Career prospects for academics in Australian universities

Career prospects within Australian universities changed adversely following an abrupt end to expansion in the university system after two decades of marked growth. Few recent or future graduates can expect to gain academic positions. The present underrepresentation of women seems likely to be perpetuated. Many academics now holding tenure will not experience the same level of career advancement as their counterparts did a generation earlier. With a shift in the age distribution of academics over the next fifteen years, the Australian universities may be faced with problems of obsolescence and rigidity. Consideration is given to policy and organizational changes that could minimize some of these problems. However, there is no overall strategy that will simultaneously maintain tenure at the existing level, produce a steady-state age distribution of academics, allow even a moderate proportion of recent graduates to become academics, improve career prospects for existing academics, and increase the representation of women. One or more of these objectives can be achieved, but only at the expense of other objectives.     

The research orientation of British universities

British universities differ considerably in the strength of their research orientation. Those of higher prestige tend to have a stronger orientation towards research, while those of lower prestige have a weaker research orientation, A university that is strongly research oriented in one group of subjects is likely to be so in the others it teaches too. It is the conventional wisdom that a good researcher is likely to be a good teacher at undergraduate level, and the negative relationship between the degree of research orientation and undergraduate wastage rates provides some slight support for this. The relationship between research and teaching seems to be more an indirect one (that anyone with the ability to do good research is likely to have the ability to teach well at university level) than a direct one (research makes a university teacher a better teacher).     

Organising for continuing vocational education in British universities

In 1990 a research and development project set out to identify and promote good practice in continuing vocational education (CVE) in the British universities. This paper explains the origins and approach of this project. It explains the centrality of organisational arrangements to the health and prospects of continuing vocational education, and the different models and assumptions which are commonly encountered, to do with its ‘mainstreaming’ and its supposedly self‐financing nature. Some particular concerns are addressed: the role of specialised units; the evolution of the British extramural tradition into new forms; the relationship with industrial liaison officers; and the supervision of university CVE operations. Desirable elements in the organisation of university continuing education are presented.     

英国高校职业生涯教育的特点及启示

职业生涯教育是帮助大学生在提高自我认知能力的基础上探索职业选择的教育,良好的职业生涯教育能够有效提高学生的综合素质。英国高校的职业生涯教育具有较强的合作性、系统性、专业性等特点。我国高校职业生涯教育起步时间晚,职业生涯教育系统有待完善,在校企合作、课程设置、师资力量等方面均可借鉴英国高校职业生涯教育的成功经验。     

Student counselling in British universities: Crisis and challenge

This paper describes the present state of student counselling services in British universities. An account is offered of the economic and political context in which counsellors operate. The relationship between financial cut-backs and sharply increased levels of stress among both students and staff is explored. Information is provided about the historical development of counselling services and details are provided about the workloads of counsellors and take-up rates by various categories of students. Alternative models of the counsellor's role are outlined. The overall picture which emerges from this analysis is of student counsellors faced with the challenge of responding to a situation which has many of the hallmarks of crisis.     

英国高校实验教学的分析与启示

该文介绍了英国高校的"能力教育"和"基于行动的学习"的教育理念,论述了教、做、学三位一体的教学模式和以能力训练为核心的实验教学体系,分析了伯明翰大学电子工程学院的实验教学及特色,对比了北京工业大学和伯明翰大学的本科教学计划,比较了两校实验、作业的不同内涵、特点及效果,提出了对我国实验教学改革的一些建议.     

感悟英国高校多元化的教学方法

从思维教育、"从做中学"、弹性教学等几个方面,介绍了英国多元化的教学方法.在此基础上,探讨了目前我国高校在创新人才培养上的缺失,总结了英国高校的教学方法对我国教学改革的启示.     

英国大学治理结构的演变

英国大学治理结构的演变表现为"牛桥"的"学者自治"、城市大学的"学者主导"、联合大学的"联邦制"、新大学的"共同治理"以及"92后大学"的"双会制"等五种模式。英国大学治理结构模式的变迁反映了特定历史阶段的社会需要、政治权威集团自身的需求以及大学自身的逻辑,大学治理结构的变革在实践上主要是从政府与大学两个方面进行。     

Early career patterns of men and women in British universities

The early career paths of 436 men and 162 women who took up lectureships in British universities in English, modern languages, or psychology in 1971–1973 were identified. Proportionately fewer women (61 percent) than men (80 percent) held a full-time post in a British university ten years after their initial appointment. Among those retaining a university appointment, relatively fewer women (8 percent) than men (18 percent) had advanced to the level of senior lecturer, reader, or professor. Factors that may have served to restrict the career development of women in British universities are discussed. There now is a higher proportion of women than in the past in the pool of graduates who are qualified for academic posts. However, the end to university growth makes it unlikely that the sex ratio of academics will shift substantially in the 1980s or the 1990s. Since promotion has become more competitive than it was in the past, the current sex ratio at senior levels of appointment may also remain relatively unchanged.This study was supported by funding under the Australian Research Grants Scheme. Unless stated otherwise, the university statistics cited in this article were derived from the analyses published annually by the Department of Science and Education. I am grateful to Sandra Lancaster for her assistance in data analysis.     

The British universities and the state: A comment

This article comments on the relationship between British universities and government departments with special reference to the work of the University Grants Committee and the role of its Chairman. The extent to which universities are free to exercise discretion is delineated and the place of lay (i.e., non-academic) people in university government is described. The future would seem to call for increased political adroitness on the part of those who govern universities if the unusual freedom at present possessed by British universities is to be retained.A lecture given at the University of Lancaster on May 28, 1979. Sir Charles Carter was formerly Vice Chancellor, University of Lancaster.     

Aid policy for universities in developing countries: A British view

This article draws attention to the implications of recent British government policy decisions for cooperation with universities in developing countries. The writer, the former head of the Inter-University Council for Higher Education Overseas, suggests that the increasing amount of central government control has led to a deterioration. Traditional governmental methods of organising technical assistance are unduly expensive in terms of cost and staff time and are unsuited to the type of institution-to-institution collaboration which is essential if aid programmes are to he effectively focussed upon key universities in the Third World. There has been an unnecessary proliferation of in-house expertise in various government or semi-government agencies. The author calls for a return to the de-centralised policy of the late 1960s when the government helped British universities to reconstitute the Inter-University Council for Higher Education Overseas. The present policy of merging the activities of organisations such as the British Council and the Inter-University Council under the Overseas Development Administration is criticised and a case made for recognising that higher education should be a separate and distinct element in the programme for each country. Such activities are best handled by a single specialist agency which uses the method of facilitating direct collaboration between identified institutions.[/p]     

英国国家生涯服务平台的职能、特点及启示

建设专业生涯服务机构是英国政府保障生涯教育实施的主要路径之一。为英国13岁以上青少年及成人提供生涯咨询、指导、学习等服务的"国家生涯服务平台",结合多种指导途径,联合多家服务承包企业,为使用者提供从测评到决策全覆盖的一站式生涯服务。国家生涯服务平台依托政府发布的文件为使用者提供高质量服务信息,保障就业率;及时更新平台信息,提供行业最新动向,为个体和教育的发展提供导向;借助数字化平台拓宽生涯教育途径,为开展生涯教育提供有效补充。英国在线生涯服务平台的建设对完善我国生涯教育服务机构建设具有借鉴意义。     

英国大学海外办学实践及启示

英国在100多年的海外办学实践中,率先实施了校外学位修读等教育教学制度,形成了考教分离、合办大学、海外分校、教学中心等完备的海外办学模式;依靠独特的海外评审等有效质量保障措施,强化了其海外办学的质量和声誉。创新与适应使其持续保持国际上领先地位。其输出优质教育资源、调整办学策略等经验对我国大学具有借鉴和启示作用。     

Export market orientation behavior of universities: the British scenario

This study seeks to extend our knowledge of export market orientation (EMO) in the context of British universities with regard to recruitment of international students. Export marketing remains an area of limited focus in the marketization of higher education literature. The study predominantly follows a quantitative research design using survey methods. A sample of British universities was studied and partial least-squares analysis was performed. The findings indicate that four export higher education-specific variables are important drivers of EMO in universities. The paper also confirms EMO's direct effects on university export performance and its indirect effects mediated through university international reputation. In light of these findings, a number of implications are advanced for university management. The study also makes important theoretical contributions: it contributes to a growing body of literature on marketing of higher education; it enriches the export marketing literature by examining EMO in a service setting and it adds to the EMO–export performance relationship by examining the mediating role of international reputation. The findings are limited to British universities. Therefore, they may not be generalizable to other geographical areas. In addition, the results of this study were obtained from a small sample size and generalization of the findings to other higher education institutions should be made with caution.     

Trade union studies in British universities: Changing patterns,changing problems

In Japan, the average span of human life is expanding rapidly and the gap in education between the elderly and the younger generation is becoming wider. Though local education authorities provide many courses for older groups, most of them are short and include too many subjects. Successful courses offer the elderly opportunities to learn about modern society in relation to their personal experiences. Kominkans (Citizens’ Public Halls) play an important role in enhancing co‐operative learning between generations.