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ABSTRACT English university admissions increasingly make use of contextual offers, where applicants with certain socio‐demographic characteristics can be offered marginally lower entry conditions. This paper presents novel insights into the impact of contextual offer policy on one institutions' patterns of enrolment in 2022/2023 via a mixed methods contribution analysis. We present evidence that the policy contributed to widening access for targeted students despite the institutions' small and highly selective intake. This effect appears to be driven by increasing applicants' likelihood of accepting an offer and acting as a safety net at confirmation. While contextual offer policies thus appear to be an effective tool to improve targeted students' enrolment at an institution, we find evidence of marginally lower year‐one outcomes for students admitted with contextual offers, highlighting the need for further research to understand the impact of contextual offers on student outcomes and experiences. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

ABSTRACT Research on higher education policy in the United States often seeks to understand commonalities across state contexts to understand broader concepts influencing decision‐making. However, this minimises the importance of abstract and distinct factors impacting policy processes within a state. While researchers in other fields attribute these non‐tangible characteristics to a state's culture, a similar concept has yet to emerge within the higher education policy context. By considering gaps within the literature, the current exploratory case study considers two statewide postsecondary sector changes in Utah that occurred in 2019–2020 and the distinct state‐level values that were commonly influential during these processes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Introduction: In the face of global challenges, higher education is regarded as an important force to promote the achievement of the 2030 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Existing research has focused on articulating and analyzing the impact of value shaping for sustainable growth in higher education, although articulation and systematic analysis of higher education policy remain lacking. Methods: Based on the policy tool perspective, this paper constructed a three-dimensional analysis framework by using content analysis and the PMC index model to undertake a thorough analysis of higher education policies published at the central level in China from 2009 to 2024. Results: This study found that current higher education policies had multiple impacts on the formation of sustainable development values: (1) In the four dimensions of sustainable development proposed by the United Nations, China's higher education policy had shown clear guiding ideology and action direction; (2) In shaping sustainable values, China's higher education policies showed clear progress in three key dimensions; (3) The value and innovation of this study in shaping the values of sustainable development in higher education policies were primarily expressed in the following aspects. Discussion: This paper suggested a way for optimizing the design of China's higher education policies, providing empirical data and theoretical support for China's higher education policies to better promote the ideals of sustainable development. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract\nPlain language summaryU.S. higher education is facing an ongoing assault via state legislation targeting divisive concepts, such as teaching critical race theory and initiatives supporting diversity, equity, and inclusion across campus. Although attacks to foundational aspects of postsecondary education in the U.S. are not new in the history of the sector, the current policy trend offers an opportunity to gain insights into how institutions and various stakeholders respond to these events and the ethical tensions these individuals may face. Using qualitative content analysis, this study examines publicly available statements and other responses by stakeholders of public 4-year institutions in the Southern United States, as defined by membership in the Southern Regional Education Board. This region of the country has become an epicenter for the introduction and adoption of these types of policies; the region also encompasses a diverse group of states politically and regarding institutional representation within public postsecondary sectors. Ultimately, this study seeks to understand how characteristics of higher education influence responses by institutional stakeholders in this regional context.Anti–higher education sentiment has been increasingly vocal across the United States, particularly from conservative politicians and media since President Trump’s Administration took office in 2017. While anti–higher education commentary is not a new phenomenon, the particular focus of this most recent wave centers on practices and programs aligning with critical race theory (CRT) and diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) and has resulted in a growing number of proposed and enacted state policies targeting these areas. A fundamental question, however, centers on how public institutions and their institutional stakeholders respond to these policies. This study reviews 82 publicly available responses by institutional presidents, faculty, staff, students, alumni, and trustees from public 4-year institutions located in the Southern United States. These data were systematically collected and analyzed through the theory of stakeholder saliency, and several themes emerged. For example, despite expectations that state contexts, such as partisan state politics or number of postsecondary institutions, might influence the number, content, or character of responses, findings suggest that the seriousness of these attacks may have superseded many of these differences, with many responses focused on reacting to active bills and adopted policies rather than proactively voicing concerns about national and regional trends. Students, faculty, and staff were often more vocal in their opposition to these policies, whereas presidents and other institutional leaders attempted to remain more neutral, potentially because of their role and position in relation to the policymakers. Given the use of publicly available responses, findings highlight the potential disconnect in media coverage of key stakeholders as well as the representative institutions included in the coverage. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The discourse regarding globalisation and particularly 'global competition' has appeared in a range of socio-economic areas and higher education is no exception. Global competition has been the policy context in which a range of national excellence initiatives have been developed. These have often involved competitive processes with significant funding as a core incentive for universities to participate. Several countries have implemented these to build 'World Class Universities' (WCU) but often this concept is linked to global rankings and a western model of what world class is. The aim of this study is to critically examine the characteristics of China's WCU policies, particularly as a competition discourse. It aims to go beyond Western-centric paradigms to capture a more inclusive and diverse understanding of competitive dynamics across various cultural and regional contexts. The article first draws upon critical globalisation studies, then it reviews 'indigenous' Chinese policy concepts of 'world class-ness' in HE, next it examines the construction of higher education (HE) competition in the Chinese national and institutional contexts, and finally it conducts a thematic review of the main Chinese WCU policies and the strategy and implementation documents of the 'core' WCU institutions with respect to the indigenous concepts. Our study's findings will contribute to a nuanced understanding of competition in HE settings – it examines and challenges the tendency of the competition discourse to reduce distinctions between national contexts. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In an era where many states' postsecondary education governance dynamics are evolving, we set out to understand whether state-level governing boards with centralized governance functions affected institutions' decisions to engage in in-person instruction during the fall of 2020, the first fall of the Covid-19 pandemic. We examined sociopolitical features related to the strength of governance functions of centralized state boards. The data alluded to linkages between Republican control and lower bachelor's degree attainment linking (β = −.45) with weaker centralized governance. We also found a negative effect from increased centralized governance functions (β = −.12) to in-person instruction at public 4-year institutions for fall 2020. This paper gives a real-time opportunity to see if the characteristics of governing boards influence return to campus. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This case study explores the potential for democratic governance in state-regulated Arab higher education systems focusing on institutional committee members' adoption of deliberative, empowered and participatory evidence-based decision-making practices while engaged in university policy development. Amidst a landscape characterised by the forces of globalisation and internationalisation, coupled with an intensifying focus on quality assurance and accreditation that increasingly shape governance structures, this research examines decision-making at the practical micro-level within an Arab State institution. This university, mirroring others in the Gulf Cooperation Council region, functions within a largely centralised political system where government bodies exert substantial influence. By presenting an illustrative case of grassroots democratic evidence-based decision-making during committee members' formulation of a new institution-wide policy, this study aims to partially bridge the conceptual and applied research void. It delves into the opportunities and challenges of practicing shared, evidence-based decision-making in multiplex universities operating within characteristically state-regulated, management-centric political contexts. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Sessional academics undertake a large proportion of teaching and marking and are essential for current university structures and student success. Employment of sessional academics has primarily been driven by cost savings and flexibility in hiring practices for employers, in addition to managing academic staffing shortages. Despite the increase in sessional employment, little is known about the experience of sessional academics regarding support and processes for integrating them into university structures. This scoping review focused on identifying the facilitators and barriers experienced by sessional academics during the onboarding process. Two university departments that can contribute to improving the onboarding process are identified: human resources and the individual academic unit. Six subthemes were identified during the literature analysis to support onboarding: contractual, orientation, resources, communication, mentoring and belonging. These themes have been explored and discussed and key recommendations have been made for policymakers and managers, with further research proposed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Academia is increasingly populated but remains saturated with problems of exclusion, inequality, and injustice. However, policies aimed to govern the sector are criticized for corrupting the core of the academic practice, overlooking complexities, and perpetuating old and constructing new forms of inequalities. We thus need more empowering ways to design policies which can productively transform academia into good spaces to inhabit. To this end, we take a novel approach by viewing higher education policies as world-making spaces. Through 'social world/arena mapping' of the Norwegian research and higher education policy, we find that the policy articulates diverse worlds with different logics and purposes for academics to inhabit. However, the actors in these worlds remain passive, and seemingly 'universal' actors, able to simultaneously inhabit all the different policy worlds, while systemic inequalities which permeate the sector are largely overlooked. We argue that acknowledging this shortcoming is pivotal to finding new ways to (re)create sustainable spaces in research and higher education that ensure inclusive environments and function as democratic institutions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In Anglophone neoliberal jurisdictions, policy highlights the private goods associated with higher education but largely neglects the sector's contributions to public good not measurable as economic values, including non-pecuniary individual benefits and collective social outcomes. Governments are silent on the existence and funding of most public goods. The paper reports on understandings of the public good role of higher education in England after nearly a decade of full marketisation. The study, part of a cross-national comparison of 11 countries, consisted of a review of major policy reports, and 24 semi-structured interviews in universities (13) and among higher education policy professionals (11) including regulators, national organisations and experts. England has no policy language for talking about outcomes of higher education other than attenuated performative outputs such as graduate salaries, research impact, knowledge exchange and widening participation, understood as individual access to education as a private good. Awareness of multiple public goods has been suppressed to justify successive fee increases and the imposition of a market in the centralised English system. This has coincided with a shift from direct government funding and collaborative stewardship by state and institutions, to student funding and top-down regulation. Nevertheless, most interviewees, including regulators, advocated an open-ended public good role and provided many examples of public goods in higher education, though the concepts lacked clarity. The policy notion of a zero-sum relation of private and public outcomes, corresponding to the split of private/public costs, was rejected in favour of a positive-sum relation of private and public outcomes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Three trends have characterized state policymaking for higher education in the 21st century: divestment, accountability, and race neutrality. These policy agendas are often justified as an attempt to optimize system efficiency and performance by making institutional actors (agents) responsive to the demands of state officials (principals). In this manuscript, we present quantitative evidence that these three policy initiatives have not achieved their stated purpose. We use contemporary social theory to explain why this is the case. Finally, we call for deeper re-engagement of states and their higher education systems in place of transactional and technocratic models. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The share of international students studying in traditionally major hosts fell from 63% in 1999 to 40% by 2019, while the shares of other countries grew. What are the primary factors behind the broadening of international education? I extend the small literature on the flow of international students into non-OECD countries by better measuring relative university system quality. This is found to be a driver of international enrollments for non-OECD and non-English-speaking OECD host countries. The results suggest that economic growth and rising university quality are behind the broadening of international education to a wider variety of host countries. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

To explore scientific mobility patterns, we leverage a rich bibliometric dataset on Taiwanese academia. We investigate the movement and productivity of 21,051 highly active researchers who published while affiliated with Taiwanese higher education institutions based on 30 years' worth of publication and affiliation records from 1991 to 2020. The analysis shows evidence of brain drain in Taiwan since the 2010s, with the U.S. the top destination for researchers moving from Taiwan (as well as the largest source of inbound researchers). China comes a close second to the U.S. as the top destination for outbound scholars. Studying how Taiwan's universities recruited talent after the country adopted the 2005 excellence initiative, we discover that the numbers of scholars recruited by World Class Universities (WCUs) and non-WCUs surpringly converge with WCUs exhibiting a dramatic decrease in new recruits. Our evidence uncovers that inbound scholars, after their move, are more productive than non-mobile colleagues; however, this effect declines over time. We discuss implications for the study of excellence initiatives, their (un)intended consequences, and mechanisms of talent circulation that greatly impact research production and research university development. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the vigorous trend of international publication as a crucial research performance indicator, English claims the status of the uncontested global language of academic publishing. In this study, after providing a sketch of the policies of writing and publishing in English in Iran (reflected in national policy documents and university bylaws), we probe the perspectives of nine Iranian higher education policy experts about these policies through semi-structured interviews. The findings reveal that while policy documents indicate strong orientations in favor of publishing in English, the main justifications behind these policies appear to be vague ideas of demonstrating local academic capabilities and winning international reputation. However, the participants admit that ignoring the peculiarities of different academic fields and neglecting real-life research concerns while overemphasizing the number of research products are the main pitfalls of the policies. Their view of these problems and their suggested solutions indicate little consideration of the concern over the dominance of English in the world today. We discuss some aspects of this concern in relation to the neocolonial status of English in non-Anglophone countries where other languages and cultures can be overshadowed by a dominant so-called global academic lingua franca. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study explores academic middle managers' perspectives on a mission-driven university strategy in a Danish context, offering insights for institutions implementing similar strategies. The case of a Danish university highlights the vital role of academic middle managers in navigating strategic uncertainty. Success requires a nuanced understanding of organizational dynamics and aligning initiatives with institutional goals. The study, based on interviews with ten academic middle managers, reveals complexities and challenges associated with mission-driven innovation in higher education, through a phenomenographic and thematic analysis, concerning current impressions and experiences, the perceived barriers to implementation, and the perceived affordances of transforming into a mission-driven university. The findings emphasize the significance of overcoming internal resistance and establishing institutional support, providing valuable considerations for higher education institutions and their academic middle managers in implementing mission-driven innovation strategies, and have the potential to support the design and implementation of future higher education strategies for sustainability, pertaining to the responsibilities, interactions, and mediations across and among the upper management and the academic staff. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the current Information Age, the United Arab Emirates (UAE) is switching from a natural resource-based economy to a knowledge-based one, requiring a preparation of the workforce. Entrepreneurship stands to promote the knowledge economy through the creation of innovative products, services, and technology; however, the majority of UAE workers are currently government employees. To establish a foothold in the knowledge economy, the UAE needs to invest in entrepreneurship education to create a prepared and effective workforce. The purpose of this study is to generate insight into the status of integration and implementation of entrepreneurship in higher education institutions (HEIs) in the UAE. A qualitative approach based on thematic analysis of selected documents and semi-structured interviews was used to understand how entrepreneurship education is integrated and how educators in HEIs are implementing the integration. The findings of this study show that the integration of entrepreneurship education in UAE HEIs is still in its early stages. Where entrepreneurship education is implemented, course content needs to be contextualized so that it is accessible and relevant to students in the UAE. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

IntroductionIn the face of global challenges, higher education is regarded as an important force to promote the achievement of the 2030 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Existing research has focused on articulating and analyzing the impact of value shaping for sustainable growth in higher education, although articulation and systematic analysis of higher education policy remain lacking.MethodsBased on the policy tool perspective, this paper constructed a three-dimensional analysis framework by using content analysis and the PMC index model to undertake a thorough analysis of higher education policies published at the central level in China from 2009 to 2024.ResultsThis study found that current higher education policies had multiple impacts on the formation of sustainable development values: (1) In the four dimensions of sustainable development proposed by the United Nations, China's higher education policy had shown clear guiding ideology and action direction; (2) In shaping sustainable values, China's higher education policies showed clear progress in three key dimensions; (3) The value and innovation of this study in shaping the values of sustainable development in higher education policies were primarily expressed in the following aspects.DiscussionThis paper suggested a way for optimizing the design of China's higher education policies, providing empirical data and theoretical support for China's higher education policies to better promote the ideals of sustainable development.

ABSTRACT Objectives: to analyze the legislation issued during the COVID-19 pandemic for nursing education and immediate consequences. Methods: documentary research, whose source was the legislation issued for nursing education during the COVID-19 pandemic. Thirty-two documents were analyzed and submitted to a collection instrument. Results: contradictions and consequences for nursing education following the guidelines and law of guidelines and bases were revealed. The consequences of the law affected the quality of teaching, equal access, exemption from minimum school days and course abbreviation. Regarding the guidelines, there was a lack of conditions for developing skills, in addition to the attempt to update them. Concerning internships, acting during the pandemic put students at risk, and their abbreviation prevented them from consolidating knowledge and skills. Final Considerations: remote teaching did not guarantee the quality and equality of teaching, weakened the development of skills, not taking into account nursing’s educational needs.

Currently, Indonesia has 122 State Universities (PTN) under the Ministry of Education and Culture and other ministries. Improving the quality of the selection process for new student admissions at PTN is critical for Indonesia’s human resources development. Then in 2019, there was a transformation with the implementation of the exam becoming a Computer-Based Written Exam (UTBK) which was previously a Print-Based Written Exam (UTBC). This triggered a change in the organization organizing the selection, which was previously led by PTN in rotation to being led by the Higher Education Entrance Test Institute (LTMPT). Thus, this study aims to analyze the process of compiling organizational design and categorizing the complexity of the organization implementing the selection of state universities in Indonesia. The method used in the participatory research study and data collection used observation and in-depth interviews. The results of this study are based on strategies and directions in implementation, structure and process, and culture and leadership in the implementation of university entrance selection. This study highlights the changes that can be made from a hierarchy to a model heterarchy. Based on this analysis, good planning and management are needed in the organization’s business processes, to implement heterarchical relationships, more inclusive strategies, good financial governance, and leadership.

This review tracks the last 50 years of the journey towards the inclusion of disabled students in Higher Education (H.E.). It provides a critical overview of the impact of evolving U.K. policy aimed at widening participation for disabled H.E. students. The overview spotlights the historical, ideological and political influences on policy and practice and illuminates the underlying causes of the social injustices still experienced by disabled H.E. students. Despite a government commitment to inclusive practices, data reveals disabled H.E. students are among those most at risk of withdrawing from university and have lower degree outcomes than non-disabled students (OfS. 2021. Access and Participation Resources: Findings from the Data. , 19). The article illustrates how the prevailing models of disability have influenced definitions of disability and inclusion. It highlights tensions between the Government's accountability agenda and inclusive practice ideals. The paper reviews U.K. studies of inclusion of disabled H.E. students. It unearths barriers, particularly concerning stigma, disclosure, and social inclusion, rooted in historical misrepresentations of disability remaining intact in contemporary society. Implications for H.E. institutions and policymakers are highlighted. Recommendations for researchers include research aligned with disabled people's lived experiences and further investigation of barriers relating to attitudes of non-disabled students. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Toilets are political spaces: inadequate toilet access means limited access to wider space and community. Between 2015 and 2018 I led a series of interdisciplinary research projects collectively known as Around the Toilet (http://aroundthetoilet.com), which centred the experiences of trans, queer and disabled people to explore what makes a safe and accessible toilet space. The research sought to consolidate commitments to feminist, queer, trans and disability politics. In this article, I interrogate the repercussions of doing work at these political intersections by focusing not so much on the research findings themselves, but on the ways in which the project has been responded to within a context which is anti-expert, anti-'woke' and one of perceived scarcity. I reflect on my experiences as a trans person, leading a public-facing research project which centres trans lives, within a context of increasing trans hostility. I will show how Around the Toilet has at once been understood as too mundane (a waste of taxpayers' money; a humorous thing to be researching); a fascination (a good journalistic 'hook'; focus on particular aspects of the work, whilst ignoring others); and a threat to social order. I argue that – during a time where 'impact' is valued and academics are expected to be 'public-facing' – universities need to recognise harms that can come from this, and resource the labour that it takes to mitigate these harms (if the risk is deemed worth taking). I also outline ways in which universities and those with varying degrees of institutional power can help to make the academy a more sustainable place to work for those targeted in current culture wars. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article examines the influence of academic productivism and evaluation policies in Brazilian public higher education institutions since the implementation of a new postgraduate evaluation policy in 1977. It explores the correlation between neoliberal productivist logic in universities and assessment policies, using a historical and bibliographic analysis. The research suggests that market-driven productivity logic has significantly impacted academic environments, shaped by assessment mechanisms. The article also discusses the historical development of universities, different models of universities, and the contemporary challenges faced by universities, including the influence of neoliberal policies and market forces. It emphasizes the need for a balanced approach that values teaching, research, and community engagement. The methodology of the research is described as descriptive and theoretical-conceptual, using a historical analysis and literature review. The preliminary findings focus on the relationship between productivist logic and the academic environment, as well as the use of evaluation mechanisms and indicators in universities. The article also discusses the concept of productivism in universities and its influence on higher education. It explores the intersection of social sciences and economics in understanding labor relations in a capitalist world driven by profit and productivity. The role of evaluation as an instrument of control and management in universities is examined, highlighting the consequences of this approach on teaching, research, and extension activities. The article concludes by emphasizing the need for evaluation to maintain its focus on the essential roles of higher education and its social and pedagogical effectiveness. It discusses the issue of evaluating higher education and the tension between quantitative and qualitative evaluation methods. The text calls [Extracted from the article]

Using content analysis methodology, we explore sex work policies at 255 U.S. colleges and universities as articulated in codes of student conduct to understand the potential impact of those policies on college student sex workers. The findings indicate U.S. colleges and universities largely do not articulate clear policies for students involved in sex work. However, many policies include language and framing that potentially governs some sex work. These articulations often rely on flattening differences in sex work, trafficking, and carceral logics, which result in misalignment between research, rhetoric, and policy at some institutions. Such ambiguities in institutional policy may result from the conflation of sex work with sex trafficking at the federal or state policy level. In addition to the marginalization imparted to student sex workers, unjustified exposure to stigma and shame on their respective college campuses negatively impacts students’ well-being. We recommend the current laissez-faire approach by institutional policymakers be replaced with a more intentional approach whereby the well-being of all students is maintained at its core and unclear policy language clarified. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective/Research Question: This practitioner-scholar study investigated perceptions and experiences of community college students who transferred upon completion of their associate degree programs in Colorado, a state with multiple state-level transfer policies. Each student participated in a cohort-based transfer support program offered at their community college. The research questions were: 1. Do community college students who participated in transfer programing while earning their associate degree perceive that it helped prepare them for successful transfer? 2. Do community college students perceive that their courses prepared them to be successful at a university? 3. What are the perceptions and experiences of community college students who transferred upon completion of their associate degree programs within a context of a state with multiple transfer policy initiatives? Methods: This study used a phenomenological approach and qualitative data collection methods. Results: While students believed their community colleges prepared them academically, and their transfer preparation programing was beneficial, their reflections highlight that regardless of support provided, academic preparation, or policy context, transfer from community college to university is challenging, problematic, and bureaucratic. Often community college students are viewed with a deficit lens by university staff. Conclusions/Contributions: Regardless of state policy context, transfer preparation, and support, obstacles encountered in the transfer process from community college to university must be negotiated through relationships and advocacy both on the part of college staff and the students themselves. However, students who transfer from a college with dedicated transfer support and preparation demonstrate resilience to complete the process successfully. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Since 2006, universities in England that want to charge higher fees to their domestic undergraduates have been required to agree a plan with an access regulator appointed by the government. This article identifies the objective for the regulation as equalising opportunity, then considers its effect, drawing on policy literature, ministerial statements, legislative and regulatory texts, and national data. In doing so, it exposes how the policy objective has been implemented through legislation, regulatory guidance and university practice, and how this has yielded improving but not equalising opportunity. This is due to the limited influence of the powers available to, and guidance issued by, the regulators in a system of competing autonomous universities, which yields stratification based on the entry grades of young people and their social background. The lesson for higher education policy is the imperative for closer alignment between policy objectives, legislation to empower their implementation, approaches taken by regulators and university practice. In competitive systems within which universities have autonomy in relation to their admissions, policies to equalise opportunity require legislation and regulation that is influential enough for universities to prioritise more equitable outcomes ahead of other imperatives. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article is an ethnography of a student protest against a Finnish university's plans to give up 25 percent of its campus buildings until 2030. The Finnish universities faced financial deficits primarily due to education cuts implemented by Finland's right-wing government between 2015 and 2019. To balance the budget, Tampere University proposed surrendering some of its buildings, including the Linna, the home of social sciences, and the main library. The students organized the We Will Not Give Up the Linna Building movement (WWGU) to oppose the university's decision. This article is an ethnography of the movement's resistance and outcomes and analyzes what the student activists learned and how they changed during the protest wave in 2021. Our analysis uncovered six key insights the student activists learned on democracy, social media in activism, activism's temporality and persistence, the role of emotions in activism, and the university's power structures. The study contributes to a general understanding of the student protest movement, the social transformations that student activists undergo, and how they learn to perceive democracy, develop political imagination, and understand power structures. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Scholars assert that, worldwide, doctoral provision is increasingly characterised by accelerated scales of production, competitive funding, centralised administration, and interdisciplinary, cohort-based training. The situation in the UK appears to mirror this picture but scholars have long noted that national settings mediate the forms that broader trends take. We therefore examined the case of the UK's social science doctorates, which have seen both marked growth and a range of policy changes, to explore the potential extent of alignment with these trends. Invoking institutional isomorphism, a conceptual framework which asserts how convergence can be driven by different factors, we interviewed senior staff at a range of UK HEIs to examine the activities and underlying rationales behind their social science doctoral provision. We were able to establish that, while there is a degree of isomorphism around their social science doctorates, this is a complex and uneven situation because different kinds of HEIs are subject to a varying combination of simultaneous and often conflicting forces. Our analysis highlights not only how the relationship between national policies and higher education culture can be fraught, but also how organisations' individual positioning and history has implications for how they are able to act in policy contexts. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Drawing on evidence from documents and semi-structured interviews with members of the Catalan system of higher education, this research explores how intermediary organizations (IOs) facilitate the adoption of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), conceived as a global policy framework, in local contexts. We observed that, despite the voluntary nature of SDGs-related policies, most Catalan public universities embraced the SDGs. Two contextual factors likely facilitated their effective engagement with this global initiative: first, the autonomy granted by regional and national governments to the higher education sector when it comes to social responsibility, and, second, the willingness and ability of higher education institutions (HEIs) in Catalonia to work with the SDGs. The key element added to these contextual factors was the collaboration stimulated by meso-level actors, namely Catalan intermediaries. The Catalan case exhibits a process whereby IOs effectively engage with HEIs, forging a platform for collaboration; in turn, this led the local government to delegate the task of promoting the SDGs to IOs. This paper contributes to the debate in global higher education policy-making as it discusses the policy implications of the involvement of intermediary actors in bringing global policy frameworks to local level. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We investigate operating costs at 682 public community colleges in the United States over a 15-year period (2004–2018). The results reveal that costs are spatially correlated across neighboring institutions, indicating the need for a spatial analysis. An institution's actions are associated with changes in costs for that particular institution (direct-effects), but neighboring institutions' actions also impact that institution (indirect/neighbor-effect) via labor market channels and local market conditions. The current research found that the neighbor-effects are economically significant at 9%. The spatial analysis further reveals a quadratic relationship between costs and the "production" of associate degrees and certificates granted, as well as a positive relationship between costs and human resources, some specific student demographics and institution characteristics. Overall, the community college sector exhibits economies of scale with respect to associate degrees, but with great variation in how many more degrees these institutions can award before becoming cost inefficient or before impacting access to enrollees with other educational goals. This sector faces diseconomies of scale in relation to certificates granted and Ray diseconomies of scale overall. This suggests room for restructuring and resizing. Community colleges are achieving economies of scope by offering both types of degrees. Moving forward, policymakers and campus leaders should account for unexpected shocks in operating costs due to neighbor-effects when developing policies, planning and budgeting. Funding should be done with the understanding that community colleges do not have full ex-ante knowledge of their costs or their neighbor's future actions, nor perfect forecasting abilities, no matter how well managed they. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Understanding the development of major educational policies is essential, especially federal policies integral to Hispanic-Serving Institutions (HSIs)—one of the fastest-growing types of postsecondary institutions in the United States, which collectively serve over two-thirds of Latina/o/x-identified college students. Accordingly, in this archive-based study, we explore the expansion of Title V, specifically the creation of the Postbaccalaureate Opportunities for Hispanic Americans Program, and how advocates framed the need for this program. Specifically, employing McBeth et al.'s policy narrative framework, we story how Congress came to enact this program, describing the setting, characters, and plot of this policy process. In doing so, we make visible via narration how federal policy unfolds and the relationship between federal and state-level policy. Additionally, we show that nationalist, capitalist, and democratic logics are often used to justify programs to support the Latina/o/x community. Considering the findings, we conclude with implications for policy and future research. Ultimately, using this innovative lens, we expand the HSI literature and complexify the understanding of Title V. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Assessing the effectiveness and quality of academic programs in higher education is a fundamental task to ensure the long-term viability of a university. This responsibility falls primarily on administrative bodies such as the Ministry of Education and Training and higher education accreditation agencies. This qualitative study examines the handbooks for academic program review from ten US universities, representing various institutional types. These include three research universities (two public and one private not-for-profit), three master's universities (two public and one private not-for-profit), and four bachelor's universities (two public and two private not-for-profit), as classified by the Carnegie Classification system. The thematic analysis of these handbooks reveals three key components: Comprehensive process and procedure, resources to support the implementation of academic program review, and peer evaluation. Recommendations are proposed for Vietnamese higher education institutions to adapt and integrate these practices effectively, thereby enhancing the internal quality assurance of academic programs.

Introduction. This study aims to explore the role of higher education policy in planning information governance at the Islamic university, UIN Maulana Malik Ibrahim. Data Collection Methods. The datacollection technique involved was depth interviews with LPM expert staff, the head of the general division of the faculty, public relations, and an archivist. In addition, to conduct the interviews, reference materials were collected to compile previous studies. Data Analysis. The data analysis technique encompassed data reduction, data presentation, and conclusion drawing and verification. Results and Discussion. There is an important role of higher education policy in the process of information management at UIN Maulana Malik Ibrahim. This formulation refers to principles of information governance, which include definition of each party's role, the development of policies and implementation strategies in the governance process, monitoring and auditing of processes and stages of the governance process, information organization processes, and classification. Information, stakeholder participation, and the long-term viability of information governance processes are all important considerations. Conclusion. Information governance should conducted by the policies established by the relevant educational institution. If the information creation, processing, and governance divisions work properly, locating and acquiring information for institutional reasons should be a breeze.

The present study is a comprehensive three-tiered empirical framework that investigates the processes of linguistic diversity and decolonization within the higher education systems of the Global South. It provides a novel complementary application of ARM for Topic Recommender Systems and explores the evolving landscape of scholarly discourse on language justice and educational reform by mapping the findings from Bibliometric Co-occurrence Analysis with LDA and BERTopic modelling respectively. Bibliometric Co-occurrence Analysis was employed to produce seminal relationships between key terms from the extant scholarly literature that subsequently leads to a detailed thematic review. Successive applications of LDA and BERTopic modelling generated a comprehensive thematic analysis that detailed the trends in academic discourse on inclusivity, multilingualism, translanguaging and decolonization of higher education curriculum. Furthermore, by the innovative use of ARM based on author keywords, this study revealed more intricate associations and patterns among research topics, giving important insights into future avenues of research. The analysis was based on data entirely retrieved from the Scopus database. It shows the consensus around the need for reform of language policies in higher education, as well as the transformative potential for advanced computational techniques in analyzing academic narratives. The findings from our methodological exploration, demonstrate the necessity of policy reform in higher education concerning linguistic pluralism and dismantling colonial legacies. This study extends the conversation around the complexities of decolonisation, linguistic equity and justice in higher education in the Global South and beyond.