Hard-to-Reach Students, or Hard-to-Reach Lecturers? A Personal Reflection

PurposeMarine plastic pollution (MPP) is increasing in recent times because of the high usage of plastic products. Green consumption behaviour (GCB) gaining attention as effective approach to achieving sustainable source reduction of plastic pollution, which negatively affects both human pollution and marine biodiversity and ecosystem. Although, Higher Education (HE) students are key stakeholders in addressing environmental issues, including MPP, there is limited empirical research in Ghana on factors influencing HE students’ GCB. This study, in an endeavour to bridge the gap, used the revised theory of planned behaviour (TPB) framework to investigate the factors influencing higher-education students’ green consumption behaviour in the Ghanaian context. Specifically, the purpose of the study is to examine the interplay of consumer novelty seeking (CNS), environmental concern (EC), perceived behavioural control and social influence on green consumption behaviour among higher-education students in Ghana. The study also explored the moderating role of gender in the relationship between CNS and green consumption behaviour.Design/methodology/approachThis study used quantitative approach to obtain data from a sample of 233 students at the University of Cape Coast and used the partial least squares structural equation modelling approach for the data analysis.FindingsThe findings provide valuable insights, highlighting the important role of CNS and ECs in driving higher education students’ green consumption behaviour in Ghana. This study also found a revealing role for gender as a moderator in the relationship between CNS and green consumption behaviour, with females exhibiting a more pronounced response to CNS in influencing green consumption behaviour. On the contrary, the authors found a non-significant impact of perceived behavioural control and social influence.Research limitations/implicationsAlthough this study presents results that provide valuable insights for policy and practical implications, it has some limitations worth mentioning for future research directions. Firstly, the participants sampled for this study comprised only higher education students from the University of Cape Coast in Ghana, which may limit the applicability of the findings to other student populations at various universities in Ghana and beyond. Moreover, the exclusion of non-students who are considered as “Generation Z” (i.e. born within 1995–2010) may narrow the scope of generalisability in the context of young consumers’ green consumption behaviour in Ghana. To enhance the generalisability of future studies, it is recommended that the scope of this study be extended. Furthermore, it should be noted that this study primarily measured higher education students’ green consumption behaviour based on self-reported data. Therefore, future research could adopt alternative approaches, such as non-self-reported measures or experimental data so to reduce the complexities and the gap that may exist between attitudes and behaviour.Practical implicationsThese results provide valuable insights for policymakers, educators and environmental advocates to develop targeted initiatives that resonate with Ghanaian higher education students to foster green consumption practices and contribute to global efforts against marine plastic pollution.Originality/valueThe novelty of this study lies in the decision to propose a TPB model by including variables like CNS and EC that are believed to positively shape attitudes towards green consumption behaviour. The rationale for examining these variables is grounded in the belief that they are appropriate factors that may predict students’ green consumer behaviour, which may serve as a potential solution to marine plastic pollution.

The study aimed to examine the influence of entrepreneurial passion, entrepreneurial literacy, role model inspiration, and self-efficacy on entrepreneurship readiness among higher education students and the role of the project-based learning model implementation as a moderator variable. The population in the study were students in higher education in Indonesia who had taken entrepreneurship courses. Data from 313 valid respondents were analyzed against the research model using the Partial Least Squares Structural Equation Modelling. The findings revealed that entrepreneurial passion, entrepreneurial literacy, and role model inspiration were found to positively influence self-efficacy as well as entrepreneurship readiness among students in higher education. Unpredictably, the moderator project-based learning models’ implementation was shown to have an insignificant effect on the influence of entrepreneurial passion, entrepreneurial literacy, and role model inspiration toward entrepreneurship readiness among students in higher education. The findings of this study provide several important theoretical and practical implications for entrepreneurship readiness among students in higher education. higher education in Indonesia who had taken entrepreneurship courses. Data collected from 313 valid respondents were analyzed against the research model using the Partial Least Squares Structural Equation Modelling. The findings revealed that entrepreneurial passion, entrepreneurial literacy, and role model inspiration were found to positively influence self-efficacy as well as entrepreneurship readiness among students in higher education. Unpredictably, the moderator project-based learning models’ implementation was shown to have an insignificant effect on the influence of entrepreneurial passion, entrepreneurial literacy, and role model inspiration toward entrepreneurship readiness among students in higher education. The findings of this study provide several important theoretical and practical implications for entrepreneurship readiness among students in higher education.

The study aimed to examine the influence of entrepreneurial passion, entrepreneurial literacy, role model inspiration, and self-efficacy on entrepreneurship readiness among higher education students and the role of the project-based learning model implementation as a moderator variable. The population in the study were students in higher education in Indonesia who had taken entrepreneurship courses. Data from 313 valid respondents were analyzed against the research model using the Partial Least Squares Structural Equation Modelling. The findings revealed that entrepreneurial passion, entrepreneurial literacy, and role model inspiration were found to positively influence self-efficacy as well as entrepreneurship readiness among students in higher education. Unpredictably, the moderator project-based learning models’ implementation was shown to have an insignificant effect on the influence of entrepreneurial passion, entrepreneurial literacy, and role model inspiration toward entrepreneurship readiness among students in higher education. The findings of this study provide several important theoretical and practical implications for entrepreneurship readiness among students in higher education. higher education in Indonesia who had taken entrepreneurship courses. Data collected from 313 valid respondents were analyzed against the research model using the Partial Least Squares Structural Equation Modelling. The findings revealed that entrepreneurial passion, entrepreneurial literacy, and role model inspiration were found to positively influence self-efficacy as well as entrepreneurship readiness among students in higher education. Unpredictably, the moderator project-based learning models’ implementation was shown to have an insignificant effect on the influence of entrepreneurial passion, entrepreneurial literacy, and role model inspiration toward entrepreneurship readiness among students in higher education. The findings of this study provide several important theoretical and practical implications for entrepreneurship readiness among students in higher education.

According to Sheffield Hallam University’s Access and Participation Plan (20/21-24/25), there has been an increased number of disabled students entering Higher Education (HE), with 14.6% of students declaring a disability in the sector. Therefore, this review of the literature explored potential barriers into Higher Education for students with disabilities. Within Higher Education institutions, disabled students may be categorised into having ‘mental health’, ‘cognitive and learning’, ‘sensory, medical and physical’ or ‘multiple impairment’ related disabilities. This review was commissioned in collaboration with the Higher Education Progression Partnership (South Yorkshire), with the aim of identifying barriers into Higher Education institutions for disabled students. Evidence provided from this literature review is intended to assist in developing a rationale for an intervention design and delivery that alleviates the barriers into Higher Education for disabled students. From examining the literature, a prominent barrier that emerged was a lack of accessibility at university. For instance, an inconsistent willingness from tutors to make reasonable adjustments to assessments, a lack of understanding of autism spectrum disorder (ASD) characteristics and spread-out university campus buildings that were inaccessible for students with Cerebral Palsy/walking disabilities. The research findings also revealed that there was a lack of accessible spaces on campus for disabled students, especially for students with ASD to interact. Furthermore, disabled students’ perceptions of stigmatisation and discrimination of disclosing their disability was another key barrier into Higher Education. For instance, during the application process to university, students believed that it would jeopardise their opportunity to be accepted into their chosen Higher Education institution if they were to disclose their disability.

The purpose of the article is to determine the vectors of building an effective interaction with employers in the system of higher library and information education. The methodology. Socio-communicative and system-structural approaches were applied, which made it possible to determine the directions and functions of communication links in the system of gradual library and information education, to prove the importance of strengthening the communication interaction in the “higher education institution — employer”, “student of higher education — employer”, “graduate of a higher education institution — employer” subsystems. Based on the application of sociological research methods (questionnaires and surveys, monitoring of the employment of graduates), the necessity of establishing comprehensive relations in the “student of higher library education program — employer-director of the library” system has been proved in order to form the general and professional competencies in applicants that are in demand at the labor market. The results. Based on the analysis of the modern pedagogical idea and the own years-long teaching experience, the issue of building an effective cooperation between higher education institutions and employers was considered for the first time. Emphasis is placed on the translation of “student-teacher” academic communication into future professional relations of “graduate — employer”. A systematic approach to the organization of communication interaction between the graduate departments of KSAC in the specialty 029 “Information, library and archival affairs” and employers is highlighted, which involves various formats, methods, ways and technologies of communication interaction of all stakeholders in the quality training of library personnel (students of higher library education, scientific — pedagogical staff, graduates, heads of library institutions), aimed at the requirements of the modern labor market. Based on the results of a survey within the directors of libraries of Kharkiv and Kharkiv region, the qualities of graduates of KSAC prioritized by employers were determined, and their rating was the following: professional knowledge (89%), mastery of modern ICT (87%), reader orientation (56%), sociability (55%), creativity (46%), responsibility and reliability (35%), leadership (34%), organizational skills (32%), speech culture (26%), appearance (21%). The effectiveness of the implementation of employment monitoring, involvement of employers into teaching, review of educational programs and qualification works of students, participation in final assessment, has been proven. The scientific topicality. The sociological study “A graduate in the eyes of an employer” carried out by the Department of Digital Communications and Information Research of KSAC revealed two key problems that affect the effectiveness of communication interaction in the “graduate — employer” system: 1) graduates easily use digital technologies — digital skills, but have weaker communication technologies (communication skills), standards of business communication, which inhibits their professional adaptation; 2) the culture of academic communication “student — teacher” is translated into professional interaction “graduate — employer”, which forms behavioral models of future librarians already at the student desk. This requires the strengthening of systematic cooperation between higher education institutions and leading employees of information structures, libraries, archives, museums and other document and communication institutions of society. The ways of improving of the communication patterns of students, teachers and employers, strengthening of their interaction, partnership and responsibility have been determined. It was revealed that all stakeholders involved into the training and refresher course of the new generation of library and information personnel look toward to close communication in order to improve the professional and personal qualities of graduates, their competitiveness at the modern labor market, and quick adaptation to the requirements of the library industry and to a specific workplace. The practical significance. The results of the study can be used by Ukrainian institutions of higher education in the process of improving educational programs for training specialists in the specialty 029 Information, library and archival affairs, as well as to increase the effectiveness of cooperation with employers in all possible areas of communication interaction in the system of training of library specialists of all educational degrees, which will contribute to increasing their competitiveness at the global information market.

In light of global efforts toward achieving inclusive and equitable education for all, there is an increasing need to shed light on the current state of higher education for deaf and hard-of-hearing (DHH) students and to analyze the challenges they face in order to contribute to the development of more inclusive educational environments. The present study aimed to identify the essential requirements for enrolling deaf and hard-of-hearin (DHH) students in higher-education institutions, and examine potential differences from the perspective of teachers according to their educational qualifications and years of experience. The study employed a descriptive survey research design using a researcher-developed questionnaire administered to 61 female teachers of DHH students in Saudi Arabia (Al-Ahsa Governorate). Data were analyzed using descriptive and inferential statistics to determine teachers’ perceptions. The findings revealed a high level of agreement among teachers’ participants regarding the importance of all identified domains. The most critical requirements for enrolling DHH students in higher education were ranked, in descending order, as follows: requirements related to the educational process, the educational environment, faculty members, sign-language interpreters and administrative aspects, and financial requirements. No statistically significant differences were observed in teachers’ views based on their educational qualifications and years of experience. The study concludes that achieving effective inclusion of DHH students in higher education requires comprehensive and coordinated efforts across multiple educational, institutional, and societal dimensions. Practically, the study proposes a framework to enhance institutional readiness by improving instructional strategies, ensuring accessible learning environments, providing qualified interpreters, Expanding Education and Training Opportunities, Effective Leadership, Infrastructure Developmen, Improving Attitudes, and allocating adequate financial resources, along with institutional and policy-level commitment, thereby supporting inclusive education in alignment with national and global goals.

This paper presents the findings of a systematic literature review about success factors for postgraduate accountancy and business-related students in higher education. The purpose of this article is to provide a platform for future research. Search terms were identified in 340 papers. After applying specific selection criteria, such as English, peer-reviewed articles, published between 2015 and 2021, which focus on success factors inherent to students in accounting and business-related higher education, 35 papers were selected for this review. The results highlighted gaps in the literature that warrant further focused consideration. A notable gap is the impact of social and demographic factors on the postgraduate level, particularly in developing economies. Furthermore, the impact of psychological factors such as motivation, learning styles and self-efficacy has been researched inconsistently, focussing primarily on the undergraduate level. These identified gaps necessitate further research that could inform targeted interventions to improve postgraduate success in accountancy and related fields.

Purpose – Institutional repositories (IR) are usually used to archive and manage digital collections including research results, educational material, etc. Learning management systems (LMS) form a popular basis for e-learning and blended learning. This paper aims to study how to integrate IR and LMS to support accessibility of disabled students and students with learning difficulties (dyslexic students) in higher education. Customised ontologies focusing on disabled students can be used to facilitate indexing, and access of items in the repository. Design/methodology/approach – The authors propose a simple methodological approach to establish an integrating system for supporting accessibility. First, the authors review research works related to adaptive learning environments (ALEs) and blended learning, and discuss issues of the interoperability of IR and LMS. Then, based on the review, the authors discuss the use of an integrated ALE for supporting disabled students in the domain of higher technological education. The integrated system is based on IR, LMS and assistive and adaptive technology. The open source software platform DSpace is used to build up the repository applications Use of the web ontology language (OWL) ontologies is also proposed for indexing and accessing the various, heterogeneous items stored in the repository. Various open source LMS (e.g. openeclass) could be used to build up the integrated system. Finally, the authors describe experimentation with a prototype implemented to provide the mentioned capabilities. Findings – The technology is mature enough for building up integrated systems, combining capabilities of IR and LMS, for supporting disabled students. The use of ontologies focused on disabled students could facilitate the use of such integrated systems. Customisation and operation of a platform, for the selection and use of portions of OWL ontologies, could be based on the open source software Protégé. Such a platform forms a basis to create an appropriate ontology suitable for specific domains, e.g. the domain of technological education. Finally, the authors argue that the combined use of the OWL platform and the DSpace repository with open source LMS platforms could support domain experts for creating customised ontologies and facilitating searching. Originality/value – A new perception of the term integrated system for supporting disabled students in the higher education context is presented. This perception tries to combine the IR technology that supports the self-archiving approach of information, open LMS technology and the user-centred approach to support students and manage the “life of information”.

O objetivo deste estudo descritivo foi analisar a associação entre autoeficácia no Ensino Superior e a satisfação acadêmica de estudantes universitários em Educação Física. Participaram 251 universitários matriculados nos cursos de Licenciatura e Bacharelado em Educação Física de uma universidade pública do estado de Santa Catarina/Brasil. Para a coleta de dados, foram utilizadas a Escala de Autoeficácia no Ensino Superior e a Escala de Satisfação com Experiências Acadêmicas. Os dados foram processados utilizando recursos estatísticos descritivos e inferenciais no software SPSS, versão 25.0. Os resultados mostraram escores médios superiores a sete em todas as dimensões da autoeficácia, com destaque para as dimensões social e gestão. Especificamente, quanto mais o aluno se percebe autoeficaz, mais satisfeito ele fica com a instituição. As evidências ressaltam a importância de pesquisas focadas na relação entre autoeficácia acadêmica e satisfação de estudantes do Ensino Superior para a melhoria da qualidade dos cursos ofertados.

Digital competence is among the basic key competences for digital learning and employability. For this reason, its acquisition and development should be on the agenda of higher education institutions (HEIs) who wish to prepare their students to thrive in an ever faster evolving digital labour market. However, the existence of a valid instrument that can help HEIs measuring and further integrating digital competence into pedagogical and organisational practices with sufficient precision is yet to be accomplished. This article provides a valid and reliable instrument to measure higher education students' digital competence on the basis of the European Digital Competence Framework for Citizens, also known as DigComp. The instrument was applied to a sample of 411 students from a mid‐large public HEI and the results attest its validity and reliability. In addition, the study explores proficiency differences among students from different fields of education and training, and gender. Results demystify the idea that ICT students are more digitally competent than those in other fields of study, but suggest males score higher than females, which feeds into the ongoing debate of gender differences in relation to digital technologies and the readiness of females for the digital labour market. The results lead to clear implications for research and practice. Practitioner notes What is already known about this topic Digital competence is critical for higher education (HE) students to benefit from digital learning, strive in a digital society and increase employability prospects. There is a lack of valid instruments to measure higher education (HE) students' digital competence and facilitate the identification of digital competence gaps. Few studies focus on the relationship between HE students' digital competence, gender and fields of education and training (FET). What this paper adds A valid and reliable instrument based on a common European framework for digital competence. HE students lack the necessary digital competences to effectively cope with digital environments. Digital proficiency is particularly low regarding “Safety”, “Problem solving” and “Digital content creation” competence areas. ICT students show less proficiency than those from other FET. Male students score higher than females. Implications for practice and/or policy The instrument can be adopted by different stakeholders to assess students/future job seekers' digital competence. HE institutions could benefit from such an instrument as a diagnosis to design specific teaching and learning strategies and target students' proficiency and particular needs. Tackling specific FET and competence areas can better support the development of students' digital competence and facilitate their employability prospects.

COVID-19 has disproportionately impacted black students in higher education (Arday & Jones, 2022; Kiebler & Stewart, 2022; Garcia et al., 2021; Moore et al., 2022). COVID-19 pandemic brought world-wide transformations that were accompanied by several forms of precarities and mental health problems (Arday & Jones, 2022; Rogers, 2021; Li & Wang, 2020). Thus, the current systematic review examines the impact of COVID-19 on black students in higher education. In doing so, it applies the critical race theory to provide insights on reducing racial disparities and to improve outcomes for black students in higher education. This literature review followed the protocol framework of the Cochrane Collaboration and the PRISMA guidelines. The results revealed that Covid-19 was linked with racism towards Black students, poorer mental health and wellbeing of Black students, several precarities in Black students, loneliness and isolation, and poorer access to academic-related support in Black students. These factors influenced lower academic achievements of Black students in higher education. It is recommended that higher education institutions, local communities, and policy makers should provide means of supporting Black and other minority ethnic students by addressing inequalities and access to resources.

Students’ academic engagement in higher education, especially in Economics, is crucial for their success. However, the interaction effect of gender and academic level on the academic engagement of Economics students remains unexplored. This study used a descriptive cross-sectional survey design to examine the academic engagement of Economics students in Ghanaian higher education, with a particular focus on variations based on academic level and gender. Using a census method, the research involved 452 students from different academic levels. This study employs a census method to involve 452 students across various academic levels. Also, a “multidimensional academic engagement scale” was utilized as the data collection instrument. Descriptive (“mean and standard deviation”) and multivariate analysis of variance (“two-way MANOVA”) were used to analyze the research objectives. The study found that Economics students showed high levels of cognitive, emotional, and behavioral engagement. However, their agentic engagement was moderate. Also, the study revealed no significant variations in academic engagement based on gender and academic level. However, at the univariate level, significant differences were found in agentic engagement based on gender. In addition, there were significant differences in both behavioral and agentic engagement based on academic level. It is recommended that higher education educators, especially Economics educators, focus on creating a supportive environment to increase students’ agentic engagement.

Purpose This chapter critically analyses the current participation of Indigenous Australian students in higher education and identifies new directions for seeding success and enabling Indigenous students to flourish in higher education contexts. Methodology Statistical reports, government reports and the scholarly literature were analysed to elucidate the nature of participation of Indigenous students in higher education, identify strategies that are succeeding, identify issues that need addressing and explicate potentially potent ways forward. Findings The findings have important implications for theory, research and practice. The results of this study demonstrate, that while increasing numbers of Indigenous Australian students are accessing higher education, they still are not participating at a rate commensurate with their representation in the Australian population. The findings also suggest new ways to enable Indigenous Australians to not only succeed in higher education, but flourish. Research implications The findings imply that more needs to be done to seed success in increasing the numbers of Indigenous Australian students in higher education to be representative of the population and ensuring participation in higher education enables Indigenous students to succeed and flourish. The findings also imply that there is a dire need for further research to identify key drivers of success. Implications The study supports the need for increasing the number of Indigenous Australians participating in higher education and enhancing higher education strategies to enable Indigenous students to succeed and flourish. Social implications Enhancing the participation of Indigenous students in higher education internationally can help to contribute to the well-being of individuals, Indigenous communities and nations. Originality/value This chapter provides an up to date analysis of the nature of Indigenous Australian participation in higher education and identifies potentially potent new ways forward to seed success that have international implications.

We study the relationship between academic performance of students in higher education and the decision to migrate. We focus on the case of Colombia due to the good availability of data on standardised tests for students in higher and secondary education. We exploit this information following an empirical strategy that allows us to identify the existence of negative effects associated with the decision to migrate, controlling for potential academic benefits of migration, such as belonging to better social networks in the receiving cities of migrants. These negative effects are associated with the psychological and financial costs that students face when migrating. Similarly, we follow a novel strategy by controlling for potential commuter students who are not identified in the sample, or who may be misclassified as migrants. These robustness exercises show that the result found previously is maintained, which is favourable to the hypothesis of the existence of negative effects associated with migration on academic performance. This result is relevant for the elaboration of educational policies in developing countries.

In the field of higher education, generative artificial intelligence (GenAI) has become a revolutionary influence, shaping how students access and use library resources. This study explores the intricate balance of both positive and negative effects that GenAI might have on the academic library experience for higher education (HE) students. The key aspects of enhanced discovery and retrieval, personalization and engagement, streamlined research processes, and digital literacy and information evaluation potentially offered through using generative AI will be considered. These prospective advantages to HE students offered by using GenAI will be examined through will be examined through the theoretical framework of the Technological Acceptance Model (TAM) introduced by Davis et al. in 1986, which suggests that perceived usefulness and perceived ease of use are key factors in determining user acceptance and utilization of technology. The adoption of GenAI by higher education students will be analyzed from this viewpoint before assessing its impact on their use of library resources.