Research planning and management in non‐traditional research discipline areas

Abstract

In its drive for higher efficiency and effectiveness in higher education, the Australian Commonwealth Government released its policy on higher education, Higher Education: A Policy Statement during the late 1980s which contributed to the introduction of performance indicators to manage and assess the performance of the higher education system. The research component of annual Commonwealth funding to universities, called the Research Quantum, is now distributed by a set of performance indicators: external research income, publications count and higher degree research completions. This paper analysed the impact of these indicators on the research activities of Australian university academics based on Leibenstein's model of X‐efficiency. Although the impact of performance indicators on university academics was found to follow the pressure‐effort relationship, for some respondents, the increase in effort as a result of heightened pressure had involved strategic behaviour. Two conditions that are identified for the minimisation of an institution's X‐inefficiency despite high staff effort are a high ratio of maximising to non‐maximising decisions for both the staff and institution, and for all the institution's essential objectives/activities, and not just those which are measured by the performance indicators. The implications of these findings for the development and application of performance indicators are discussed.     

University Strategy in an Age of Uncertainty: The Effect of Higher Education Funding on Old and New Universities

This paper explores the effects of changes in funding arrangements, and particularly in tuition fees, on universities and their strategic responses to these changes. Using data from interviews with senior managers in four universities, it finds the most prestigious, pre‐1992, university largely unaffected by tuition fees and the others responding to changes in application patterns and intake. However, the effects of tuition fees on university strategy are not easily separated from other changes in the funding of Higher Education, and universities’ strategies were strongly influenced by the need to reduce costs and to generate income. A second major concern of all four universities was quality, both of inputs such as students and staff and of outputs, in degree results and ratings in employability, research, teaching and other activities. Marketing was assuming a position of increasing importance, with universities striving to develop a ‘brand’ to attract students, staff and funding.     

Efficiency by Performance Indicators? Evidence from Australian Higher Education

In its drive for higher efficiency and effectiveness in higher education, the Australian Commonwealth Government released its policy on higher education, Higher Education: A Policy Statement during the late 1980s which contributed to the introduction of performance indicators to manage and assess the performance of the higher education system. The research component of annual Commonwealth funding to universities, called the Research Quantum, is now distributed by a set of performance indicators: external research income, publications count and higher degree research completions. This paper analysed the impact of these indicators on the research activities of Australian university academics based on Leibenstein's model of X-efficiency. Although the impact of performance indicators on university academics was found to follow the pressure-effort relationship, for some respondents, the increase in effort as a result of heightened pressure had involved strategic behaviour. Two conditions that are identified for the minimisation of an institution's X-inefficiency despite high staff effort are a high ratio of maximising to non-maximising decisions for both the staff and institution, and for all the institution's essential objectives/activities, and not just those which are measured by the performance indicators. The implications of these findings for the development and application of performance indicators are discussed. This revised version was published online in August 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.     

Understanding the evolution of the entrepreneurial university. The case of English Higher Education institutions

There has been strong policy interest in universities becoming more entrepreneurial and engaging in knowledge exchange activities as part of an expanding third mission agenda. However, our understanding of the evolution and diversity of such activities is limited. Using longitudinal data from the Higher Education Business Community Interaction (HEBCI) Survey, this study examines the evolving configuration of universities' knowledge exchange activities and stakeholders by analysing distinctive clusters of English universities. We find an increasingly diverse profile of third mission activities across different types of universities: within old, more established universities, Russell Group universities increasingly focus on research‐oriented activities typically in partnership with large firms and non‐commercial organisations; while another group engages in a broad range of knowledge exchange activities with low specialisation over time. Newer, less research intensive, universities increasingly rely on activities such as consultancy and formation of spin‐offs. A decreased engagement with small and medium enterprises and a lower share of knowledge exchange activities at the regional level are observed across the time studied for all universities.     

Conceptions of Contemporary European Universities: to do research or not to do research?

The article examines the extent to which the notion of a publicly-funded university as an institution engaging in both teaching and research is likely to be sustained in the European higher education space of the future, given the variety of pressures (including funding and mass higher education) on such a conception of a university and changes in how national governments regard the purposes of higher education. Relevant literature on the changing purposes of universities is reviewed. For illustrative purposes, the article uses an example of recent legislation, the 2004 Higher Education Act, in England, whereby research degree awarding powers are no longer a pre-requisite for the conferral of university status. The position in England's higher education system with regard to research and teaching is contrasted with that of a second UK country, Scotland, which has contrasting policies on teaching and research in universities. The article examines the research-teaching debate from the perspective of individual academics, universities and policy-makers, using recent empirical data where available. It is suggested that whilst academics and their institutions (for different reasons) may be in favour of retaining a link between teaching and research and may resist changes to this, policy-makers faced with rising demands on the public purse may see such links as suited only to an academic elite. Such pressures apply equally to other member countries of the European Higher Education space, so the outcomes of this policy debate about the centrality of research and teaching to universities have many implications for the future shape of European higher education.     

The Times/The Times Higher Education Supplement --League Tables in Britain: An Insider's View

The Times has been a pioneer in the publication of university league tables in the United Kingdom as an aid to the application process for young people seeking to select the most appropriate course programmes and institutions. It published its unified league table for the first time in 1993. The Times Higher Education Supplement, a weekly newspaper under the same ownership, has complemented The Times operation by publishing simultaneously the data on which The Times ranking is based. These data are intended specifically for consumption by a readership drawn from among academics and administrators in the universities and other higher education institutions of the country. The underlying philosophy of The Times/The Times Higher Education Supplement operation is to reflect the greatest degree of objectivity using publicly available and verifiable data as proxies for measures of performance across a range of criteria. The methodology is subject to continuous review in consultation with the universities.     

Towards the university entrepreneurial mission: Portuguese academics’ self-perspective of their role in knowledge transfer

The role of the university in society and the economy is evolving. Universities produce knowledge that promotes technological developments, which are, in turn, critical to economic growth and competitiveness in the global economy. Therefore, it is increasingly expected that universities become more entrepreneurial and assume this third mission in order to promote innovation and development through the provision of technologies and business ventures. Drawing on data collected for The Changing Academic Profession Project – a comparative survey of the academic profession carried out in 19 countries from all over the world – this article explores Portuguese academic entrepreneurship engagement based on the involvement in the process of technology transfer as an activity performed in the context of research activities. It thus aims to contribute to knowledge about academics’ engagement in entrepreneurial activity. Results from this study suggest that Portuguese academics are fairly involved in entrepreneurial activities and that there is an overall positive attitude towards application of research to real problems. Furthermore, it was possible to see that academics involved in processes of technology transfer are not only focused on activities such as research but also service to the outside community. However, when comparing academics involved and not involved in entrepreneurial activities, several significant differences are found in their attitudes, perceptions and behaviours.     

The logics of collegial practices: Australian and New Zealand/Aotearoa perspectives

Higher Education - Despite decades of managerial university reforms, collegiality emerges as an idea that unites academics, and that both symbolises and legitimises the collective aspirations of...     

Entrepreneurship in Higher Education: The impact of competition‐based policy programmes exemplified by the German Excellence Initiative

Competition‐based policy programmes are an external steering mechanism to create beneficial outcomes for societies that are entering the Continental European Higher Education landscape. The Excellence Initiative in Germany aimed to enhance research quality, international visibility and support peak performing universities. We want to study if there was a side effect of the Initiative on academic entrepreneurial activity and if so, whether or not it was a system‐wide and/or a winners effect. We measure entrepreneurial activity by the patenting activity and industry collaboration of a university. The analysis is based on 73 German universities observed from 2004 to 2011. Employing a difference‐in‐differences estimation, we find that the Initiative created an advantage for the whole of Germany while being an Excellence University does not have an impact on academic entrepreneurship with regards to patenting activity. However, we find a Matthew effect concerning rewards in industry collaboration. We conclude that the Initiative had positive side effects for the system and partly also for the winners of the competition.     

Postgraduate Research Training: Some Issues

This three‐year study of research training policy and practice involved government and university executives, and university academics from the Philippines. A total of 53 participants were involved: two officials from the Commission on Higher Education, six directors of research centres, 28 university executives and 17 academic staff. Seven public and 15 private universities across the Philippines were involved. Findings suggest that: (1) there are inadequate facilities and resources dedicated to support staff and student research; (2) there is a lack of specific training to develop staff for research and supervision; (3) the emphasis of supervision is on proofreading and the rewards are unattractive; (4) the range of student support available is less dedicated to research; (5) there is low research quality in both staff and student research; and (6) there is limited research collaboration locally and internationally.     

Universities’ attractiveness to students: The Darwinism effect

Due to significant government cuts to Higher Education funding in Southern European systems, their already underfunded universities were forced to increasingly compete for students as sources of additional revenue. Concurrently, families and students that continued to afford participation in Higher Education became more selective when choosing a university, realising the riskier investment that Higher Education participation had become. Through a competing destinations model and relying on all Italian private and public universities, this study finds that the competition forces characterising universities’ attractiveness over the last decade have changed since the financial crisis of 2008. In a context of lower demand for Higher Education, the competition for students grew and universities in close proximity were better prepared to face the new challenges, leading to the growth of Higher Education clusters.     

Institutional Approaches to Entrepreneurialism: Reflections on the Case of “Babeş‐Bolyai” University in Cluj‐Napoca

For this article Institutional entrepreneurialism at Babe?‐Bolyai University (Romania) serves as a premise for more general reflections. These include discussion of the market sensitivity of entrepreneurialism; that is how a university can be very entrepreneurial in one market and less entrepreneurial in another. Consideration is also given to the idea that institutional entrepreneurialism can sometimes collide with the individual entrepreneurialism of academic staff, and universities are then forced to take defensive measures. We also touch on the academic reward system and how it could be changed in order to stimulate academics to exploit their knowledge and create market relevant products.     

Moving towards professionalism: The strategic management of international education activities at Australian universities and their Faculties of Business

Universities around the world are increasingly focusing on entrepreneurial activities (Slaughter and Lesley 1997; Clark 1998). In Australia, the growth of international entrepreneurial activities has resulted in the creation of a significant export-oriented sector. These activities include the recruitment of international students to Australian campuses, the development of Australian university campuses in offshore locations, and the delivery of Australian degree programs at both onshore and offshore locations in partnership with universities, professional associations and private corporations. In 2000, Australian universities received A$770 million from international student fees (Maslen 2000a, p. 10). Australian universities currently receive on average around eight percent of revenues from these sources, with some depending on international entrepreneurialism for as much as one-third of revenues (DETYA 1998a). Managing these activities in an efficient, effective and sustainable manner has thus become critically important to virtually every institution in the Australian higher education sector. As is the case when businesses become international, universities are faced with the need to manage the complexities, risks and challenges associated with international operations. To date, little empirical work has been undertaken which explores and examines how Australian universities are managing their international entrepreneurial business operations. The aim of this study is thus to respond to this research gap by exploring how Australian universities, particularly in terms of their Faculties of Business, organise and manage international entrepreneurial activities. The research examines management approaches, practices and processes at five Australian universities. A Strategic Advantage Model of Internationalisation is presented representing a theoretical and conceptual synthesis of the findings.     

Social stratification in Higher Education: What it means at the micro‐level of the individual academic scientist

The academic profession is internally divided as never before. This cross‐national comparative analysis of stratification in Higher Education is based on a sample of European academic scientists (N = 8,466) from universities in 11 countries. The analysis identifies three types of stratification: academic performance stratification, academic salary stratification, and international research stratification. This emergent stratification of the global scientific community is predominantly research‐based, and internationalisation in research is at its centre; prestige‐driven, internationally competitive, and central to academic recognition systems, research is the single most stratifying factor in Higher Education at the level of the individual scientist today. These stratification processes pull the various segments of the academic profession in different directions. The study analyses highly productive academics (‘research top performers’), highly paid academics (‘academic top earners’), and highly internationalised academics (‘research internationalists’) and explores the implications for individual scientists.     

建设创业型大学：地方大学转型发展的路径选择

创业型大学是特定时期里＂学术-市场-政府＂三者权力模式变迁在大学发展模式上的反映。作为我国高等教育主体的地方大学,积极向创业型大学转型既有突破生存困境的内在动力,又有适应外部环境的现实需要。要想在传统的高等教育系统博弈中参与重新制定新的游戏规则来确立自己在高等教育系统中的地位,创新高等教育理念并且积极向创业型大学转型是既充满挑战又值得把握的良好契机。     

The scholarship of teaching and learning: A Special Niche for Faculty at Comprehensive Universities?

We investigated the involvement of faculty members at comprehensive universities in scholarship of teaching and learning publishing activities in four disciplines. Compared to to their publishing rates in research-oriented journals, comprehensive university faculty members were more involved in publishing articles and serving on editorial boards for pedagogical journals. Over the past three decades, the relative involvement in the scholarship of teaching and learning journals by faculty members at comprehensive universities and liberal arts colleges has increased whereas participation by faculty members at research universities has declined.     

Show me the money! An empirical analysis of mentoring outcomes for women in academia

This paper discusses and comprehensively evaluates a mentoring scheme for junior female academics. The program aimed to address the under‐representation of women in senior positions by increasing participation in networks and improving women’s research performance. A multifaceted, longitudinal design, including a control group, was used to evaluate the success of mentoring in terms of the benefits for the women and for the university. The results indicate mentoring was very beneficial, showing that mentees were more likely to stay in the university, received more grant income and higher level of promotion, and had better perceptions of themselves as academics compared with non‐mentored female academics. This indicates that not only do women themselves benefit from mentoring but that universities can confidently implement well‐designed initiatives, knowing that they will receive a significant return on investment.     

“Teaching,my passion; publishing,my pain”: unpacking academics’ professional identity tensions through the lens of emotional resilience

Higher Education - In the global competition of higher education, an increasing emphasis has been placed on university research excellence. Accordingly, academics have to engage in both research...     

Non‐traditional students in Australian higher education: Persistent inequities and the new ideology of ‘student choice’

Abstract

Despite the expansion of access to Australian higher education in the past decade, the participation shares of rural and isolated people and people from lower socio‐economic backgrounds have altered little and remain unacceptably low. This paper reports findings from two national studies at the Centre for the Study of Higher Education that have examined student choices about higher education, especially the inhibiting factors still present for non‐traditional students. The discussion focuses on the dilemmas and challenges for Australian universities in balancing the adoption of entrepreneurial approaches to student recruitment with an unfinished equity agenda. The paper raises questions about the new ideology of individual choice influencing university policy and whether or not this can be reconciled with social equity objectives.     

‘That extra sparkle’: students’ experiences of volunteering and the impact on satisfaction and employability in higher education

Research suggests that students entering Higher Education are doing so with greater expectations around their graduate employability. Students’ volunteering activities have been of interest to academics, but the impact of these activities on learning, employability and student satisfaction has been neglected. The current study investigated whether students who volunteered felt it benefited them, whether they felt they were more employable and whether they perceived their course as satisfying in combination with their volunteering. This small-scale qualitative study used a sample of psychology undergraduate students in focus groups (n = 11), and also a number of psychology graduate interviews (n = 6) from one UK university. Thematic analysis produced several key themes including students’ motivations to begin volunteering, which were mainly career-oriented; their motivations to continue, which included rewarding feelings and personal development; the impact of volunteering on their psychology degree, which included situated learning; and their perceptions of their volunteering and its impact on their employability. The findings indicated many reasons for both starting and continuing with volunteering activities with a clear narrative among this sample that volunteering enhanced their employment and postgraduate prospects. Findings are discussed in line with the current context of Higher Education and the implications for both students and Higher Education Institutions.