Cross-cultural implications of graduate study abroad: The case of Korean academics

The purpose of this study is to explore the perceptions of Korean faculty regarding the cross-cultural implications of their graduate education abroad for their careers in the academy. Personal interviews were conducted with twenty-seven Western-trained faculty members at three private research universities in the Republic of Korea. Individuals were purposively selected to provide representation across disciplinary fields, academic rank and gender. The study focuses on faculty members' 1) experiences as foreign graduate students and their socialization to the professoriate, and 2) perceptions of the impact of their cross-cultural graduate preparation on their academic careers. Analyses of the data with respect to the research questions revealed two themes: 1) the westernized expectations they developed regarding teaching and research, and 2) the emphasis they place on service to their university and nation. The implications of these findings are discussed not only for faculty careers but also for Western graduate education and training.     

Gender and doctoral studies: the perceptions of Ph.D. students in an American university

Twenty students enrolled in Ph.D. programmes were interviewed to examine the role of gender in their academic experiences. Gender was examined in three ways: gender of the student, gender of the student’s faculty supervisor and gender make‐up of the faculty within the student’s department or academic unit. All students reported the importance of supportive faculty mentors and that financial worries, time pressure and the uncertainty of future employment were sources of stress. Family formation and striving toward personal as well as professional goals were particularly of concern for women, as were perceptions of differential treatment. Women students valued women faculty mentors, although female faculty were perceived as less supportive than male faculty of family concerns when these women had themselves sacrificed family formation for the sake of their careers. Both men and women experienced less stress and reported greater career commitment when faculty in their departments exhibited less traditional values regarding the balancing of personal and professional goals. The implications of these findings for reducing doctoral student attrition rates and for creating a more supportive environment for Ph.D. students are discussed.     

STRUCTURAL CONSTRAINTS ON GENDER EQUALITIES WITH REGARD TO UNIVERSITY CAREERS IN FINLAND

This article begins by recognizing that Finnish women, like those in the other Nordic countries, were admitted to universities relatively early. Although they now constitute some 52 percent of enrolled students in Finnish higher education and 47 percent of the labour force, they have lagged behind men in terms of obtaining academic employment and even more so with regard to being appointed to leadership positions in universities and in other academic organizations. A combination of factors accounts for this situation: the tendency to channel aspiring women academics into non‐scientific fields, the failure of women academics to be included in the informal professional networks, the deprecating attitudes of male academics towards the research results of women, and in general, a societal power structure which favours men. Finally, an economic climate which is leading to cutbacks in higher education budgets is creating a situation which makes catching up by women academics next to impossible. Only major structural changes in Finnish society will lead to further progress for Finnish women in academic careers.     

Korean academic women: Multiple roles,multiple challenges

The purpose of this study was to explore the perceptions of Korean academic women regarding their faculty careers within Korean universities. Personal interviews were conducted with thirteen female faculty members as well other informants (administrators, male faculty and graduate students) at three large private universities in the Republic of Korea: Yonsei University, Ewha Women's University and Dankook University. The study focuses on 1) the experience of Western-trained academic women in securing faculty positions in Korean universities, 2) the work load and responsibilities of women faculty within the academy, and 3) the impact of their personal lives and social roles on their professional achievement and satisfaction. Comparisons are drawn between the experiences of these Korean academic women and what we have learned about the experiences of academic women in Western institutions.An earlier version of this paper was presented at the annual meeting of the Comparative and International Education Society, Annapolis.     

Barriers to Success for Women in Academic Life: Perceptions of Participants in a Colleague Pairing Program

The purpose of this study is to explore empirically the perceptions of senior and junior female faculty members regarding the barriers to success experienced early in the academic career. Twenty‐two pairs of women faculty participated in colleague pairing as part of a mentoring initiative in a faculty development program. A factor analysis of the responses yielded the following three areas of concern: roles and responsibilities, sense of fit and personal security. We analyse the differences between senior and junior women as well as differences before and after participation in the program. Implications of these perceptions for the ability of female faculty members to help themselves and one another succeed professionally in their academic careers are discussed.     

HUNGARIAN WOMEN RESEARCHERS IN UNIVERSITIES AND RESEARCH INSTITUTES DURING THE INTERWAR PERIOD

The article examines the question of female employment in the domain of research in Hungary during the inter‐war period. Generalizations about the situation of women are interspersed with case examples of successful women researchers. In technical and scientific fields, women ran into more opposition to their being employed than in the more literary fields, but there were notable exceptions to this rule. Women who were trained in the various areas of chemistry had a variety of opportunities. Women who came from families in which other family members were involved in scientific and academic careers fared better than women who did not come from this type of background.     

THE WAY TO SUCCESS? ON THE HISTORY OF ACADEMIC CAREERS FOR WOMEN IN AUSTRIA

The article sketches the history of the education of women in Austrian universities, particularly the University of Vienna, and the attempts of some of the first female graduates to pursue academic careers. Middle class women, just like middle class men, considered education and possible academic careers as sure ways to social and economic emancipation. However, if the model worked for men, it worked less well for women who although admitted to university studies in increasing numbers found that their attempts to pursue academic careers were fraught with many obstacles. Despite numerous female success stories, the university did not turn out to be, for women, a route to emancipation and career fulfilment. Even today, if Austrian women are accepted and are achieving success in other areas, in industry and in public service, for instance, they are doing so in these endeavours far more easily and in greater numbers than in the universities.     

Workplace Faculty Friendships and Work-Family Culture

Although various work-family policies are available to faculty members, many underuse these policies due to concerns about negative career consequences. Therefore, we believe it is important to develop an academic work culture that is more supportive of work-family needs. Using network data gathered from faculty members at a Midwestern university, this study investigated the relationship between friendship connections with colleagues and perceived work-family supportiveness in the department. It also explored the role of parental status in the relationship for men and women. Results show that faculty with larger friendship networks have more positive perceptions of work-family culture compared to faculty with smaller friendship networks, for all faculty except women without children.     

FAST-Future Academic Scholars in Teaching: A High-Engagement Development Program for Future STEM Faculty

Doctoral granting institutions prepare future faculty members for academic positions at institutions of higher education across the nation. Growing concerns about whether these institutions are adequately preparing students to meet the demands of a changing academic environment have prompted several reform efforts. We describe a professional development model designed to prepare the future faculty to integrate the multiple components of academic careers. The program emphasizes the study and application of effective teaching practices centered on student learning and assessment and expectations for faculty careers. We describe the impact of the program on its participants.     

Track choice,school engagement and feelings of perceived control at the transition from primary to secondary school

The transition from primary to secondary education is regarded as a crucial phase in pupils’ school careers. Changes in the school environment have a negative influence on pupils’ perceived control and engagement. However, until now little attention has been devoted to the role of the onset of ability grouping therein, which often coincides with the start of secondary education. Research has shown that students in non-academic tracks display lower levels of perceived control and engagement. In this study we examine the relation between pupils’ prospective track choice and feelings of perceived control and behavioural and cognitive engagement before the transition to secondary education. Stepwise multilevel regression models were run on data collected from pupils in their last year of primary education in 36 schools in the cities of Antwerp and Ghent (Flanders, Belgium) in May–June 2016. The results show that pupils who indicated that they would start secondary education in non-academic tracks displayed lower levels of perceived control and behavioural and cognitive engagement than pupils who indicated that they would start in an academic track. Further analyses suggest that teacher assessments of pupils’ competence play an important role in explaining these differences according to prospective track choice—with regard to perceived control and behavioural disengagement, this effect is established net of students’ actual competence. This study demonstrates that differences in perceived control and engagement according to track originate in primary education, and that primary school teachers play a vital part in labelling students according to their future careers.     

THE UNEQUAL EQUALITIES OF WOMEN'S ACADEMIC CAREERS IN ALBANIA

Until the end of the Second World War, the population of Albania was more than 80 per cent illiterate; women, more than 90 per cent. Great progress was made, however, in education after 1946. During the 1950's, women gained access to higher education. Despite anti‐feminist, traditional attitudes towards women which persist in Albania, women now make up more than 50 per cent of all university students in the country, one third of the teaching staff at the University of Tirana, and one fourth of the staff in Albanian higher education and research as a whole. Nevertheless, the progress of Albanian women in academic careers is still very slow. The statistics indicate that the sexual equality achieved with regard to access to higher education turns into in‐equality further on in academic careers. Both in terms of academic qualifications and the filling of ranking positions in higher education and research institutions, women are a liny minority as compared to men.     

Reflections on using journals in higher education: a focus group discussion with faculty

Reflective journals have become an increasingly popular tool used by numerous faculty across many disciplines in higher education. Previous research and narrative reports of journal writing have explored student perceptions of journal writing, but very little is understood about faculty perceptions. In this paper, we report on a study involving eight university faculty who teach courses with outdoor field components in the areas of outdoor recreation, experiential education, or outdoor education. We present the faculty member’s: (1) current practices of journal writing (types of journals, types of entries, process of journal writing), (2) perceptions of journal writing (rationale, quality, evaluation) and (3) recommendations to maximize the potential of journal writing. A mixed methods approach was used that included a 32‐item quantitative questionnaire and a focus group discussion. By and large, the faculty who participated in this study appreciated the pedagogical potential of journal writing. They were, however, cautious about certain aspects of the journaling process and offered numerous suggestions for improving the ‘journaling experience.’ This paper concludes with several recommendations for consideration by higher education faculty who use journal writing as an instructional technique.     

Do It Your Way: Advice from Senior Academic Women

An open-ended question requesting advice for women students and women beginning careers in higher education was distributed to senior women faculty and administrators who began their careers around 1970. Responses were obtained from 94 women, averaging about three different pieces of advice per respondent. This advice was then categorized as background information, cautions, facts of life, life choices, coping strategies, or personal wisdom. Overall, these successful women exhibited optimism about women's progress, which they themselves are positioned to facilitate.     

DOES THE PROGRAMME MATTER? APPROACH AND MAJOR FINDINGS OF THE KASSEL GRADUATE SURVEY

This study attempts to establish the extent to which study programmes and study conditions within selected fields of study vary among institutions of higher education in the Federal Republic of Germany and the extent to which diversification has an impact on the careers and work assignments of graduates. All persons who graduated during the 1983‐1984 and 1984‐1985 academic years in mechanical engineering, economics/business, and social work from seven institutions of higher education were surveyed during their final year of study, again in a longitudinal study two years after graduation, and finally, four to five years after graduation. The authors come to the conclusion that the vertical diversification of higher education in the Federal Republic of Germany has had a less pronounced effect on the careers of graduates, over the last few years, than had been expected. No dominant elements of study programmes and study conditions could be identified which might explain study outcomes, careers, and job assignments.     

Gender Differences in Faculty Member Job Satisfaction: Equity Forestalled?

Guided by Hagedorn’s (2000) theory of faculty job satisfaction, mindful of social and organizational structures of higher education, and acknowledging recent changes in the academic labor market, this study examines satisfaction for approximately 30,000 tenured and tenure-track faculty members in 100 US colleges and universities. Findings revealed similarity between female and male faculty members in some aspects of work satisfaction, but difference in other areas in which women reported lower satisfaction. Findings also revealed that perceptions of department fit, recognition, work role balance, and mentoring are more important to women faculty’s satisfaction than male peers. Implications for policy and practice are discussed.     

CAREERS FOR MEN AND WOMEN IN BRITISH UNIVERSITIES: EVOLUTION AND REVOLUTION

This article considers the position of women academics in British universities. It begins with an historical survey of the evolution of the university teaching career in the United Kingdom, with special reference to women. It then concentrates on the entry of women into academic careers, particularly after the Second World War. Finally, it concludes with a discussion of the latest trends in higher education in the United Kingdom, especially attempts to make universities more cost effective, to rate their performance via performance indicators, and to attune them to the needs of the business world. These trends may end up making academic careers in the United Kingdom relatively less attractive than they were in the past, while inadvertently providing for greater feminization.     

How MOOC instructors view the pedagogy and purposes of massive open online courses

Massive open online courses (MOOCs) have proliferated in recent years despite disagreement about the role of MOOCs in higher education and whether student outcomes are satisfactory. Taking a mixed-methods approach, the current study surveys professors who have taught MOOCs (n = 162) in order to better understand how MOOCs are perceived by instructors. Professors’ backgrounds and beliefs about the role of MOOCs in higher education and their perceptions of the experiences of students are discussed. In addition, professors’ satisfaction in teaching MOOCs is reported. The study finds that most MOOC professors are experienced faculty members with relatively little prior experience teaching online, and that they are divided about the purpose of MOOCs in the institutional landscape of higher education.     

ENHANCING QUALITY - TENSIONS AND TENDENCIES IN AUSTRALIAN UNIVERSITIES

Presenting the comprehensive quality control measures which have been taken in Australian higher education in recent years, the author argues that the way they have been imposed from top down without proper consultations with the faculty/staff members of the institutions concerned have led to their being discredited at this level. She proposes ways in which evaluation and awards systems might be introduced through proper consultations with staff/faculty members in ways which engage the support of the latter and are then conducted with their co‐operation and collaboration. In particular, she describes how the Guidelines for Effective University Teaching were developed by the Australian Vice‐Chancellors Committee and are now being introduced into the various Australian higher education institutions as the basis of an effective teaching evaluation and improvement system.     

Antecedents of organizational commitment among faculty: an exploratory study

Faculty are the main asset of a university and determine its success. The attitudes of faculty toward their institution play an especially important role in the academic profession. This study examines the specific antecedents of affective, normative and continuance commitment of faculty to their university. This study is an online survey of 317 faculty of Russian higher education institutions. The results of the regression analysis showed that being an undergraduate inbred (i.e. working at the university from which one graduated) predicted affective and normative commitment toward the university, while having a post at another higher education institution predicted only affective commitment. Faculty who work at several universities have lower levels of emotional attachment to the primary university.     

WOMEN AND UNIVERSITY EDUCATION IN TURKEY

An examination of the statistics indicates that Turkish women have made great strides with respect to their recruitment to positions at all levels in the higher education institutions of their country, particularly in such fields as medicine, the hard sciences, and engineering in which women in very many countries are usually thought to be underrepresented. The author attributes this achievement to the Republican ideology of post‐1923 Turkey, the opportunities which were opened to élite women by the correspondence of the latter with the developmental needs of the country, the availability of domestic service provided by non‐elite women, and the existence of family solidarity networks. Women, however, have not been so well represented in such fields as law and political science which, were traditionally close to the loci of political power. In recent years, however, with the expansion of the higher education system, competition between men and women for posts has greatly increased, and economic change and urbanization have dried up the supply of inexpensive domestic help and have stymied family solidarity networks. Thus academic women are increasingly beset by conflicts between their professional and their family roles. This new situation has caused Turkish women to lose ground with regard to recruitment to prestigious positions in higher education and to seek conservative Islamic solutions to the conflicts in question. Reforms based on a renewed Republican ideal are needed to improve the situation and to enable Turkish women academics to build on their past achievements.