Higher education and social change

An agenda for future higher education research is proposed which incorporates four interconnected elements: changing social contexts; their implications for higher education; mechanisms of interaction between higher education and society; higher education’s impact on society. The role of comparative research in investigating these topics is discussed and a set of priorities for future research questions is proposed. This final article draws heavily on the HELF final report published by the European Science Foundation entitled Higher Education Looking Forward: an agenda for future research and written by the author together with Jurgen Enders, Christine Musselin, Ulrich Teichler and Jussi Valimaa. The author acknowledges the contributions of his co-authors of the HELF report to the ideas and words contained in the present article.     

社会分层对高等教育公平影响的实证研究

本文基于问卷调查所得数据,考察了社会分层对高等教育公平的影响.实证结果表明,优质高等教育机会的分配仍然向国家干部、企业经理等优势社会阶层的子女倾斜,社会分层扩大了高等教育的起点不公平;优势社会阶层子女在高等教育过程中处于有利地位,社会分层扩大了高等教育过程不公平,在重点本科院校中,过程不公平程度较大,而在一般本科和专科院校中,过程不公平程度较小;优势社会阶层子女更容易获得就业机会,社会分层对高等教育的结果公平有着不利影响,在重点本科院校中,这种影响较小,而在一般本科和专科院校中,这种影响较大.文章对此提出了相应的政策建议.     

Education and social cohesion: developing a framework for education sector reform in Sri Lanka1

There is increasing interest in understanding and describing the links between education and ‘social cohesion’. However, the theoretical and empirical base for understanding these links is limited. There is also a shortage of practical tools for education policy‐makers and planners, to help them assess the impact of policies and investments, and to plan for future reform. This paper describes the initial development of an analytical and planning framework for addressing education and social cohesion within the context of a sector‐wide approach to education reform in Sri Lanka. A brief literature review suggests three inter‐connected domains in which links between education and social cohesion might be usefully analysed, together with three working hypotheses: (i) political economy/governance: education affects social cohesion through transparency and participation in education policy formulation, planning and management; (ii) equity/equality of opportunity: education affects social cohesion through the distribution of education resources, opportunities and outcomes; (iii) teaching/learning: education affects social cohesion through the development of certain competencies in students. Drawing on this analytical framework, research conducted in Sri Lanka is used to identify a set of interventions to promote social cohesion, with corresponding baseline, process and outcome indicators as benchmarks for measuring the progress and impact of intended policy measures. This process is described within the context of a ‘sector‐wide approach’ to education reform, intended to bring together the activities of the government and external partners within a single comprehensive medium‐term planning and budgetary framework.     

Going Global: Understanding the Choice Process of the Intent to Study Abroad

This study applies an integrated model of college choice to better describe students who do and do not intend to study abroad. Although internationalization through study abroad is widely touted as a preferred means of developing globally competent college graduates, very little is known about the factors that influence students’ predisposition to study abroad. This research explores the impact of financial, human, social, and cultural capital on students’ intent to study abroad. Analysis of data from the Wabash National Study of Liberal Arts Education (WNSLAE) demonstrates a complex interplay between SES, accumulated pre-college capital, and capital acquired during the freshman year. Important implications for national policy makers, senior administrators, study abroad professionals and higher education researchers are discussed.     

Social pressure for religious conformity and anti-gay sentiment among Muslim and Christian youth

Abstract

Research on civic education, for the most part, investigates the alleged outcomes of deliberate civic education programs. Remarkably, few types of research have investigated how the outcomes of group process (e.g. based on religion) in schools, and more specifically, the pressure to conform to in-group norms, relate to civic educational goals (e.g. promoting tolerance for Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender people). Against that background, this paper has two objectives. First, we assess social variation in perceived social pressure for religious conformity among Christian and Muslim Youth enrolled in secondary education in Flanders (N?=?2765). Second, we investigate the relationship between perceived social pressure for religious conformity and anti-gay sentiment. Our analyses are guided by social identity theory and rely on multilevel analysis. We find that for both Christian and Muslim youth, anti-gay sentiment is higher among young people who experience higher social pressure through the perceived expectations from talking with significant others about religion.     

Dialogic literary gatherings: A systematic review of evidence to overcome social and educational inequalities

More than a decade after publications on Dialogic Literary Gatherings in indexed peer-review journals started, a systematic review that gathered the findings was necessary to provide further insight for future educational research, practice, and policymaking. The purpose of the present systematic review was to gather the existing evidence on the social, educational, and learning impact of DLGs on children, adolescents and adults involved in different settings. It has reviewed 46 articles published between 2010 and 2021. The findings of this systematic review provide a better understanding on the DLG as educational and learning action that enables dialogue and exchange, overcoming stereotypes and cultural barriers, self-improvement through education, increasing one's self-esteem, creating a non-violent and supportive environment, bringing the community in, and taking the new learnings out, building new possible worlds in all ages and in very divers settings such as primary, secondary, high, special, and adult schools, family and community education, foster care centre for minors, and prisons. Implications of the evidence on the impact of DLG for practice and policymaking could be considered for the promotion of educational and learning actions aimed at both the improvement linguistic and reading skills and the enhancement of values that promote social cohesión.     

Social inequity and educational expansion in Slovenia

The study examines the relationship between social inequalities (stratificational, gender and other disparities) and schooling, including academic attainment, longitudinally, in Slovenia. The issue is indicated most clearly at the tertiary education level. The basic finding is the parallel between educational expansion and the diminution of social inequalities as measured by standard parameters. This was particularly evident in the 1990s. Inequalities are measured in terms of gender, parental education and occupation. The impact of parental education proves to be an indicative, observable and longitudinally comparative measure. Parental occupational status is also clearly linked to their children’s scholastic attainment, although there are difficulties in the formation of occupational strata. Further considered is the impact of school reforms over a lengthier period of time; there was not, however, any detectable impact. School and welfare policies, even financing, have little significance. There are clear indications that social disparities at school are continually regenerated, despite the decline established by standard measures. New forms of social disparities appear, through which the privileged ensure the continuation of privilege.     

Higher education and family background: Which really matters to individual’s socioeconomic status development in China

The study finds that the higher education and parents’ occupations both have a significant impact to individual’s social economic development measured by ISEI (International Socioeconomic Index), but higher education’s impact is greater. In addition, from 1980s to 2000s, the impact of higher education has been diminishing as the access to higher education increased significantly. Data also shows that certain sectors, such as government employees, Chinese Communist Party members, city/urban households, had a clear advantage. To our surprise, gender and minority status had no statistical difference in ISEI. Several policies were recommended to break the social stratification in the near future.     

Exploring the Roles of Social Presence and Gender Difference in Online Learning

Online learning has become more popular in higher education with its advantages of flexibility and accessibility. However, there have been challenges to students’ learning experience in online learning. One critical challenge would be providing interactions between students and instructors as good or effective as in the face‐to‐face environment. However, providing face‐to‐face interactions in online learning is not feasible because students and instructors are not physically present together. In this study, we introduce and empirically investigate social presence as student learning experience in online learning in which physical presence does not exist. Drawing upon the social presence and online learning literature, we propose a research model to explore how the interactivity of communication tools can drive social presence and student satisfaction in online learning. Furthermore, this study examines gender difference as a moderator in the model. Data were collected from undergraduate students who were taking online business statistics courses where an interactive communication tool was required to use for class communication and collaboration. The results showed that social presence driven by tool interactivity had a significant impact on student satisfaction in online learning. We also found that gender difference moderated the relationship between tool interactivity and social presence in online learning.     

教育对妇女的社会与经济水平的影响--玻利维亚个案研究

哈佛大学、世界教育杂志、教育发展中心和波利维亚的研究人员完成了一项在玻利维亚的历时3年多的大规模的纵深研究.我们已发现女童的教育与其发展二者相关,本研究则旨在阐明成人基础教育和妇女的社会与经济水平之间是否有相类似的关系存在. 该研究随机抽样了2200名成年妇女,包括1600名该项目的参与者和600名非参与者.研究人员综合衡量了妇女社会地位与经济水平及其发展结构,他们使用的指数包括1)识字/教育水平;2)挣钱活动的参与度;3)家庭决定权;4)子女教育;5)公民事务参与度与公民意识;6)法律权利参与度与法律意识;7)保健参与度及保健意识.此项研究的一个关键研究成果是综合基础成人教育项目对玻利维亚妇女的生活有重要作用(或影响),甚至在考虑了妇女的个人特点、所受正规教育水平、社会地位、经济地位、家庭所在地以及三年中的种种未知因素后依然如此.该项目参与者在社会与经济水平上比未参与者净增11个百分点.本文解释了所应用的研究框架、方法和得出的重要发现.     

Academic social cohesion within higher education

This article explores the theoretical foundations of social cohesion as it relates to higher education institutions. In so doing it seeks (a) to understand the core elements of social cohesion—social capital, human capital and ethical behavioural norms that serve a common good—and (b) to establish a flexible framework for understanding the combined contributions of higher education to society. Tertiary institutional phenomena (those occurring in higher education) that are involved in the creation of social cohesion are hereafter termed academic social cohesion. The particular emphasis is on higher education’s role in cultivating moral awareness as a vital product of institutions’ primary activities. These core functions of colleges and universities are discussed in relation to both academic social cohesion and the degree to which they should involve the creation of specific ethical norms.

Analysing Finnish steering system from the perspective of social space: the case of the “Campus University”

The present study analyses Finnish higher education steering system, management by results, from the perspective of higher education institutions. We ask what happens inside a higher education institution, called here the “Campus University”, during the actual negotiations related to the national steering system. We analyse not only the management by results as a steering system but pay close attention to the social space created by this managerial fad. The social space of the negotiations is constructed by different kinds of unofficial elements of social interaction; the physical space, the expected behaviour of the negotiators, the seating arrangements, the coffee servings, and the “small talk”. These elements of interaction are part of the polity of the negotiations and they are controlled by the chairperson of the negotiations. They form the modes of the social space of these negotiations. Therefore, the social space of the negotiations not only supports the hierarchical character of the ritual, but also makes it natural for the Rector to use power to allocate resources because s/he represents the institution. The analysis is based on qualitative and ethnographic methods of research.     

从社会流动层面看高校招生收费

社会分层、社会流动与高校教育之间存在着密切的关系,高等教育在现代社会中已逐渐成为向上流动的一个决定性因素。高校招生收费过高带来的一系列社会问题,尤其是对社会流动带来的负面影响说明,在注重高等教育发展的同时,绝对不能忽视社会流动的公平性:为了使社会流动更加公平,高校招生收费一定不能过高。     

Improving the Research Climate in Social Work Curricula

Abstract

Research courses are associated with performance anxiety and educational insecurity for many social work students. This paper makes the case that student anxiety associated with research courses is rooted in the history of the social work profession, and this history sheds light on the present day climate of research in social work education. The authors suggest that improvement to the research climate in social work education requires an “institutional” response. To that end, this paper describes a committee process that resulted in changes to one school's curriculum policy by revamping student learning objectives for a sequence of five research courses that spanned BSW and MSW programs. The committee produced a continuum of student learning expectations based on Bloom's taxonomy, which represents a logical progression of knowledge and skill competencies as students advance through their course work.     

中国摄影教育任重而道远——转型时期的中国摄影教育的转型诌议

本文就社会转型对摄影教育产生的影响从几个方面进行探讨。通过分析摄影教育从办学模式到生源的转变;从数字技术对传统技术的冲击到市场经济条件下的人才培养要求等变化,探讨摄影教育如何适应社会的转型;提出转型时期的中国摄影教育应以社会需求和市场需求为主导,从课程的设置、师资、教材等方面入手,努力提高摄影教育的水平,不断顺应社会的发展,从而培养出新一代适应市场需求、基础扎实、知识面宽、动手能力强、综合素质高的应用型人才。     

从社会流动和社会分层看高等教育中的不和谐

文章从分析我国近期社会流动和社会分层的现状入手，对高等教育与社会流动和社会分层之间的互动关系展开了讨论，并根据由此产生的现象和问题对我国高等教育中的不和谐现象进行研究，提出了自己的意见和建议。     

基于社会资本理论的大学生社交媒体多任务使用效果研究

在使用社交媒体的人群中,大学生群体对社交媒体的多任务使用与其学业成绩之间有着怎样的内在关联属性,对其社会资本的积累产生怎样的影响是本文的研究问题所在。对研究问题的原因进行探索性分析,研究发现,出于学习或娱乐目的的社交媒体多任务使用对大学生的学业成绩呈现负相关,不利于其学业成绩的提高,阻碍学习进程健康、科学开展,不利于其社会资本的正向积累。     

Conceptualising food research in higher education as a matter of social justice: philosophical,methodological and ethical considerations

Globally, food concerns in higher education have emerged as an issue of critical importance. Food acquisition struggles and high rates of food insecurity among students have been documented, yet food within higher education continues to be an under-researched area of study. This paper calls for advancing research that critically engages with food concerns in higher education. The argument is made that food concerns should be viewed as a social justice matter, and a case is made for conducting research on food concerns by adopting an alternative approach to research in this area – a transformative paradigm. The paper advances new insights for the philosophical, methodological and ethical dimensions to researching food in higher education as a matter of social justice. The argument is made that a transformative approach to research is conducive for examining the experiences of those who are marginalised within the context of higher education and confront food challenges.     

Crossing borders: Research in comparative and international education

Published articles permit mapping international and comparative education research. We reviewed 605 articles published 2004–2008 in four major journals. Using title, abstract, and entire text we explored thematic focus, geographic focus, level/type of education studied, method, and funding. The economic, political, and social context of education receives far more attention than its content. Comparative and international education research reflects more diversity than convergence in approach, theory, and methodology. The research community moves in multiple directions simultaneously, insisting that understanding education requires studying not only what happens within schools but also where the schools sit and who enters their doors.     

Political and Legal Prerequisites for the Formation of the Modern Policy of the Republic of Kazakhstan in the Field of Higher Education

Interchange - This research is relevant, as higher professional education has a large-scale impact on civilisation, the level of social, socio-economic, technological development and has a powerful...