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.     

Supporting students with impairments in higher education: social inclusion or cold comfort?

This paper uses a discursive analysis to examine the experience of ‘inclusion’ from several stakeholder groups in one university. The research team included disability support staff at the institution, external disability consultants and academic researchers. A critical focus group investigation centred on four groups: students who were identified as having an impairment (SWIs), academic staff (teachers), administrators and students who did not identify as having an impairment (non‐SWIs). Interviews had facilitators with both research and disability expertise. Groups recounted different experiences of inclusion. SWIs, drawing on a rights discourse, emphasised a lack of resourcing and barriers created by the teaching staff. In contrast, teachers, administrators and (to a lesser extent) non‐SWIs emphasised the importance of social inclusion, reflecting discourses around needs and humanist notions of care and support, which largely seemed to miss the core of SWI concerns about recognition of their technical competence. For all groups, questions around disclosure of disability were of greater concern than tensions between needs and rights or the recent publication of a Code of Practice for the higher education sector. The findings challenged some of the researchers’ own assumptions, with unexpected implications for practice.     

The massification of higher education in the UK: Aspects of service quality

This article explores several aspects of service quality for the provision of higher education. Alongside the trend of the massification of higher education over the past two decades, higher education institutions are required to review quality across a range of outputs, besides teaching and learning. The study was undertaken within the undergraduate placement programme of a UK higher education institution and investigated aspects of service quality through students’ surveys conducted over a five-year period and staff questionnaires and interviews. The findings of the study point out that, amongst other factors, the increase in student numbers implies a deterioration of higher education service quality. Based on the findings, several areas that can potentially improve the quality of higher education services in modern universities are identified.     

‘What drives students’ affective commitment towards their university?’

How can universities build ongoing, committed relationships with students, able to withstand the financial and emotional challenges of studying in higher education? The research proposes that students’ ongoing attachment to their university, based on positive feelings towards the university, is an important aspect of the student experience. This ongoing attachment is conceptualised here as students’ affective commitment towards their institution. Using an online survey-method and a research sample comprising undergraduate students studying in the UK, this research identifies three factors which drive students’ affective commitment towards their institution. These factors include students’ affective commitment towards academics and students’ calculative commitment towards the institution; factors which draw from the relational literature. A third factor, commitment balance, was developed within this research. Commitment balance occurs when a student’s commitment to their university is perceived to be reciprocated by the university’s commitment to the student. The study found that commitment balance was the most important driver of students’ ongoing attachment to their institution. The paper proposes that commitment balance is a key idea to consider within relational studies generally, but has a particular relevance in the higher education context for understanding the student experience. Commitment balance reflects the pulse of reciprocity which energises relational exchanges between students and institution. The findings of this research reinforce how critically important it is for universities and academics to build relationships with students. The desired outcome is to enhance the student experience, create positive attachment between students and university and ultimately improve student retention.     

A class act? Lecturers’ views on undergraduates’ employability

This article details the findings of a study into lecturers’ perceptions of undergraduate employability. The investigation employed interviews with the staff on a BA (Hons) in Education Studies course at a post-1992 university. The aim was to examine staff beliefs regarding their students’ potential employability in the business and finance sectors. The staff believed the degree offered students the opportunity to develop ‘transferable’ skills that could potentially make them employable in business and finance, thus helping the students develop ‘absolute’ employability. However, some interviewees also believed the students may encounter class-based disadvantages in the labour market with the result that aspects of the students’ ‘relative’ employability were beyond their capacity to intervene. In light of growing policy pressure upon higher education professionals to ‘deliver’ increasingly employability-driven curricula, it is concluded that further research is needed into staff perceptions of their roles and capacities within this area.     

Is There a Need for a European Institutional Research?

Recent changes in European higher education have accompanied a strong desire and need by national ministries to have comparable data across institutions and a growing recognition from campus leaders that effective planning and decision-making requires reliable institutional data and analyses. This has induced changes and restructuring of duties and roles of administration, administrative staff and academic staff. In North America, internal institutional data analysis is often referred to as institutional research. We examine the roles and functions of institutional research within North America and how the changes within European higher education have created a purpose for institutional research. Specifically, we explore the topical areas of institutional assessment, data management, institutional governance, as well asthe changing identity of academic professionals within European universities. Within our examination, we explore in-depth one European country’s higher education system to demonstrate how history, culture and legislative changes manifest into a need for institutional research.     

To be or not to be ‘a disabled student’ in higher education: the case of a postgraduate ‘non‐declaring’ (disabled) student

This paper draws on data from a research project that was funded by the UK's Higher Education Academy. The project focused on the experiences of disabled students in one English higher education institution, and a key feature of the project was to attempt to access the perspectives of ‘non‐declaring’ disabled students. This paper draws on the experiences of one of the ‘non‐declaring’ respondents, Anna, a postgraduate student. In the UK, some students declare their disabled status on entry to a higher education institution, some do so once at the institution and some never let the institution know of their impairment. It is the perspectives of this latter group that are particularly difficult to access. Anna's experiences as a postgraduate student provide some insight into what may affect decisions about declaration of impairment. Drawing on a social‐relational understanding of disability, factors that influenced her decision not to ‘declare’ and the consequent effect on her experience of higher education are explored.     

民办高校开展院校研究的思考

开展院校研究是民办高校进行个性化定位、管理科学化、实现内涵式发展的必然要求,也是民办高校实现可持续发展的重要保障。民办高校充分的办学自主权、灵活的办学机制,以及管理者强烈的优患意识,是其开展院校研究的有利条件。民办高校开展院校研究可以从成立机构、培养队伍、建立院校信息数据库、创设环境、学习创新等五个方面着手。     

System transition in Japanese short‐term higher education: what future for the Japanese junior college in crisis?

The uniquely Japanese institution of the tanki daigaku (two‐year university) known as ‘junior college’ in English was seen as Japan's answer to increasing participation in higher education. Initially established on a provisional basis in 1950, becoming permanent in 1965, they were the higher education institution (HEI) of choice of almost 500,000 students a year at their peak in 1995. Demographic changes after 1992 brought about a buyers' market for higher education with institutions in aggressive competition for students, a battle in which the tanki daigaku seems destined to be defeated. This paper examines the options available to junior colleges in crisis and in so doing identifies a number of features of a virtually universal system of higher education which raise issues for other advanced societies grappling with massification and commodification in their own higher education systems. The paper reviews the literature in this area, as well as drawing on a year of participant observation as an associate professor from 2000–2001.     

Professional staff contributions to student retention and success in higher education

ABSTRACT

Student attrition remains a persistent problem within the Australian higher education sector. Contributing factors include financial, reputational and quality issues, which can pose significant risks for a university’s sustainability. Institutional culture is fundamental to decisions student make about withdrawing or remaining in higher education. Therefore, student retention requires a sustained, deeply embedded commitment from all parts of the institution, placing student experience at the forefront of all activities in the student lifecycle. Applying a lifecycle approach to the way in which institutions think about student retention benefits students by providing comprehensive and consistent support. Given that less is known about how professional staff contribute to student academic learning journeys as part of whole of institution responses to student retention, this paper focusses on the contributions that professional staff make within the student lifecycle and how they can most readily map their contributions to student retention and success.     

Revisiting perceived service quality in higher education: uncovering service quality dimensions for postgraduate students

ABSTRACT

Perceived service quality in higher education and its antecedents have been one of the significant issues worldwide. Despite being studied over decades, service quality (SQ) remains a crucial area of research due to its dynamic and contextual nature, among other reasons. The main research objective is to uncover the dimensions constituting SQ from the perspectives of postgraduate students and university staff to provide a better understanding of key elements of the SQ. The current research incorporated relevant theories and concepts from both marketing and higher education literature and employed in-depth interviews with students and staff for data collection. Interviewees’ insights were analyzed using content analysis. A conceptual model is developed to explain the suggested relationship among study variables. Based on qualitative data analysis, four dimensions of SQ emerged, namely academic services, academic facilities, administrative services, and students’ service role. Additionally, performance and employee orientation are found to affect SQ. Research findings can guide education managers and academicians to consider students’ service role as an integral dimension of SQ and find new ways to improve it.     

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.     

Undergraduate students who are required to withdraw from university: The role of ethnicity

A large body of international research focuses on identifying reasons why students do not ‘persist’ (Tinto, 2006 ) within higher education. Little research has focused on students whose leaving is non‐voluntary and where narratives of ‘persistence’ are therefore not as pertinent. This paper seeks to refocus some of the attention onto the distinct group of students who do not elect to leave their studies but who are, instead, required to withdraw; such students leave under ‘Academic fail’ and ‘Exclusion’ categories. More specifically, it explores the relationship between student leavers’ ethnicity and their likelihood of being required to withdraw. Utilising a large dataset comprising UK‐domiciled undergraduate students enrolled to take a degree within an English higher education institution in 2010/11, it finds that most groups of Black and Minority Ethnic students are more likely to be required to withdraw than White students. Ethnicity exerts an independent impact on a student's likelihood of being required to withdraw, when other background and on‐course characteristics are controlled for, but this impact varies by disciplinary area. It is suggested that these findings implicate factors within the higher education sector itself as key drivers in the process that leads to students being required to withdraw. Lessons are drawn out for those tasked with managing the student experience within higher education.     

Exploring impact of accreditation on higher education in developing countries: a Vietnamese view

This study investigates the viewpoints of higher education managers, staff, lecturers and students on the impacts of accreditation in institutional quality management. These views are explored via a case study approach involving semi-structured interviews with key stakeholders at a leading university in Vietnam. The study’s results suggest that accreditation influences most of the university’s management activities, including programmes, teaching activities, lecturers, supporting staff, learners and facilities. We argue the influence of accreditation contributes significantly to enhancing the university’s quality of teaching, learning, research and management. Recommendations for improvement in the use of accreditation results are proposed.     

类型教育视野下高等职业院校内涵建设研究

国务院印发《国家职业教育改革实施方案》明确指出,职业教育是不同于普通教育的教育类型。通过分析国家对职业教育改革的一系列文件通知可知,高等职业院校在办学目标、专业建设目标和教师队伍建设目标等方面与以往参照本科教育的模式发生了很大的变化,高等职业院校改革发展面临巨大的挑战。为适应职业教育这种类型教育,高等职业院校可从以冲击国家级教学成果奖为抓手,以提升教师能力水平为着力点,以赛促研、以赛促教、以赛促学,政策制度的保障等方面加强内涵建设。     

Unravelling the gender bind,uncovering the heterogeneity of domination

ABSTRACT

Gender norms and learned practices of student teachers can influence their performance in practice, either fixing or challenging, gendered social norms and expectations. This paper shares the findings of a multi-year mixed-methods research project that explored the understandings of gender norms and experiences of students and staff within a large teacher-training college in Tanzania. Data was collected to inform a wider gender mainstreaming initiative across the institution. Using a blend of quantitative and qualitative methods, the findings identified a strict and rigid gender binary which seemed to inform attitudes and practices of teaching and learning. Furthermore, it uncovered heterogeneous forms of gendered domination that were experienced by staff and pupils within the institution. The findings suggest that stand-alone ‘female only’ gender mainstreaming strategies may not be sufficient to achieve a gender equitable environment within the institution. Rather, it suggests that a whole-of-community approach is necessary to unravel deep-rooted biases and to tackle diverse forms of domination that affect different members of the college community in different ways. Such findings are particularly important in light of the epistemic power that is conferred on teacher-graduates and that is transferred through teaching practices to communities across Tanzania.     

我国高等教育质量观的演进及其制度基础分析

从"政府主导下的合规格性单向度质量观"向"多主体介入表达的合需要性复合质量观"的发展是我国高等教育质量观的基本演进路向。单向度的质量观与我国社会整体的精英主义制度化有密切关联。并且,标准单一的、精英主义的制度基础与市场结合产生的实践机制进一步诱导了质量的趋同和单一性。在中国高等教育发展中席卷而来的市场力量以作用于基层教育组织上的"体制性的市场化逻辑"深刻影响着我国当前的高等教育质量的现状。同时,由"客体性"合规格质量观走向"客体—主体性"合需求性质量观的发展态势也很有可能预示着高等教育质量的制度基础正在发生着潜在而深刻的"复合效应"。     

谈谈如何更好地发挥实践教学在高职教育中的作用

要更好地发挥实践教学在高职教育中的作用，促进学校上水平、上规模和跳跃式发展，应当加强和完善课程体系建设、实践基地建设、师资队伍建设、职业资格证书制度建设和实验教学改革等方面的工作。     

中心城市高等学校体系建设思考——国际经验与深圳案例

教育体系建设是当今的热点话题,关乎教育与社会的适应性.本文分析了国外高等学校体系建设的经验,特别是对不同城市类型的建设模式进行了划分.之后,以深圳市高等教育的发展及新时期体系建设任务的提出为背景,进行了深圳高等学校体系框架设计.提出抓高等教育体系建设,必须区分不同高校的功能使命和发展目标,中心城市应按照“引领作用的研究型大学集群、适应高端需求的高水平院校集群、满足基本需求的城市高校集群”需要构建高等学校体系结构.