Public and Private Higher Education Institutions--Joint or Separate Evaluation and Ranking: The Polish Perspective

Since 1989, Polish higher education has been characterized by the emergence of a private sector of higher education as well as by the development of procedures and institutions for the evaluation and accreditation of higher education institutions and programmes in both sectors. Currently, the two sectors are evaluated separately by separate institutions. The authors call for the convergence of the two higher education sectors. Not only would evaluations of Polish higher education institutions thus be made more accurate and comprehensive, but the two sectors would learn from one another, and the private institutions and their students would become eligible to receive state grants.     

学生转向：澳大利亚大学教育与高职教育衔接的有效路径

澳大利亚高等教育体系由大学教育和高职教育构成,尽管这两部分存有差别。但它们有共同的目标,即为学生提供所需的技能和知识,最终帮助学生在就业方面取得重大突破．这就意味着在两种教育形式间转向不仅是可能的,而且是十分有意义的。澳大利亚政府出于教育的有效性和平等性考虑,鼓励大学与职业学校间的学生转向。     

行业吸纳不同教育程度劳动者就业的投入产出分析

采用投入产出技术中的前向关联与后向关联程度以及劳动力投入系数和就业乘数等指标分析我国国民经济主要行业之间的产业关联和对不同教育程度城镇劳动力就业的影响,由此来衡量各个部门吸纳不同教育层次劳动力就业的能力。研究结果表明制造业、建筑业和农林牧渔业等行业的经济产出贡献位居前三,也是吸纳高中及以下教育程度城镇劳动者就业的主要部门,但其不是吸纳受高等教育城镇劳动者就业的主要渠道。教育、公共管理和社会组织等行业成为目前吸纳高中以上学历城镇就业者的最主要渠道。建议我国教育发展战略与政策制定部门应该采取相应措施引导不同教育程度城镇劳动者就业的行业倾向,调整高学历城镇人员过度集中于科教文卫等事业单位的状况。     

高等教育在经济发展中的作用--对台湾的实证研究

本探讨了台湾地区1965-2000年间高等教育学科对劳动力及对经济增长的影响。章以台湾高等教育四类学科为对象探究了学科结构的潜在影响。同时,产出被分为三个产业部门以考察不同学科对每个部门经济发展的作用。研究结果显示,高等教育总体上对台湾经济增长有显的正效应,其中工程和自然科学专业的作用最显。     

‘They're not girly girls’: an exploration of quantitative and qualitative data on engineering and gender in higher education

Despite sustained efforts to promote engineering careers to young women, it remains the most male-dominated academic discipline in Europe. This paper will provide an overview of UK data and research on women in engineering higher education, within the context of Europe. Comparisons between data from European countries representing various regions of Europe will highlight key differences and similarities between these nations in terms of women in engineering. Also, drawing on qualitative research the paper will explore UK students’ experiences of gender, with a particular focus on the decision to study engineering and their experiences in higher education.     

Behind the Rhetoric: women academic staff in colleges of higher education in England

The paper is based on research into the position of women academic staff in a sample of colleges of higher education in England. This reveals a pattern of entrenched sexual inequality in these institutions, especially at middle and senior management levels. A similar pattern has been found in the university and polytechnic sectors of higher education. However, in the colleges there is an even greater disjunction between the sexual distribution of students and staff. The research is related to recent literature on equal opportunities in education. It is argued that the formal curriculum of equal opportunities is continually subverted by a hidden curriculum of unequal opportunities. Finally, several approaches to positive intervention are suggested.     

The Changing Structure of British Higher Education: How diverse is it?

With the passage of the 1992 Further and Higher Education Act the British system of higher education formally moved from a binary to a unitary structure. However, ever since successive governments have argued for a diversified model of higher education within which institutions should pursue contrasting goals. This article offers an interpretation of the key ingredients of institutional diversification and constructs alternative structural models of higher education. It proceeds by exploring the changing structure of British higher education since the creation of the unitary model. The argument is that there has been a steady emergence of flexible sectors, which both converge and diversify. However, there is a danger that the 2011 White Paper, rather than sustaining flexible sectors, could intensify the nascent shift in the direction of stratification marked by increasing differentiation between sectors as they converge internally.     

日本的工程教育认证

中国正处在特殊的工业化阶段。走新型工业化道路、建设创新型国家的艰巨任务,要靠大批优秀的工程技术人才去实现和完成。不断改革工程技术教育制度、提高工程技术教育质量正日益受到政府、教育界、企业界以及社会各界的关注和重视。工程技术教育的评价和认证制度的构建,对于提高工程技术教育质量具有重要的意义。本文着重考察了日本技术者教育认...     

The Changing Structure of British Higher Education: How diverse is it?

With the passage of the 1992 Further and Higher Education Act the British system of higher education formally moved from a binary to a unitary structure. However, ever since successive governments have argued for a diversified model of higher education within which institutions should pursue contrasting goals. This article offers an interpretation of the key ingredients of institutional diversification and constructs alternative structural models of higher education. It proceeds by exploring the changing structure of British higher education since the creation of the unitary model. The argument is that there has been a steady emergence of flexible sectors, which both converge and diversify. However, there is a danger that the 2011 White Paper, rather than sustaining flexible sectors, could intensify the nascent shift in the direction of stratification marked by increasing differentiation between sectors as they converge internally.

     

Returning to STEM: gendered factors affecting employability for mature women students

This paper adds to current discourses around employability by arguing for an explicit recognition of gender, in particular in relation to women’s employment in male-dominated sectors such as science, engineering and technology. This is not limited to young first-time graduates but continues and evolves throughout the life course. Mature women students, who are returning after career breaks, face a number of barriers in re-entering such employment sectors. Drawing on data from a longitudinal study of women graduates in science, technology, engineering or mathematics, who participated in a UK government-funded online programme aimed at supporting them to return to work, the paper examines three gendered factors identified as being of particular influence on outcomes – gender role normativity, locality and mobility, and structural and institutional barriers. The paper concludes by identifying strategies deployed by those that successfully returned to employment, including retraining, networking and doing unpaid or low-paid work.     

A technology foundation course for women

The Technology Foundation Course for Women at Huddersfield Polytechnic is designed to help women compensate for their previous lack of experience in technology and to prepare them to enter diploma and degree courses in higher education. The course has several distinctive features in that it is for women only and is designed to meet the needs of mature students with family commitments. Students are allowed flexibility in their choice of subjects, enabling them to study mathematics, physics, computing or chemistry to approximately A‐level standard. Students from the first intake have evaluated the course positively and the majority are studying computing or engineering‐related subjects in higher education. The design of the course is discussed in the light of the requirements of women taking the course and the demand within industry and higher education for more qualified scientists and engineers.     

Women students in engineering in Mexico: exploring responses to gender differences

The percentage of women students in engineering in Mexico is still low compared to the percentage of women enrolled in higher education institutions in the country, which has achieved parity with male enrollment. It is thus important to understand how gender can shape the experiences of female college students in engineering programs, which was the focus of this study. Findings for this study are presented in two sections. We first describe how female students have an extra burden dealing with the possibility that their performance might confirm the stereotype of female inferiority in math and science and that they may be judged according to that stereotype. Secondly, we describe the challenges faced by female students in engineering colleges in Mexico, namely, a demanding academic curriculum, and competitive and individualistic environment. This study illustrates how successful female students negotiated the gendered expectations in engineering in Mexican engineering programs, and how they use resistance strategies like academic success to become accepted in the male-dominated engineering environment.     

高职院校成人教育发展模式探索与实践——以松原职业技术学院为例

探索与高职教育相适应的成人教育模式已经成为高职院校的重要课题。以地方经济社会发展服务为宗旨,充分发挥现有的高职教育综合优势,高职院校应坚持多渠道、多门类、多形式、多层次、多规格的成人教育发展思路。松原职业技术学院在实践中以社会需求为导向,统筹发展高职教育和成人教育,加强与行业部门的联系,配合组织部门轮流培训乡村干部,开展面向农村的职业技能培训,拓宽了办学功能,增强了服务能力。     

Higher Education as a System: The English Experience

With particular, although not exclusive, reference to England, this article explores the appropriateness of describing higher education as a system. It has two main purposes: to explore the grounds for labelling English higher education as a system and to argue that, because this is no longer an appropriate label, a different conceptualisation is required. The central argument is that the structure of higher education is formed through the interaction of the state, market and higher education institutions and is, therefore, a shifting political construct. Furthermore, it will be hypothesised that the English (indeed, the British) model of higher education is better described as an increasingly internally differentiated network of sectors rather than as a system.     

Moving ‘social reform’ to center stage: lessons from higher education in Ecuador

Systemic reform of Latin America’s ‘social sectors’, such as higher education, has progressed at a much slower rate than economic reform. The reason is that such reform efforts are derivative or ‘finance-driven’, and have been undertaken only as a reflection of economic reform policies. This outcome is explainable using the observations on Latin American reform formulated 40 years ago by Albert Hirschman. The experience of Ecuador with higher education reform provides the empirical basis for this case. All recent reform programs have followed Hirschman’s ‘Route C’, which suggests they will not have support necessary for enactment and if enacted will have minor impact. There are other experiences of more effective, Route B, reforms in higher education. This study concludes that only if a new understanding of the role of higher education in development is brought to maturity will systemic reform occur, guided by the implications of this new conceptualization. It must also be guided by new conceptualizations of how the social sectors, and higher education in particular, can help realize this new understanding.     

Public and private sectors in higher education: A comparison of international patterns

This paper seeks to extend understanding of the varying nature and varying forms of private higher education. Three basic structural divisions between private and public sectors of higher education are compared: mass private and restricted public sectors; parallel public and private sectors; and, comprehensive public and peripheral private sectors. The private sectors are then contrasted in terms of such functional characteristics as state authority, financial constraints and dominant orientation toward either academic goals, the student marketplace or external patrons. The highly diverse American private sector is viewed in this context. A consideration of mass private sectors then suggests that parameters of public policy are set by structurally derived characteristics of higher education systems.An earlier version of this paper was delivered to the Third International Seminar on Higher Education in Asia, sponsored by the Research Institute for Higher Education, Hiroshima University, Hiroshima, January 28–29, 1987. This version has benefited from the comments of the Conference participants, as well as those of Paul DiMaggio.     

Higher education expansion and differentiation in the Republic of Ireland

This article explores social class and gender differences in entry to the two main higher education sectors, universities and institutes of technology, among school leavers in Ireland over the period 1980–2006. A rational choice perspective is adopted, with participation hypothesised to reflect the costs and benefits attaching to attending the two types of institution. The initial expansion of higher education resulted in a widening of the participation gap between the higher professional and other groups, with some reduction thereafter as higher professional groups reached near-saturation levels. The removal of higher education tuition fees in 1996 was not sufficient to increase working-class participation in a context where other direct costs remained high and employment represented an attractive option. The period analysed saw a significant shift in the gender composition of higher education entrants, with young women now making up the majority. This article points to the value of taking a dynamic approach to analysing higher education participation, unpacking the effects of expansion in provision and of the costs and benefits attached to higher education entry.     

Continuing Education: will the trans-binary initiative survive⃛ and suffice?

A review of lost opportunities suggests that now must be when higher education develops a serious commitment to continuing education, as must other necessary partners - employers, professional bodies and government. Present provision lacks a coherent framework, is confusing, ill-co-ordinates and less than cost effective. The potential of the joint NAB/UGC initiative as a force for development is considered: the unequal commitment of the two major sectors of higher education may be its weakness. Other models are considered with particular attention given to the possibility of the Manpower Services Commission, through its Adult Training Strategy, coming to dominate higher education as it now does non-advanced further education .     

How Does Identity Shape the Experiences of Women of Color Engineering Students?

This study seeks to understand the experiences of women of color engineering students who persist and identify some of the dilemmas they face. Evidence emerged that students formulate multiple identities to help them persist in their engineering programs. We assess the role that identity plays in the experiences of STEM (science, technology, engineering, and mathematics) women of color. This paper applies a multiple identities framework and presents students' experiences through the lenses of three emergent identities: academic, social, and intellectual. We discuss possible implications of the findings for academic and social support programs in higher education. We also identify some implications for precollege instruction.