Social media's use in postgraduate students' decision-making journey: an exploratory study

Universities globally are showing increased interest in the potential of social media as a marketing recruitment tool. This paper explores how and why potential postgraduate business students looking to study internationally use social media in their educational decision-making process. Due to a lack of existing research, this study adopted an exploratory approach, gathering data through in-depth interviews with 12 postgraduate international students at an Australian university. The findings indicate that besides Facebook and YouTube, students are using blogs in their study search. The two most common reasons for social media usage are finding out about student life and reading reviews from former students. In the decision-making process, social media is mostly used in the information search and evaluation stages. Students’ use of social media also varies across source countries. Our findings are a good information source for education marketers who need to engage more actively with social media.     

Americanisation,sovietisation, and resistance at Kabul University: limits of the educational reforms

The paper compares the American and Soviet transformations at Kabul University, Afghanistan, during the 1960s to the 1980s explained in terms of Americanisation and Sovietisation. Using new declassified documents from both American and former Soviet archives, the author reveals that both powers attempted to impose their rival models of university education in Afghanistan. However, resistance on the part of the Afghan university undermined both of their cultural influences, thus causing their policies of reform to eventually fail. The case of Kabul University demonstrates the inability of the superpowers to encourage the formation of pliable students and professors. Despite crucial transformations in the structure, administration apparatus, and content of disciplines, both superpowers were not able to change the traditions and values of professors and students. The university community has been proven to be the main cause for the success or failure of any reforms brought to a university by external powers.     

High on emotion! perceived value: influencing decision-making processes at international student recruitment trade shows

Transnational education students are an increasingly important source of income for higher education institutes. Student recruitment trade shows as a marketing communication tool are being used by the majority of higher education institutes and despite multi-million-dollar investments, little is known about the impact they have on the decision-making processes of transnational education students and the student recruitment efforts of the exhibiting higher education institutes. This research project discusses how international student recruitment trade shows can positively influence the perceived value students obtain from visiting these trade shows. The findings of this qualitative study show the positive effect higher levels of social emotions have on students’ perceptions of international study options from pre-purchase to post-consumption and on the effectiveness of student recruitment trade shows.     

普林斯顿大学的发展历程、教育理念及其启示

经过260多年的发展,普林斯顿大学从一所宗教教育机构成为世俗的世界一流大学,一直坚守小而精的办学传统,形成了自己独特的教育理念。它崇尚"为国家服务,为社会服务",通过营造一种平静的环境,致力于质量而非数量上的追求。普林斯顿大学的经验对我国建设世界一流大学具有重要的启示作用。     

We've got minorities,yes we do: visual representations of racial and ethnic diversity in college recruitment materials

Colleges and universities have expanded their use of the internet and social media in marketing strategies, but the direct mailing of admissions brochures continues to be at the heart of recruitment efforts. Because admissions brochures often serve as a potential student's introduction to the campus, they are carefully crafted to provide a specific impression of the institution. This study examined one aspect of the marketing of colleges by examining the portrayal of racial and ethnic diversity. Through a content analysis of over 10,000 photographs from 165 four-year institutions in the US, the accuracy of the photographic portrayal of diversity in recruitment materials was assessed. Findings indicate that the majority of institutions provided images of diversity to prospective students in 2011 that were significantly different than the actual student body. Furthermore, diversity was typically symbolized by portraying African American students at higher rates rather than presenting a more representative student body.     

河北省高等教育资源优化配置研究

高等教育资源配置的合理与否直接关系到高等教育资源利用效率的高低、教育发展的规模和速度等一系列问题.要优化配置河北省高等教育资源,建立以市场调节为基础的高等教育资源配置的运行机制,推进投资主体多元化,提高河北省高等教育资源的使用效率,实现河北高等教育在科类、层次、布局上的优化配置.     

Student-perceived organizational support and perceived employability in the marketing of higher education

In the current context, the need for marketing in institutions of higher education is undeniable. The specification of the student not merely as a ‘customer’ means that traditional marketing no longer has sufficient capacity to explain the behavior of the student body. In this study, a four-level relationship marketing model is tested to check the influence of perceived organizational support (POS) and perceived employability on identification with the institution and the perceived price-quality ratio and how these influence student satisfaction. In addition, the constructs prior to POS and perceived employability are identified, which are explicit enough to enable specific marketing actions to be carried out. As POS is a construct defined for the labor market, its use applied to relational marketing comes up as something innovative.

To this end, Likert scales have been designed and validated to measure these constructs. The results of this test show how the perception of organizational support depends on the relationship of the student body with the administration and management of the center. Likewise, the perception of employability depends on the perceived reputation and the perception of the promotion of employability. Furthermore, it is confirmed that satisfaction is positively related to identification and the perceived price-quality ratio, which in turn are positively related to organizational support and perceived employability.     

Gaps in the Decision-Making System at Makerere University,Uganda

ABSTRACT

The world over, drastic transformation of higher education systems is presenting universities with significant opportunities and challenges. Accordingly, universities need highly effective decision-making systems through which they can adopt the decisions they need to reap the opportunities whilst avoiding the challenges associated with transformation. At Makerere University (MU), Uganda, however, decision-making is ineffective, which is affecting the university’s ability to respond to the opportunities and challenges its transformed environment is presenting. Informed by the propositions of Systems Theory as they apply to organisational decision-making, therefore, decision-makers’ perceptions of the university’s decision-making process were surveyed to ascertain whether there is cooperation, hierarchy, order and feedback among the units involved in the process. It was found that although the process is hierarchical, it is marred by uncooperativeness, disorder and poor feedback mechanisms. To enhance decision success, therefore, MU is urged to review its decision-making process to ensure that the units involved therein operate synergistically.     

Higher education recruitment in the United States: a chronology of significant literature

ABSTRACT

Given the absence of a chronology of the historical philosophies, perspectives, and practices of recruitment within the higher education institutions in the United States, the authors have assembled an overview of the material on recruitment strategies and ideologies of American higher education institutions. Literature from and about the past aids in illuminating the current context while helping to navigate the future of higher education recruitment. The authors have identified five general periods: prior to 1920, 1921 to the end of the Second World War, the post-War decade, mid-1950s through the 1970s, and 1980s to the present. Documentation for each period varies significantly in quality and amount, with the densest data found for the two later periods. Future researchers may explore how recruitment practices and language encourage or discourage under-represented populations in higher education. Further research in other areas of educational recruitment is also suggested.     

中国高等教育招生规模与结构的实证研究

尽管已经完成了从"精英教育阶段"到"大众化教育阶段"的跨越,中国的高等教育仍然还存在相当大的发展空间。然而,高等教育的招生结构、师资结构不够合理抑制了高等教育的进一步发展。今后可以通过科学规划高等学校布局结构、提高高等教育学科专业布局的合理性、加快师资队伍建设等途径来促进高等教育的发展。     

University Marketing: Perceptions,Practices and Prospects in the Less Developed World

ABSTRACT

The article reports on research conducted in Zimbabwe's 11 universities between 2001 and 2003. The research was aimed at finding how vice chancellors and internal marketers perceived the marketing concept and its organization within the universities including the extent to which prospective university customers considered the arrangements for marketing as meeting their expectations for choice and decision making. It is argued that the new university environment in the developing world replicates that which has driven Higher Education institutions in the developed world to embrace marketing as a key strategic option. However, even in the developed world, marketing in Higher Education continues to be based on imported wisdom from the business sector. The article argues that for marketing to occupy its rightful place in Higher Education, it has to be based on a new axis which reflects the core business of universities. It proposes a theoretical basis for considering a curriculum-focused marketing orientation for Higher Education.     

International student destination choice: the influence of home campus experience on the decision to consider branch campuses

Previous research has found that the country and institution choices of international students are greatly influenced by recommendations they receive from others who have experience of undertaking higher education overseas. For Western universities, it is of utmost importance to satisfy their international students, who can then encourage the next generation of international students to attend those same institutions. However, student satisfaction is not the only factor at play. Using a framework of ‘push and pull’ factors, rooted in the international student choice literature, this exploratory study investigates the determinants of destination choice of international students who decided to study at a university in the UK and examines their attitudes toward international branch campuses. The survey results and analyses suggest that overseas campuses could pose a considerable threat to home campuses in the competition for international students in the future.     

Potential of the social media as instruments of higher education marketing: a segmentation study

The importance of social media as platforms of social interaction, communication and marketing is growing. Increasing numbers of businesses in various industries have already integrated or plan to integrate social media applications into their marketing programs. Higher education institutions show increased interest in the potential of social media as a marketing tool. Particularly important is the potential of these tools to reach and attract future students. An important issue for research is to understand how potential students use social media and what their role is in the decision making process of choosing a program of study, a University, or College. This paper identifies market segments among future students based on the use of the social media and examines the impact of the social media on the choice of a higher education program and institution.

The study is based on data collected by means of a national survey among future university students in the Netherlands. Future students are pupils from the last two years of secondary education. Market segmentation was carried out based on the use of social media, by means of a cluster analysis and a factor analysis; the latter proved to be the best choice since it produced more differentiated market segments.

The findings indicate the existence of three distinct segments in the population of future students in the Netherlands on the basis of social media use. Another major finding of the study is that future students are mostly interested in social interaction and information seeking when using social media, while the content contributed by this group is limited to photo and video sharing. Compared to traditional communication channels social media still play a secondary role in the students' choice.

While penetration of social media is extremely high among future students, the impact of these in the choice of study and institution is relatively low compared to more traditional forms of university marketing. This paper provides university marketers with a useful insight into the developments in the market and discusses various options and opportunities for engaging social media as effective marketing tools.     

大学评价体系及其排行榜透视

尽管目前国内大学评价体系还不够完善，但因其排行榜所产生的社会影响关系到一所学校的知名度和美誉度，并且具有增进社会公众对大学的了解、引导学生选择报考学校和社会投资流向、促进社会公众及高校关注高等教育质量问题、推动大学之间展开合作与竞争等方面的作用，因此高校必须重视大学评价及其排行榜，研究和利用它来为学校发展服务。     

论高校本科教学质量评估的意义及有效举措

高校本科教学质量评估对于推动高等教育健康发展具有重要意义,建立长效评估机制,从思想、机构、管理以及监督等方面实施系统工程,才能推动这一工作的有效开展.     

Activism,identity and service: the influence of the Asian American Movement on the educational experiences of college students

This article emphasises two major themes that address the influence of the Asian American Movement: (1) encouraging students to broaden the discourse on race and ethnic relations by redefining categories and challenging prevalent assumptions; (2) an increased tolerance and frequency in course offerings that examine and centralise the histories, literature and political underpinnings of Asian Americans and ethnic (i.e. Japanese) specific communities, which has equipped students to engage in discourse and community action. Countering dominant narratives through unification and education is the means by which Asian American students fought for representation and fair treatment.     

波兰、匈牙利和捷克三国私立高等教育财政政策述评

波兰、匈牙利和捷克被西方观察家称为转型的样板国。这三个国家政治经济发展水平大体接近,而私立高等教育发展态势迥异,值得研究和思考。本文就三国的私立高等教育政策,尤其是财政政策做一述评。     

素质教育与高校学生工作的创新

教育创新与素质教育使高等教育经历着一场极其深刻而伟大的变革，它给高校学生工作带来了前所未有的机遇和挑战。高校学生工作应在观念创新、机制创新、评价体系创新、方法和手段创新、建立有创新意识的学生工作队伍等几方面着手改进和加强学生工作。     

更新教育质量观深化高教改革

我国高等教育应时代发展的需求而迅速扩大招生数量,由传统的精英教育向现代的大众化教育转型.计划经济条件下高教绝对的、一元的教育质量观成为制约高教深化改革与发展的瓶颈.就树立高教相对的多元的质量观,促进高教改革进一步深化,提高高等教育质量,发表个人的见解.     

培养目标、教育要素与教育成本

高等学校的培养目标对高等学校教育成本的分类和计量具有根本性的制约作用。培养目标的实现与教育构成要素的品质和构成特征密切相关,因此,依据教育的构成要素对教育成本进行分析是一个合理可行的研究路线。教育成本主要包括教学成本和非教学成本,其中教学成本包括课程与教学活动开发成本、课程与教学活动实施成本和课程与教学活动辅助成本三大类。依据培养目标对成本计量进行考察,本文提出了基准学校教育成本计量、学时教师成本计量等多种新的成本计量方案。