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Interrogating the White Paper 3 of 1997 which upholds academic freedom, institutional autonomy and public accountability, I make the case for justice through higher education using public accountability. I argue that the higher education system in South Africa is capable of fulfilling such a role in the context of extreme injustices but not without a critical engagement of the extent and causes of these injustices and an understanding of their implications for academic curricula, practices and deeply embedded conceptions of knowledge. A redefinition of higher education institutions' public accountability in terms of responsibility to their 'institutional locale' or community (the populations whose needs they should be meeting) can be an effective 'proactive tool' with which higher education can redress social injustices. This requires an interrogation of the social, political and economic conditions of possibility that either inhibit or aid educational desire and attainment. An investigation of this nature entails a rigorous reappraisal of all three of the key principles within which higher education systems operate—academic freedom, institutional autonomy and public accountability—if they are to guard against the continued perpetuation of epistemic and social injustices. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The potentialities of the educational units as medium of university extension, as material vehicle of promotion of culture, in their more wide meaning, it is the referring that defends this work. It includes a summaries of the main epistemological conceptions about the extension as university process, as well as those that it maintain to the educational units as fundamental vehicle for the investigative labor formation and it reflects about the possibilities of these to be a canal that possesses the university to extend their culture to community. Appear also a proposal of methodology for the development of the process of university extension in the educational units. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, we take a critical discourse analytic approach to short notes written at the end of exam papers by Iranian students asking for a higher score. Such notes are sometimes written when the student has a feeling that they might fail the exam as a result of not providing satisfactory answers to questions. We consider this to be a manipulative strategy employed by these students to control their professors. Manipulation, however, is often considered an illegitimate source of power abuse by people having the higher hand in unequal power relations [Van Dijk, T.A. (2006). Discourse and manipulation. Discourse & Society, 17(3), 359–383]. The present paper argues for a new understanding of this important concept in the critical discourse analysis (CDA) tradition by highlighting manipulative strategies used by less powerful people. The analysis of 71 such notes written by students in two Iranian universities suggests that the students, as people in a lower position of power, resorted to certain manipulative strategies to exert influence on professors, people in a higher position of power. Four of the most frequent strategies identified in the data will be discussed: (1) tapping into religious beliefs; (2) highlighting personal and social problems as causes for inability to prepare for the exam; (3) referring to negative consequences for failing the exam, and therefore tapping into the examiner's conscience; and (4) resorting to honorific terms to address the examiner. This study would have implications for application of CDA in Higher Education. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper explores how dramaturgical metaphors can be translated through images of charismatic leadership to a teaching situation. Viewing the teaching context as a dramaturgical service encounter, we examine the student-follower's reception and potential enactment of charismatic images in the pivotal relationship between lecturer and student. Our findings yield the key insight that, while dramaturgical aspects like scripting, framing and staging are valuable in explaining the essential phases of the action of lecturing in Higher Education, they should, optimally, be supported by what we call 'embedded trust' in order for the charismatic relationship between lecturer and student to be productive. A secondary implication of our paper is that lecturers can manage their charismatic image in order to help students become more independent evaluators of the teaching experience. The paper concludes by considering methodological, as well as theoretical, directions for future research. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper focuses on the relationship between social aspects and individual agency in digital education, analysed in the context of online peer assessment in a first-semester course. Applying the adapted participation gestalt framework to identify how a particular form of participation emerges, and how it is constituted, individual interviews and focus group meetings with 13 Danish students were carried out. The analysis highlights a number of signs accumulated by students to construct their participation in the interaction. These signs argue against simplistic accounts of student agency in educational research, whereby student agency is approached as an individual and cognitive phenomenon and relationships as stable and unproblematic. The paper argues that student agency should not automatically be assumed possible as part of digital education or digital student-centred learning activities. Instead, the social aspects of educational interactions need to be taken into consideration when presenting digital education as a means to enhance student agency. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose A research project exploring emerging student needs explored six aspects of student life: living, learning, working, playing, connecting and participating. Playing is explored here, considering changes in student approaches to leisure, recreation and having fun and investigates how playing in general is changing. The purpose of this paper summarizes two scenarios about the playing domain from the Student Needs 2025+ project and highlights implications for the future of higher education.Design/methodology/approach A modified version of the University of Houston’s “Framework Foresight” method was used to explore the future of six aspects of future student life.Findings Play has gotten serious. It is increasingly scheduled, supervised and often includes some larger objective, such as learning. This purposeful play is spreading into virtual space as well, which will increasingly be the setting for play. In the longer term, play – in the form or gamification – is likely to integrate into more and more of student life. Games and play will be used for teaching in the classroom (real and virtual), at work for training, to make exercise “fun”, and even in civic life for encouraging greater participation in governance.Research limitations/implications In terms of research limitations, the paper is focused on the needs of students and does not purport to be an exhaustive analysis of all the issues influencing higher education. It views the future of higher education through the lens of students and their emerging needs.Practical implications The paper is intended for educators, researchers and administrators to provide insight on how the needs of students, their key customers, are evolving.Originality/value This research explores student life in its totality as way to more accurately identify student needs in the future. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper attempts to measure the extent of social exclusion in the realm of higher education in India, and some major states. Globalisation has made it imperative to usher in knowledge based development for India. Here the cause for concern is how all sections of population participate in the inclusive education process. Based on secondary data (Ministry of Human Resource and Development, Statistics of Higher Education), the paper analyses nature of progression of Scheduled tribe and Scheduled caste students towards achieving higher education in West Bengal, Bihar, Jharkhand and Odisha. The study confirms that the socially disadvantaged sections in West Bengal have made substantial improvement (vertically) in terms of access to higher education. The results are in affirmation with the point that the disadvantaged population has effectively utilized the reservations in higher education. The paper concludes that exclusion is inherent in Indian society without exogenous policy direction exclusion will persist. However efforts are required to analyse the quality dimension of higher education for the Scheduled Tribe and Scheduled Caste population. The short coming of this current research is the inability to assess the situation of dropouts in higher education and due to lack of data the placement situation of the eligible students in the job markets. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Are more students cheating on assessment tasks in higher education? Despite ongoing media speculation concerning increased ‘copying and pasting’ and ghostwritten assignments produced by ‘paper mills’, few studies have charted historical trends in rates and types of plagiarism. Additionally, there has been little comment from researchers as to the best way to assess changes in plagiarism over time. In this paper, we discuss the relative strengths and weaknesses of research designs for assessing changes in plagiarism over time, namely cross-sectional, longitudinal, and time-lag. We also report the results of our own time-lag study of plagiarism. We assessed self-reported engagement in, awareness of, and attitudes towards plagiarism in three comparable groups of students at the same university on three occasions, each separated by five years (2004, 2009, and 2014). The data from our study paint an encouraging picture of increased understanding and reduced occurrence of several forms of plagiarism, with no upward trend in verbatim copying or ghostwriting. We suggest that technological and educational initiatives are counteracting the potential for increased plagiarism from online sources. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Issues of social justice in higher education together with a focus on access or widening participation have become of increasing importance globally. Given the complex theoretical terrain of social justice and the tensions inherent in applying social justice frameworks within higher education, and particularly in the area of access, this paper argues that it is necessary to take a step back and reflect on key theories of social justice and their implications for higher education. The paper considers three leading theorists of social justice whose work is commonly applied in higher education contexts and provides an account of the implications of this work for a specific social justice challenge, that of increasing access to university. The complexities of access and success in South African higher education are used as an illustrative case. On the basis of this conceptual analysis an argument is presented for the capabilities approach as a particularly productive theoretical approach in the context of university access for promoting more just outcomes, through a specific consideration of student agency and the interaction of this agency with institutional contexts. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper argues that higher education should exist for society's common good, a focus that has been lost in recent years (Dorn, 2011; Eagan et al., 2015; Ford 2016; Habley, Bloom & Robbins, 2012). To explore how Christian higher education can provide leadership in returning to a focus on the common good, this paper traces the movement of higher education away from the common good and recommends strategies for a counter-movement. A review of the organizational change process is offered, with an emphasis on the connection between organizational citizenship behavior (OCB) and positive leadership strategies for the common good. Fostering positive and productive work environments marked by shared service to society could set Christian higher education apart within the higher education milieu, creating an opportunity for Christian colleges and universities to flourish in times of change. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper begins with the argument that within modern-day society, engineering has shifted from being the scientific and technical mainstay of industrial, and more recently digital change to become the most vital driver of future advancement. In order to meet the inevitable challenges resulting from this role, the nature of engineering education is constantly evolving and as such engineering education has to change. The paper argues that what is needed is a fresh approach to engineering education – one that is sufficiently flexible so as to capture the fast-changing needs of engineering education as a discipline, whilst being pedagogically suitable for use with a range of engineering epistemologies. It provides an overview of a case study in which a new approach to engineering education has been developed and evaluated. The approach, which is based on the concept of scholarship, is described in detail. This is followed by a discussion of how the approach has been put into practice and evaluated. The paper concludes by arguing that within today's market-driven university world, the need for effective learning and teaching practice, based in good scholarship, is fundamental to student success. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

The way teachers are represented in relation to massive open online courses (MOOCs) has created a limited and unhelpful characterization of an important role. The key argument put forward in this position paper is that attending to the complexity of the MOOC teacher's experience and identity will ultimately support productive dialogue about retention, access, and the meaning and purpose of the MOOC - dialogue that, at present, typically focuses on the student or the technology, but is silent on the matter of the teacher. The paper begins by exploring how common constructions of "the teacher" - as the charismatic celebrity professor, the co-learner or facilitator, or the automated response - have emerged in the MOOC literature, and challenges the underlying assumptions about teaching. Its central section comprises an account of a team of MOOC teachers' reflections on designing and teaching a MOOC - E-learning and Digital Cultures, on the Coursera platform - and an exploration of how their experiences problematize common perceptions of the MOOC teacher. Finally, taking as an alternative starting point the higher education literature on academic identities, the authors highlight the complex effects of academic discipline, institution, and personal and professional values. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The paper examines the educational level of the part of the public in 16 Middle Eastern, Asian and African countries who justify suicide bombing and dislike regional/world powers, and its relationship with the occurrence of terrorism originating from the former countries and directed against the powers. We find that the share of highly educated people in this critical support group (regardless of gender and age) in a country is significantly correlated with the number of international terrorist acts carried out by individuals or groups from that country. The paper confirms that public opinion has an impact on terrorism and suggests that increasing education is not by itself a sufficient means of counter-terrorist policy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to view the actual problems of the Russian system of higher education: lack of connection between labor market and market of educational services, decline in the quality of higher education in the country, reduction of intellectual potential of the youth, commercialization of higher education, etc.Design/methodology/approach The author offers approaches to complex evaluation of university education from the positions of social and economic effectiveness on the basis of the matrix of criteria; modern tendencies and perspectives of the development of educational environment are determined, as well as factors facilitating the achievement of the maximum effectiveness of educational activities in Russian universities.Findings The author offers her own vision of the main determinants of the growth of the effectiveness of university education within the framework of Russia’s integration into the global educational space.Originality/value The paper views the actual problems of the Russian system of higher education: lack of connection between labor market and market of educational services, decline in the quality of higher education in the country, reduction of intellectual potential of the youth, commercialization of higher education, etc. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Now that most UK universities have increased their tuition fees to £9,000 a year and are implementing new Access Agreements as required by the Office for Fair Access, it has never been more important to examine the extent of fair access to UK higher education and to more prestigious UK universities in particular. This paper uses Universities and Colleges Admissions Service ( UCAS) data for the period 1996 to 2006 to explore the extent of fair access to prestigious Russell Group universities, where 'fair' is taken to mean equal rates of making applications to and receiving offers of admission from these universities on the part of those who are equally qualified to enter them. The empirical findings show that access to Russell Group universities is far from fair in this sense and that little changed following the introduction of tuition fees in 1998 and their initial increase to £3,000 a year in 2006. Throughout this period, UCAS applicants from lower class backgrounds and from state schools remained much less likely to apply to Russell Group universities than their comparably qualified counterparts from higher class backgrounds and private schools, while Russell Group applicants from state schools and from Black and Asian ethnic backgrounds remained much less likely to receive offers of admission from Russell Group universities in comparison with their equivalently qualified peers from private schools and the White ethnic group. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper draws on several projects over sixteen years which attempted to develop capacity in educational research at Addis Ababa University. It identifies what might be considered indicators of a thriving research environment as defined from a UK perspective, not simply the necessary skills and infrastructure requirements but also what might be considered ‘academic ‘ or ‘intellectual’ virtues. Having outlined specific project activities, our responses and mutual learning, the paper goes on to consider how such qualities might relate to an Ethiopian academic setting where cultural norms and political contexts have tended to encourage silence and caution rather than critique and argument. Thus through these comparisons, I argue that research capacity building is not just a body of knowledge or set of techniques to be delivered through workshops, but is about the importance of developing a research culture which engages with the underlying attitudes that derive from the country context. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

This paper implemented a comparative approach to investigate the relationships between test-based school accountability policies in 2 German states and teachers' acceptance and usage of feedback information. Thuringia implemented mandatory tests for secondary schools based on competency modeling and performance data controlled for socioeconomic variables. In comparison to Thuringia, mandatory testing in Baden-Wurttemberg is rather simple, not based on competency modeling and performance feedback is not controlled for socioeconomic variables. Drawing on a model of quality features of school performance feedback systems, it was hypothesized that mandatory testing in Thuringia leads to higher teacher evaluation of mandatory testing and usefulness of performance feedback. Analysis of quantitative survey data for math teachers (n = 357) showed that teachers in Thuringia rather accept mandatory testing and describe performance feedback information as more useful for educational diagnosis, student tutoring, and repetition. The paper finally discusses to what extent the observed differences can be attributed to the respective testing system. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the past ten years, the K-12 classroom has changed dramatically in the United States. Institutions of higher education engaged in the preparation of teacher candidates have responded by enhancing their current curriculum with new/revised courses focusing on this diversity. The paper will focus on the uniqueness of an undergraduate, three-semester-hour education course at a small, liberal arts college in northeast Ohio. While students explore eight distinct areas of diversity, the course also requires the completion of a community scan as well as a non-school service learning field experience. Both activities provide students the opportunity to recognize the human variety of experiences, the challenges of living in a diverse world, and the impact of this diversity in the classroom setting. The paper will include data from a sample of 22 students (instructor's section) as well as recommendations from the presenter/instructor for institutions seeking to implement a similar experience for its teacher candidates. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Written for a non-Indian audience, this paper outlines the main issues involved in the current controversy around the expansion of India's positive action programmes to new caste groups and to elite segments of the higher education system. It is concerned mainly with the ideological aspects of the controversy over quotas or 'reservations' in state-funded elite professional colleges for the 'Other Backward Classes', this being the official term for a large (more than 40% of total population) and disparate group of intermediate castes, most of whom are poor and backward although some are prosperous, politically powerful rural castes. The focus is on the two central ideas of inclusion (or social justice) and excellence (or merit) which map the terrain on which battles over access to higher education are fought. Recent evidence on caste inequality (specially in higher education) is discussed, as are the specific contextual factors which complicate questions of fair access to higher education in countries with large and highly unequal populations. The paper ends with a preliminary analysis of the different kinds of justifications offered for positive action programmes, and the modalities which they may follow. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In Denmark, third mission activities were for the first time explicitly formulated as mandatory in the University Act of May 2003, and the purpose of this paper is to analyze current third mission experiences from two younger Danish universities (University of Southern Denmark and Aalborg University). The two case studies show that third mission activities are perceived and implemented in different ways, depending on factors both internal and external to the university. Third mission activities are becoming more strategic for the universities and their collaboration partners, and the paper concludes that there is a need for universities, policy-makers and society in general to find a balance between commercialization and open access to university-generated knowledge, a balance between third mission activities aiming at industry demand and broader societal considerations, and a balance between the allocation of financial and other resources among the three missions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper analyzes the third mission of universities, based on a case study of the University of the Republic in Uruguay. It draws on the perceptions and opinions of a broad range of actors, from academia to enterprises, and from parliament to trade unions. The University of the Republic is the only public university in the country, and it has played a major role in its history. The university's relevance, legitimacy and respectability were conveyed in the interviews, though counterbalanced by questions concerning its future role. The high appreciation of the university clearly has its limitations: societal support should not be taken for granted and criticisms emerge hand-in-hand with excessive expectations of the role the university can play. The specific analysis of the third mission permeates the paper as an open question, and definition of this mission is an on-going process. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper presents case studies on how Cuban universities have increasingly become directly involved with the economic and social development of the country. The paper shows how Cuban universities, from the late 1980s and early 1990s, started reorientation and organization of their scientific research, becoming more directly and intensely involved in the economic and social development of the country. In this connection, special reference is made to the case of a research group at the University of Havana: the Laboratory of Synthetic Antigens. This group developed the first synthetic vaccine for human use approved in the world. In the article, public policies involved in this success as well as different obstacles are discussed. These obstacles demonstrate the difficulties and challenges that universities face when carrying out research and innovation activities related to economic and social development. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Inspired by a super-diversity approach, this paper seeks to explore the influence of the 'ethnic hierarchy' of 'old' minority groups over the way 'new' migrants from Turkey negotiate their interaction in the daily life in three settings: Amsterdam, London and Barcelona. By focusing on highly educated migrants from Turkey who by virtue of their country of origin or religion are positioned at the bottom of 'ethnic hierarchies', it strives to understand the significance of these different sources of diversity in daily interaction. Applying boundarydrawing strategies developed for ethnic boundaries, this paper argues that education does not necessarily 'trump' nationality, but allows for substantial claims of difference. New migrants from Turkey carve out a space for themselves by on the one hand homogenizing Turkish or other Muslim communities through attributing 'unwanted' behaviours and on the other redefining the boundaries of their individual identity with emphasis on different sources of diversity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper deploys an orthodox Marxian reading of the concept of subsumption of labour under capital. It does so through a brief, critical overview of the components of the Marxian conceptual instrument of subsumption of labour under capital (formal, real, hybrid and ideal subsumption). Recapitulating Marx's concept, it sheds some light on the consequences of such a reading as a way of understanding the current transformation of the global higher education sector into a capitalist production sector per se. The reconstruction is then considered here as an attempt to approximate the specifics of the subsumption of labour under capital within the higher education sector. Moreover, the paper aims at showing that a discussion of the university dominated by capital with reference to the functioning or constituting of markets does not provide real opportunities for the understanding and solution of such problems as precarization, exploitation or acceleration of academic work. Thus, it joins a wider stream of Marxist higher education research and could be seen as a conceptual contribution to a critique of the political economy of higher education. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper introduces and discusses key issues as well as challenges concerning the implementation of English as a medium of instruction (EMI) in teacher training. Here the experience of teacher training practice in the professional higher educational system of internal security is reflected upon and the main strategies of developing subject teachers’ linguistic and didactical competence are presented. As the aim of the paper is to introduce the key aspects of the design and structure of an EMI course, the content of the article may be of interest to professionals working in the area of teaching academic subjects (specialities) in English, it can also be beneficial to those higher education institutions who are partners of the Estonian Academy of Security Sciences and who practise the teaching of curricular subjects in English. The authors offer particular recommendations on how to improve EMI teacher training and make it sustainable. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

With the advent of mass higher education and the consequent absorption of significant national resources, both public and private, it is inevitable that universities are increasingly expected to meet a range of societal needs. They are expected to 'connect' with society at large. In this paper, we argue that connectivity is best integrated with research, teaching and scholarship and should not be relegated to a 'third stream'. We compare degrees of connectivity of 50 national systems of higher education using ten indicators, making a distinction between domestic and international connectivity. The strongest finding is that smaller countries exhibit the highest level of international connectivity. The higher education systems in countries with large absolute numbers of researchers such as the USA, China and Japan are relatively self-contained compared with countries such as Ireland, Switzerland and Singapore. Another finding is the relative insularity of the education sector in Eastern Europe, including the Russian Federation. When differences in levels of economic development are allowed for, among lower-income countries South Africa stands out as having a well-connected higher education sector. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose – This study investigates the relationship between employment status (full time (FT)/part time (PT)), organizational culture and institutional effectiveness in higher education. The purpose of this paper is to answer the question, “Does the growing population of PT faculty preclude effective cultures from developing and, accordingly, adversely affect institutional effectiveness?” Design/methodology/approach – The study surveyed 159 PT faculty and 65 FT faculty from seven schools of an online, proprietary university. The instrument, consisting of the Organizational Culture Survey Instrument and demographic questions, was distributed and data collected utilizing an online survey application. Statistical analysis methods including descriptive statistics, analysis of variance and correlation analysis were used to analyze the data. Findings – The study found no significant differences between perceptions of organizational culture or institutional effectiveness FT and PT faculty. Inter-school differences in perceptions were identified. Further research in this area is warranted to investigate discipline as a cause for the inter-school differences. Research limitations/implications – The study included respondents from only one online university. Therefore, additional studies involving traditional, ground based and hybrid institutions are required to establish generalizability. Additionally, self-assessments of institutional effectiveness were used. Future studies should consider quantitative research models for the measurement of institutional effectiveness. Practical implications – The study indicates that PT faculty are not less committed to the institution than their FT counterparts. This strengthens the case for using PT faculty, particularly in an online environment. Originality/value – This study investigates the relationship between organizational culture and institutional effectiveness in higher education from the faculty perspective. This has not been done before. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

From a framework of this study, modern society may be explained by a paradigm transformation from ascription to achievement and also from particularism to universalism. According to this hypothesis, Japanese university society has not developed successfully for more than the closed society to the opened society. This paper intends to deal with the Japanese differentiated university stratification, which has been formed among these value orientations by connection of particularism and ascription, with a focus on its effects on the academic productivity including both research and teaching productivity. For example, a closed academic structure with an inbreeding mechanism in tate-shakai (vertical society) has brought about a great deal of effect either positively or negatively on academic system throughout the country. We intend to discuss the reasons behind the declining symptom of academic productivity of the university on the basis of the given framework. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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This paper traces the academic identity formation(s) of 10 Canadian female academics whose disciplinary knowledge is in the field of educational administration. We trace the ways in which discourses of gender, institutional power, and other cultural and social influences shaped their sense of themselves as academics in the highly patriarchal domain of the academy as an institution as well as within the discourse(s) of educational administration in faculties of education. In doing so, we discuss the ways in which these women's entry into academia transformed identity possibilities for themselves and others. We conclude that these women share a commitment to rigorous scholarship and to the values of equity and social justice. The way in which they engage with those values in their work and lives has been taken up in the particular institutional and personal circumstances of their academic lives and has been shaped by the effects of normative discourses of gender. The result, individually and cumulatively, has been transformative on the individuals, within the institutions in which they have worked, and on the scholarship of Canadian educational administration. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Higher education research frequently refers to the complex external conditions that give our old-fashioned universities a good reason to change. The underlying theoretical assumption of such framing is that organizations are open systems. This paper presents an alternative view, derived from the theory of social systems autopoiesis. It proposes that organizations, being open systems, are yet operationally closed, as all their activities and interactions with the environment are aspects of just one process: the recursive production of themselves, according to a pattern of their own identity. It is their identity that captures exactly what can and what cannot be sustained in their continuous self-production. Examining the organizational identity of universities within the theoretical framework of autopoiesis may hence shed new light on their resistance to change, explaining it as a systemic and social phenomenon, rather than an individual and psychological one. Since all processes of an autopoietic system are processes of its self-production, this paper argues that in the case of traditional European universities, the identity consists in the intertwinement of only two processes: (1) introducing continuous change in the scope of scientific knowledge and (2) educating new generations of scholars, who will carry on this activity. This surprisingly leaves at the wayside seemingly the most obvious 'use of the university': the adequate education of students for the job market. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Both the commercial and education sectors experience an increase in inter-city exchanges in the forms of goods, capital, commands, people and information/knowledge under globalization. The quantification of flows and structural relations among cities in globalizing education are under-researched compared to the well-established world/global cities literature emphasizing economic linkages. In this paper, the city's global education networks are examined through the Globalizing Education Index system, which consists of place power and network power indicators. The study finds that many more cities worldwide participate in global networks, suggesting decentralized knowledge flows under globalization. Meanwhile, concentration is attested by the presence of traditional education powers at the top of city hierarchy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper explores the notion of a ‘just imaginary’ for social inclusion in higher education. It responds to the current strategy of OECD nations to expand higher education and increase graduate numbers, as a way of securing a competitive advantage in the global knowledge economy. The Australian higher education system provides the case for analysis. Three dilemmas for social inclusion policy in this context are identified: questions of sustainability, aspiration and opportunity. The paper argues that while social inclusion policy has ‘first-order’ effects in higher education, ajustimaginary is required for more inclusive ‘second-order’ effects to be realized. It concludes that transformation of the current imaginary will require a more robust theorization of relations between social inclusion and higher education, to give new and unifying meaning to existing practices and to generate new ones. Short of this, social inclusion may be little more than justimaginary. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

This paper explores two new perspectives for the research on higher education. Building on the case of Europe with a special focus on France, it first addresses the trend toward more competition and more differentiation that can be observed in countries that traditionally were more egalitarian and the strong implication of European states in reshaping their higher education and research systems. It also questions the social role of higher education while knowledge economies are engaged in a competitive race. Finally, it looks at the capacity of higher education studies to address such issues and critically questions how should this domain further develop. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Public higher education has a long history, with its growth associated with mass higher education and the extension of a social right to education from secondary schooling to university education. Following the rise in student numbers since the 1970s, the aspiration to higher education has been universalized, although opportunities remain structured by social background. This paper looks at changing policies for higher education in the UK and the emergence of a neoliberal knowledge regime. This subordinates higher education to the market and shifts the burden of paying for degree courses onto students. It seeks to stratify institutions and extend the role of for-profit providers. From a role in the amelioration of social inequality, universities are now asked to participate actively in the widening inequalities associated with a neoliberal global market order. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Persistently negative stereotypes of college students' parents are biased toward parents from privileged backgrounds and reflect privileged practices that operate from a color-blind and class-blind ideology. This scholarly paper argues for a conceptual shift from parent involvement to family engagement, establishes the need for a more inclusive lens to engage diverse families, and situates the family as a larger collective. We propose a "Model of Parent and Family Characteristics, Engagement, & Support" that contains a more inclusive understanding of the pre-college and college contributions that students' families offer and the broader community and institutional contexts in which they are situated. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The paper investigates the effects of a project-based community participation course in which students chose research topics relevant to a local community. Specifically, the students undertook the following projects: (1) creating a virtual 3D model of a local government office, (2) creating interactive digitized versions of mountain trails using geotourism, (3) determining optimal locations for trash recycling bins using network analysis, and (4) assessing the water quality of a local river. Geographic information technologies, such as GIS and Google Earth, were employed as analytical and visualization tools. The answers to a questionnaire, course evaluations, reflective journals, and interviews found that participants positively evaluated their learning experiences. In addition, the projects received favorable reviews from community members and professional geographers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper explores the responsibility of the university sector to respond to educational inequality and to those with precarious relationships to education. The paper explores how although there are considerable benefits to be attained from higher education and lifelong learning, many people are dislocated from the university sector and feel that the university is not for them. It argues that the university sector must develop a community mission to respond to these issues and explores the approach of the Centre for Adult Continuing Education in University College Cork, Ireland, in developing such a community mission. Through working with communities and supporting inclusive and diverse learning opportunities, the paper argues that universities can contribute to tackling the ongoing persistence of educational inequality. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Student racial and ethnic diversity in higher education is an important and timely topic, as institutions, policy makers, and economists increasingly recognize the value that accrues at many levels of having a skilled and diverse student body and workforce. Students benefit from learning in a diverse environment; firms may benefit from a diverse workforce; and more demographically diverse regions may experience higher rates of economic growth. However, the forces governing institution-level student diversity are poorly understood, as little prior research on the topic exists. This paper uses school enrollment data to parse out the contribution of institutional characteristics, geographical setting, and local demographic characteristics to student body diversity at each level of study. Results indicate that geographical location and local demographic composition play a role in student body diversity, as do the type and orientation of the institution. Institutional characteristics explain a lot of the variation in student body diversity and actual location of schools matters less than the demographic composition of young people around that location. Two broad conclusions emerge with regard to schools seeking to increase their student diversity. First, some may find their efforts hampered by circumstances outside their control (e.g., location). Second, the influence of public/private status and even school size suggests further research on the ways in which these factors influence student diversity so that eventual policy action can be more effective. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study critically analyzed the current body of published research on microblogging in education ( MIE) to build a deep and comprehensive understanding of this increasingly popular phenomenon. Twenty-one studies on MIE in 2008-2011 were selected based on the selection criteria and analyzed to answer the following questions: What types of research have been published on MIE? How was microblogging used for teaching and learning in these studies? What educational benefits did microblogging have on teaching and learning? What suggestions and implications did the current research have for future MIE research and practices? The analysis suggests that microblogging has a potential to encourage participation, engagement, reflective thinking as well as collaborative learning under different learning settings. The quality of research, however, varies greatly, suggesting a need for rigorous research on MIE. The analysis has implications for MIE practices as well as research and development efforts. Practitioner Notes What is already known about this topic Microblogging has a potential to facilitate learning., Research on microblogging has been conducted under different educational settings., What this paper adds What are the characteristics of the current research on microblogging in education., How educators and researchers integrated microblogging to achieve different educational goals as identified in these studies., What are the identified educational effects of using microblogging for teaching and learning., What are the challenges and suggestions of using microblogging in teaching and learning., Implications for practice and/or policy Future research on microblogging in education should go beyond formal higher education settings by considering learning occurring in other settings., Future research needs to observe and analyze how learners participate and learn in microblogging-based environments over time., Innovative data collection and analysis methods are needed to understand the interaction and learning that occur in such environments., Future research is needed to identify effective approaches of microblogging integration. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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This paper begins by locating the (controversial) removal of the ‘minimum age at qualification’ regulation in 2003 within the context of wider changes occurring within social work education and the social work profession. This is followed by a report of a small scale exploratory study designed to gather data regarding the experiences of younger students within one undergraduate qualifying programme. The data are then discussed in relation to literature from within social work and allied disciplines in order to consider themes such as ‘identity’, ‘othering’ and ‘recognition’. It is suggested from data gathered during this project that although the gates to social work education have now been opened more widely to school leaving students, they have in effect become social work's new ‘non-traditional’ students and in some cases, inclusion is experienced as partial rather than complete. A discussion of the implications for further research as well as teaching, learning and group process issues on professional programmes concludes this paper. The initial phase of the research for this paper was funded by an HEA SWAP ‘small projects’ grant. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Mobile learning is a relatively new phenomenon and the theoretical basis is currently under development. The paper presents a pedagogical perspective of mobile learning which highlights three central features of mobile learning: authenticity, collaboration and personalisation, embedded in the unique timespace contexts of mobile learning. A pedagogical framework was developed and tested through activities in two mobile learning projects located in teacher education communities: Mobagogy, a project in which faculty staff in an Australian university developed understanding of mobile learning; and The Bird in the Hand Project, which explored the use of smartphones by student teachers and their mentors in the United Kingdom. The framework is used to critique the pedagogy in a selection of reported mobile learning scenarios, enabling an assessment of mobile activities and pedagogical approaches, and consideration of their contributions to learning from a socio-cultural perspective. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the past few decades, there has been a sharp increase in the number of students attending higher education institutions in Spain. Many commentators believe that this expansion is associated with greater equality of opportunities as more university places offer greater potential for the advancement of students from poorer backgrounds. Unfortunately, this argument is not always true. In fact, there is empirical evidence that the expansion in higher education system disproportionately benefits children from relatively rich and well educated families. In that context, the purpose of this paper is to analyse the possible effects of socioeconomic background on the decision to complete a degree before leaving the educational system in Spain. Taking the data from the Spanish module data on school to work transitions, I estimate several logit models in order to detect the influence of personal and regional characteristics on the educational decisions. The results show that, in spite of the disappearance of universities for only the elite, socioeconomic variables heavily influence the demand for university education, so the equality of opportunities in this educational level has not been completely achieved. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The paper focuses on the role academic organizations and their members play within their socio-economic and socio-political contexts. It presents findings of the case study of a German university. Based on qualitative interviews, written documents and bibliometric analyses, we can see that, first, most of the university's links to the economy, political actors, and broader civil society emerge in a bottom-up and decentralized way, and they thrive on individual motivation and commitment. Therefore, there are clear limits to the formal institutionalization of such activities at the organizational level. Second, while ties to industry pay off at least indirectly through research funding, links to regional policy-making and broader civil society remain largely unrewarded in academia. For the future, we expect a growing tension between the organizational goal to embrace additional goals and the individual goals, especially of younger researchers who increasingly tend to focus on those activities that are rewarded in academia. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The paper discusses the cases of two universities in Vietnam and their third mission activities where they try to reach out to society at large, through the provision of research, technology transfer services, and other kinds of linkages. It is revealed that third mission activities exist in practice but are closely linked and even mixed up with the second mission. The cases show that the policy framework for financial incentives, management mechanisms, salaries and intellectual property rights, for instance, considerably influences the third mission. There is a need both for government mechanisms to support third mission activities for the community, as well as for a proactive approach by the universities themselves to develop partnerships with other actors in the provinces. These measures include regional training centers and action plans to support farmers and disadvantaged groups of people in society. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Social work as a profession is committed to the creation of an equal and just society. Social work pedagogy combines an analysis of psychosocial, economic and political contexts and methods of active intervention and administration of social welfare. Gender sensitization and awareness is an integral component of social work education and training in India. Through conscious efforts students are enabled to imbibe the concept of gender, to look at women not only as individual entities but also in relation to men, and the way relations between the two are socially constructed. This paper examines the integration of a gender perspective in social work education and practice and explores how this may play a part in enabling students to 'unlearn' their gender stereotypes imbibed during socialization. The paper draws on case study examples of some projects in India. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the commercialised and professionalised world of elite sport, issues associated with career pathways and post sporting career options have a particular resonance. In various football codes, an unexpected knock, twist, bend or break can profoundly impact a player's career. In this high risk and high consequence environment, a number of sports entertainment industries have instituted player development and education programmes to educate and prepare elite level performers for life after football. Drawing on Foucault's later work on governmentality and the care of the self, this paper will discuss findings from a research project funded by the Australian Football League (AFL). The paper presents data that suggests that, elite performers are so focused on establishing and prolonging a career as an elite performer, that other aspects of identity are seen as something to be complied with as a consequence of industry expectations. An industry emphasis on higher education raises issues for the sports industries that promote player enrolment in higher education and for the higher education institutions that must manage this lack of engagement. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

An introduction is presented in which the editor discusses various reports within the issue including the racism in higher education institutions, the creation of anti-racist university and the lack of progression of black and ethnic minority students in the academic workforce.