City University (DCU) addresses a gap in the research on this cohort of graduates. Findings indicate that distance graduates are primarily from lower socio economic backgrounds, a group largely under-represented in full-time university education. Significantly, 30% of survey respondents came from a skilled manual background. A large percentage (39% N = 61) of graduates had never accessed any form of higher education before. An equally large percentage (N = 62) had accessed full-time higher education previously, but at a lower level than the honours primary degree they obtained through distance learning. Implications regarding the role of distance education in improving access to university education and social mobility are discussed. Finally, this paper seeks to establish relevance between knowledge of distance graduates and doing things better for first time distance learners.

The paper considers the problems of science and education space and network formation between business and education. The productive form of integration between the parties is revealed. The authors address employment as an evaluation criterion for networking between university and business. Special emphasis is on active training methods as a way to develop the student's personality. The paper data is sourced from a survey conducted on university students.

The author is a recipient of a B.S., two M.S., Ph.D., M.B.A. and five honorary doctorates, a total of 10 college degrees. He has worked both in major corporate research labs and academia. He is an Academy Professor (San Jose, CA), and has served as an Ohio Eminent Scholar and The Winbigler Professor in the College of Engineering at The Ohio State University for 29 years. In 2013–2014, he served as Science and Technology Policy Fellow on House Committee on Science, Space and Technology, United States Congress, Washington, DC. He has consulted various industries and served as an Expert Witness. He has held visiting professorships worldwide. He is a prolific author with 10 scientific books, 100 + handbook chapters, and 900 + scientific papers. He has also edited more than 60 books and holds more than 25 U.S. and foreign patents. He has given 300 + keynote/plenary addresses at major international conferences on six continents. He delivered a TEDx 2019 lecture on Lessons from Nature. His biography has been listed in over two dozen Who's Who books including Who's Who in the World. He has received more than two dozen awards from professional societies, industry, and U.S. Govt. agencies. The author brings a unique experience having born in India and been living in the US for several decades, with college degrees from India, the US and Europe, having worked in corporate research labs, academia and US Congress, and traveled and lived across the globe on business. The paper will start with introductory remarks starting with his brief introduction, followed by research strategy, execution, publications with a focus on citations and impact, presentations, job placement, and balance between work, personal life and health. His perspective on personal and professional life should be of interest in research guidance to graduate research students, postdoctoral fellows, and young faculty. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper suggests that, although the Bologna process officially began in the late 1990s, the conditions that made it possible had already been created in the previous decade through the growing practice of international academic cooperation, mainly triggered by EU inter-institutional programmes. As the need for structural reforms in some higher education systems became more evident, in 1999 the Ministers of Education of 29 European countries gathered in Bologna to start a process of voluntary convergence of their systems with the objective of creating a European Higher Education Area. In the last 20 years the participating governments (now 48), with the support of international organizations and major stakeholders, have jointly developed a common framework of principles, actions, policies and tools. Accordingly, different types of structural reforms have taken place in the various countries. At present, however, implementation of the key commitments -- full adoption of the three-cycle structure and ECTS, of the Lisbon recognition convention and the Diploma supplement, and of QA systems based on the European standards and guidelines -- is still uneven in the EHEA and a peer-support approach was adopted by the ministers last year. Concerning the implementation issue, this paper raises two sets of questions. First: to what extent have the structural reforms implemented by the governments really affected grassroots educational activities? How deeply have the underlying principles -- like student-centred learning -- been implemented in actual programme design and everyday teaching/learning practice? Second: although inspired by the same basic principles, are EHEA-induced reforms actually being implemented consistently throughout European countries and institutions? Deeper involvement and more international coordination of European academics is advocated in the paper, in order to face these challenges and consolidate the EHEA in the years to come.

The socioeconomic gap in participation at university is an enduring policy issue in South Korea, as in many other countries. However, less attention has been paid to the socioeconomic gap in the outcomes from tertiary education. This paper addresses this gap in the literature, using the Korean Education and Employment Panel (KEEP) data to investigate the extent to which the wages of Korean graduates who attended similar higher education institutions vary by socioeconomic background. The results show that a degree appears to largely level the playing field, in terms of earnings, between male graduates from poor and rich backgrounds. For females, by contrast, family background is still a strong predictor of earnings, even after allowing for institution attended and discipline of degree. Further, the wage premium for 2-year and 4-year college degrees also varies by family background. Four-year college degrees, contrary to popular belief, do not always attract a higher wage premium than 2-year college degrees, particularly for men from poorer family backgrounds.

To gain employment and a fulfilling career, students need to understand the skills and knowledge that are important and how to articulate and evidence their employability. This paper reports on research investigating science students' priorities related to immediate employment versus long-term employability and the factors that students perceive as important to these. Interviews with 138 science students from four Australian universities revealed that they were most focused on immediate employment. Students were keen to participate in opportunities to 'value add' to their degree, especially those that might help them to gain relevant work experience and professional networks. However, students' understanding of the relative importance of experiences and skills that would enhance their employability was variable, as was their understanding of the career pathways that they might pursue. The data analysis highlights the importance of explicitly designing curriculum to help students understand the career opportunities available; the skills and abilities needed for diverse careers; and the experiences through which they might develop and evidence these. Furthermore, to engage students, we need to help them to address their greatest and most immediate concerns about gaining employment at graduation, while also setting them up for successful and fulfilling careers.

Content analysis of job ads has been used to inform curriculum renewal in many disciplines, but it is not commonplace in Translation Studies. This paper aims to identify qualifications and competences in the translation market through content analysis of translation job ads in China. Four hundred and twenty-nine job ads were collected from the two largest and most popular job search portals in China and coded against a translator competence framework with the assistance of NVivo 11.0. The results suggest that, while prior experience is underscored by employers, a specialised degree in translation, certified status and high-level education are not sought by employers. The most in-demand competences are linguistic competence in working languages, psycho-physiological competence, interpersonal competence, extra-linguistic knowledge, and instrumental competence. Implications are discussed in terms of promotion and marketing, incorporation of field-based experience into classroom learning, pedagogical innovation, curriculum renewal, and admission interviews. This study may inform the evaluation and modification of the translation curriculum for better education and market alignment and guide students in professional development and lifelong learning.

Raymond Williams was a literary critic, sociologist, novelist, and political activist but above all a teacher, with a theory of education as a societal process running through his work. He styled the UK's educational establishment of the 1960s 'Old Humanists'; guardians of a dominant elite culture who were losing their influence to the new 'Industrial Trainers', harbingers of an economic order based on mass production and consumption for which new technical skills were needed. The eclipse of the Old Humanists occurred with the transition from elite to mass higher education and an increasing focus in degree curricula on 'employability'. Yet in England, the degree qualification is now under challenge, with government policy promoting new higher technical qualifications for specific occupations as better options for many learners who would otherwise choose 'academic' degrees. However, this new technical turn reflects thinking more akin to Williams' twentieth century Industrial Trainers than twenty-first century needs. These are more likely to be met by mixed and interweaved 'academic' and 'technical' learning better provided through portfolios of modules built up over time, including progression between levels of study that are not necessarily linear nor within the same subject or occupational area.

This study uses the Education Longitudinal Survey of 2002 (ELS:2002) to examine how varying levels of intention (planning) and action (choice) in pursuing a science-based major affect American college students' degree attainment in Science and Engineering (S&E) fields by age 26. The study is guided by the Social Cognitive Career Theory's performance model that is appropriate to examine educational attainment. A key element of the theory consists in personal goals to engage in STEM education in college. In this paper, we view students' intention to pursue specific college majors and/or actual action to enrol in a specific major as an expression of aspirational goals associated with degree attainment, so closer the intention-action gap, more likely to attain the goal. The proposed aspiring-scientist typology appears to be the main determinant of S&E degree attainment by age 26, when controlling for socio-demographic, pre-college, and postsecondary factors. Students with high level of science aspirations have greater chance to complete an S&E degree. Medium-aspiration students are more likely to complete non-S&E degrees, after starting in science-based majors. Low-aspiration students are more likely to attain certificate/associate degrees in any field or be non-completers.

This paper draws on research that aimed to explore the construction of gender relations in sport and physical education (PE) through a national study of Spanish university degree curricula. Spain is a useful case study through which to explore gender knowledge within sport and PE degrees, because, unlike many other countries, it has a common, national curriculum framework for its Physical Activity and Sport Science (PASS) degrees. In addition, it has recently passed a new law concerning the introduction of gender knowledge in higher education (HE). Drawing on Bernstein's (1990) framework of the pedagogic device, this paper examines how this HE gender policy becomes recontextualised as universities and lecturers interpret and translate this into the pedagogical texts that make up the PASS curricula. Purposive sampling was used to select 16 of the 37 universities offering PASS degrees in 2012/2013. The research analysed 16 PASS documents at the degree level and 763 individual subject handbooks. Using discourse analysis, the results showed where and how gender knowledge was incorporated and the extent to which the topic was presented coherently throughout the documents. The analysis revealed five categories of the (in)visibility of gender knowledge within the universities' instructional discourse. Gender knowledge is largely ignored in PASS curricular documentation, appearing, at best, in highly superficial ways. Despite a national policy requirement on universities to incorporate gender knowledge, this study shows how recontextualisation processes within specific universities' pedagogic devices operate to marginalise such perspectives within PASS curricula. The research also revealed the significance of individual agents committed to gender equity being situated, and having influence, throughout the pedagogic device. The paper concludes that without a much wider, critical engagement in knowledge about gender equity, PASS degrees will continue to reproduce rather than disrupt the gender relations that have traditionally characterised the field.

EU-Russia higher education cooperation has continued despite global tensions including Crimea incorporation. One example of this cooperation is the development of Finnish-Russian double degree programmes. This paper focuses on institutional environments where double degrees develop and asks how and why they produce uncertainty from inside Finnish and Russian universities in the period of this unfavourable political situation. The matryoshka model is applied to understand the institutional environment of a university and the institutions around it. The institutional nature of a double degree is determined by comparative analysis of how internal university stakeholders in Finland and Russia perceive a programme's benchmarks. The study is based on the analysis of interviews conducted in partner universities. This paper discusses how perceptions of double degrees influence uncertainty in programme provision within and between institutional environments in Finnish and Russian universities. In addition, the level of institutionalisation of the double degrees may be evaluated.

The liberal theory of industrialism is one of the chief political theories impacting education. Such a framework associates academic achievement directly with employability and establishes education's dominant position in mediating social mobility. However, Chinese graduates are confronted with the broken promises of higher education, since college credentials are no longer regarded as 'golden tickets' that guarantee decent jobs or high social status. Therefore, this paper establishes a critical framework for analysing the liberal theory of industrialism. By referencing to empirical research, the current study provides an in-depth discussion from the national perspective and offers explanations from both quantitative and qualitative evidence. The study suggests that the implementation of the theory in egalitarian societies has been largely compromised with regard to meritocratic selection. Meanwhile, the theory relies on a veil of ignorance, for it assumes that people would have a unanimous perception regarding social status. In both respects, it is argued to be incompatible with the contemporary Chinese context. Thus a more comprehensive and flexible perspective is needed to identify functions of higher education in developing countries.