Widening Access or Differentiation and Stratification in Higher Education in Scotland

Widening access to higher education (HE) has been an important policy objective in Scotland over the last twenty years. While there is evidence that high levels of participation have been achieved, and some evidence of reduction in inequalities in participation rates among young people entering higher education, there is also evidence of persisting inequalities, and of patterns of differentiation and stratification. As a result there is evidence that, with the development of mass higher education in Scotland, a stratified system of higher education has emerged. Furthermore there is evidence that these patterns of stratification are being maintained over time, despite the policies which are designed to widen access. This paper will review the evidence regarding the nature and extent of these patterns of stratification, and briefly consider the policies which are designed to tackle this issue.     

Globalization and Implementation of an Equity Norm in Higher Education: Admission Processes and Funding Framework Under Scrutiny

Most of today's societies are confronted with an increasing necessity to legitimate the organization of their access to higher education. Commonly used as a yardstick to compare societies, the level of access to higher education is often presented as an indicator of the level of development and the capacity to produce knowledge, as well as a workforce adapted to the economic and social development. But increasingly, the issue is shifting from the outputs of general access to higher education to the specific institutions from which students gain admission. This raises the question of the fairness of higher education systems, their ability not to duplicate society but to produce social mobility, at least in the students' influx to and within the higher education sector.     

Higher education in Kenya: an assessment of current responses to the imperative of widening access

Higher education is a key factor in a nation’s effort to develop a highly skilled workforce for competing in the global economy. In this paper, current trends in accessibility, equity, participation and financing of higher education in Kenya are examined. The paper explores the challenges which need to be confronted and discusses the way forward for reforming higher education policies in Kenya to widen access and advance equity by suggesting a number of strategies. It highlights the need for programmes and policies focusing on improving access to quality secondary education experiences; increasing aspirations and application to higher education; and the improvement of policies on financial support to disadvantaged students through the already existing Higher Education Loans Board. It concludes with a number of recommendations including a new revenue allocation particularly to the rising numbers of higher education aspirants from low income, rural, ethnic minorities and women.     

Affirmative Action for Gender Justice in South African and Kenyan Education Systems

Abstract

Since women struggled to access higher education during the colonial era, tackling gender imbalances post-independence became a major focus for Kenya and South Africa. The aim of this article is to demonstrate that affirmative action has not guaranteed gender equity in South African and Kenyan higher education systems. the author argues that, although higher education is generally available to all in both countries, women still struggle with access and “success”. This is besides the existence of post-independence higher education policies and parallel gender frameworks meant to bolster women’s access. The article uses a critical and thematic exploration of secondary literature, theory and data. The article contends that the unresolved gap between policies and the reality of the lived experiences of women exacerbates inequalities. It is suggested that both countries refocus and recalibrate existing policies and remedial action measures in order to ensure that academically deserving women are able to access and participate meaningfully in higher education.     

低收费政策能改善教育公平和社会福利吗?——兼论高等教育不同收费政策的效应

Traditionally there has been a theoretical view that raising tuition fees will undermine education equity and social welfare. This study examines the effects of different tuition policies on both these factors. A statistical analysis is made on the theoretical relationship between higher education tuition fees and dropout probability, which leads to the conclusion that the effects of both policies on education equity vary with circumstances. Further, under severe polarization between the rich and the poor in China, low tuition fee policy fails to effectively improve access to higher education and social welfare for low-income groups. On the contrary, high tuition fee policy may have better effectiveness.     

从大众高等教育到普及高等教育

新信息技术的发展要求对普及高等教育的本质进行反思 ,并对其所需条件的认识进行更新 ,这涉及到高等教育制度结构和对待高等教育态度的深刻变革。精英形式的高等教育需进行重新定位。本文在比较的背景下主要分析了美国及欧洲社会的高等教育在走向普及形式的过程中面临危机的原因 ,认为美国特有的结构特征和文化特征赋予了其独特优势。而技术发展的不确定性及各国经济、社会结构的差异性决定了通过新技术扩大入学机会将采取不断实验的方式进行     

新自由主义常识与全球性大学：高等教育中的知识商品化

知识是组织高等教育活动的基本材料和学术生活的基础。传统上作为公共产品的知识正在发生转向,其商品属性和交换价值趋于增强,成为兼具公共产品与私人产品性质的一种混合型产品。在高等教育领域,知识商品化具有多种表征形式,侵蚀了高等教育的公共性。本文结合哈贝马斯和布迪厄的理论框架,阐述了以下观点:知识的公共产品性质是高等教育的公益性、高校的公共形象和学术人的公共身份的基础,也是基础研究的核心价值观之一。坚持知识的公共产品性质,抵制知识商品化的消极影响,既是知识的内在要求也是高等教育的内在要求。     

县校合作办学，高职教育的最佳选择与必由之路

县区建制由来已久,是中国和国际经济社会发展的基本重要结构单元。中国县区经济社会的发展需要大量高素质、高技能应用型人才,需要大力发展以高等职业教育为主体的高等教育,需要迅速改变县区高职院校几近空白、无法满足社会需求的现状。高职院校县校合作办县区特色学院或教学点是最佳选择,是必由之路。     

Analysis of policies for allocating university resources in heterogeneous social systems: a case study of university admissions in Sri Lanka

This paper focuses on the complex nature of designing andeffectively implementing policies, assuring fair access to universityeducational opportunities in heterogeneous societies. First, the universityadmission problem is modeled as a load balancing, scheduling and resourceallocation problem in a heterogeneous distributed system with policies toallocate student loads in university resources. Then the paper analyses thedifferent policies implemented in Sri Lanka for the last three decades todistribute the limited university level training resources in theengineering and medical faculties equally among the citizens.It is observed that in Sri Lanka, the schools in thirteen out of twentytwo districts did not produce a single engineering or medicine student until1974. Two districts enjoyed several times their fair share. Other districtshad less than their fair share in access to free higher education resources.It is also observed that no standardisation methods have been used in bothadding and comparing the marks received in multiple-language examinationsfor different subjects.The policy changes helped the talented low-income students who live indisadvantaged areas to set access, to begin, complete and get ahead on theirown. Furthermore, it generated a new wave of regional economic development.The same policies badly affected the happy few who enjoyed more than theirfair share of the university resources. Dube claimed the policy wasdiscriminatory and contributed to the on-going civil war (1995) .     

澳大利亚高等融合教育实践及其对我国的启示

随着融合教育理念的深入,中国和澳大利亚高等教育中的融合教育思想和实践也得到一定的发展。但不同文化和政策背景为两国高等融合教育的发展提供了不同的土壤,进而造成了差异。从高等融合教育的准入与安置、专业和课程设置以及资源支持三个方面入手,分析澳大利亚高等融合教育的实践发展路径和策略后发现,中澳两国的高等融合教育实践存在一定差异。为推进我国融合教育发展,应从转变残疾观念、构建本土化政策保障体系、建立残障大学生服务中心、调整课程设置、加强职前和职后师资培养以及搭建高校支持体系六个方面予以改进。     

Disruptions and bridges in rural Australia: higher education aspiration to expectation of participation

ABSTRACT

Widening higher education participation can deliver benefits to individuals, societies and economies but rural populations experience factors which inhibit their aspiration for and participation in higher education. When designing outreach programs, universities need to consider this landscape of factors, many of which are socio-cultural. This article reports evaluation results from a project that trialled three university outreach programs designed to align with rural contexts with the aim of identifying aspects which were effective in addressing factors of rurality, revealing obscured future options and showing higher education pathways as attainable. Universities can work effectively with rural communities to inform people’s higher education aspirations through ‘disruptions’, interventions that inform educational aspiration, and ‘bridges’ which support higher education participation through facilitating access to information, physical, financial, academic and social resources. A model including both ‘disruptions’ and ‘bridges’, jointly resourced and drawing on social capital resources of communities and higher education institutions is presented.     

The affective (re)production of refugee representations through educational policies and practices: Reconceptualising the role of emotion for peace education in a divided country

Drawing into a discussion of the politicisation of emotion, this paper develops a framework to analyse some of the processes and strategies by which educational policies and pedagogical practices ??emotionalise?? the representation of refugees in conflict-ridden societies such as Cyprus and explores the implications for peace education. In particular, this paper aims to refine our understanding of how emotions affect the ways in which educational policies and practices reproduce self-other dichotomies through certain representations of the refugee experience. It is argued that these dichotomies are relevant to the emotional reactions against peace education initiatives. Second, this paper examines alternative possibilities of promoting peaceful coexistence, while taking into consideration the affective (re)production of refugee representations yet without undermining the refugee experience. Better understanding of how emotion is involved will help educational policymakers and teachers in divided societies to take into account the hitherto poorly developed aspects of the ways in which emotions, the refugee experience and peace education are inextricably intertwined.     

社团工作与大学生健全人格的培养

培养大学生健全的人格是高等教育首要的和基本的目标。社团工作对大学生健全人格的培养具有重要意义。社团活动丰富了大学生的生活，促进了大学生智能的全面发展，有助于大学生保持健康的心理状态。高等院校要充分发挥社团活动的积极作用，促进大学生健全人格的发展。     

Educational Equity in the Access to Post-Secondary Education: A Comparison of Ethnic Minorities in China with Aboriginals in Canada

This study provides insight into equity issues in post-secondary education by exploring and assessing the history, the reality and the potential developments in higher education for minority students in China, in comparison to post-secondary education for aboriginal students in Canada. It highlights access to post-secondary education by these minorities in both countries in terms of educational policy enactment, orientation, and its enforcement. The study examines both commonalties and differences in the educational policies of both countries to shed light on how each country is able to grapple with the issue of equity in their respective post-secondary educational systems in response to the principles of liberty, equity and dignity as outlined in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. This study employs a historical approach to identify the common trends by examining issues concerning access to post-secondary education for ethnic minorities in China and the aboriginals in Canada. Specifically, the study employs a comparative method analyzing how access and equity are defined, how policies have evolved, and the impact that the policy has on the minority students in China and aboriginal students in Canada. The assessment of the access issues in these two countries not only reveals some common trends in the evolution of access norms in the post-secondary education of both countries, but also identifies certain differences in response to their historical traditions, national cultures, and diverse educational structures. The findings are presented in three sections: growth and gap, equality versus equity, and equity and the difference among the difference.     

Mothers’ search for infant child care: The dynamic relationship between availability and desirability in a continental European welfare state

The availability, affordability, and desirability of quality child care are matters of concern, especially for children raised in poverty, given the literature showing that young children raised in poverty can benefit from early access to quality care. The unique features of the Brussels context enable us to look at the connection between availability and parental preferences, while ‘controlling’ environmental constraints on costs and quality. We looked at access policies in 83 funded providers, and examined 100 mothers’ search for child care. The results show that quality child care was distributed unequally, favoring higher-income groups. Moreover, the access policies of individual providers furthered the exclusion of lower educated and ethnic minority parents. All parents took into account both quality and pragmatic criteria when looking for early child care, although the value of these criteria may vary according to ethnic background and education. The study also shows that access to and use of good quality care is an interactional process in which the mothers’ preferences and decisions are affected by the availability of care which, in turn, is determined by external conditions.     

加拿大高校招生民族倾斜政策及其启示

从1971年起,加拿大政府开始实施多元文化政策,高校招生民族倾斜政策是其中的主要内容之一。加拿大高校招生民族倾斜政策的实施,有效地增加了少数民族高等教育入学机会,促进了教育公平的实现。在和谐视域下研究探讨加拿大高校招生少数民族倾斜政策的一些成功经验,可以为我国高考民族倾斜政策的改革与发展提供有益启示。     

Fair access to higher education and discourses of development: a policy analysis from Indonesia

The purpose of this paper is to explore the relationship between fair access policies and discourses of development through a policy analysis of higher education reform in post-authoritarian Indonesia (1998–present). The method was document analysis of five laws/regulations, using the criteria of accessibility, availability, and horizontality to identify the extent of fair access for students from (1) lower socioeconomic backgrounds and (2) under-developed regions of the archipelago. The analysis demonstrates how neoliberal, human capital, inclusive development and Pancasila discourses have been called upon in the making and un-making of a higher education market, with ultimately favourable outcomes for the fair access agenda.     

The influence of academic scientists and technologists on Alberta's secondary science curriculum policy and programme

In democratic societies, it is becoming increasingly common for the government to formulate science education policies and programmes to reform education. In Alberta, Canada, government policies on education, including science, have been formulated on the basis of unprecedented public consultation. However, in the implementation of these policies, the initially proposed senior high science programme ran counter to views on science education held by academic scientists, technologists and academic high school science teachers. By garnering public support and applying political pressure, these groups were successful in forcing the government to re‐examine its science education policies and draft programmes. This review resulted in changes in the programme design and, more significantly, in the processes used to develop the science curriculum. This paper examines the complexity of reforming science education, and the dynamic tension and conflict that can develop between curriculum experts and academic scientists in the development of science programmes that meet broad education goals.