Do universities benefit local youth? Evidence from the creation of new universities

In this study, I examine university and college participation rates, as well as graduate outcomes, following the establishment of a university in cities where there were previously none. The creation of a local university is associated with a large increase in university attendance among local youth in each affected city. However, the increase in university participation came at the expense of college participation in most cities. Furthermore, not everyone benefited equally from new universities in terms of university enrolment. In the short run, the creation of a local university is associated with a substantial increase in the probability of moving out of one city for men and women. For men, employment rates rise, while for women, there is an increase in business services and public sector employment.     

A fair slice of the pie? Problematising the dispersal of government funds to Australian universities

A common theme in higher education research is the factors that affect university funding. Studies frequently examine how universities cope with funding cuts and the changes that have stemmed from operating in a neoliberal age, a period that now sees institutions commonly functioning on a cost/benefit basis. This paper offers an original contribution by using the Australian Federal Government Department of Education and Training’s document, Finance 2015: Financial Reports of Higher Education Providers, to problematise the financial assistance individual Australian public universities received from the federal government. The paper acknowledges the factors that can account for some institutions receiving more funding than others but nonetheless highlights the substantial discrepancies concerning government financial contributions that exist between Australia’s highest and lowest funded universities. At a time when a performative culture has increasingly become part of higher education, and an institution’s research performance is calculable and rankable, it is crucial to Australia’s long-term research success that all its universities remain competitive in the race for research and government funding.     

General education curriculum reforming advance in the universities of China mainland

From 21st century, in order to pursue ＂Quality-oriented Education＂, enhance students＇ overall quality and broaden their knowledge vision, some key universities in China mainland have reformed the general education curriculums successively. This article introduces the reforming advance of general education curriculum in the universities of China mainland.     

Global rankings in the Nordic region: challenging the identity of research-intensive universities?

Global university rankings currently attract considerable attention, and it is often assumed that such rankings may cause universities to prioritize activities and outcomes that will have a positive effect in their ranking position. A possible consequence of this could be the spread of a particular model of an “ideal” university. This article tests this assumption through an analysis of a sample of research-intensive universities in the Nordic region. Through document analysis and interviews with institutional leaders and staff from central administration, the study explores whether high-ranked Nordic universities take strategic measures as a response to global rankings, and whether the traditional identities of the universities are changing, as they are influenced and affected by the rankings. The study shows that rankings have a relatively modest impact on decision-making and strategic actions in the Nordic universities studied, and that there are few signs of rankings challenging the existing identities of the universities in this region.     

Legitimating the world-class university concept through the discourse of elite universities’ presidents†

Although well-renowned universities attempt to differentiate themselves from other universities, little research has been undertaken on the principal themes involved in the concept of the world-class university (WCU) as presented in speeches by members of WCUs. These discourses are a key tool in universities’ attempt to shape the competitive framework of higher education through legitimacy. We study the presidents’ discourses from 100 leading universities to identify the themes and emergent discourse of these universities’ communities. Applying topic modeling methodology to the speeches’ corpus, we find seven communities (Worldwide-the four regions, American-from different states, Flagship, Education concerned, Some Chinese universities, Central European universities and Challengers) and four main themes arising from WCUs’ discourses (Research universities within international rankings, Stakeholders and leadership, Mission and values, and Education). Our preliminary findings suggest that leading universities are working to adopt the WCU label based on their salient characteristics.     

A study of the first destinations of graduates of national universities in the Tohoku region of Japan, 1980–1985

This study, of seven national universities in the North Eastern region of Japan, compares the first destinations of their graduates over a five year period - the proportions entering employment, undertaking further study and remaining at home or unemployed. In comparing three different groups, engineers and scientists, teachers, and arts and social scientists the author finds differences between the employment patterns of these three different groups, as between men and women, between the oldest national university in the region, and the others. International comparisons are interesting as unemployment rates in Japan are very low and in the case of several groups, have decreased over the five year period. Setting this study in the context of the evaluation of performance of universities and in particular in the light of current deliberations on the future of higher education in Japan, the author speculates about the ways in which first destinations may change in the future.     

Is the enhancement of student experience a strategic priority in Australian universities?

Universities in many countries are developing strategies to enhance the student experience. This focus has never been so important since the development of rankings and the use of student experience measures in institutional performance assessment. Australian government policies to link student experience measures to performance funding were a key driver to increase the prominence of the student voice between 2004 and 2008. This paper analyses the strategic plans of 33 Australian universities with the aim of outlining the extent to which the enhancement of student experience is embedded as one of their key priorities. This review comes at a time when universities in Australia and elsewhere are realigning their future strategies and directions to achieve government aspirations for tertiary education with the introduction of various policy instruments including the possibility of rewarding universities on the basis of student experience measures. The paper also provides a comparative analysis of government policies in Australia and the UK on the measurement and enhancement of the student experience.     

Science in the extra‐mural departments of British universities 1946–67

Private Schools and Public Policy: International Perspectives. Edited by William Lowe Boyd and James G. Cibulka. Pp. vi, 363. London, New York, Philadelphia: The Falmer Press, 1989. £11.95, ISBN 1–85000–447–1 fc. Education Policy Perspectives

Thomas Arnold Headmaster: A Reassessment. By Michael McCrum. Pp. viii, 157. Oxford University Press, 1989. £17.50. ISBN 0–19–211798‐X.

Primary Understanding: Education in Early Childhood. By Kieran Egan. Pp xvi, 287. New York, London: Routledge, 1988. £25.00. ISBN 0–415–90003–4

Towards Democratic Schooling: European Experiences. Edited by K. Jensen and S. Walker. Ppxii, 199. Milton Keynes: Open University Press, 1989. £10.95 (paperback) £27.50 (hardback). ISBN 0–335–09567–4 (paperback) CP335–09568–2 (hardback).

The Ethics of Educational Research. Edited by Robert G. Burgess. Pp x, 236. Index. Lewes, East Sussex: The Falmer Press, 1989. £25.00 hardcover; £9.95 flexicover. ISBN 1 85000 297 5 hc;‐ 1 85000 298 3 fc. Social Research and Educational Studies Series: 8.

The Educational Insiders: a study of the Society of Education Officers 1971–88. D. A. Howell. Pp x, 240, Index. Harlow: Longman Group U.K., 1989. £25 limp bound. ISBN 0 582 05920 8.

Multicultural Education in a Global Society. By James Lynch. Pp. xxi, 191. Index. Lewes: The Falmer Press (Taylor and Francis Group), 1989, £9.95 flexicover ISBN 1 85000 558 3

Research Papers in Education Volume 4: Number 3; October 1989 (Festschrift for Jack Wrigley) pp. 94. Windsor: NFER‐Nelson, 1989. ISSN: 0267 1522

The Changing Secondary School. Edited by Roy Lowe. Pp 233. Index. The Falmer Press, 1989. £9.95 paper, ISBN 1–85000–556–7 pbk; £20.00 cloth, ISBN‐555–9.

The Search for Enlightenment: The Working Class and Adult Education in the Twentieth Century. Edited by Brian Simon. Pp 334. London: Lawrance and Wishart, 1990. £19.95. ISBN 0 85315 683 2.

Literacy and Popular Culture: England 1750–1914. By David Vincent. Pp xii, 362. Index. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1989. £32.50/$49.50 hardcover. ISBN 0–521–33466–7.

The Social Contexts of Schooling. Edited by Mike Cole. Pp ix, 251. London, New York, Philadelphia: The Falmer Press, 1989. £25.00 cloth, £9.95 Paper. ISBN 1–85000–450–1, 1–85000–451‐X (pbk)

Working with Parents. A Whole‐school Approach. By John Bastiani. Pp x, 140. Windsor: NFER‐Nelson, 1989. £8.50 paperback. ISBN‐7005–1183‐Ofc. Parents and Teachers, Volume 3.

Industry, Children and the Nation: An analysis of national identity in school textbooks. By John Ahier p.p. 203. Index. Falmer Press, 1988. No price given. ISBN 1 85000 408 0.     

Final year undergraduates’ perceptions of the integration of soft skills in the formal curriculum: a survey of Malaysian public universities

A recent initiative or skill bridging measure taken by the Malaysian public universities is to build into the formal curriculum soft skills to produce graduates with a right balance of diverse abilities. However, to date, there is no comprehensive attempt to review the integration of soft skills in the formal curriculum (both coursework and training) of university programmes. The paper therefore reviews the adequacy of the infusion and acquisition of the entire range of skills embedded in taught courses and practical/industrial training from the students’ perspective. The specific focus of the study is to identify what worked well and what had not in acquiring the skills designated in the teaching–learning process. The key findings of the study are as follows. First, the perceived infusion–acquisition of skill types differs unequivocally between coursework and training, suggesting the complementary nature of both components of the formal curriculum for the integration of soft skills. Second, the infusion–acquisition of soft skills remains highly concentrated on specific items/skills for both coursework and training. For the coursework component, communication skills explain most of the total variance, whilst moral and professional ethics ranks first in explaining the total variance for the training component. In total, the perceived low and selective appreciation of skills by students signals the need to readdress the existing strategies within the teaching–learning process to ensure a better integration of soft skills.     

Mobile student to mobile worker: the role of universities in the ‘war for talent’

Universities, as part of the neoliberal regime imposed on them, are being co-opted into a ‘war for talent’, in which national economic success is heavily invested. We examine part of this ‘war’ that affects universities directly – the recruitment of ‘the brightest and the best’ internationally mobile students and their subsequent retention by the host country as high-skill workers. After an account of this war for talent and its implications for higher education, we review the literature on study-migration transitions by international students and identify gaps in both data and theorization. We propose a three-part model that uses the notion of ‘flows’ to organize a research agenda in this field and the possible roles of universities in implementing it. We conclude that only by resisting full recruitment into this global talent war can academic researchers continue to maintain the integrity and value of their professional and disciplinary calling.     

Are there distinctive clusters of higher and lower status universities in the UK?

In 1992 the binary divide between universities and polytechnics was dismantled to create a nominally unitary system of higher education for the UK. Just a year later, the first UK university league table was published, and the year after that saw the formation of the Russell Group of self-proclaimed ‘leading’ universities. This paper asks whether there are distinctive clusters of higher and lower status universities in the UK, and, in particular, whether the Russell Group institutions can be said to constitute a distinctive elite tier. Cluster analysis of publicly available data on the research activity, teaching quality, economic resources, academic selectivity, and socioeconomic student mix of UK universities demonstrates that the former binary divide persists with Old (pre-1992) universities characterised by higher levels of research activity, greater wealth, more academically successful and socioeconomically advantaged student intakes, but similar levels of teaching quality, compared to New (post-1992) institutions. Among the Old universities, Oxford and Cambridge emerge as an elite tier, whereas the remaining 22 Russell Group universities appear to be undifferentiated from the majority of other Old universities. A division among the New universities is also evident, with around a quarter of New universities forming a distinctive lower tier.     

Why (not) assess? Views from the academic departments of Finnish universities

In Europe, national quality assurance systems of higher education have begun to be established. In Finland, this development has had the consequence of forcing universities to take notice of assessment procedures. However, little is known about the procedures taking place in individual academic departments as a result of this pan‐European trend. This article describes how academics currently comprehend quality assessment, paying particular attention to self‐evaluations and quality assurance systems. Altogether, the paper casts light on how academics are responding to the increasing university assessment activities.     

Students’ evaluations of the use of e-learning in a collaborative project between two South African universities

Online learning is increasingly being used in Higher Education, with a number of advantages to online learning being identified. One of these advantages is the suggestion that online learning provides for equality of opportunity. This article reports on students’ evaluations of the use of e-learning in a collaborative project between two South African universities. The results highlighted both positive and negative evaluations of the use of e-learning. The positive aspects identified were that e-learning provided for ease of communication between parties, and easy access to information and learning material. Negative aspects identified were that it presented some technical challenges; online communication was disjointed; there was unequal access to computers between students from the two universities; students felt that more face-to-face interaction is needed. The issue of unequal access to computers and the internet is highlighted as a crucial issue for e-learning in the South African context, and for the fostering of a democratising educational discourse.     

Challenges to the counsellor in a changing world — The impact of environmental changes in universities on the concepts of student counselling

This article will first consider in a systematic way how student counselling is related to change. In doing so it will refer to the development of student counselling in Germany. Formulating the thesis that student counsellors find themselves symptomatically confronted with changes which hint at deeper challenges than those they have known before, it will then explore new dimensions of change in universities and show how they may be linked with impulses and answers given by counselling and psychotherapy. Finally it will take a look at the professionalization of student counselling in the light of those changes.Bergische Universität — Gesamthochschule Wuppertal     

The role of the associate dean in UK universities: distributed leadership in action?

This paper reports on findings from a Leadership Foundation for Higher Education funded project exploring the role of associate deans in UK universities. While the number of associate deans leading cross-curricular and inter-disciplinary initiatives appears to be on the increase, there has been very little research focusing on the exact nature of the role and its importance, or otherwise, in the leadership and management of universities. Drawing on mixed-methods data from 15 semi-structured interviews and a follow-up online survey (n = 172), this paper reports on how the role is defined and positioned in relation to university organisational structures and identifies what the similarities and differences are between associate deans working at traditional and modern universities. As the first national survey of the role, it is argued that this paper makes a significant and original contribution to knowledge. By drawing on the concept of distributed leadership, the paper also offers new theoretical insights into how different types of universities in the UK are responding to external pressures as a consequence of the fast-changing and increasingly complex sector environment.