Caring teacher and sensitive student: is it a gender issue in the university context?

While there is abundant scholarship discussing gendered discourse on care in early childhood and compulsory education, little exploration has been made to explore whether care might also be gendered in higher education. This article, based on data from a year-long narrative study, examines the conceptualisation of care and its effects on teaching and learning in the university context with a gender lens. It on the one hand reveals an implicit but persistent feminine ethic of care in the university context, and on the other hand delivers the hope of developing an ethic of care that values and de-genders care in universities with the demonstration of agency in the two sensitive students.     

Mobility as ‘becoming’: a Bourdieuian analysis of the factors shaping international student mobility

This paper unpacks the meanings and implications of the mobility of international students in vocational education – an under-researched group in the field of international education. This four-year study found that transnational mobility is regarded as a resourceful vehicle to help international students ‘become’ the kind of person they want to be. The paper justifies the value of re-conceptualising student mobility as a process of ‘becoming’. Mobility as ‘becoming’ encompasses students’ aspirations for educational, social, personal and professional development. Theorising mobility as ‘becoming’ captures international students’ lived realities and has the potential to facilitate the re-imagining of international student mobility with new outlooks. By theorising mobility as ‘becoming’, this research suggests the importance of drawing on the integrated and transformative nature of Bourdieu’s forms of capital in understanding the logics and practice of the social field – international student mobility.     

Intergenerational educational and occupational mobility in Spain: does gender matter?

This paper explores the changes in intergenerational mobility seen in Spain during the last century. It examines educational and occupational mobility, paying particular attention to the existence of a differentiated gender effect. The magnitude of the historical changes that have taken place in Spain during the twentieth century and the scarcity of studies in this field increase the value of this paper. More specifically, the paper seeks to describe how the situation has changed with the social–economic and education policy developments in democratic Spain, especially with regards to women. The main results show that while educational mobility has improved, there has been no such significant change in occupational mobility.     

The deviant university student: historical discourses about student failure and ‘wastage’ in the antipodes

The emergence of academic development in Anglophone higher education was linked to post Second World War massification and concerns about student failure. These concerns were driven by increasing statistical investigations into student attrition and degree times to completion, particularly in Australia and Aotearoa, New Zealand. There was a dominant discourse about student ‘wastage’ (the deviant student). However, if we fast-forward to the late 2000s, we can see that these discourses have been replaced by discourses about university responsibility and teaching quality. Drawing on Foucauldian discourse analysis, this paper aims to trace the historical roots of contemporary teaching and learning dilemmas and to show how the responsibility for student failure was gradually shifted from perceptions of deviant students to perceptions of teacher ‘deviance’, which academic development units were designed to ameliorate.     

‘Making the grade’: a grounded theory explaining the student experience of Asian and Middle-Eastern postgraduates in a British university

The aim of this study was firstly to describe the experiences of international students living and studying in a UK university, to understand and explain their responses to those experiences and to make recommendations to stakeholders in the light of the findings. The research found that international students’ two biggest concerns are their English language skills and their detachment from domestic students. International students were surprised at the size of the challenges they faced and worked hard to bridge the gap between their academic and sociocultural skills and those needed in the UK. International students provided emotional, practical and academic support to each other, but the academic support they offered to each other was not always reliable. International students engaged in a process of identity change during which they gained the skills they needed to be academically successful. Recommendations in regard to the academic and pastoral support of international students are made.     

The typical Australian university mathematics student: Challenging myths and stereotypes?

Historically mathematics has been perceived as the domain of white, middle-class males. In contemporary Australia, more females than males complete 12 years of secondary schooling and a higher proportion of females than males is enrolled in university courses. Females, however, are less likely than males to study the most demanding mathematics courses offered in the final year of schooling and fewer enrol in engineering and science-related tertiary courses. In a recent study investigating the factors implicated in students' decisions to pursue tertiary level mathematics, biographical data and students' perceptions of their tertiary mathematics learning environments were gathered. A revealing profile of the backgrounds of students enrolled in mathematics courses at three metropolitan universities in Australia emerged. There were similarities and differences among the cohorts. Gender and ethnic differences, and differences by university attended emerged. Replicating previous findings, a higher proportion of males than females was found to be studying tertiary mathematics. Multiple indicators revealed that the socio-economic backgrounds of the cohorts differed. The data revealed that various generations of Australian migrants, representative of the nation's multicultural profile, were studying mathematics. Students were generally satisfied with many aspects of their learning environments. Yet, areas in which the learning environment might improve for the longer term benefit of all students were evident. The study suggests that tertiary level mathematics is no longer the exclusive preserve of Anglo (English speaking), middle-class, Australian males. That is not to say that previously identified inequities in mathematics and science have been overcome.     

You can’t ignore us: what role does family play in student engagement and alienation in a Ghanaian university?

Much of the existing literature on student engagement focuses on what happens within the higher education environment or what the institution has direct control over, restricting understanding of how issues outside of the institution affect engagement. This paper argues that efforts to improve student engagement should be broadened to incorporate issues relating to the family. It employed a case study design in order to develop a broad and more in-depth understanding of how family influences the amount of time and effort students invest in their learning in a large public university in Ghana. It was established that engagement is influenced by family expectation, financial and social support, as well as monitoring of students’ academic performance. The unique contribution of the study is that it broadens current understandings of engagement because it adds an aspect that has not been highlighted in current work on engagement, making a case for institutions to work more with families to get a broader understanding of challenges students face in order to provide comprehensive support.     

Do tuition fees affect the mobility of university applicants? Evidence from a natural experiment

Several German states recently introduced tuition fees for university education. We investigate whether these tuition fees influence the mobility of university applicants. Based on administrative data of applicants for medical schools in Germany, we estimate the effect of tuition fees on the probability of applying for a university in the home state. We find a small but significant reaction: The probability of applying for a university in the home state falls by 2 percentage points (baseline: 69%) for high-school graduates who come from a state with tuition fees. Moreover, we find that students with better high-school grades react more strongly to tuition fees. This might have important effects on the composition of students across states.     

How to foster student�Cstudent learning of science? The student, the teacher and the subject matter

In this response to Konstantinos Alexakos, Jayson K. Jones, and Victor H. Rodriguez’s study, I discuss ways attending to student membership in groups can both inform research on equity and diversity in science education and improve the teaching of science to all students. My comments are organized into three sections: how underrepresented students’ experiences in science classrooms are shaped by their peers; how science teachers can help students listen to and learn from one another; and how the subject matter can invite or discourage student participation in science. More specifically, I underscore the need for teachers and students to listen to one another to promote student learning of science. I also highlight the importance of science education researchers and science teachers viewing students both as individuals and as members of multiple groups; women of color, for example, should be understood as similar to and different from each other, from European American women and from ethnic minorities in general.     

Community building of (student) teachers and a teacher educator in a school–university partnership

School?Cuniversity partnerships (SUPs) are considered a way of improving teacher education. For the successful implementation of such partnerships, cooperation between the different stakeholders is of crucial importance. Therefore, most partnerships are organised in short- and long-term teams, which are usually composed of teachers, student teachers and representatives of the university faculty. This study focused on the collaboration process of a team of modern language teachers who work and learn together in a teacher community. The aim of this study was to investigate how to design a learning environment that stimulates community development in these teams, applying the cooperative learning model of Johnson and Johnson in Learning together and alone: cooperative, competitive, and individualistic learning. Allyn and Bacon, Boston, (1999). Based on this model, design principles were developed to stimulate community development in this group. Community development was measured through observations of the meetings of the group, using the community model of Admiraal, Lockhorst and van der Pol described in this issue. The five principles found relevant in this SUP team were profiling the group as an identity, equivalent cooperation, rotating the chairperson, reflecting on the collaboration and giving feedback on the products made in the group.     

International doctoral students’ experience of supervision: a case study in a Chinese university

Internationalisation in higher education is now a worldwide phenomenon but there is little attention paid to internationalisation at doctoral level, although this phenomenon has grown exponentially in recent years. This study focuses on a university in China to examine how international doctoral students and their supervisors perceive supervision and the relations between supervisor and student. It describes and analyses the experiences of supervisors and students, and the concepts they used to articulate and reflect on them. Semi-formal interviews were conducted with six doctoral students and their supervisors. Analysis shows that, apart from formal supervision, informal enculturation through social and academic networks, the tongmen, plays an important role in supervision and in socialising the doctoral researchers into the community of practice. The study adds to the field a new case from a specific epistemological and intellectual tradition and challenges existing theories concerning methods and concepts of supervision.     

Taking initiative and constructing identity: international graduate student spouses’ adjustment and social integration in a rural university town

Nearly one quarter of international graduate students in the USA and Canada are accompanied by their spouse, typically highly educated, professional women. Because they are not students, accompanying spouses’ distinctive needs and experiences are often invisible. This article focuses on an overlooked population of adult learners: accompanying spouses who enrol in English as a Second Language (ESL) courses. Qualitative data are used to explore the social integration and adjustment of 13 accompanying spouses who attended an ESL class in State College, Pennsylvania, a rural university town in the USA. Specifically, we examine how accompanying spouses described their social integration and changes in roles and identities, how perceptions of sacrifice for their partner related to their adjustment experiences, how they gained entrée and navigated social spaces in the host community and what they believe enhanced and hindered their adjustment and social integration. Accompanying spouses portrayed themselves as initiators who created meaningful experiences by locating and taking advantage of opportunities and resources, including language and culture classes, to forge new identities and structure their lives. The findings can inform the design, development and dissemination of adult education and support services for accompanying spouses, especially in geographically isolated areas.     

Doctorate holders’ careers in Spain: Does international mobility matter?

PhD programmes are considered as transmission channels to provide specialisation and skills to students who will be employed as highly‐qualified workers or researchers. Focusing on the Spanish case, they are exerting a positive influence on workers’ careers since doctorate holders have a privileged situation in the labour market. This article analyses international mobility's effects on some aspects associated with doctorate holders’ careers such as their wages and how their current employment is related to their doctoral studies. The methodology applied consists in developing, on the one hand, a wage econometric specification and, on the other, a probit model, taking into account the possible mismatch between the training acquired in the doctoral studies and the educational requirements of the current job. In both cases, the dependent variables are explained by a set of regressors and a dummy variable showing whether doctorate holders have spent time in another country once completed their doctoral studies.     

Does the reputation of a faculty member’s graduate programme and institution matter for labour market outcomes?

For a future faculty member the choice of which graduate programme and institution to attend is considered to have important implications for securing academic employment, developing skills to succeed in academia, and yielding positive returns on investment of time and money in education. Yet does it matter where a faculty member attends graduate school – and if so, is it the reputation of the programme or the institution that matters most for his or her labour market outcomes? In this study, we used nationally representative data from the U.S. to estimate the relationship between a faculty member’s graduate programme and institution and their institution of first academic employment, research productivity, and salary. Our findings suggest that the reputation of one’s graduate department may factor more heavily than reputation of institution in the type and level of institution at which he or she is first employed, while graduate institution reputation has notable marginal, positive benefits associated with research productivity and salary. We discuss implications for the influence of graduate education on academic careers.     

Colorectal cancer screening and adverse childhood experiences: Which adversities matter?

Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs) have been associated with an increased risk of a variety of diseases, including cancer. However, research has not paid enough attention to the association between ACEs and cancer screening. As such, the present study examined the association between ACEs and ever using colorectal cancer (CRC) screening, among adults age 50 and over. Analyses used the 2011 Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System (n = 24,938) to model odds of ever engaging in CRC screening from nine different adversities. Bivariate and multivariate models were fit. In bivariate models, physical abuse, having parents that were divorced or separated, and living in a household where adults treated each other violently were associated with lower odds of engaging in CRC. In multivariate models that accounted for potential confounders, emotional and sexual abuse were each associated with higher odds of engaging in CRC. Results suggest potential pathways by which early childhood experiences can impact future health behaviors. Future research should examine this association longitudinally.     

Troubled times: the role of instructional design in a modern dual-mode university?

Reduced higher education funding and other austerity measures imposed by governments and institutions have resulted in cascading cuts in resources for programme design, delivery and revision. The instructional design function is often the first casualty of these cuts in many universities. This paper considers the roles and functions of instructional design, illuminates the differences in instructional design functions in on-site learning and in distance learning, and examines the broadening of skills and responsibilities encompassed in instructional design, especially in dual-mode institutions. Two case studies, illustrating different levels of instructional design in course development for distance learning in a dual-mode institution, lead to reflections on the value of instructional design in the current and future higher education landscape.     

Towards expert knowledge? A comparison between a constructivist and a traditional learning environment in the university

This research monograph examines the potential of constructivist learning environments for developing prerequisites of expert knowledge during university studies. Drawing on recent theories of the development of expert knowledge and on the constructivist view of learning, an experiment was conducted in an educational psychology course. The primary purpose of the study was to compare the learning outcomes of students who studied the course material in a constructivist learning environment with those of students who learned it under traditional teaching and studying conditions. Students in the constructivist learning environment acquired more diversified knowledge. In addition, a theory will be presented about what actually changes when conceptual change occurs.     

Standards in examinations: a matter of trust?

This paper is addressed to the international community of educators and educational policy makers who, it is argued, need to commit to joint research and creative action in respect of the challenge of Education for All (EFA). The first section, A Global Challenge for Teacher Development, sets out: the implications for teacher education of the Education For All agenda; the potential of new information and communication technologies (ICT) in addressing this problem; an overview of an applied research project exploring new models of teacher education using ICT in rural and resource challenged environments. In the second section Towards New Models of Professional Development, four categories of teacher professional knowledge from this model are used to interpret and explore the findings of the project and its impact on teacher knowledge and development. The paper concludes that ICT can no longer be viewed as some sort of optional pedagogic strategy available in ever increasing sophistication, as well as quantity, to only a small proportion of the world's teachers. They need to be seen as an essential aspect of teaching's cultural toolkit in the 21st century, affording new and transformative models of development that extend the nature and reach of teacher learning wherever it takes place. Such models must be experienced, shared and evaluated by educators world wide if the global commitment to achievement of the EFA targets is to become a reality.