Institutionalising campus diversity in South African higher education: Review of diversity scholarship and diversity education

Increasingly the social, educational, cultural,linguistic, religious and racial diversity ofSouth African society is finding expressionwithin South African institutions of highereducation. Consequently, ``diversity'',``diversity issues'' and ``diversification'', havebecome part of the education debate and policy,and pose new challenges to South Africantertiary institutions. Most institutions areattempting to respond to these challengeswithin the context of a transformation processwhich impacts on every aspect of academic lifefrom student access and support, outreachprogrammes, staff recruitment and retention, toacademic programme development, research,scholarship and the social and learningenvironment on campus. This paper looks at howSouth African higher education institutionshave met these challenges. It highlights howthe ideas, initiatives or practices arounddiversity have been appropriated and made partof the mainstream intellectual and academicdiscourses. It also investigates the social andepistemological conditions of possibility formeaningful scholarship and curriculum practicesin addressing the challenges posed by socialdiversity on campuses. More specific questionsin this regard include: What counts asknowledge in diversity scholarship? Whoproduces and disseminates it? Who accesses itor utilises it? What is its space in thecurricula?     

Managing the complexity of centres of excellence: accommodating diversity in institutional logics

This article discusses how Centres of Excellence (CoE) and the existence of several logics in these centres can contribute to the differentiation of the strategic profiles of universities. The study sees research centres as a way to organize research activities in Higher Education Institutions (HEIs) in order to target both excellence but also societal challenges through focused thematic research. It reveals how societal challenges and their interpretation by these centres contribute to the differentiation of the strategic profiles of universities. Studies of centres of excellence programs in Sweden and Japan reveal differences in how their mission is formulated for relevance and excellence. The results indicate that contrasting missions of HEIs are accommodated through the dual logics of these centres relating both to autonomy and industry collaboration. The study shows that long-term funding gives these centres flexibility to set the agenda and focus on their strategic core activities. In other words, a logic of autonomy guides their strategic choices of research activities over the long-run as well as collaborators. Nevertheless, these centres are also developing strategies to cope with dilemmas stemming from the excellence-relevance and evaluation templates that emerge in the nexus of their collaborative ties with industry, government and universities.

     

Cultural capital and agency: connecting critique and curriculum in higher education

This paper explores some of the unresolved tensions in higher education systems and the contradiction between widening participation and the consolidation of social position. It shows how concepts of capital derived from Bourdieu, Coleman and Putnam provide a powerful basis for critique, but risk a deficit view of students from less privileged backgrounds. These students are more likely to attend lower‐status institutions and engage with an externally focused curriculum. The paper argues for greater attention to agency, and community and familial capital, in conceptualising the resilience of those from less privileged backgrounds. While the recognition of ‘voice’ is important, a curriculum that acknowledges the context independence of knowledge is essential if these students are not to be further disadvantaged.     

Equality and excellence in higher education — Is it possible?

The dilemma of equality versus excellence in education bears conceptual and practical difficulties. It is especially problematic when dealing with higher education. Most of the univerities over the world are selective by nature and pursue high academic standards. The more an institution earns a reputation for excellence, the less likely it is to provide equality of opportunities to large segments of the population. The underlying philosophy of Everyman's University (EU), the Open University of Israel, reflects these two dialectical values of equality and excellence. The article analyzes EU's principles and practices in the light of equality-quality relationships.An earlier version of this article was presented at the First International Conference on Education in the 90's, December 1984, Tel-Aviv, Israel.     

Performance management and diversity in higher education: an introduction

Tertiary Education and Management -     

我国近代高等教育学制与高等教育现代化

中国近代学制的建立与发展极大地推动了高等教育的现代化进程,并在此期间受到了许多西方包括日本等国影响,但学术界对其发展过程是依附还是借鉴分别持不同观点。通过分析中国近代高等教育学制的嬗变来反思中国高等教育的现代化进程,势必对高等教育未来的发展有所帮助。     

高等教育的结构变化

本文从高等教育系统和大学这两个层次分别论述了20世纪90年代以来日本高等教育的重大的结构变化,并着重分析了产生这些变化的原因,包括大众化,市场化和全球化这三个国际大趋势及日本国内的人口、经济和政策方面的变化等,最后指出这次结构改革成功的关键是要建立一个崭新的健全的高等教育评价系统。     

Managing collaboration across further and higher education: a case in practice

The Dearing Report highlighted the need for HE programmes to enhance students' basic skills, and one of these is numeracy skill. There is a history of low confidence and negative attitudes to learning about numbers and 'maths anxiety' in undergraduates which means that delivering 'numerate graduates' may be something of a challenge to HE institutions. This college surveyed attitudes to numeracy and learning about numbers in all first-year students (over 1000 students). Over 40% of students returned their questionnaires. This survey found considerable negative attitudes and low confidence among respondents as a whole (25% of those who returned the questionnaire), and anxiety was highest (over 40%) in students taking a Humanities programme. This raises considerable concern about how we can deliver numeracy to students in HE. The findings of the survey, gender issues and the individualised concept of 'maths anxiety' are discussed in relation to the social and cultural construction of attitudes to maths and maths confidence as empowerment (Benn, 1997). The main conclusion is that HE institutions need to consider carefully how to provide good educational opportunities for individuals with low motivation to engage in maths-related activity. There is also an urgent need to challenge cultural myths and stereotyping relating to maths learning if we want the next generation of graduates to have more confidence in their maths skills.     

Similarities and differences: Measuring diversity and selecting peers in higher education

Diversity among institutions or, at least,institutional types is a policy objective that mostsystems of higher education pursue. At the same timethose systems are also concerned about equity ofaccess and the quality of educational opportunity.Individual institutions, for a variety of reasonsranging from accountability to the allocation ofscarce resources, attempt to compare or ``benchmark'themselves against other institutions. Both activitiesinvolve measurement, classification, and the selectionof peers. Although customarily addressed apart fromone another, diversity and peer selection can beconceptually closely linked within single scales ofsimilarity and dis-similarity. Existing paradigms thatexplain diversity might be too simple for reliablepeer selection and comparison, and might fail toaccount for all expressions of diversity. A case studyis used to discover the connections between diversityand peer selection, test existing paradigms, anddevelop a modified methodology that can be used forselecting peers and measuring diversity.     

Processes and stages of differentiation in European higher education

In this article we discuss processes of internal differentiation that have characterised European higher education systems in the last 50 years. We argue that these processes have gone through two main stages and in two different directions, each of which is showing its limits in the long run. Therefore, we expect a third stage of differentiation, which will be both internal to individual higher education institutions and multi‐dimensional concerning functions performed. In the first stage (1960–1970s) the main objective was to create a vocational track, without having to profoundly modify traditional academic institutions. In the second stage (mid‐1990s) the main objective was to differentiate between the more and the less competitive universities as regards the amount of financial and symbolic resources provided to them. However, large comprehensive universities are containers of smaller units whose performance may vary widely. Moreover, research is just one of the several functions that modern universities perform. The final section of the article provides some empirical evidence from United Kingdom universities to support the hypothesis of a third stage of differentiation.     

Problems of securing equal access to higher education: The dilemma between equality and excellence

In the last few years higher education has undergone a thorough reassessment. In the classical liberal philosophy of equality of opportunity, education was regarded as the chief instrument for bringing about equality of life chances. Free access to further education and the provision of more places with the purpose of increasing participation were conceived as the main policy instruments for achieving equality of opportunity. Nevertheless, imbalances between social strata tended to remain in spite of increased participation. Research has contributed to increased sophistication and the realisation of a series of equalisation incompatibilities.The formal education system exists to impart competence considered to be of value both to the individual and society. Some enter the system better equipped than others, initial differences tend to increase instead of being levelled out. At the core of any admissions policy are the criteria of access. Cognitive differences account for only half or less of differences in educational attainments. Attitudes, aspirations and motivation are also of importance and explain a large portion of the social imbalances that remain after the removal of more tangible factors. Different combinations of criteria in varying degrees achieve equality of access.The question is raised whether in a mass system of higher education one would have to consider a dual admissions procedure to preserve the academic core system, i.e. graduate studies and research.Invited address to the Third International Conference on Higher Education, University of Lancaster, England, September, 1975.     

Student and staff perceptions and “the pursuit of excellence” in british higher education

This article, using a variety of data from the Rowntree Research Project at the University of Lancaster, attempts to reconstruct student and staff perceptions of the teaching/learning reality of higher education, and in particular their perceptions of excellence. Ambiguities and confusions are noted in staff perceptions of excellence and important differences between staff and students in their perception of teaching/learning realities.It concludes by discussing implications for staff/student communication and for the admission of students to higher education.This article is a shortened and partly rewritten version of a paper of the same title delivered at the Third International Conference on Higher Education, University of Lancaster, September 1975.     

民办高等教育在高等教育体系中的定位

传统的高等教育类型划分影响了民办大学的准确定位 ,对民办高等教育发展产生了消极影响。本文提出民办高等教育应该属于综合类高等教育 ,民办大学有条件办成以全日制本专科教育为主的综合大学 ,而不是高等职业技术学校     

A review of higher education reform in modern Japan

A number of different parties in Japan have been discussinghigher educational reform for over thirty years. Many of theseideas finally started to take form in the 1990s as the Ministryof Education's University Council began implementing many of thepropositions that had been put forth during the deliberations ofthe 1970s and 1980s. As Japan enters the 21st century, its18-year-old population has decreased by over half a million since1992. It will decrease another 300,000 by the year 2010. This has added an increased urgency to make reforms, especially atthird-tier universities, which are now starting to have troublerecruiting students. Japan's Ministry of Education would alsolike to bring the quality of its university educational standardsup to par with the rest of the advanced nations. Moreover, industryis demanding a new breed of employee – and one much different thanthe Japanese educational system has been known to produce. Finally, a new generation of Japanese is starting to reach adulthood, who – raised on consumerism, and material abundance – have acompletely different value system than their parents' generation. This paper looks at the present higher education reform movement and its history extending back approximately thirty years. It then goes on to offer some suggestions as to what more can be done to alleviate many problems still inherent in the system.