Social inequalities in slovenian higher education

In this article the authors study social inequalities in Slovenian higher education, using a census of students at the University of Maribor. Using the common odds ratio test, it was found that young people whose fathers had completed higher education or levels beyond are approximately 14 times more likely to enter the higher education system than those whose fathers had not completed primary education. Stratification is even more acute when mothers are observed: the ratio is 1:25. Both the situation and the trend are assessed as being unmeritocratic. These findings fit into the hypothesis of the radicalization of economic inequality in society and clarify the consolidation of a class structure and a relative absence of meritocracy. An attempt is made at longitudinal analysis of the issue: it seems that disparities in this area are increasing, after a diminution during communist times.     

Access to higher education in China: Differences in opportunity

Access to higher education in China has opened up significantly in the move towards a mass higher education system. However, aggregate growth does not necessarily imply fair or reasonable distribution of opportunity. In fact, the expansion of higher education has a rather more complex influence on opportunity when admissions statistics are viewed by geographical region, rural and urban environment, social class, type of school, gender, and ethnicity. Since 1999, gaps in access opportunities have generally diminished, especially in terms of the urban-rural dimension. Efforts to increase university admission rates for women and minorities have resulted in significant progress. However, the gap in university admission between different social classes has been closing more slowly. Children from more advantaged backgrounds have more chances to study at key universities, and differences in access between provinces are still considerable. Social class polarization in secondary school is still a serious issue. Such problems at high school level directly lead to the accumulation and continuation of a gap in opportunities to access higher education. While agreeing that the aggregate growth of higher education provision in China is a positive development, we also strive to improve equality of opportunity.     

Access to higher education: an exploration of realities and possibilities

In this article the author describes and evaluates the development of a learning support service for dyslexic students at the Chichester Institute of Higher Education. She refers to both student and staff experience of the service in order to appraise its success and in so doing she raises significant issues relating to the creation of an inclusive educational experience for all students in higher education.     

Access to higher education for rural-poor students in China

China is now facing significant challenges in funding its rapidly expanding higher education systems, though it has experienced enormous economic growth in recent years. Equity has become a serious concern in Chinese higher education system. This article tries to identify the causes and implications of under-representation of the rural-poor students in China’s higher educational institutions: academic and social preparedness, institutional funding arrangements, the admissions policy, and the socioeconomic background are significant factors that determine an individual’s opportunity to access to higher education. Also, a brief discussion of possible policy recommendations is presented.     

Access to higher education: the hope for democratic schooling in America

The American aspiration for higher education as a road to a better life for everyone is threatened. As the economic and social gap between the upper third of the population and the bottom third widens, so access to better education, especially to higher education, becomes increasingly difficult to achieve. The traditional role of hope in the American Democratic Dream of a just and fair society is being eroded, as increasing numbers of Americans are marginalized, jailed, recruited into military service, and consigned to jobs with minimal salaries. But low‐paying jobs are not new in American history; what is new is that the hope for higher education and improvement in one's economic and social status is slipping away. The lower expectations result from federal cuts in support of education and for scholarships for higher education. This article reviews the conditions that are undermining the traditional visions of democratic schooling in America.     

Interrogating global flows in higher education

The paper critically reviews the concept of ‘global flows’, beginning with the discussions of flows and networks in Appadurai (1996 Appadurai, A. 1996. Modernity at large: cultural dimensions of globalisation, Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press.  [Google Scholar]), Castells (2000 Castells, M. 2000. The rise of the network society, Oxford: Blackwell. [Crossref] [Google Scholar]) and Held et al. (1999 Held, D., McGrew, A., Goldblatt, D. and Perraton, J. 1999. Global transformations: politics, economics and culture, Stanford: Stanford University Press.  [Google Scholar]). Emphasising the need to embed ‘global flows’ in agency and history, and to explore global connectedness in terms of situated cases, the paper develops an analytical framework for analysing global flows in higher education. It then applies that framework in an examination of global ‘scapes’, impacts, transformations, situatedness and relations of power in two national universities, research leaders in their nations but located in contrasting nations: Universitas Indnesia and the Australian National University.     

Organisational culture in higher education: mapping the way to understanding cultural research

This article examines the complexity and multiplicity of perspectives in studying organisational culture in higher education settings. This multiplicity of conceptualisations of cultures has purportedly been derived from the different points of view of many disciplines, which have made the study of culture and cultural research enigmatic for neophyte researchers in particular. In view of this, this article aims to put those varied points of view together to build a hybrid composed of cultural definitions, manifestations and university culture, using semiotics and functionalist perspectives, and elements of various methodologies used in conducting cultural research. The latter is grounded on the premise that the epistemology, theoretical perspectives and methodology used influence the strength of research designs that ultimately contribute to the production of legitimate knowledge. It is expected that this proposed hybrid mode of understanding and researching culture can become a model for studying culture and organisational culture in higher education sectors for professionals in general and for those undertaking PhD studies (neophyte researchers) in particular.     

Noise Rather than Numbers: Access to higher education in three European countries

This paper explores a number of special alternative arrangements for adults to access higher education in England and Wales, France and Germany and examines the impact on these arrangements of the relationship between the state and higher education in the three countries. The similarities and differences are analysed along two key dimensions: complexity-simplicity and rigidity-flexibility and the absence of clear statistical data in all three countries is accounted for by the way in which the various stakeholders justify their actions. Finally, Weiler's theory of compensatory legitimation is drawn on to assess the effectiveness of the policy innovations and to explain why the noise around them has been louder than the numbers involved might warrant.     

Social inequalities in access to higher education in Croatia: five decades of resilient findings

This article provides a panoramic view of research findings on social inequalities in access to higher education in Croatia since the 1960s, guided by the question of what has changed in the findings. Our review shows that there is stark continuity over the last five decades: students from better educated family backgrounds tend to be overrepresented in higher education; students from better educated and white-collar family backgrounds are more likely to enrol in academic as opposed to professional study courses; students at one Croatian university in particular stand out in terms of their more privileged social background; and medicine seems to be the prime academic field for observing social reproduction. We note that these persistent findings run parallel to a dramatically changing political, economic and social context in Croatia, including transformations in the 1990s resulting from social ownership of the means of production to widespread private ownership, as well as transformations from a one-party political system to the establishment of a multi-party political system. The article maps possible theoretical explanations for the resilience of social inequalities in access to higher education in the context of dynamic times. It also questions the role of educational policies in this process.     

New challenges for higher education: global and Asia-Pacific perspectives

With rapid socio-economic changes, twenty-first century higher education is facing major challenges to its governance systems, curriculum, mission focus, external relations, research, and financing. A theoretical framework to analyze these post-massification challenges is suggested, with a focus on the Asia-Pacific region as well as global issues. Five main topic areas provide the basis for the theoretical framework: massification, privatization, accountability and governance, internationalization, and ranking and world-class universities. Some discussion of the possible effects of the financial crisis that commenced in 2008 is provided.     

Democratising higher education in Ghana and Tanzania: Opportunity structures and social inequalities

This article is based on an ESRC/DFID funded research project on Widening Participation in Higher Education in Ghana and Tanzania: Developing an Equity Scorecard (http://www.sussex.ac.uk/education/wideningparticipation). There are questions about whether widening participation in higher education is a force for democratisation or differentiation. While participation rates are increasing globally, there has been scant research or socio-cultural theorisation of how different structures of inequality intersect in the developing world. Questions also need to be posed about how higher education relates to policy discourses of poverty reduction and the Millennium Development Goals. The article explores participation in higher education, utilising statistical data and life history interviews with students in two public and two private universities. It focuses on how gender and socio-economic status intersect and constrain or facilitate participation in higher education. Findings to date suggest that opportunity structures reflect social inequalities.     

Access and participation in higher education of students with disabilities: access to what?

In 1991, the Australian Government designated students with disabilities as one of the six equity groups that were under-represented in higher education. Since that time, there has been only a modest increase in enrolments of students with disabilities despite government polices and funding of disability support services and programs. People with disabilities comprise 20% of Australia’s population but only account for 4% of university enrolments. Despite the existence of the Australian Disability Discrimination Act (DDA) (1992) and the introduction of the Disability Standards for Education in 2005, negative attitudes about students with disabilities by university lecturers continue to exist. Research into the knowledge, attitudes and experiences of staff, especially in practice-based courses such as nurse education, reveals that university staff, practicum supervisors and even some disability staff, are unaware of their responsibilities under the legislation and that teaching staff continue to hold negative attitudes towards students with disabilities. This article reports on research that investigated the barriers facing such students in nursing courses, in particular in clinical placements. It shows that a lack of understanding of legislative and institutional requirements underlies negative attitudes about students with disabilities, especially in practicum-based courses.     

Writing for professional recognition in higher education: understanding genre and expertise

ABSTRACT

This study draws on the theoretical frameworks of genre theory and writing expertise to explore how educators manage and excel in writing for professional recognition. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with four educators from different disciplines in which participants discussed their experiences of preparing and writing for Senior Fellow. Despite the fact that writing for professional recognition can be a contentious genre to manage with its reflective features favouring those from certain disciplinary backgrounds, the participants described positive and affirming experiences. The findings also suggest that educators are strategic in their approach, and that the writing process can have unexpected affordances including a developed knowledge of writing, professional confidence and a sense of empowerment. The findings have implications for developing systems and resources to support educators preparing for fellowship.     

Global field and global imagining: Bourdieu and worldwide higher education

This paper maps the global dimension of higher education and associated research, including the differentiation of national systems and institutions, while reflecting critically on theoretical tools for working this terrain. Arguably the most sustained theorisation of higher education is by Bourdieu: the paper explores the relevance and limits of Bourdieu’s notions of field of power, agency, positioned and position‐taking; drawing on Gramsci’s notion of hegemony in explaining the dominant role played by universities from the United States. Noting there is greater ontological openness in global than national educational settings, and that Bourdieu’s reading of structure/agency becomes trapped on the structure side, the paper discusses Sen on self‐determining identity and Appadurai on global imagining, flows and ‘scapes’. The dynamics of Bourdieu’s competitive field of higher education continue to play out globally, but located within a larger and more disjunctive relational setting, and a setting that is less closed, than he suggests.     

Women and professional development in higher education: A search for understanding

Abstract

Participation in professional development related to teaching is higher for female academics than for male academics at the University of Canberra. There is some evidence that this trend is widespread although variable across different universities and professional development activities. Various explanations are suggested as to why this occurs, including: that more teaching in universities is done by women than men; that women are naturally more committed to teaching than men; that structural inequities cause women to be more concentrated in the lower academic ranks and, therefore, more involved in teaching‐related activities; that women more than men believe professional development is important to enhance their teaching practice; that they are less confident in their academic role than men; that they feel more alienated and isolated in their work environment; and, that they are seeking role models and mentors. The paper explores these various explanations and suggests that a combination of factors probably causes the observed differential participation by women in professional development activities. What is more important than a search for explanations is an acknowledgment of the need to value and reward such behaviour. The paper concludes with an argument for valuing women's emphasis on teaching and their continued involvement in professional development related to teaching.