UK Work Placements: A Choice Too Far?

Tertiary Education and Management - Increasing expectations are being placed on higher education institutions to ensure the economic relevance of research and knowledge creation as well as...     

The Impact of Performance Indicators on the Work of University Academics: Evidence from Australian Universities

This paper examines the impact of the application of performance indicators on the teaching and research activities of 152 university academics from four representative Australian universities. Most of the participants reported an increase in pressure to focus on the activities measured by the teaching and research performance indicators. A majority of the participants also indicated that their approach to teaching and research have changed. In research, this essentially meant focusing on external research grants applications and publications, and maximising the quantity produced from these activities. Some staff did use various strategies to increase their scores such as writing shorter papers in order to increase the quantity of publications. Moreover, a sizeable proportion of the participants indicated a shift in their work priorities towards research at the expense of teaching. One possible reason could be the lack of special incentives to increase their emphasis on teaching.     

A Continuing Role For Academics: The Governance of UK Universities in the Post–Dearing Era

The governance of higher education has become a recognised cause for concern. Many academics lament the demise of an easy collegiality in the face of the rise of a harder managerialism that robs them of control. But outsiders to the system, concerned about the efficiency and effectiveness of higher education management, are critical of the extent to which academics seem all too eager and able to block changes that might lead to universities better addressing the needs of society.
This paper rejects the simple nostrums of both those who hark back to a collegial golden age and those who make the case for a brave managerial future. It argues that universities that are capable of real strategic change in response to challenge are capable of transcending the dichotomy between collegiality and managerialism as modes of organisation. In these successful universities, academics must be involved and prepared to lead, but they must also work in partnership with administrators, in institutions that will be strong to the extent that there is a shared vision that makes the institution rather more than just the sum of warring departments.     

Academics in a New Work Environment: the Impact of New Public Management on Work Conditions

New public management (NPM) approaches have informed policy in the public sector in advanced countries in the last decade. Some authors suggest that the main objective of NPM at the organisational level is to change the traditional way professionals are regulated. This study examines the impact of NPM on the working conditions of Portuguese higher education academics. The empirical data are based on official statistics, and the analysis leads to the following conclusions. Changes have been slow, but already reveal a corrosion of traditional employment practices. Employment has become more precarious as professionals are increasingly employed on non-tenured contracts. This tendency is more evident in the polytechnic sector. In short, this means that the growth in skilled employment in higher education in Portugal is based on precarious employment relations.     

“专业学术人”抑或“教学学术人”——大学青年教师职业角色的选择取向及重构

学术性是大学教师角色的内在品性,但不同教师对角色的认同和选择存在不同价值取向,并直接影响着教师的职业行为。"专业学术人"取向关注青年教师学科专业知识发现和创新,"教学学术人"关注青年教师教育知识和技能的创新与传播。两种取向无论从理论还是实践上都具有各自的"合理性"和现实问题。现代新型"学术观"成为两种价值取向整合的基点,也成为平衡"专业学术人"和"教学学术人"张力的逻辑归旨。因此,把握大学青年教师角色的多样性和统一性,构建公平的青年教师学术职业评价制度,强化青年教师职业发展阶段的衔接,完善青年教师分类培养体系等,是重构大学青年教师"学术人"角色的路径选择。     

女大学教师与工作相关的压力源研究

中国正处在急剧的社会转型期,在此过程中,大学教师面对更高的发展要求和现实挑战。研究性大学中,教师的压力更为明显。本研究在七所研究性大学中发放了500多份问卷,结果显示,总的来看,男女大学教师在工作和生活上面对较大压力,最主要的压力源来自外在的职业回报和内在的职业发展与研究需要。研究还证明女教师在事业与生活的冲突、职业发展和性别障碍三个方面比男教师遇到更大的压力和挑战。     

论公立高等学校教师聘任合同不为行政合同

高等学校在聘任教师时不是行政主体,教师聘任合同不符合行政合同的形式标准;教师聘任合同不具有目的行政性和内容行政性,不符合行政合同的实质标准。因而,教师聘任合同在本质上不属于行政合同。     

Academics’ Strategies and Obstacles in Achieving Collaboration between Universities and SMEs

There is an ongoing debate both in the United States and Europe about the need to develop a broader view of scholarship and the different activities connected with it, including ‘service to the community’. This empirical study reveals that researchers who are engaged in collaboration with small and medium enterprises (SMEs) encounter many hindrances within the academic structure and obstacles due cultural differences that needs to be overcome. But it is also evident that they are creative and learn different strategies in accomplishing their goals and they also bring back useful experiences and knowledge from their cooperation into their research and teaching within the academic organization. We suggest that attention should be paid to the broader and more elaborate view of collaborative knowledge production that we present in the article if university structures are to provide better support for their academic staff to interact profitably with the community, and thereby create a ‘win-win situation’ for everyone involved.

     

高校安全保卫工作存在的主要问题及对策研究

安全、稳定、和谐的校园环境,是高等教育事业发展的前提和保障.调查表明,目前高校安全保卫工作尚存在组织领导不够有力,保卫队伍整体素质不高,经费投入不足,校园治安形势严峻等问题.     

对高校学生工作的思考

高校应以科学发展观统领学生工作,树立“以学生为本”的意识和“服务意识”,在学生工作的内容、形式和方法等方面进行不断创新,建立起科学、高效、务实的学生工作机制,最终让学生在一个开放和完全信任的氛围中学习和生活,使学生工作达到统合综效。     

对高校学生工作的思考

高校应以科学发展观统领学生工作,树立以学生为本的意识和服务意识,在学生工作的内容、形式和方法等方面进行不断创新,建立起科学、高效、务实的学生工作机制,最终让学生在一个开放和完全信任的氛围中学习和生活,使学生工作达到统合综效。     

Academics Hard at Work: the place of teaching and professional development related to teaching

Abstract

Recent studies of academic work have identified increasing pressures on universities and academics throughout the world. These pressures relate to such factors as diminishing resources available to the higher education sector, widening diversity of the student clientele, moves for increased accountability and tensions between the research and teaching goals of academic work. Among the pressures being placed on the teaching component of academic work are the need for increased accountability of teaching performance and the need to update professional competence related to teaching. This paper reports a study of a selected group of academics — relatively junior staff who have participated in significant professional development activities related to their teaching. The data provided by the interviews with these academics allow a glimpse at their academic lives and how they fit teaching and professional development related to teaching into their working lives. The study highlights how these academics structure their work around their teaching commitments and how, although they make time available for professional development related to their teaching, this is done in response to the activities offered rather than as a proactive component of their career planning.     

预期收入、风险与教育选择——来自北京六所高校的经验证据

在教育经济学研究领域,传统的教育选择研究文献往往假定个体只考虑教育收益,忽视了投资风险的真实存在。已有文献对教育选择行为的预期假定存在较大差异,强加在个体身上的假定可能导致对教育选择行为的不正确推论,而使用个体主观预期数据替代这些假定能更准确地分析个体教育决策行为。采用2007年在北京六所高校所做的"研究生教育态度的调查",利用预期收入、风险数据对北京高校大学生的研究生教育选择问题进行的实证研究发现,预期收入对选择研究生教育有显著影响,而风险对教育选择的影响却不尽相同:收入风险对于教育选择的影响不明显,主观风险对选择研究生教育则有负效应。此外,还发现就业率是大学生决定是否进一步接受教育的重要因素,所学专业就业率越高,选择继续接受研究生教育的愿望越小。上述研究结果暗示,政府相关部门应定期公布劳动力市场数据,便于大学毕业生对收入和就业状况形成合理预期,从而对未来的教育作出理性选择,有效发挥人力资本的作用。     

Crowdfunding in higher education: evidence from UK Universities

Higher Education - In contemporary higher education systems, funding is increasingly associated with performativity, assessment, and competition, and universities are seeking different forms of...     

新时期高校思想政治工作创新思考

创新是2l世纪的时代主题。面对时代的挑战,高校学生思想政治工作如何适应新的形势发展?这是一个全新的课题。它要求进一步加强和改进高校学生思想政治工作,紧紧抓住时代特征,把思想政治工作同整个社会变革联系起来,立足现实,研究新形式,探索新时期高校学生政治思想工作的创新之路。     

对当前高校思政教育工作的几点思考

高校思政教育工作是高校教育中不可缺少的重要组成部分。在新形势下,根据当今大学生的特点,对高校思政教育工作进行一些改革和创新是必要的。我们要精心建设校园化,通过教书与育人的有机结合,最终形成自己的“大学精神”。     

以工代赈:抗震救灾与重建家园的重要抉择

汶川大地震受灾群众的安置问题,是抗震救灾的当务之急。受灾群众安置之后,重建家园与就业问题就成为需要各级政府密切关注和进一步解决的问题。笔者以为,在当前的特殊时期,以工代赈是抗震救灾与重建家园的重要抉择。     

Work stressors,health and sense of coherence in UK academic employees

This cross‐sectional study examined relationships between job‐specific stressors and psychological and physical health symptoms in academic employees working in UK universities. The study also tests the main and moderating role played by sense of coherence (SOC: Antonovsky, 1987 Antonovsky, A. 1987. Unravelling the mystery of health: How people manage stress and stay well, San Francisco, CA: Jossey Bass.  [Google Scholar] in work stress process). SOC is described as a generalised resistance resource for coping with environmental stressors and remaining healthy. Four hundred and sixty‐five academic employees (60% male) completed measures of work stressors, physical and psychological ill health and SOC. Significant inter‐relationships were found between job stressors, health outcomes and SOC. Stressors relating to time constraints, support and influence and work–home interface demands had the strongest associations with health outcomes. Employees with a weaker SOC tended to be in poorer physical and psychological health, thus supporting a main effect for SOC. Some evidence for a moderating role for SOC was found, with the strongest effect observed for stressors experienced at the work–home interface.