Doing Diversity Work in Higher Education in Australia

This paper explores how diversity is used as a key term to describe the social and educational mission of universities in Australia. The paper suggests that we need to explore what diversity ‘does’ in specific contexts. Drawing on interviews with diversity and equal opportunities practitioners, the paper suggests that ‘diversity’ is used in the face of what has been called ‘equity fatigue’. Diversity is associated with what is new, and allows practitioners to align themselves and their units with the existing values of their universities. However, given this, diversity can mean potentially anything: and practitioners have to re‐attach the term ‘diversity’ to other more marked terms such as equality and justice if it is to ‘do anything’. The paper explores the appeal of diversity, the strategic nature of diversity work, and the role of commitment, leadership and training. It also offers some more general reflections on how language works within organisations by showing that words, although they do things, are not finished as forms of action: what they do depends not only on how they are used, but how they get taken up.     

North American Christian Study Abroad Programs: Wheaton College and Whitworth University

Study abroad programs are in vogue today, especially among Christian colleges and universities. It is, therefore, appropriate to ask tough questions of these programs. Do they help our students become more mature followers of Jesus? Are they respectful of people in the target culture? College and university leaders must focus in particular on how study abroad programs are framed to take advantage of the cultural interface between students’ sending culture and their receiving culture, the partnerships that are built between institutions and communities, and some of the key learning experiences we ought to seek and provide for all involved. How can Christian colleges and universities best engage with the opportunities and demand for studying abroad without turning them into glorified tourism experiences? How can institutions set up study abroad sites that are mutually beneficial to the sending institution as well as the host institution and their immediate communities? These questions are addressed by examining the effectiveness of two study abroad programs, one at Wheaton College and the other at Whitworth University, to see how well they embody four operating principles implied in relevant passages of the Bible: radical equality, deep immersion, transforming conflict, and respect for global Christianity.     

Gender equality in German universities: vernacularising the battle for the best brains

We examine how global pressures for competitiveness and gender equality have merged into a discourse of ‘inclusive excellence’ in the twenty-first century and shaped three recent German higher education programmes. After placing these programmes in the larger discourse about gender inequalities, we focus on how they adapt current global concerns about both being ‘the best’ and increasing ‘gender equality’ in locally specific ways, a process called vernacularisation. German equality advocates used ‘meeting international standards’ as leverage, drew on self-governance norms among universities, used formal gender plans as mechanisms to direct change, and set up competition to legitimate intervention. This specific incremental policy path for increasing women's status in German universities also mobilised the national funding agency and local gender equality officers as key actors, and placed particular emphasis on family friendliness as the expression of organisational commitment to gender equality.     

Do less-advantaged students avoid prestigious universities? An applicant-centred approach to understanding UCAS decision-making

Less-advantaged students are under-represented at prestigious universities, but can we infer that they actively avoid them? This research measured university applicants’ knowledge of 115 UK universities. Using card-sort tasks within an interview format, 56 Year 13 students from different types of 16–19 education described how they chose five courses for their application form. Significant cross-cohort trends in knowledge and understanding demonstrated the influence of different educational environments, but within-cohort variation showed that applicant characteristics could over-ride environmental factors. The only cohort where every student understood relative status was an independent school providing individual, career-focused guidance. Limited resources in state-sector schools and colleges necessitated ‘opt-in’ models of guidance, meaning that only highly motivated students were well-informed. When students knew that universities are ranked by national league tables, this informed their decision-making strategy, but reliance on word-of-mouth rather than fact-based information resulted in some students over-estimating status and graduate outcomes. A new conceptual framework blending developmental and cognitive psychology explained persistent class-based progression trends whilst demonstrating how personal agency or educational interventions enabled some less-advantaged students to enter prestigious universities. There was no evidence that prestigious universities were actively avoided, but some students had insufficient knowledge or understanding to make status-based distinctions.     

Student teachers and cultural diversity in an Australian regional university

This article examines student teachers' discursive constructions of difference, cultural diversity and race as they write and talk about their cultures and identities in relation to teaching and learning in the first year of a Primary Teaching Degree in a regional Australian university.
The qualitative case study which informs this paper considered the discursive resources that students bring to teacher education from their past experiences and contact with cultural differences in communities, families and schools. It examined various discourses around cultural diversity that are available to them in the teacher education course and how their discursive practices are mediated and reconstructed in the particular university context. A major goal was to explore how universities in largely homogeneous settings might firstly work with the resources that students bring to teacher education and, secondly, assist students to consider the implications of cultural and linguistic diversity for teaching language and literacy.     

Country of origin and country of service delivery effects in transnational higher education: a comparison of international branch campuses from developed and developing nations

Over the last decade, international branch campuses have been established by universities from developing countries as well as developed countries. Little research has been conducted into students’ perceptions of branch campuses from different countries, or how universities from different countries compete in the increasingly competitive market. A framework incorporating the concepts of country of origin and country of service delivery is adopted to assess how potential undergraduate students in Malaysia perceive the home and international branch campuses of universities from the United Kingdom (UK) and India, which are used to represent universities from developed and developing nations. It was found that for a university from a developing nation, students perceived the image, reputation, quality and brand equity of its home campus more positively than its international branch campus. The results suggest that although all universities must devise and implement strategies that enhance the image and reputation of their international branch campuses, institutions from developing countries should seek niche markets where they do not have to compete directly with prestigious universities from developed countries.     

将大学生创新设计变成专利成果的探讨

目前高校纷纷开展对大学生创新能力的培养,很多大学生对创新实践活动有着极大的热情,同时也想申请专利来保护自己的创新成果。为此,从坚信创新必有价值、创新实践经验积累以及相似性联想等三方面进行探讨,帮助大学生将创新设计变成专利成果。     

Acceptance as a Normative Aspect of the Process of Coming to Understand Emotionally Charged Concepts: Upper-Secondary School Students Make Meaning of Gender

Previous research on how students’ acceptance of emotionally charged theories relates to their understanding is based on the measurement of acceptance and understanding as two separate variables. As an alternative, the present study takes a qualitative approach with the aim of exploring what 24 upper-secondary school students accept when they come to understand the concept of gender and how to justify gender-related statements. The results show how the students accept ideas about social structures, power, and emancipation, as well as ideas about essences, individual independence, and a natural order. As for their justifications, they accept ideals of equality and objectivity. By assuming that the ideas have positive connotations for the students, it becomes possible to understand them as engaged in negotiating norms that are brought to the fore in the interviews.     

地方高校工程专业硕士培养定位与举措——以佛山科学技术学院为例

地方高校确立符合自己现状与特色的工程硕士培养定位对于中国建立工程硕士多元化的培养体系至关重要.以佛山科学技术学院工程专业硕士研究生培养定位为例,基于国家硕士研究生教育未来的发展方向与重点,基于地方产业人才需求,从质量、创新、特色培养理念出发,探讨了在地方高校专业硕士培养定位中如何为地方产业服务、如何培养创新人才、如何形...     

Working the Borderlands: working-class students constructing hybrid identities and asserting their place in higher education

Abstract

Through the case-study experiences of 24 White and Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic (BAME) working-class students from three very different universities, we aim to illuminate the often hidden struggle for recognition and respect for classed, ‘raced’ and gendered ways of being in the university. We discuss how the students perceive their identities in relation to their universities and their peers, and whether they feel the need to adapt and change their classed/’racialised’ identities in order to survive and progress or whether they resist any pressures and expectations to do so. We explore the tension between ‘assimilation and belonging’ and ‘betrayal and exclusion’ for White and BAME working-class students and consider the intersectional implications. We draw on the concept of hybridity to show the fluidity and fusions of transitioning and developing identities. The article also seeks to contribute further to the illumination of habitus as generative, through a process of hybridity.     

To assess or not to assess holistic competencies – Student perspectives in Hong Kong

Despite the importance of holistic competencies, universities have not yet been able to successfully embrace holistic competencies (HC) as part of students’ assessment in their curricula. HC are often part of a hidden curriculum – they tend to be assessed together with academic knowledge, and not assessed explicitly. Based in Hong Kong, this research developed a questionnaire to study university students' perceptions of the formal assessment of HC and how students’ perceptions could be bound to the sociocultural context. Through exploratory factor analysis (EFA) and confirmatory factor analysis (CFA), two dimensions of perceptions were derived from the responses of 300 respondents: (a) students’ acceptance of formal HC assessment, and (b) their preference for quantitative scoring in the formal assessment of holistic competencies. Findings reveal that students’ perceptions of formal HC assessment were generally considered positive. However, the majority of students appeared to favour pass/fail grading compared to quantitative assessment. As assessment drives learning, this study reinforces the need for universities to incorporate students’ perspectives in policies regarding HC assessment and highlights the role of culture in influencing student perceptions.     

Racism,Equity, and Quality of Education for International Students in South Korean Higher Education Institutes

This study aims to understand equity issues of international students’ learning in Korean higher education institutions by engaging with the issue of racism and identifies how international students in Korea reshape their learning trajectory and how we could provide equitable and quality education for international students. Espousing a qualitative case study design, six students from different background were interviewed to examine features of perceived institutional racism based on their learning experience in Korea. Major findings showed that internationalization has not been fulfilled in terms of engaging with international students although Korean government and higher education institutions have developed relevant policy to attract international students. This study indicates that Korean universities need to reconstruct their social, cultural, and institutional systems to embrace equity, diversity and inclusiveness to empower international students’ capacity.     

“Moving quietly through the door of opportunity”: Perspectives of College Students who Type to Communicate

Colleges and universities across the United States are becoming increasingly diverse. That increased diversity includes students who do not use speech as their primary means of expression. This qualitative study focuses on the experiences and challenges of higher education for individuals with autism who type to communicate using a method known as facilitated communication. This article focuses on the perspectives of these individuals as they make sense of their inclusion in and, at times, exclusion from higher education, particularly their academic and social access. In addition, the findings of this research indicate that while there are structural and classroom supports that are helpful for individuals who type to communicate, their participation and meaningful inclusion is also incumbent on attitudinal factors and how receptive faculty and staff are to the students’ method of communication. While there is still much work to be done in the area of higher education for individuals with more complex needs, this study highlights the promise of higher education for this new population of students.     

高校思想政治工作协同机制构建研究

多数大学生走出大学校门后仍然不知道该如何为人处世,不知道该如何与他人相处,这就是大学思想政治工作的失败所在。基于此,将对高校思想政治工作协同机制构建展开研究。首先,简析高校思想政治工作协同机制;其次,介绍了该机制的重要性;最后,根据工作中出现的问题提出一些相应的解决措施。以期促进我国高校思想政治教育的质量,提高学生的政治素养。     

高校政工干部的网络素养现状及其培养策略研究

随着网络对大学生影响的日益深化,网络思政工作已成为高校思政工作的重要组成部分。高校政工干部必须客观认识网络给大学生带来的影响,不断丰富网络知识,强化网络信息获取能力,养成良好的网络道德观,努力提高自身网络素养,才能牢牢把握网络思想政治教育主动权。     

Health-related messages about physical activity promotion: an analysis of photographs on social networking sites of universities

The main aim of this study was to examine how different physical activity domains are represented on the official social media sites of Spanish universities, through a content analysis of the photographs. Our results show that the representation of different physical activity domains is not balanced. While the analysed images do promote a message of gender equality in sedentary and leisure time physical activity behaviour, pictures illustrating active commuting and disabled groups were under-represented. We conclude that Internet-based physical activity promotion in university settings must to be guided by the principles of ‘health-promoting universities’ in the sense of promoting a comprehensive view on healthy behaviours in every action carried out with the university community, and in particular including diversity as a norm rather than the exception. Professionals should be aware of their responsibility in the design of the built online environment and their influence on the welfare of the university community.     

Increasing international and domestic student interaction through group work: a case study from the humanities

This article explores the use of group work strategies to increase student interaction and learning. Despite the growing linguistic and cultural diversity in tertiary institutions, there is strong evidence of minimal interaction between ‘domestic’ and ‘international’ students in classrooms and in wider university contexts. This study investigates the implementation of teaching and learning strategies in an undergraduate class comprising domestic and international students from Education and Arts. The strategies relate to in-class group work, tutorial groups and assessment design. The findings indicate greater class interaction, higher satisfaction ratings and better learning outcomes as a result of the strategies. The article argues for three key features underpinning the pedagogy: where international students can work from a position of power equality in class, where both groups of students can enact the role of ‘experts’ and where support in language and learning how to learn is embedded in assessment and outcomes.     

Student Feelings of Connection to the Campus and Openness to Diversity and Challenge at a Large Research University: Evidence of Progress?

Previous research conducted by Pascarella and his colleagues (1996) has shown that undergraduate students tend to change toward greater openness and tolerance to diversity from their freshman to their sophomore year. Although the study by Pascarella includes many different types of universities in the United States, the average size of the entering freshman class in their research was reported to be approximately 4,000 students. While these findings are extremely valued in a general sense, Pascarella believed that they might not be found at very large universities. To our surprise, our findings indicated that large universities may have higher levels of openness to diversity and campus connectedness than what was originally explained by Pascarella.     

Complementarity Between the Transfer Goals of Community Colleges and Historically Black Colleges and Universities: Learning from History

Community colleges and historically Black colleges and universities (HBCUs) often serve the same populations; however, the historical purposes, policies, and practices of HBCUs often better prepare them to serve first-generation students. Although both HBCUs and community colleges have their origins within the same historical period, the forces that created each of these branches of higher education also created a divergence in how they operate. This article looks at the most critical of those shaping forces to identify why HBCUs and community colleges often view their mission and their students differently and, thus, perform their work differently. The increased diversity of students whom community colleges are serving provides an opportunity for community colleges to look at HBCUs' successes and determine how community colleges can learn from and adapt those successes with students of color especially. The article suggests that in their mission to serve transfer students, community colleges can learn much from HBCUs' successes with underprepared students.     

Mapping cultural diversity through children's voices: From confusion to clear understandings

This research examines children's conceptualisations of cultural diversity. In particular, this project examines the following two research questions: how do children define and understand the concept of cultural diversity; and what do they perceive as the implications of cultural diversity on their daily lives? To this end, interviews were carried out with 40 (immigrant and native) students, aged 11 to 12, at five primary schools in Cyprus, which presented high concentrations of immigrants. On the basis of our analysis of the data, the participant children appeared to perceive cultural diversity in terms of two contrasting perspectives. On the one hand, they viewed cultural diversity in terms of the cultural‐deficiency perspective. Such perceptions stemmed from the model of monoculturalism implying the need to assimilate the culturally ‘different’ in order to counteract the negative consequences of cultural diversity. On the other hand, the same children also perceived cultural diversity in terms of cultural celebration. To this end, some children drew upon the model of multiculturalism to define cultural diversity as a culture‐enriching and culture‐celebrating process, pointing to folkloristic activities including traditional music, dance and food. Nonetheless, few of the participant children—both Cypriot and immigrant—defined cultural diversity in terms of the model of interculturalism, pointing to the intercultural exchange that stems from ‘real’ friendship development between natives and immigrants, equality of rights and inclusion. As the participant children appeared to confuse the meanings and languages of cultural diversity, this paper concludes with suggestions on teacher practices to ‘crystallise’ children's views.