The Graduate Pathways Survey: New Insights on Education and Employment Outcomes Five Years after Bachelor Degree Completion

The development of a strong and vibrant knowledge‐based economy is linked in direct ways with successful graduate outcomes. Building evidence‐based insights on such outcomes plays an important role in shaping planning and practice. With this broad objective in mind, this article analyses findings from the Graduate Pathways Survey, the first national study in Australia of bachelor degree graduate outcomes five years after course completion. It begins by discussing key rationales and research contexts to position the study internationally and in terms of research on graduate careers, quality assurance and planning. Focus is then turned to highlighting findings from the study, which involved a census of graduates from all Australian universities. It looks at graduates' perceptions of their degree and of its relevance to their work, their pathways into study and work and their salaries and satisfaction with their jobs. The article concludes by discussing the contribution of the findings for understanding graduates' work and development, and for enhancing higher education quality and planning.     

Research-teaching nexus: The new answer to the old question

The study tests 3 research hypotheses on the teaching-research nexus using the administrative data of the HSE University in Russia for 7 years. We confirmed the hypothesis that a lower classroom teaching load is associated with higher research output. Undergraduate courses have a relatively higher negative effect, especially on the probability of producing research output at all. A higher concentration of teaching in some semesters or quarters looks rather ineffective as a way to stimulate higher research productivity. Only a moderate share of English-taught classes (about 20% of the teaching load) is associated with higher research output and only for publications in good international journals. The empirical part of the study is based on zero-inflated Poisson and zero-inflated negative binomial models. This study comes to contribute to the development of literature discussing a mechanism and possible implications in teaching load composition as an essential part of the academic contract.     

亲爱的木木，我们开始认真了

春天总是过得异常快，刚下过几场雨。就已经快三月了。雨还在吧嗒吧嗒地下着，不过再也不用叫醒木木了。毕竟快高考了，谁还会再在课堂上睡觉呢？木木，也许再陪你听过几场雨，就会到那个绵长绵长的六月了吧？     

Development of the Australasian survey of student engagement (AUSSE)

Student learning and development are the core business of the academy, yet until recently Australian and New Zealand universities lacked data on students’ engagement in effective educational practices. This paper reports the foundations and development of the Australasian Survey of Student Engagement (AUSSE)—the largest educationally focused cross-institutional collection from current students in Australasia. Results from the 2008 AUSSE are analyzed to elucidate the focus and significance of the collection. A review is undertaken of the AUSSE’s approach to stimulating each institution’s continuous improvement. The analysis is expanded, by way of conclusion, to consider the role of the collection as a general agent for encouraging the expansion of evidence-based quality management in higher education.     

A model of online and general campus‐based student engagement

Knowing how campus‐based students engage in key online and general learning practices can play a central role in managing and developing university education. Knowledge in this area is limited, however, despite recent advances in student engagement research, and widespread adoption of online learning systems. This paper responds to the need to develop such knowledge, by documenting the development and application of a typological model of online and general campus‐based student engagement. It reports the statistical analyses used to develop the model, and analyses the model’s structure and substance. The model is exemplified by considering what it says about how increasingly powerful and pervasive online technologies might be leveraged to enhance campus‐based student engagement.     

‘Think about what our industry stands for….’: exploring the impact of external factors on line manager perceptions of graduate employability

ABSTRACT

Increasing emphasis is being placed upon employer expectations in research on graduate employability, in response to the widely claimed gap between employer expectations and graduates’ understanding of these expectations. For graduates, being uncertain of their employer’s expectations may threaten the ease of their transition into the workplace and their job satisfaction, even leading to issues around graduate retention for employers. External influences on the graduate labour market such as differences in industry/sector level expectations and economic/political factors, can pose further complications. This paper presents a cross-industry analysis of employer expectations of graduates, drawing from four selected case study vignettes aimed at uncovering insights into these variances. Findings offer implications for policy makers and higher education providers around the design and delivery of a curriculum that appropriately prepares students for the graduate labour market, whilst also catering for industry-level expectations particularly in light of the UK’s forthcoming departure from the EU.     

On the Closure of English Public Libraries

This article challenges the conventional assumptions about the serious decline of public libraries in England. The author asserts that, as shown by the comparative data for the United States and Australian public libraries, it has not been caused by changes in society or technology. Nor has government austerity been the driving force. The loss of public interest originated in the years from 1990 to 2010 when major alterations were made to the ethos of the service. The current budget cuts and moves to ‘hollow out’ and close library services have come because of the consequent fall in public affection.