Proposing a consortium-led financial services apprenticeship education framework

This paper studies the factors affecting university and industry collaboration in education in the hospitality industry in Ho Chi Minh City (Vietnam) from a company perspective. The authors use qualitative method and quantitative research to study the matters, specifically using scales and data collected for Cronbach alpha reliability testing, analysizing the discovery factor of EFA, CFA and verifying the regression models through AMOS software with SEM linear modeling. The study proposes four factors: (1) organization factors, (2) contextual factors, (3) process factors, and (4) cooperation perspective impacting on the benefits factors and university and industry collaboration in education. In addition, it is also found that benefits factors has a direct and positive impact on the collaboration in education. The results suggest that the process factor had the strongest positive, followed by the contextual factor. The findings revealed that the benefit factors were significantly related to collaboration in education, which affects university and industry hospitality alliances. This finding confirm that the cooperation perspective (QD) and contextual factors (HC) are critical in collaboration between university and industry. A new point of interest is also identified that the benefits of training links are quite dependent on the linking perspective from tourism businesses.

Purpose: This study is designed to develop a model for higher education institutions and industrial firms for effective collaborations. It will identify and evaluate technology exchange determinants upon which a model will be developed. Effective collaborations between higher education and industry will improve product development between them maximize the technical capacity of the two partners, as well as improve interaction. Research Design: The survey research questionnaire was used, of which data were collected in the form of field research by distributing self-administered questionnaires.The data were gathered from two technical universities; Kumasi and Accra technical universities, including 20 public and 20 private manufacturing firms within these two metropolises. The respondents were solely from the manufacturing engineering background. A sample of 400 was selected from both higher education and industry in equal proportions. The data collected were entered into SPSS and analysed. Findings: The study reveals that the commercialisation of technology output to the industry by higher education institutions is much more important in strengthening and improving collaborations. Joint new product development between university and industry will surely enhance interaction and maximise the technical skills of the two partners. Research Limitation: The study focused on forty (40) manufacturing firms of two metropolises and two technical universities out of the ten (10) technical universities in Ghana. These are the communities where there is a cluster of firms. Also, these are areas where much of the university-industry collaborations are entered into. Practical Implication: The findings of this study will equip higher education institutions as well as manufacturing firms with the factors that significantly strengthen collaborations between the two partners. Social Implication: The knowledge advanced by this study will help higher education institutions and manufacturing firms to review their policies regarding collaborations with each other. These collaborations are inclined towards building indigenous capacity and improving productivity in the manufacturing industry. Originality: This study proposed a conceptual description of technology exchange (TE) which is viewed as a bidirectional (two-way flow) approach to technology acquisition. The novelty of this study centres on the new model built for higher education and industry for effective collaborations. This manifests the fact that technology should be based on two-way (bidirectional) flow in every higher education and industry collaboration as this is necessary for the capacity maximisation of both partners. Technology transfer should no longer be a one-way flow (unidirectional) as it is now.

BackgroundThere is growing recognition that people need stronger financial capability to avoid and recover from financial difficulties and poverty. Researchers are testing financial capability interventions with adults, children, immigrant populations and other groups, but little is known about the effectiveness of financial capability interventions on financial behaviour and financial outcomes.ObjectivesThe purpose of this review is to inform practice and policy by examining and synthesizing evidence of the effects of interventions designed to improve financial capability. Financial capability interventions combine financial education and financial products and/or services. The research questions are: (a) What are the effects of interventions designed to improve financial capability on financial behaviour and financial outcomes? and (b) Does study(design), intervention (dosage, duration, type) or sample (age) characteristics relate to the magnitude of effect size?MethodsWe conducted two identical rounds of electronic searches for two different time periods. In Round 1 searched for studies through May, 2017 and Round 2 searched from May, 2017 through May, 2020. For both rounds, we identified and retrieved both published and unpublished studies, including conference proceedings, through a comprehensive search that included multiple electronic databases, grey literature sources, organizational websites, government websites and reference lists of reviews and relevant studies. We also conducted forward citation searching using Google Scholar to search for studies citing the included studies. We also conducted a search on Google using key terms. We hand searched the table of contents of selected journals to identify potentially eligible reports not properly indexed. Finally, experts who were study or sub‐study authors of prior studies were contacted in an attempt to obtain unpublished studies, studies in process and published studies missed in the database search.Selection CriteriaTo be eligible for this review, the intervention must have included a financial education component and a financial product or service. Studies must have also been conducted in any of the 35‐member countries of the OECD, and included a financial behaviour or financial outcome. To meet the criteria for delivering financial education, interventions must have delivered information about: (1) a variety of general financial concepts and behaviours, or advice about financial behaviours); (2) a specific financial topic; (3) a specific product; and/or (4) a specific service. To meet the criteria for access to a financial product or service, interventions must have facilitated access to one or more of the following: (1) a child development account; (2) a retirement account through an employer; (3) a ‘second chance’ checking account; (4) a matched savings account; (5) a financial service, such as financial counselling or coaching; (6) a bank account; (7) an investment vehicle; or (8) a home mortgage loan product.Data Collection and AnalysisElectronic searches of bibliographic databases and searches of other sources identified a total of 35,484 hits. Titles and abstracts were screened for relevance and 35,071 were excluded as duplicates or deemed inappropriate. The full text of the remaining 416 potential studies was reviewed and screened for eligibility by two independent coders. We excluded 353 reports that were deemed ineligible and included 63 reports that met inclusion criteria. Of the 63, 15 reports were deemed duplicates or summary reports. Of the remaining 48 reports, 24 were unique studies (using unique samples) that were included in this review. Six of those 24 studies were large longitudinal studies that presented unique analyses (using different time points, subsamples, and/or outcomes). Thus, we extracted data from 48 reports, reporting data and analyses from 24 unique studies. At least two review authors who were not study authors independently assessed risk of bias in all included studies using the Cochrane Collaboration's risk of bias tool.ResultsThe review summarizes evidence from 63 reports from 24 unique studies, which included 17 randomized controlled trials and 7 quasi‐experimental designs. In addition, 17 duplicate or summary reports were also located. This review identified several different types of previously evaluated financial capability interventions. Unfortunately, few interventions that were evaluated by more than one study measured the same or similar outcomes, thus there were not a sufficient number of studies of any of the included intervention types that could be pooled to conduct a meta‐analysis. Therefore, evidence is sparse about whether participants’ financial behaviours and/or financial outcomes are improved. While the majority of the studies used random assignment (72%), many of the studies had some important methodological weakness.Authors’ ConclusionsThere is a lack of strong evidence about the effectiveness of financial capability intervention. Better evidence is needed about the effectiveness of financial capability interventions to guide practitioners.

This thesis explores the 'global citizen' concept in higher education and financial services sectors. It investigates business school lecturers' and financial services managers' understandings of the 'global citizen' phenomenon. It investigates whether global citizenship supports employability in the financial services sector and should therefore be an aim of financial services-related higher education.Since 2000, 'global citizen' has been used increasingly in public, educational and business discourses, but the term encompasses many ideas and practices and is not clearly defined in policies or research literature in either higher education or business contexts. Some literature and policy documents suggest that global citizenship contributes to employability, which implies the need for a match between employment recruitment criteria and global citizen attributes promoted and developed in higher education.To address these issues, a qualitative investigation was undertaken using semi-structured interviews with business school lecturers and financial services managers together with documentary analysis of higher education and financial services policies. The conjoining of Lave and Wenger's legitimate peripheral participation in communities of practice and Archer's identity development through reflexive deliberation provided a framework to understand, interpret and explain the data. The findings show varied understandings of 'global citizen' both within and between my academic and professional communities of practice, and challenge the notion that being a global citizen contributes to employability in the financial services sector.This study also exposes disparities in academic and professional understandings of the aim(s) of higher education both within and between the two groups. Business school participants in the study largely considered that developing employability should be an aim of higher education, while the academics who participated in the research believed higher education should promote students' personal development. This may include global and cultural awareness, attributes that may be ascribed to global citizenship, but not the development of global citizens per se.

In today's increasingly globalized world, international collaboration in higher education has become essential for universities and institutions seeking to enhance academic excellence, foster cultural exchange, and address global challenges. However, effective international collaboration in higher education faces a myriad of challenges and offers numerous opportunities that warrant thorough investigation. This research aims to explore the challenges and opportunities associated with international collaboration in higher education within the context of a globalized world. The primary objective is to provide insights into the complexities and potential benefits of such collaborations. A mixed-methods approach was employed to gather data for this study. Quantitative data were collected through surveys and analysis of existing literature on international collaboration in higher education. Qualitative data were obtained through interviews and case studies of universities engaged in international partnerships. The research also involved a comparative analysis of policies and practices across diverse higher education systems. The findings reveal that international collaboration in higher education presents both challenges and opportunities. Challenges include navigating cultural differences, ensuring academic quality and standards, managing logistical complexities, and addressing funding and resource constraints. Opportunities encompass expanding access to global knowledge resources, fostering diverse perspectives, enhancing research productivity, and preparing students for a globally interconnected workforce. International collaboration in higher education is a multifaceted endeavor that demands careful planning, effective communication, and strong institutional commitment. While challenges are inherent, the potential benefits for universities, faculty, and students are substantial. This study underscores the importance of addressing these challenges proactively and leveraging the opportunities presented by international collaboration to advance higher education in a globalized world. As universities continue to engage in cross-border partnerships, a better understanding of the complexities involved will contribute to more successful and impactful international collaborations.

We can find a plethora of (almost) synonyms to refer to the concepts of dual education (apprenticeship, work-based learning, on-the-job training, blended education…). The objective of this work is to develop dual learning programs in higher education that combine work-based learning in a company and class-based learning in the same course following the principles of evaluation by competences. Dual learning is regulated in many countries (i.e., at least one pathway offers a combination of work-based learning and school based learning in the vast majority of EU countries), but its practical application is very marginal, except in Germany, Austria, and Switzerland (and recently in South Korea). Analyzing the approach followed in most countries, we can conclude that there is no single model of dual learning in the EU, but a continuum of types of programs that integrate work-based learning. The advantages of dual educational systems are clearly far beyond any reasonable doubt, as all evidences indicate that any learning-by-doing methodology has a very positive effect fixing learning outcomes. The main handicap of dual learning is that when developing/implementing those schemes, significant time is required before the benefits/improvements are obvious or measureable. All programs define the learning outcomes in accordance with the national framework with compliance of the European Qualification Framework. All partners use the competence approach and professionalization of education, one of the cornerstones of the Bologna process (student centered approach). In addition, programs are developed including compatibility the European Credit Transfer System (ECTS). The basis for calculating the volume of credits taken is given by the ECTS recommendations followed at the EU. Also, compatibility with the European Standards and Guidelines for Quality Assurance, are used. In the TEEDE ERASMUS+ project (Towards Excellence in Engineering Curricula for Dual Education), dual programs are developed/under development in the different partner universities , where regional needs analysis involving the stakeholders (i.e., university, companies, HE regulator…) is done. Each partner is developing/developed higher education programs, deciding to develop a new program or modify existing) and the practical implantation aspects (i.e., it might be offered as a parallel track to a school-based scheme or not). So far, 12 BSc, 7 MSc and 1 PhD programs of all branches of engineering are under development, developed (but waiting for official approval) or running. The vocational drift of higher education institutions (HEI) is observable by a stronger integration of practical learning in higher education (HE) and an increasing demand of work based learning. But, often, it is not adequately reflected in changes in the learning environment. Despite the difference of all partner countries covered by the TEEDE project, all higher education apprenticeship systems shared common challenges: - Enhance cooperation between HEIs and non-academic organisations to develop dual curriculum, with an adequate combination of theoretical and practical elements identifying the learning opportunities in the work process. - Quality of HE (and work placement) through improving the tutorship. Tutors (from both, industry and academia) are the key element for the quality and sustainability of dual programs. Providing learning material/modules/guidance will better valorise this function.

Background This study intends to investigate the relationship between artificial intelligence and teachers’ collaboration in educational research in response to the growing use of technologies and the current status of the field. Methods A total of 62 publications were looked at through a systematic review that included data mining, analytics, and bibliometric methods. Result The study shows a steady increase in the field of artificial intelligence and teacher collaboration in educational research, especially in the last few years with the involvement of the USA, China, and India. Education and information technology are the main contributors to this field of study, followed by an international review of open and distance learning research. The Scopus database is used in this study to find publication trends, important papers, major themes, and keywords. It also looks at target concepts and futuristic themes. Conclusions Over a three-year period, the average citation value is 12.44%. The education system, learning, e-learning, sustainability, COVID-19 issues, team challenges, organizational conflicts, and digital transformation are just a few of the topics it significantly contributes to. The study acknowledges its limitations and considers potential avenues for additional research. The results also emphasize important gaps in the literature, highlighting the necessity for more research. This information can help develop strategic approaches to address issues and take advantage of opportunities relating to artificial intelligence and teacher collaboration in higher education and research. The study’s ultimate goal is to offer guidance for tactics that promote teachers’ cooperation in educational research and the development of artificial intelligence.

This study intends to investigate the relationship between artificial intelligence and teachers' collaboration in educational research in response to the growing use of technologies and the current status of the field. A total of 62 publications were looked at through a systematic review that included data mining, analytics, and bibliometric methods. The study shows a steady increase in the field of artificial intelligence and teacher collaboration in educational research, especially in the last few years with the involvement of the USA, China, and India. Education and information technology are the main contributors to this field of study, followed by an international review of open and distance learning research. The Scopus database was chosen for this study because of its extensive coverage of high-quality, peer-reviewed literature and robust indexing system, making it a dependable source for conducting bibliometric analyses. Scopus offers substantial information, citations tracking, and multidisciplinary coverage, which are critical for spotting publication trends, significant articles, major themes, and keywords in the area. The findings show that education and information technology make the most significant contributions to this sector, followed by international studies on open and distance learning. Over a three-year period, the average citation value is 12.44%. The education system, learning, e-learning, sustainability, COVID-19 issues, team challenges, organizational conflicts, and digital transformation are just a few of the topics it significantly contributes to. The study acknowledges its limitations and considers potential avenues for additional research. The results also emphasize important gaps in the literature, highlighting the necessity for more research. This information can help develop strategic approaches to address issues and take advantage of opportunities relating to artificial intelligence and teacher collaboration in higher education and research. The study's ultimate goal is to offer guidance for tactics that promote teachers' cooperation in educational research and the development of artificial intelligence.

Internationally, various mandates and policy directives require higher music education institutions to engage in intercultural collaboration. These include fulfilling national policy demands for internationalization in higher education, providing students with experience of working internationally to increase their employability, and conducting proper diversity management so as to facilitate diversity-conscious and responsible interaction with employees, students, and the broader educational community. In this chapter, the topic of intercultural collaboration in higher music education is approached from a different starting point, asking what, from a leadership point of view, creates obstacles to such collaboration and what makes it challenging or difficult either at the levels of individual participants, administrators, or the institution. Twelve leadership representatives from three different institutions of higher music education were interviewed about their experiences with intercultural collaboration and the benefits and challenges of engaging in such interactions. From the interviewees’ experiences, their work of attempting to govern or manage situations of complex intercultural interaction while simultaneously negotiating between the different interests expressed within the frames of their respective institutions featured prominently in the empirical material. In this chapter, these negotiations and deliberations are theorized and discussed attending to perspectives borrowed from literature on intercultural competences, leadership in higher education, and new managerialism.

Objective: The objective of this study is to analyze the importance of effective management of financial inclusion and education in the context of sustainable development, highlighting its impact on the achievement of the SDGs. It also aims to identify the main challenges faced by vulnerable populations in accessing financial services and propose comprehensive strategies to improve financial literacy and accessibility, contributing to a more inclusive and equitable society. Theoretical Framework: For this research we have several relevant approaches and theories such as: financial inclusion theory; its relationship with the SDGs; financial education theory, as well as inclusion and sustainable development. Method: The methodology adopted for this research comprises a qualitative approach, based on the review of documents, public policies and government programs on financial inclusion and education to assess their effectiveness with respect to the SDGs. Data from the World Bank's Data Dashboard (The Global Findex Database, 2024) was analyzed using content analysis, which allowed identifying key themes and gaining a deeper understanding of the perceptions and experiences related to the evaluated programs.. Results and Discussion:The results obtained revealed that, although there is progress in financial inclusion in Mexico, there are still areas of opportunity to improve access to and use of financial services, especially among the most vulnerable segments of the population. It is necessary to highlight the need to continue working on the promotion of financial inclusion in Mexico and in other regions, through public policies that promote financial education, technological innovation, and collaboration between the public and private sectors. Research Implications: The practical implications of this research include the improvement of public policies and programs focused on financial inclusion and education, promoting more equitable access to financial services in vulnerable populations. At a theoretical level, the study provides a deeper understanding of the relationship between financial management and sustainable development, offering a conceptual framework that links financial inclusion with the SDGs. This strengthens the academic analysis on how financial education can drive inclusive economic growth. Originality/Value: The originality and value of this research lies in its focus on the direct relationship between financial inclusion and financial education with the SDGs, an area underdeveloped in the literature. The research offers a new perspective by assessing how financial education can be a key tool for achieving equitable and sustainable development. Its contribution to the literature is in providing a detailed analysis of public policies and government programs, highlighting their effectiveness and identifying areas for improvement, which brings a comprehensive and updated approach to the study of financial inclusion.

This guide accompanies the following article : Daniel H. Nickolai, Steve G. Hoffman, and Mary Nell Trautner. 2012. ‘Can a Knowledge Sanctuary also be an Economic Engine? The Marketing of Higher Education as Institutional Boundary Work’, Sociology Compass 6(3):205–18. Authors’ introduction The marketing of higher education refers to a structural trend towards the adoption of market‐oriented practices by colleges and universities. These organizational practices blur the boundary between knowledge‐driven and profit‐driven institutions, and create tensions and contradictions among the three missions of the 21st‐century university: knowledge production, student learning, and satisfying the social charter. In this article, we highlight the historical contexts that nurtured the marketing of higher education in the US and Europe and explore the dilemmas that arise when market logics and business‐oriented practices contradict traditional academic values. We demonstrate that managing these dilemmas is a contested process of policing borders as institutional actors struggle to delineate the proper role of the university in a shifting organizational climate. Authors recommend Arum, Richard and Josipa Roksa. 2011. Academically Adrift: Limited Learning on College Campuses . Chicago, IL: University of Chicago Press. A book that asks a fundamental question in higher education: “How much are students actually learning?” The results do not reflect well on the institution. Arum and Roksa conduct longitudinal tests of critical thinking and analytic reasoning skills on a cohort of students at a variety of universities and colleges. They find that a majority of respondents demonstrate little to no improvement in learning outcomes. Even students who improve show modest gains. The authors’ analysis of student surveys suggests that a major culprit is a combination of low rigor in the curriculum, a lack of effort among students, and the overly modest expectations of instructors. Barnett, Ronald. 2010. ‘The Marketised University: Defending the Indefensible.’ Pp. 39–51 in The Marketisation of Higher Education and the Student as Consumer , edited by M. Molesworth, R. Scullion and E. Nixon. New York: Routledge. Barnett suggests that debates about the effects of marketization on higher education often reflect pre‐existing ideologies about the nature of markets in general. He presents numerous arguments in favor of the conception of students as consumers. For example, the increased power students receive in choosing where and from who to take classes may encourage accountability and actually improve the learning experience as students take a more active role in charting their own course through their education. Barnett also reminds readers that different institutions create different contexts and the extent to which market models of higher education are applicable are largely dependent on these different contexts. Berman, Elizabeth Popp. 2012. Creating the Market University: How Academic Science Became an Economic Engine . Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press. An in‐depth historical sociology of the entrepreneurial university, this book explores when and why academic science become increasingly tethered to commercial interests over the last four decades. Berman focuses primarily on patenting trends and the political history of patenting law, as well as the development of biotech entrepreneurship and the emergence of university‐industry incubators. She argues that the trend toward an entrepreneurial model were largely driven by the ideals of government officials about the importance of translating scientific and technological innovation into economic growth, along the way creating the organizational environment necessary to enable market‐oriented research to flourish. Kleinman, Daniel Lee. 2003. Impure Cultures: University Biology and the World of Commerce . Madison, WI: University of Wisconsin Press. Kleinman provides an in‐depth look into the daily work culture of a plant pathology lab at the University of Wisconsin. This participant observation study includes ambitious critiques of the dominant agency‐oriented approaches within science and technology studies by focusing on issues of structural constraint and institutional power. This study is especially good at demonstrating how university biologists are deeply, athough indirectly, constrained by commercial interests. The influence is not easily found in conflicts of interest or day‐by‐day decision making of scientists, who by and large conduct themselves ethically and in the fashion predicted by Mertonian norms of science. Instead, the culture of commerce impacts an array of daily lab practices, including the baseline epistemological assumptions around what is a “significant” finding. In the world of plant pathology, a successful trial is determined in relation to the metrics established by the field’s resource dependency on the agro‐chemical industry. Leslie, Larry L. and Gary P. Johnson. 1974. ‘The Market Model and Higher Education.’ The Journal of Higher Education 45:1–20. This landmark article is among the first to interrogate the use of a market model as it applies to higher education. The authors trace several key legislative measures that altered federal funding practices and gave students discretion in choosing which schools would receive the most funding. While the authors draw similarities between market practices and the process of funding higher education through students, they also question the extent to which a market model of higher education is applicable. Drawing a contrast between higher education funding practices and a perfectly competitive market model, they provide an important critique of a funding system still in use today. McMillan, Jill J. and George Cheney. 1996. ‘The Student as Consumer: The Implications and Limitations of a Metaphor.’ Communication Education 45:1–15. This article warns of the dangers involved in recasting students as consumers. McMillan and Cheney synthesize arguments about the traditional goals of education and how treating students as consumers can threaten traditional classroom relations and alienate students from the learning process. Implicit in their discussion is an argument for more traditional classroom approaches to fostering democratic citizenship skills through critical analysis and communal sharing of ideas. They explicitly reject the notion of education as a product (rather than a process) and the demand for professors to deliver the product in the most entertaining and efficient manner. Owen‐Smith, Jason and Walter W. Powell. 2002. ‘Standing on Shifting Terrain: Faculty Responses to the Transformation of Knowledge and Its Uses in the Life Sciences.’ Science Studies 15:3–28. An interview‐based study of 80 scientists from two university campuses, this paper provides a typology of faculty identities and research strategies at the nexus of academic and commercial research within the life sciences. The typology includes “old” and “new school” orientations to commercial research as well as hybrid categories somewhere between these two extremes, such as “engaged traditionalists” and “reluctant entrepreneurs.” Eschewing simplistic analyses that either condemn or glorify the commercial engagements of academics, Owen‐Smith and Powell point out that these various positions have created both novel fault lines and innovative research within the life sciences. Radder, Hans. 2010. The Commodification of Academic Research:

Two major issues can be pointed out in the direction of education finance policy in the new government. First, the current scale of education finance is sufficient enough that the decrease in the school-age population is the determining factor for reducing education finance? Second, the government's strategy to invest higher education is sufficient to secure an appropriate level of funding for higher education?. The purpose of this study was to analyze two issues based on empirical data and to propose policy suggestions to expand higher education finances to overcome the structural crisis of it. As a result of the analysis, 10 reasons for not reducing education finance even if the number of students decrease; 3 reasons related to the country's educational outlook and philosophy, 5 reasons for structural problems of weak education finance, and 2 reasons for the additional budge for the future education were identified. And the structural crisis in higher education system related to university finance were analyzed as followings: First, phenomenon of hollowing out local universities due to the mismatch between supply and demand for university education, the crisis situation that emerged from the weak university financial structure, the crisis of polarization in university education due to the increase in the burden of college tuition, and the size of the university budget, which is far short of economies of scale, was presented; Second, as a result of estimating the minimum university financial demand based on the national economic size and the OECD average, the additional support for higher education currently planned by the new government was very insufficient. Finally, this study suggested several policy alternatives based on the empirical evidences; enactment of Higher Education Finance Grant Law for securing it by 1% of GDP, Special Accounting Act for Balanced University Development, Special Act on Support for Higher and Vocational Lifelong Education, the Education Finance Grant Law to secure finances in line with GDP growth rate, and enactment of the High Education Tax.

Since the establishment of the Korean government, Gugak has entered institutional education. Attention was paid to this aspect because it shows that professional Korean traditional music education, which relied on apprenticeship education in the past, began within a modern and contemporary educational institution called “school.” Starting with high school education in the early 1950s, Korean traditional music education has been upgraded to higher education in universities over time. And as time went by, the number of professional education institutions also increased. But, it was only just before the 21st century that folk arts such as folk songs and folk games, including Nongak, entered higher education. Instead of higher educational institutes, in vocational high schools specialized Nongak education, which had been away from the center of education since the middle of 1950. It is clear that this phenomenon must be explored to shed light on changes in modern Nongak history and Korean traditional music education. This is because figures trained through Nongak education in the vocational high school space are currently actively participating in the transmission, performance, and education of Nongak in each region and have a significant impact on the current stage of Nongak transmission.

This thesis is a theoretical work that explores approaches for conceptualising and interpreting musical performance assessment practices in higher education contexts. Musical performance assessment is characteristic of higher music education, and the principal form of assessment associated with tertiary musical performance training. Although educational assessment is a ubiquitous feature of higher education around the world, it has remained a contested realm of practice for decades, reflecting competing purposes, approaches, and philosophies. Despite much theoretical advancement having been made over recent decades, assessment practices themselves have been slow to change. This is especially true in higher music education contexts where traditional approaches continue to be valorised. This situation has prompted calls for new ways of viewing assessment, which is what this research is about. This thesis describes an explorative, qualitative research project that sought to investigate meaningful ways of conceptualising musical performance assessment practices. Three main questions guided the research, each reflecting a different facet of assessment practices. 1. How can bases for achievement in musical performance work be meaningfully conceptualised? 2. How can bases of legitimation for assessment participants be meaningfully conceptualised? 3. How can bases of legitimation for assessment practices in higher music education be meaningfully conceptualised? The emphasis on legitimation in these questions reflects the theoretical positions that frame the research, including the adoption of Legitimation Code Theory (LCT), which is a sociological framework for studying social practices. The questions are underpinned by a basic view of assessment as a sociallysituated practice, characterised by multiple overlapping systems of legitimation. In exploring these questions, the aim was to develop useful conceptual resources for viewing assessment practices by explicitly connecting theoretical concepts with data. In this, the intention was to produce theoretical ideas that could actually relate to musical performance assessment practices. To anchor this process, data were purposefully collected from a range of sources, including the academic literature, interviews with assessment participants (n=26) including both assessors and students involved in Australian higher music education, and the body of publicly available documentation that governs assessment practices in this sector. The data were analysed using a multi-strategy qualitative methodology, and the exploration of intersections between the data and concepts from LCT was the main approach by which the research questions were explored. The research has several main outcomes. The conceptual framework developed in the first part of the thesis provides a package of perspectives and resources for studying and theorising musical performance assessment practices. It situates musical performance assessment in higher education as an object of study and outlines a set of theoretical ideas than can be used to make sense of assessment practices. The latter part of the thesis develops responses to the research questions and offers theoretical resources for conceptualising various aspects of musical performance assessment practices. The main focus is on translating between concepts from LCT and aspects of substantive musical performance assessment practices. As part of this process, the later chapters of the thesis describe theoretical approaches for 1) conceptualising underlying characteristics of criteria for musical performance assessment, 2) for conceptualising how the attributes of assessment participants matter in terms of their ability to successfully participate in practices, and 3) for conceptualising and interpreting the legitimation of assessment practices themselves. Ultimately, these outcomes are starting points. Although the work described in this thesis is deliberately oriented toward the world of practice, it is nonetheless primarily theoretical, and so its main contribution is to offer points of departure for further research and/or the development of approaches for use in substantive contexts.

In recent years, strategic alliances represent inter-firm cooperative agreements aimed to attain competitive advantages for the partners. The purposes of this paper are to suggest the key processes academia and industry collaboration in higher education in terms of policy initiatives and legal frameworks and to highlight the main challenges for the future. By discussing strategic alliances between corporations and institutions of higher education, and analyzing the success stories, it was found that research funding and cooperation with the industries are the main factors for competitiveness. In addition, continuous learning and restructuring process were enhanced by cooperation among universities. This paper offers an insight into how to improve others to effectively utilize strategic alliance between corporations and institutions of higher education. Index Terms - Strategic alliances, Higher education,