Exploring the challenges and facilitators in the adoption of e-HRM practices in Indian higher education institutions: a qualitative exploration

PurposeThis study focuses on work from home (WFH) issues faced by faculty members of higher education institutes in India during the coronavirus infection (COVID-19) pandemic. The study aims to understand the impact of these issues on faculty productivity. The study also analyzes the moderating effect of information technology (IT) training on the relationship between work- from-home issues and faculty productivity.Design/methodology/approachThis study is quantitative. Data were collected from 215 faculty members working in higher education institutes in India. Correlation and hierarchical regression analysis have been used to analyze the data.FindingsThe analysis revealed that online teaching, lack of technology acceptance, poor working environment and work–life conflict negatively impacts faculty productivity. Thus, IT training work as a moderator plays an important role in reducing the WFH issues mainly Online Teaching, Lack of Technology acceptance & Poor Working Enviornment by increasing faculty productivity. IT training work does not moderate the relationship between work–life conflict and faculty productivity.Research limitations/implicationsThis research is limited to the higher education sector; the research limits the generalization of the higher education sector's finding to other sectors.Practical implicationsThe findings would help policymakers and educational institutes to explore the use of digital technology to break boundaries of workplace and education institutes to disseminate knowledge to a global level. The findings also help to understand how the workplace is essential for the smooth functioning of tasks of the institute.Social implicationsThe study will also help management, institute, organization, society and individuals to change their mindset that education can be imparted through online mode in a better way with the help of digital technology.Originality/valueThere is a scarcity of research work examining WFH issues in conducting mandatory online classes due to COVID-19 pandemic and COVID-19's relation to faculty productivity in the higher education sector. This study contributes to the knowledge regarding the impact of COVID-19 on faculty productivity in the education sector.

This study attempts to comprehend the reading habits of faculty members of the higher education sector in India during the lockdown period and a comparative analysis of the reading habits of faculty members prior to the lockdown and during the lockdown. The study used an online survey approach to gather information using a Google form. The study population was composed of teachers from the higher education sectors in India. The study revealed the change and the impact of the COVID-19 lockdown state on faculty members’ reading habits in India’s higher education sector. An online survey was conducted of the unknown population using WhatsApp received 734 responses. The responses were analyzed by the study’s objectives and tested a simple null hypothesis, i.e., “There is no significant change in the reading habits of the faculty members of the higher education sector in India during the lockdown period.” The study discovered that faculty members had spent more time for reading, reading habits have considerably increased, a positive impact on reading habits, utilized their lockdown time to satisfy their information needs, the change in reading habits is observable, and there is an inclination towards the utilization of digital and online information. The study would be helpful for librarians, libraries, and information centres to prepare future strategic plans, develop a system for crisis management in libraries, and provide better information services after knowing the opinion of faculty members of higher education. The study is original since no study combining variables such as teachers, higher education sector, India, and reading habits has been undertaken. This study would also guide future studies in this field.

This study investigates the impact of digitalization on work-life balance in the higher education sector in India. With the rapid advancement of technology and its integration into academic workflows, understanding its effects on educators' personal and professional lives is crucial. The research employs a mixed-methods approach, combining quantitative surveys and qualitative interviews with faculty members from various Indian higher education institutions. The findings reveal both positive and negative impacts of digitalization on work-life balance, with increased flexibility and productivity offset by challenges such as extended working hours and difficulty in disconnecting from work. The study provides insights for policymakers and institutional leaders to develop strategies that harness the benefits of digitalization while mitigating its adverse effects on work-life balance.

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to understand the factors that determine the knowledge exchange intention and behavioural nature of academics by the help of social media tools in the Indian higher education. Design/methodology/approach This study has used valance–instrumentality–expectancy (VIE) theory to determine the knowledge exchange behaviour of academics. The study has considered the effects of knowledge contributor (KC) and knowledge seeker (KS) as moderators. The model has been validated by using a survey with 320 usable respondents. Findings The results highlight that if the stakeholders of higher education institutions feel the deficits of knowledge exchange, they realize importance of knowledge sharing and use social media to increase effect of knowledge exchange. Besides, perceived usefulness impacts on the use of social media for knowledge exchange by the concerned stakeholders. Moreover, it is observed that experience of the use of social media impacts the use of this tool for knowledge exchange. Research limitations/implications The use and application of VIE theory have successfully been able to interpret the factors affecting use of social media for knowledge exchange in higher educational institutes. The use of VIE theory has also been able to explain the proposed model better as the model could achieve a high explanative power (87%). Practical implications This study has provided meaningful insights to the practitioners and policymakers to realize how the stakeholders of the higher education institutions in India can be motivated to feel the need of sharing of knowledge and how they can use social media with ease for this purpose. Originality/value Not much research has been conducted with regard to the usage of social media as a tool for knowledge sharing in higher education sector in India. In that sense, this study is a novel attempt to undertake such research.

The Role and Impact of FDI in Development of Indian Education Sector

Higher education has emerged as one of the most critical factors for the Nation’s economic, political, social and cultural growth and development. Reforming the higher education sector has become an emergent norm across the globe, especially in the developing world. India is one such emerging nation, witnessing a major shift in its ideological, pragmatic and policy directions in the last few years. The higher education sector in India has witnessed unprecedented expansion. However, given the distinctive social-political-economic context and its complexity in India, expansion in higher education is often linked with ensuring equity and access. Whereas in the developed world, expansion is often associated with quality or excellence in higher education i.e. creating world-class universities. Further, excellence in higher education is arguably the most critical component for the survival, sustenance and growth of the sector. To this end, the paper examines the convergence and divergence in policies and practices related to the pursuit of excellence in higher education and its institutions in India vis-à-vis the dominant global reforms in higher education. Erstwhile policies related to quality in higher education and the current draft National Education Policy-2019, provide a reference to the local-distinctive strategies for seeking excellence at the systemic and the institutional level, with an aspiration for global reputation. For instance, National Institutional Ranking Framework, University Grants Commission’s graded autonomy, Institutional restructuring, National Accreditation and Assessment Council and Quacquarelli Symonds- India rating and so on. The paper also sets direction on how Local strategies for global aspirations could unpack a series of issues regarding the reforms in education and delineate in what ways that these emerging global reforms, strategies are effective and appropriate to the local higher education system and its institutions.

The Indian educational system has been organized and effective with cultural and moral orientations. The Indian education has undergone various transformations since Independence. However, there is a need for effective and purposive inclusive education in Indian higher education sector. The Indian government had given a new National educational policy in 2020 which can be implemented across the country. The educational model seems to be purposive, holistic & integrative in its nature and objectives. There is also a need for modern tools like AI & ICT to be integrated for effective implementation of NEP 2020. These aspects and issues are explored in this research as it would also give new impetus on innovations in Indian higher education teaching. This research is exploratory and conclusive in its nature and approach. This research is descriptive and critical in its approach. This study uses secondary data collected from various published sources in specific Google scholar. Data analysis has been done using empirical analysis which can provide new impetus and insights. It is concluded in this study that AI & ICT tools has a positive effect on NEP 2020 implementation. The opportunities for AI &ICT oriented NEP 2020 implementation are very huge which has to be exploited in Indian higher education sector. The teachers and top management of various Indian higher educational institutions must create new platforms, methods of teaching learning practices which can provide holistic integrative strategies for 2035.

The current era is the era of knowledge. Knowledge has become a powerful tool to win any war-like situation. Today, global economies run on the power of knowledge. To make a country more powerful, more knowledgeable human resources are required. Thus, the role of the education sector is prominent in creating knowledge resources. Knowledge concepts are systematized and disseminated through the education system. As per the World Bank report, India stands third in the world after the US and China as far as the higher education system is concerned. However, when we talk of quality in higher education, it falls short of institutional recognition at the world level. The reason may be the lack of impetus for innovation and research in India's education system. To improve the quality of higher education in India, a new National IPR policy was launched in 2016 to promote innovation and creativity in higher education institutes. Also, a new National Education Policy was formulated in 2020 which acknowledged less focus on innovation and research in higher educational institutes as a major problem and aims at developing academic inquisitiveness, scientism, and creativity in these institutions. It is necessary not only to create new knowledge but also to protect it as an intangible human asset. Through Intellectual Property Rights (IPR), the owner gets proprietary rights over the newly created knowledge or innovative ideas, though for a limited duration of time, thereby reducing the chances of theft or misuse of these. The present study focused on understanding the importance of Intellectual Property Rights (IPR) and strategies in terms of policy measures and steps taken by the government to integrate IPR into the education sector in India. The study found that though, the government is taking many measures for popularizing the concept of IPR creation and promotion, still much awareness needs to be created among students and faculties. The study is based on content analysis of secondary data collected from sources like published government reports, research journals, research articles, websites newspapers, etc. The study is descriptive and exploratory

The COVID-19 epidemic has affected higher education worldwide, more so in developing societies. While several studies have looked at the impact of this pandemic on higher education, evidence on the changing policies and practices of managing higher education in a global crisis is still sparse. We present an analysis of how the higher education sector was managed at the system (national/state) institutional and individual levels during the pandemic in India. Drawing on the notion of federalism, we examine the process of decision-making and policy implementation during the crisis and its long-term implications on the governance of higher education. We use student and teacher survey data and critical review of documents by the government and regulatory bodies of higher education, at national and state levels, in our analysis. We find that students have faced the issues like a lack of peer group interactions, unavailability of study materials and lack of regular interaction with teachers that often helps them in performing better while in colleges and universities. Teachers, particularly from private higher education institutions, suffered immense economic distress due to undue delay in receipt of salaries, salary cuts or retrenchment. More importantly, responses to the pandemic-led challenges for higher education by regulatory and coordinating bodies are seldom based on assessing the challenges students and teachers face. It is argued that federalism in education has been substantially weakened as the pandemic response followed a centralised and unilateral approach of decision-making. The article concludes with the short-term and long-term implications of the pandemic-led crisis on the higher education sector in India, adds to the growing literature on the issue.

Data mining is a process of extracting knowledge from large databases. Knowledge is appreciated as ultimate power now a days and considered as very important factor for the success of any organization because it has impacted the role of people working in that organization. In last decade, the higher education sector in India has grown radically. Thus HR management has implemented various improvements and it is hard for organizations to retain a motivated and competent workforce. Clever investment in human resource and its effective management has become very necessary today. HRM in higher education sector is further complicated by qualitative and multidimensional definition of “performance” of an academician (employee) in this sector. This paper aims to propose a model for predicting employee performance in higher education institutes with the help of classification and prediction techniques of data mining. The objective of model is to facilitate decisions in a challenging and emerging field of HRM in higher education sector.

Redefining the Indian Higher Education System

Women academicians in higher education in India have a more rigorous path to follow than their male counterparts in achieving their due professional status. There are several factors that hinder their progress, including patriarchal concepts in certain role expectations from women; stereotyping of women in certain roles; and non-acceptance of women in certain others. The notions about women that have thus got embedded in the higher education sector in India have a negative impact on their career progress. There is also the need to understand the phenomenon of the glass ceiling that women are faced with in their career promotion efforts in higher education and the inequalities they often encounter under male chauvinism. Against this backdrop, the present paper strives to study the factors that contribute to the job stress and dissatisfaction of women in higher education in India, using the constructs of feminism. The paper concludes that understanding these constructs enables the members of the academia to rationally navigate the experiences of women in higher education and to create supportive policies that ensure a sustainable future for academic women with job security, satisfaction, and dignity.

Higher education of India has the third largest higher education sector in the worldwide. In India expenditure per student as well as per teacher is very low .In the last ten years, higher education sector has improved as more IITs, IIMs and various central and state-level universities begin. Advancement of higher education various concerns raised. Various universities suffer from an insufficiency of good-quality of teaching staff and laboratories.

India's higher education system is one of the world's largest in terms of the student population. The Higher Education sector in India has witnessed a tremendous increase in the number of Universities/University level Institutions & College’s post-independence. However, there are issues that are hindering the system to be qualified as a top-notch globally. This paper examines the perception of Higher Education in India among college students with an aim to examine the extent of disparity in the system, to understand the required standard of higher education and to recommend changes that may arise in the process associated for improvement of higher education in India. The study was undertaken with an online survey by collecting data from different researcher scholars and postgraduate students with different specialisation, gender and age groups enrolled in the university. The findings from the study demonstrate the subjective interpretation of higher education from the narrative of the participants.

India, as a developing nation, is consistently progressing in the education field. While Indian higher education has expanded tremendously in terms of enrolment, the country has failed to produce an adequate number of world-class universities. Researchers have analysed challenges like demand-supply gap, lack of quality research and innovation, inadequate infrastructure, shortage of quality faculty, etc. Worldwide higher education policies have been transformed by various internationalisation processes that operate in a constant flux of globalisation. Given the projected demand for massification and quality improvements needed, internationalisation of higher education has become an important national goal in India. This paper conceptualises the importance of foreign partnerships in the Indian higher education sector. It delineates major challenges for the foreign enterprises to enter the Indian higher education market and highlights some recent developments on policy initiatives and schemes initiated by the Indian government to bring higher education at par with international standards. Specific hindrances of foreign partnerships in the higher education sector have also been discussed. In conclusion, this paper critically argues for formulating useful regulatory guidelines for foreign partnerships by fostering research on understanding the policy and management of the Indian higher education system.