The role of students’ employability perceptions on Portuguese higher education choices

In a context where mass higher education has eroded the job security once guaranteed by higher qualifications, students are more likely to view higher education as an ‘investment’ which should yield return in terms of their employability. The aim of this study is to understand whether Portuguese students consider employability as the main reason to choose to enrol in higher education, to choose a specific programme and to choose a specific higher education institution. Data were collected through semi-structured interviews with 60 first-year students, from universities and polytechnics, both public and private, and from three first-cycle study programmes (Arts, Pharmacy and Computer Engineering). The analysis is based on a qualitative study exploring Portuguese students’ perceptions underlying their higher education choices. Findings suggest that the majority of the students interviewed considered employability as the major reason to enrol in higher education, although its importance was largely undervalued in the choice of study programme and of institution.     

Are more able students in higher education less easy to satisfy?

Student satisfaction gains an increasingly central position in the context of quality measurements. However, student satisfaction can also be stipulated as an important motivational factor for students as learners. This study combines this perspective on student satisfaction with the notion of differences in students’ ability. We hypothesize that differences in ability result in differences in student satisfaction. In line with concepts of high ability education, it is additionally hypothesized that this relation is mediated by educational stimulation—divided in cognitive, creative and professional stimulation—as well as by participation in honour programmes. A structural equation modelling (N = 733) of factors affecting student satisfaction in higher education shows that cognitive, creative and professional stimulation are the largest influencers of bachelor students’ sense of satisfaction. The interrelation between these three aspects of educational stimulation also shows the complexity of higher educational practice, since it suggests that cognitive stimulation cannot be realized without a creative factor, and vice versa. Professional stimulation needs both. Furthermore, the results show that educational stimulation mediates the effect of students’ ability on their educational satisfaction. This implies that changes in education can indeed influence students’ educational satisfaction, especially by providing educational quality. Finally, considering students’ ability level, it is shown that especially cognitively abler students are less easy to satisfy. The combination of educational stimulation and ability suggests that especially the more cognitively able students do not feel themselves sufficiently cognitively or creatively stimulated, and hence are less satisfied in vocational higher education.     

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...     

Participation and equity in higher education: are we going back to the future?

The December 2008 special issue of the Oxford Review of Education provided a review of education policy during Tony Blair’s tenure as Prime Minister. This paper forms a response to the ten contributions to that special issue and discusses some of the issues raised in them. While a few positive aspects of education under New Labour were identified in the special edition, it focused more on the failures of New Labour than its achievements. A common theme to emerge from the papers included the government’s pursuit of neo‐liberal market policies at the expense of its professed commitment to social justice. While accepting that the government’s failure to tackle the differences in educational outcomes between advantaged and disadvantaged pupils constitutes a major failing, the present author argues that significant achievements, such as early years provision, were neglected in the special issue. He also discusses the electoral considerations facing New Labour and the personal role of Tony Blair in determining policy. The paper goes on to consider whether New Labour’s education policy has changed since the departure of Blair and identifies some hints of a potentially more progressive approach developing under Brown. It concludes by suggesting that contributing towards a debate about alternatives to Blairite policies should now become a priority for the ‘educational establishment’.     

Unlocking the gates to the peasants: are policies of ‘fairness’ or ‘inclusion’ more important for equity in higher education?

Attempts to make higher education more equitable more readily succeed at the aggregate (sector) level than at the institutional, with students from disadvantaged groups being overrepresented in low-status institutions. It is suggested that this is because policies of ‘fairness’ (i.e. proportional representation) dominate the contemporary policy framework and are strongly resisted by elite universities. However, using the Australian higher education sector as an example, this paper argues that equity policy is actually a mix of ‘proportional fairness’ and ‘inclusion’ and elite institutions resist not because the policy is deficient but because it might actually work. An alternative approach to higher education equity policy is proposed; one which requires elite institutions to engage meaningfully with disadvantaged students but allows them to retain their status advantage.     

When numbers count: The erasure of females’ equity status in higher education?

In recent years the pendulum has certainly swung towards women in higher education participation, but variations in the way these statistics have been calculated account for some of this swing. More importantly, women still receive less vocational and economic benefit than males from this increased participation. Despite over twenty years of gender equity policies and strategies in education, women still lag behind men on important indicators. Until women gain a greater share of higher degrees, labour force participation and earnings from income, their levels of participation in higher education should be maintained in order to preserve the gains that women have made and to ensure that they continue to improve their position relative to men. Far from removing women’s equity status, their equity status should be reconfirmed and efforts to break down sex-differentiated participation in education and the work force should be renewed.     

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.     

The hidden benefits of part-time higher education study to working practices: is there a case for making them more visible?

Within the UK, part-time study is now seen as important in meeting wider government objectives for higher education (HE) and for sustainable economic growth through skills development. Yet, measures to capture the impact of HE may not be wholly appropriate to part-time study. In particular, the continuing focus on tangible, economic measures may be down-playing, or even completely overlooking, other gains. Data from a longitudinal study of part-time students show that irrespective of whether graduates had changed job or employer, or had stayed in the same job, individuals reported substantial work-related gains from their HE studies. We suggest that current research questions that focus on job moves and progression within the labour market, may well be the wrong questions to ask to gauge measures of benefits/returns to HE. Further research is needed to develop measures to fully capture the social returns of skills acquisition through part-time study.     

Is entrepreneurship a remedy for Chinese university graduates’ unemployment under the massification of higher education? A case study of young entrepreneurs in Shenzhen

Chinese higher education has gained outstanding achievement in expanding its access to the mass population since 1999. However, the mismatch between university curricula and job market requirements leads to increasing unemployment and underemployment of Chinese graduates. In recent years, the central and local governments and universities have viewed entrepreneurship as an efficient means to solve the unemployment and underemployment issues of university graduates. They issued many policies to promote innovation and entrepreneurship among young people. However, university graduates are still facing barriers in deciding to start their entrepreneurial journey. In this qualitative study, we interviewed 37 young entrepreneurs in Shenzen. Results show that the respondents encountered barriers from three aspects: personal traits, resources, and culture. With the empirical data collected from the interviews, we aim to enable higher education professionals and innovation policymakers to develop an advanced understanding of the experiences of the new generation of entrepreneurs while reflecting the efforts in coping with the negative effects of the massification of higher education.     

Helping them to help themselves? An evaluation of student-led tutorials in a higher education setting

This article delivers an evaluation of a pedagogical intervention implemented within a first-year undergraduate university module. The intervention, termed the student-led tutorial (SLT), is based on the concept of the tutorless tutorial and presents a platform for student learning which was designed to increase active learning prior to their participation in more traditional and tutor-led modes of university teaching. To evaluate the efficacy of this method, a mixed-methods approach to the data collection was undertaken. The sample for the study was drawn from students enrolled on a Sport Development degree programme at a university in the North West of England. The first component of this methodological approach entailed the repeat completion of a questionnaire by 62 first-year undergraduate students on two separate occasions. The questionnaire was administered in two phases: a baseline wave at the beginning of a core module and a secondary wave 16 weeks later. In addition to this, a focus group consisting of five students was conducted within two weeks of the second round of questionnaires to gain a more in-depth understanding of students’ experiences and perceptions of the SLT model. The findings demonstrate that SLTs hold the potential to facilitate active learning and aid comprehension and understanding. Students particularly value the social aspect of the SLTs, which enables extended peer-to-peer interaction. The data suggests that students develop a sense of responsibility for and ownership of their learning, yet for the SLT mechanism to be effective, all members of the group must buy-in to the concept. Where commitment and contributions to the group process are uneven and inequitable, resentment and discord within an SLT may be fomented.     

Who owns the curriculum of higher education?

The European University has passed through four main phases of dominance of the curriculum since its medieval origin. They are (1) priestly, (2) aristocratic, (3) professional, (4) democratic. Vestigial remains of (1), (2) and (3) are still with us and (4), the rise of student/consumer sovereignty, has implications which the British universities still fail to accept. We need universities for the scholarly few and higher education, pluralistically funded, for everyone.     

Who aspires to higher education? Axes of inequality,values of education and higher education aspirations in secondary schools in Luxembourg and the Swiss Canton of Bern

This article reports a study that investigated secondary school students’ higher education aspirations (towards university studies, ISCED 6 and above) and how these differ between student groups as well as how these are impacted by values of education. Panel data of more than 300 secondary school students in two countries, Luxembourg and Switzerland (the Swiss Canton of Bern) was analysed. Schools are structured differently in the education systems of Luxembourg and the Swiss Canton of Bern. The results of our analysis show that students in the Luxembourgish sample more often aspire to higher education than in the Swiss sample. Disparities in higher education aspirations were also more pronounced in the Luxembourgish sample, boys and students from families of low socio‐economic status (SES) were less likely to aspire to higher education. While the effects of values of education are generally scarce, stimulation in terms of anticipated enjoyment and interest derived from participation in higher education seems to have a positive effect on higher education aspirations.     

Sardonic science? The resistance to more humanistic forms of science education

Resistance to more humanistic forms of science education is an endemic and persistent feature of university scientists as well as school science teachers. This article argues that science education researchers should pay more attention to its origins and to the subtleties of its stubborn influence. The paper explores some of the imperatives which dominate the continuing practices of teachers; the linkages between school and university science; and re-considers the relationships between learning science, learning to do science and learning about science. It draws on recent, prominent publications, as well as neglected and rather more contentious material, to underline the unhelpfully narrow view of science held by those who defend the traditional disciplinary influences of biology, chemistry and physics. Suggestions are made as to where those of a more radical and determined disposition should direct their attention in the interests of improved education, vital scientific progress as well as human survival. It is argued that university science must change in order to ensure that teachers better help their students to learn, do and appreciate science.     

The effect of career counsellors on the decision to pursue higher education: a mixed‐methods investigation

The article examines the role of career counsellors in secondary education in Cyprus, with emphasis on their effect on students' career decisions. Survey research was used to collect information from 611 students and 36 career counsellors in Cyprus. Students were asked to rate the importance of several factors as influences on their career decisions. This allowed for the assessment of the importance of career counsellors relative to other influencing factors. In a separate survey, career counsellors provided information on their job satisfaction and their effectiveness in providing guidance and information to students. Both quantitative and qualitative data were collected. According to the findings, students consider counsellors to be of little or no importance as sources of guidance and information in the decision‐making process which precedes the choice between higher education and employment. Moreover, counsellors point to serious problems at the workplace which limit their effectiveness. The article discusses ways of addressing the problems faced by career counsellors and enhancing their role as significant reference individuals in further education and career decisions.     

Enrolment choices in Portuguese higher education: do students behave as rational consumers?

As part of a progressive change occurring in the way public sector beneficiaries are conceived, higher education students started to be more and more perceived as clients or consumers. This implies assuming them as rational and conscious actors aware of what to expect from higher education attendance and of its returns. Framed by the metaphor of students as consumers, this paper aims to discuss whether students behave as rational consumers when choosing to enrol in higher education. Based on the findings of a qualitative study analysing Portuguese students’ choices it is possible to conclude that they tend to behave as rational consumers when they decide to attend higher education and when they choose a given institution, but not when they decide on attending a specific study programme. In this last case, instead of comparing the diverse study programmes and collecting information before forming their preference, students first formed this preference and, only then, gathered information. Student socialisation process emerged as a key element in shaping the preference for the study programme and in the vocation to choose it.     

Constitutional problems concerning admission to institutions of higher education—questions relevant to a German-American comparison

The growing relevance of constitutional law for problems of access to higher education became particularly clear through the Numerus-Clausus decisions of the German Federal Constitutional Court (restricted admission due to lack of capacity) and litigation before the US-Supreme Court (preferential treatment for applicants from minority groups). The constitutions of both countries—the Basic Law of the Federal Republic of Germany of May 23, 1949 and the Constitution of the United States of September 17, 1789, as amended—are based upon the same essential decisions regarding the fundamental characteristics and objectives of the State. The Federal Republic and the USA are democratic federations of states, committed to the pursuit of the common good, and defined in their form of government by the principle of the rule of law (secured above all by a catalog of basic human rights) as expressed through the doctrine of separation of powers. This article gives an overview of the university (especially its admission system) in both countries and analyses how the constitutions are applied to key problems of access to higher education. It leads to starting points for promising investigations into comparative (constitutional) law.

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Zusammenfassung Der immer grössere Zusammenhang zwischen den Staatsverfassungen und den Zulassungsproblemen zeigte sich sehr deutlich im numerus clausus — Entscheidung des bundesdeutschen Verfassungsgerichtes (beschränkte Zulassung wegen Mangel an Studienplätzen) — und im Rechtsstreit des Obersten Gerichtshofes der Vereinigten Staaten (Vorzugsbehandlung für Bewerber von Minderheitsgruppen). Die Verfassungen beider Länder — das Grundgesetz der Bundesrepublik Deutschland vom 23. Mai 1949 und die Verfassung der Vereinigten Staaten vom 17. September 1798 in ihrer heute gültigen Abänderung — beruhen hinsichtlich der Grundzüge und Ziele des Staates auf den gleichen Entscheidungen. Die Bundesrepublik Deutschland und die USA sind beide demokratische Föderativstaaten, die den sozialen Wohlstand verwirklichen wollen und deren Regierungsform vom Grundsatz des Rechtsstaates bestimmt ist. Dieser findet seinen Ausdruck in der Doktrin der Machtteilung und ist vor allem durch eine Reihe von Menschengrundrechten gesichert. Dieser Artikel gibt eine Übersicht über die Universitäts- und vor allem die Zulassungssysteme beider Länder und analysiert, wie die Verfassungen angewandt werden, um die Probleme der Zulassung zur Hochschulbildung zu lösen. Er bietet Ausgangspunkte für vielversprechende vergleichende (konstitutionelle) Rechtsstudien.

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Résumé Le rapport croissant des constitutions avec les problèmes d'accès à l'enseignement supérieur devint très évident à travers le numerus-clausus — décision du tribunal constitutionnel de la République Fédérale d'Allemagne (admission restreinte dûe au manque de places d'études) — et le litige de la Cour Suprême des Etats-Unis (traitement préférentiel accordé aux candidats de groupes minoritaires). Les constitutions des deux pays — la loi fondamentale de la République Fédérale d'Allemagne du 23 mai 1949 et la constitution des Etats-Unis du 17 septembre 1789, telle qu'elle a été amendée — reposent sur les mêmes décisions essentielles concernant les caractéristiques et objectifs essentiels de l'Etat. La République Fédérale d'Allemagne et les Etats-Unis sont des fédérations démocratiques d'états, qui se sont engagées pour la réalisation du bien-être social et dont la forme de gouvernement est définie par le principe de l'autorité de la loi, tel qu'il est exprimé par la doctrine de la séparation des pouvoirs et assuré avant tout par une série de droits fondamentaux de l'homme. Cet article donne une vue d'ensemble des sytèmes universitaires (et surtout des systèmes d'admission à ces universités) des deux pays et analyse comment les constitutions sont appliquées pour résoudre les problèmes d'accès à l'enseignement supérieur. Il mène à des points de départ pour des études juridiques comparées prometteuses (du point de vue constitutionnel).

     

The impact of mergers in higher education on micro-level processes – a literature review

Amidst increased research on mergers in higher education, studies addressing micro level processes are scarce and fragmented across disciplines: our aim is to systematically review existing studies, providing implications for research and practice. We grouped 21 studies from different countries under four themes: academic identity and self-image; cultural integration; staff reaction; teaching and research. Timing, status of institutions and staff, and disciplinary cultures apparently affect post-merger micro-level processes. Policy reforms might indirectly address micro-level processes following a merger, for example in a change of academic identities. Few studies investigated the impact of mergers on teaching and research activities. Studying merger consequences for academic core activities is complex, requiring a longer perspective involving students, staff and quantitative indicators. Longitudinal design in further studies might investigate changes from different angles and for different staff groups and students, exploring country differences in micro-level processes, applying a comparative design. Despite limitations, our review might inform the planning of merger processes regarding reactions at micro level.

     

‘Even with higher education you remain a woman’: a gender perspective on higher education and social change in the Toliara region of Madagascar

This article investigates some issues related to gender and education based on a qualitative, empirical study of women in higher education in the Toliara region of Madagascar. The focus is on how women’s participation in higher education has created changes in gender relations, and how these women have succeeded in achieving higher education. In spite of the interviewed women’s more influential social position and individual freedom, we found that the traditional gender expectations and economic expectations from the extended family are still present. Indeed, it appears that with rising social position and individual freedom, the pressure and demands from their extended families increase.