Equity among assistant professors in instructional work load

In recent years salary equity has been the focus of studies dealing with equity. This paper extends the concept of equity to include faculty instructional activities or work load. In an effort to determine to what extent instructional efforts differed between men and women at a large land-grant university, the following variables were investigated: number of weighted student credit hours, number of sections taught, number of different courses taught, and didactic hours by level of course. Because the faculty members varied in their full-time-equivalent instructional effort, it was necessary to normalize the data. When men and women were compared for equity of instructional activity (MANOVA) taking their college into consideration, there was no significant difference by sex or from the interaction of college with sex. When a balancing technique was used to review men and women by departments, again no significant differences were found in the pattern of instructional activity within the group of departments being compared.     

Similarity grouping of Australian universities

The Unified National System of Australian Universities was created out of universities, institutes of technology and colleges of advanced education. In this study similarity clustering of universities within this system is attempted based on two data sets: one based on evaluative ratings and the other on quantitative performance indicators. With the exception of three traditional universities that tended to cluster together across data sets no consistent clustering emerged. Within data sets there was no tendency for the emergent clusters to reflect the origins of the institutions in any consistent manner. It is suggested that the Unified National System has not reduced diversity.     

For Me or Not for Me? Fragility and Risk in Mature Students' Decision‐Making

Drawing on a research project which investigated the recent decline in mature student recruitment to higher education in the UK, this article explores the decision-making process among samples of potential and new mature entrants to nine case study higher education institutions. It compares the emphasis in public policy on higher education as a private investment with the understandings and interpretations of individuals in the act of applying for entry. It concludes that while at a generalised level mature learners believe that the private return on investment will be high, at a personal level the concepts of fragility and risk are more pertinent to understanding the complexity of their decision-making process, particularly for those over 25 years of age.     

From secrecy to sunshine: An overview of presidential search practice

The process by which American colleges and universities select their presidents has undergone considerable change in recent years. Once conducted entirely in private by a small group of trustees, presidential searches occur today in a climate of constituency participation and access to information. This paper draws upon survey data to examine the range and frequency of current search practices regarding constituency involvement and confidentiality and disclosure. The paper first considers search committee membership, noting the composition and size of presidential search committees. It then examines the range of policies regarding constituent access to information about candidates and search committee deliberations. Three policies are described: complete confidentiality, full disclosure, and limited disclosure. Finally, the paper discusses the causes of unintended disclosure and evaluates the impact of these leaks on the search.     

The pedagogical logics of arts-rich schools: a Bourdieusian analysis

The arts are under threat in English schools. But some schools and teachers work against the trend. To understand how they continue to offer rich arts experiences to students, we bring Bourdieusian thinking to arts teacher practices that were common across the 30 secondary schools we studied for three years. In addition to a flexible approach to the curriculum which encouraged independence, intellectual challenge and risk-taking, teachers also engaged in arts brokerage – embodiment of arts engagement, ensuring students regularly visit cultural events/institutions, using local cultural resources, organising visits from artists/cultural organisations, enabling students to exhibit and perform for wider audiences, connecting students with arts workplaces and enhancing community arts participation. We approach this as a logic of practice associated with arts broker dis/positions drawn from teachers simultaneously occupying two chiasmatic fields – art and education.     

Rights and rites of passage: crossing boundaries in France

The purpose of this article is to explore the boundaries and interfaces between higher education and the other institutions and organizations involved in the provision of various forms of education and training opportunity in France. It uses a comparative lens but focuses mostly on the system in France since others in this volume will be looking at system(s) in the UK and elsewhere. A number of points of comparison are investigated: institutional boundaries, the ‘adultness’ of the system, and its qualifications. The rights of passage through it for individuals and what I have called the rites of passage?the tools, procedures and mechanisms designed to provide articulation and transfer between it various components?are examined. Finally, the future direction of the system and the attempt to build a distinctly French response to a problem experienced across the world are explored; the elements are in place but the jury is still out on whether or not this can be achieved.     

‘Building Schools for the Future’: reflections on a new social architecture

The Labour Government launched the ‘Building Schools for the Future’ programme (BSF) in February 2003 with the aim of refurbishing or rebuilding all secondary schools in England over a 15‐year period, with an anticipated budget of £45 billion. In this article, we locate BSF in a wider public policy context which has already had important implications in other sectors of public provision. The local improvement finance trusts (LIFTs) initiative within the National Health Service (NHS) is of particular relevance to this discussion both because it reflects contemporary developments within New Public Management and because it also reveals new ways of extending and developing the private finance initiative (PFI) approach to public provision. We shall also consider the purposes and ‘delivery’ mechanisms of BSF and identify some of the key commentaries which have been provided by parliamentary reports and other evaluations. Although still in the early stages of its implementation, the BSF is of such significance for the future shape and form of educational provision that it is important to begin the process of considering possible directions and dimensions for a research agenda which will provide a secure empirical and analytical foundation on which to base discussion.     

The changing nature of assessment in English primary classrooms: Findings from the PACE project 1989–1997

The effective use of evaluation is currently hailed as the ultimate tool in raising standards and ensuring accountability for virtually all areas of life. Nowhere has this been more in evidence than in the area of schooling. This increasing emphasis on target setting and the raising of standards through summative assessment has brought with it major changes to the educative experience for both teachers and their pupils. The PACE Project, which began in 1989, was designed to track these changes as they impacted on a representative sample of teachers and their pupils as they progressed through primary schooling. This article highlights some of the major issues which have emerged from the study and goes on to discuss what implications these might have for future policy-making.     

LITERACY AND ELDERS: WHAT WE KNOW AND WHAT WE NEED TO KNOW

Little research has been done on the literacy needs and interests of elders. Consequently, many programs of literacy training for elders are based upon inadequate and inaccurate information. The authors review recent literature about literacy and the aged and offer some suggestions for future investigations. They maintain that there is a need for empirical research into the perceptions of reading and writing held by the elderly themselves. Specifically, this research should: (1) assess the reading/writing needs and interests of the elderly; and (2) examine what effect societal expectations of the elderly have on their reading/writing behavior and interests.