Returns to higher education in the very long-run: 1870–2010

This article examines the long-run effect of higher education, measured in average years of tertiary schooling, on the level and growth rate of national per capita income. It uses an improved dataset on educational attainments which not only reduces measurement error but also overcomes data comparability issues and allows us to estimate the long-run effect of human capital through higher education on economic development. Using unique long panel data for 36 advanced and emerging economies spanning over the period 1870–2010, we find that higher education has a positive and significant effect on the level and the growth rate of national per capita income. Specifically, our empirical results indicate that a 1% increase in educational attainment at higher education level would raise the growth rate of per capita income by about 0.01% to 0.02% over a five-year period. That is, at the sample mean, an increase in average tertiary education by one year would raise output growth by about 6% to 11% in five years. We find that the returns to female education are lower than the returns to male education at tertiary schooling levels. Our results are robust to alternative specifications.     

Remapping French higher education: towards a multi-tiered higher education system?

Tertiary Education and Management - The global trend of increasing participation rates, coupled with regional goals to increase participation in higher education, such as the...     

Politics and higher education in Brazil: 1964–1986

Brazilian education, and higher education in particular, were transformed by the coup of 1964 and the two decades of military government that followed. In this article the political ideology of the military governments is described together with the concepts of national political security and national economic development. The implications of these concepts being translated into policy, especially in the context of the relationship between Brazil and the U.S.A., are considered with reference to the role education should have within modernisation. In conclusion, a counterargument is presented in respect of how higher education should now be conceptualized, organised and operated in post-military Brazil.     

Stairway to employment? Internships in higher education

This article aims to shed light on the current debate regarding the role of internships in higher education in graduates’ employability. In specific, it analyses empirical data on a large-scale study of Portuguese first-cycle study programmes, in order to explore indicators of the professional value of internships in the employability of higher education graduates. Results demonstrate that study programmes that include internships tend to significantly enhance graduates’ employability, particularly within the universe of polytechnic and public higher education institutions. Besides the instrumental value of internships, the impact of the nature and structure of the internship on the percentage of unemployed graduates are also discussed. Mandatory internships and the inclusion of multiple, shorter internships throughout the degree are negatively associated with unemployment levels. Results indicate work-based learning can be used as a successful strategy to bridge theoretical knowledge and practice and enhance graduate employability. These findings provide important insights for the evaluation and/or the design of internship programmes in higher education.     

China’s move to mass higher education in a comparative perspective

This paper analyzes how China has managed to embrace mass higher education in a short timeline, and examines how far this move has followed the existing or established patterns elsewhere through comparing its core aspects with those of four identifiable models of mass higher education: the American model, the Western European model, the Latin American model and the East Asian model. While acknowledging that the current structure of the Chinese higher education system appears to resemble the American in many ways, this paper concludes that it is fundamentally different from the American model, as well as from the Western European and the Latin American models. Largely mirroring the East Asian model, the Chinese approach features a strong sense of ‘state instrumentism’ and is also characterized by integral tensions among its various sectors, which could turn into either positive dynamics for vibrant growth or negative forces leading to serious social justice and equity issues. After enjoying an unprecedented expansion between 1999 and 2006, Chinese higher education has come to a historical juncture to reconsider its success in the light of more collaborative and normative ideologies, such as those grounded in social justice and human potential.     

Academic and social integration in higher education: a survey of satisfaction and dissatisfaction within a first‐year education studies cohort at a new university

A survey of student satisfaction and dissatisfaction was undertaken within an undergraduate education studies cohort at a new university in the English Midlands. The cohort included both ‘traditional’ and ‘non‐traditional’ students and represented an increasingly typical ‘widened’ community of students within higher education. This student‐ informed survey enabled expression of facets of experience which were found to be deeply satisfying or deeply dissatisfying by the cohort and which also had the potential to impact upon their academic and social integration. The cohort was asked to link facets found deeply satisfying or deeply dissatisfying to the likelihood of their retention and degree completion or the likelihood of their exit from the institution. Themes emerging were concerned with teaching and learning, debt and money worries, workload and support. Many of the facets identified fall within institutional control and can be managed in order that both ‘traditional’ and ‘non‐traditional’ students may achieve integration, maintain their personal vision and be retained. The survey methodology employed can be adapted to accommodate contextualization within other higher education institutions. It is suggested that engagement with such survey methodology represents investment in both institutional, educational and financial health.     

Higher education in further education: delivering higher education in a further education context—a study of five South West colleges

This paper comprises a summary of research into the teaching of higher education (HE) courses in further education (FE) learning environments. A comprehensive study of college management and teaching staff attitudes together with teaching practices, pedagogy and research was carried out with six partner colleges of the University of Plymouth where a substantial amount of HE teaching was delivered. A questionnaire was developed, piloted and distributed to all staff teaching HE in the colleges, with a similar but separate questionnaire being used for management. Five colleges responded. We present data relating to the differences in teaching practice and pedagogy between FE and HE teaching and the problems of realizing these in FE learning environments. We also look at the ways in which independent study and critical reflection among learners are developed. The questions of research and scholarly activity and their relevance to HE teaching are addressed. Considerable challenges are faced by staff teaching mainly FE courses, on standard FE teaching contracts, being expected to deliver HE courses effectively. We also consider the challenges of delivering ‘a real HE experience’ in FE environments and those involved with going on to university afterwards.     

What is the best way to achieve broader reach of improved practices in higher education?

This article examines a common problem in higher education – how to create more widespread use of improved practices, often commonly referred to as innovations. I argue that policy models of scale-up are often advocated in higher education but that they have a dubious history in community development and K-12 education and that higher education leaders should shirk policymakers’ push to use a scale-up model of change. These thoughts are conceptual and are based upon a critical review of literature in community development and K-12, but I also draw upon empirical data in reviewing examples of widespread use of innovations in higher education.     

‘Maintaining competence’: a grounded theory typology of approaches to teaching in higher education

This paper presents a contingency theory of approaches to teaching in Higher Education adopted by university academics who teach heterogeneous student cohorts within a changing university context. The study is located within the substantive context of academics within Australian universities who teach within the broad field of management studies. Orthodox grounded theory is employed to generate a contingency typology comprised of four separate teaching approaches: Distancing, Adapting, Clarifying, and Relating. The model demonstrates how academics utilise a variety of teaching approaches to address their ‘main concern’, namely maintaining their professional competence within the context of a rapidly changing university landscape and significantly heterogeneous groups of students. We have labelled this process ‘Maintaining Competence’. This model stresses the importance of the twin forces of structure and individual agency in determining teaching approaches. It emphasises the value of analysing what academics actually do in the classroom situation, rather than concentrating on normative assumptions of what they should do in terms of best practice.     

Unwilling brides: ‘phallic attack’ as a barrier to gender balance in higher education in Nigeria

Gender balance in access to quality education is a crucial item on the agenda of the Millennium Development Goals. But this ideal appears beset by a number of barriers, especially at higher education level. This study investigated the problem of sexual harassment in the Nigerian university system as a barrier to the educational advancement of women. Specifically, the research focused on the practice of coercing female students to engage in sexual relations with male lecturers (‘phallic attack’) as a condition for scoring good grades. The research drew its sample from female students selected from 14 faculties in two Nigerian universities. The study finds that there is a relatively high prevalence of sexual harassment in these universities and this affects female students adversely. The ripple effect is that women are not given a learning atmosphere conducive to enjoying academic freedom and optimizing their potential in educational development. This contributes to widening the gaps between men and women in Nigeria. The study also finds that lack of adequate high‐quality sex education in Nigeria increases the vulnerability of younger female students to sexual harassment. It recommends the establishment of an advocacy programme as well as enlightenment campaigns to educate students, staff, authorities and parents about sexuality and sexual harassment; strengthening the penal system in the universities with powers and resources to fight the menace; and the formation of a network by women staff in various universities to work with potential and actual victims in order to expose the culprits, obtain justice and curb the trend.     

The market route to mass higher education: British experience 1979–1996

The period 1979–1996 was one of radical change in British higher education. Initially change was mainly financial, expenditure was cut severely. In response the universities sought funds from elsewhere. By the mid-1980s expenditure cuts were supplemented by government initiatives to encourage universities and polytechnics to undertake research and consultancy contracts with industry and to seek private donations. Education Acts in 1988 and 1992 speeded the pace of change. Most large higher education institutions were redesignated as universities with consequential changes to the idea of a university. Public funding mechanisms were established that encouraged expansion at marginal costs much lower than average costs. The results were dramatic. Between 1989 and 1994 enrollments increased by over 50% and expenditure per student fell by 30%. Financial power shifted from providers to consumers and proxy consumers. Universities began to contract out non-core activities. This paper describes these changes and considers their significance for the nature and meaning of higher education in Britain.     

International inter‐organisational arrangements in higher education: Towards a typology

Abstract

This article attempts to provide clarity in the maze of international inter‐organisational arrangements in higher education. Developments that fuel the establishment of such linkages are identified. First, the changes in the production of knowledge, changes in resource dependencies and increased opportunities for interaction through new technologies, demand interaction with other universities and organisations, in activities that previously took place within the organisational boundaries of the university. In addition, universities increasingly cross national borders. Students, scholars and employers demand and value the experience gained through international experiences. Liberalisation of trade markets and new modes of delivery expand opportunities for transnational education and the need for inter‐organisational interaction. On the basis of several classifications of cooperation in higher education and using concepts from organisational and management studies, we develop a multidimensional typology of international inter‐organisational cooperation. Critical dimensions identified in this typology are size, scope, nature of integration and intensity.     

Authenticity work in higher education learning environments: a double-edged sword?

Higher Education - Educational authenticity occupies a strong position in higher education research and reform, building on the assumption that correspondence between higher education learning...