Changing Nature Of Higher Education Research Articles

Formación de líderes académicos en la educación superior. La importancia del contexto para el desarrollo eficaz del liderazgo

Amidst the changing nature of higher education, one may wonder how leaders of higher education institutions [HEIs] can succeed and thrive in today’s highly uncertain environments. This qualitative case study examined the factors, practices, and competencies that contributed to effective leadership development of academic leaders at one Canadian university. Through the document analysis and qualitative interviews with academic leaders, it explored the organizational context and individual strategies and competencies that supported leaders in their roles in higher education [HE]. The analysis showed the significance of context as a crucial factor in the effectiveness of leadership development. The findings support further work on developing a different approach to leadership development for academia; one that is founded on an understanding of what academic leaders and their institutions require to succeed and flourish during this time of unprecedented change.

The role of leadership in effective implementation of quality assurance mechanisms in higher education: an exploratory case study from Pakistan

PurposeThis study aims to explore whether and how leaders’ attributes, understanding of and attitude towards quality assurance (QA) shape their practices towards effective implementation of QA in universities.Design/methodology/approachUsing qualitative case study, the data were collected from nine institutional leaders purposively selected from two universities. The data, collected through semi-structured interviews, were analysed using thematic analysis technique.FindingsThe findings revealed that personal attributes of leaders such as understanding of QA, attitude towards QA and practices shape leadership style either as transformational or compliance leader. The transformational leader implements QA procedures with the intention of bringing improvement in teaching learning and research quality. In contrast, the compliance leaders are primarily concerned with implementation of QA procedures merely to fulfil the requirements of an external regulatory body.Research limitations/implicationsThis study acknowledges that certain other factors (e.g. demographics, institutional policies or practices) might have an influence on leadership practices. Using the framework of this study, further quantitative and/or mixed methods research can expand by bringing more factors that can shape leadership practices.Originality/valueThe role of leadership is significant to the success of any university. A plethora of studies have reported various aspects of successful leadership in higher education (HE). However, in the changing nature of HE due to the emergence of formal QA, there is paucity of research that focusses on the role of leader’s attributes in the effective implementation of QA procedures.

A Guide for Leaders in Higher Education: Core Concepts, Competencies, and Tools by B. D. Ruben, R. de Lisi and R. A Gigliotti

Reviewed by: A Guide for Leaders in Higher Education: Core Concepts, Competencies, and Tools by B. D. Ruben, R. de Lisi and R. A Gigliotti Tori Amason A GUIDE FOR LEADERS IN HIGHER EDUCATION: CORE CONCEPTS, COMPETENCIES, AND TOOLS RUBEN, B. D., DE LISI, R., & GIGLIOTTI, R. A. STERLING, VA: STYLUS PUBLISHING, LLC, 2016. 463 PAGES PAPERBACK: $39.95. ISBN-13: 978-1620363928 [End Page 130] A Guide for Leaders of Higher Education: Core Concepts, Competencies, and Tools by Brent D. Ruben, Richard De Lisi, and Ralph A. Gigliotti is both a conceptual piece on the state of higher education and a practical guide for higher education leaders. The premise of the book describes higher education as an ever-changing sector that leaders must navigate. Issues at the forefront of the book are affordability and declining funding, access and diverse student populations, accountability and performance measures, and alignment and college readiness. “It is extremely important for those working in higher education to view these sector-wide issues as highly personal and relevant to their everyday work” (p.6). This text provides rich examples and tangible strategies that higher education leaders can follow to be more effective and successful in their roles. Far too often, the complexities, gaps, and changing nature of higher education overshadow those doing the work. It is important for leaders to understand themselves, the context in which they lead, and how to lead more effectively for progress and change. This book encompasses two perspectives typically addressed separately, general leadership and the intricacies of and practices in higher education. As an easily digestible read, this book can be used for current leaders in higher education, aspiring leaders in the field, and graduate students in higher education programs. There are many examples and ways to actively engage with the material through questions and activities, as it is both an informational and workbook style text. Each chapter begins with guiding questions that give a preview of the chapter’s content and can also be used as a reflection supplement as leaders are reading. The authors present realistic and tangible perspectives of the topics discussed (e.g., managing your reputation in the crisis leadership or measuring organizational excellence, which are modeled after accreditation standards). Within the chapters, the authors also offer recommendations for action when addressing issues discussed. Context setting begins in the foreword by Doug Lederman, as he conducts an analysis of higher education identifying strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats. Grounding leadership in higher education as a sector, Ruben et al. present critical information for the field of higher education. Beginning the book with higher education context and the addition of the analysis allows for the reader to understand the chapters that proceed with the necessary lens of higher education to better conceptualize leadership in these terms. Part One: Leadership in Higher Education: A Critical Need in a Complex and Challenging Landscape sets a strong foundation for understanding the context of higher education as chapters in this section were written with the nuances of higher education in mind. “Higher education engages numerous internal and external stakeholders; has nonsingular, complex, and sometimes contradictory missions; and employs an academic work-force that enjoys a unique status in organizational governance…[The] aim of this book is to focus on concepts, competencies, and tools that allow leaders to blend and benefit from these tensions” (p. 4). Chapters in Part One cover topics of leadership in higher education, the higher education landscape--which discusses the scrutiny higher education is currently under with rising costs, changing demographics, and a call for better completion rates, the mission of higher education institutions, and the many stakeholders of higher education. This section of the book grounds leadership in the context of higher education and sets the foundation for future chapters to be read through that lens. Part Two of the book, Leadership Concepts and Competencies discusses knowledge and skills leaders need in higher education such as, understanding campus cultures, different approaches to leadership, leadership roles, communication as a necessary skill, and how to measure leadership. Part Two expands on defining leadership, how it can be measured through competencies, and highlights the unique opportunity members of the campus community to...

Talent retention strategies for female academics in the higher education sector

This study aimed at identifying talent retention strategies for female academics in the higher education sector, paying particular attention to the Sub-Saharan context. Higher education institutions rely on the knowledge, abilities, and skills of their academics in order to keep abreast of the changing nature of higher education globally. These institutions of higher learning are required to be competitive and achieve their strategic goals in order to remain relevant in the sector. Studies have shown that female academics are leaving the higher education sector for the private sector for numerous reasons, including better salaries and further development. Additionally, some female academics are emigrating to European countries in search of greener pastures. Therefore, higher education institutions have to ensure that talent retention strategies are implemented to retain female academics, as well as to facilitate their progress to top leadership positions. The study utilized four crucial retention strategies identified in Kenya by Mutiria, Rukangu and Kubaison in 2015. These retention strategies include compensation and benefits, formal succession planning, training and development and career development opportunities. A quantitative research design was adopted for this study, whereby online questionnaires were completed by 112 female academics at a Sub-Saharan university. The data were analyzed using the Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (SPSS) version 27 for Windows. The results revealed a significant relationship between the four identified strategies and retention. Thus, institutions of higher learning should effectively implement these strategies in order to retain talented female academics, considering the dynamics in the sector.

Unbundling education: Mapping the changing nature of Higher Education in South Africa - ESRC

Unbundling education: Mapping the changing nature of Higher Education in South Africa - ESRC

On Art and Knowledge

AbstractI comment upon the recent blossoming of writing on art, knowledge and research and connect this to its material roots in the changing nature of higher education. I find much of this writing wanting in that it implies a division of art into ‘knowledge‐producing’ and ‘non knowledge‐producing’ art. I examine how art objects might be said to generate knowledge, particularly the kind of propositional knowledge which sits at the centre of both traditional epistemology and ‘knowledge transfer’ in the contemporary academy. Although there are many ways in which artworks might variously generate such knowledge, I conclude that there is none that is common to all. I go on to examine other kinds of knowledge, particularly Gilbert Ryle's ‘knowledge‐how’ and use this as a staging post to suggest that there is yet another kind of knowledge, produced by all works of art. Finally I borrow some ideas from recent work in the philosophy of science to suggest a concrete mechanism by which this knowledge is made available to us.

Current trends and issues affecting academic libraries and leadership skills

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to reflect on major issues and trends of academic libraries and leadership in the changing nature of higher education. Changing environment of academic libraries has impacted significantly on the knowledge, skills requirement and role of the library leaders, and how organizations can maintain and manage the changing nature of academic libraries as well as leadership while effective leadership is extremely required for the library leaders and organizations are concern about future scenarios. The primary objective is to identify the key challenges in libraries, leadership skills and approaches of the leaders, their effective leadership traits and future perceptions are discussed. Design/methodology/approach The aim of this paper is to facilitate as how to develop effective and successful leadership for the academic libraries during the changing nature of higher education. The findings and recommendations in the paper are based on personal experience of leadership positions in an academic library as well as experience of library leaders across the world. Findings Academic libraries are facing similar challenges and issues across the world. This paper identifies that library leaders need to be effective communicators, strategic thinkers, visionary, and able to examine the new ways of working. Originality/value This paper discusses why academic library leaders need a set of new skills and how can they develop leadership skills and competencies in the changing nature of academic libraries.

Interpretation and Response to the Changing Nature of Higher Education

Higher education is more complex than most in the academy understand. The purpose of this article is to explore administrator perceptions of the external pressures affecting higher education, the strategies they were using to address the pressures, and the internal barriers to dealing with the pressures successfully. Information comes from twenty-one administrators from nine different institutions (most “comprehensive regional colleges and universities”) with whom we talked.

Online learning: Cheap degrees or educational pluralization?

AbstractIn an era of shifting social and communication norms, where 76% of Americans surveyed reported they reached for tablets to check online communication before saying “good morning” to partners (Kensington.com, ), online education's increased popularity as a “lifestyle” choice is unsurprising (Ragusa, ). Qualitative thematic analysis of 289 surveys by university students studying and communicating entirely in a virtual classroom, however, revealed a plethora of assumptions about the changing nature of higher education. A growing gap between internal and distance education was perceived to impact pedagogical quality, interaction levels between students/lecturers for time purchased through tuition and institutional inflexibility with extensions for subject and/or degree completion. Most (53%) distance students found virtual learning paled in comparison with internal classrooms, despite expressing gratitude for improved flexibly to study at their own pace. Many (35%) students “hoped” employers would perceive distance degrees equally rigorous, yet ambiguity emerged about virtual degrees’ global acceptance as equal in kind and quality with “traditional” degrees. Despite increased online study and governmental calls to recognize degree accreditation trans‐nationally, ensuring quality irrespective of where obtained (Barber, Donnelly, & Rizvi, ), virtual degrees remain risky not because students perceive them as cheap consumer‐products, but because much human capital and institutional investment are required for success.

Book Review of "Student Mobilities, Migration and the Internationalization of Higher Education"

Brooks, R., & Waters, J. (2011). Student Mobilities, Migration and the Internationalization of Higher Education. New York, NY: Palgrave Macmillan. Pages: 208. Price: 100.00 USD (hardcover). ISBN 9780230578449Current research investigating international student mobility tends to focus on economic factors and government policies. Student Mobilities, Migration and the Internationalization of Higher Education departs from this trend by looking at internationalization of higher education from students' perspectives. Drawing on case studies of international student mobility from East Asia, mainland Europe, and the UK, the authors have developed a strong analysis on the relationship between the internationalization of higher education and the understanding of student mobility. Informed by key conceptual ideas and discourses associated with employability, cultural capital, social reproduction, and cosmopolitan identities, this book is a timely investigation of the changing patterns of international student mobility. With the majority of educational research examining student flow from countries in East and Southeast Asia to Anglophone destinations, the authors take a unique position by considering the perspectives of students who come from continental Europe and the UK.According to the authors student mobility is changing direction, from inward migration to outward migration for some Anglophone countries. They also point out that countries such as China and India, which used to be main senders of students, are now attracting students from overseas. The analysis of the changing nature of student mobility is developed through eight chapters.The introductory chapter highlights relevant literature and explores the link between neoliberalism, globalization, and education. The authors survey literature around highly contested concepts such as neoliberalism and globalization, and suggest that these two terms should be problematized and kept analytically distinct. By clarifying the distinctions between empirical facts, ideology, and the social-imaginary natures of globalization, this chapter also briefly introduces some key conceptual ideas that are explored in more depth in the later chapters.Chapter 2 addresses the policy context of contemporary student mobility in higher education at the international, regional, national, and local levels. While many researchers and scholars argue that globalizing pressures and the influence of transnational organizations have fundamentally changed educational policy and practice, the authors contend that individual nations still retain considerable decision-making powers.Chapters 3 through 5 provide strong empirical evidence on the student experiences from East Asia, mainland Europe, and the UK. Although examining a similar group of young students seeking higher education in an overseas environment, these chapters point to a very different picture for each individual region. The authors maintain that students from East Asian countries such as China, Malaysia, Singapore, and Japan are motivated by the potential to accumulate social and cultural capital. On the other hand, students from mainland Europe are motivated by broader economic and political considerations, such as instilling a particular type of European identity. While suggesting that the motivations for students from the UK who study abroad are less clear, the authors do illustrate the privileged nature of the experience of UK students seeking overseas higher education.Chapters 6 and 7 highlight key themes emerging from the analysis of the preceding case studies. In Chapter 6 the authors explore the emergent geographies of student mobility and introduce a distinctive geographical perspective into their analysis of it. In Chapter 7 they reflect on the changing nature of higher education within the context of internationalization. Drawing on the earlier case studies, this chapter explores the internationalization of higher education by looking at different aspects of societal change. …

Changing Markets, Changing Providers - Responding to the Changing Nature of Higher Education in England

Higher Education is entering uncharted waters in the UK. In this paper we bring together a number of data sources to reflect on who studies politics and who teaches politics. Are we a discipline that embraces diversity, inclusiveness and equality? Are certain groups/sectors of society unrepresented or under-represented in terms of the discipline? Is there a ‘glass ceiling’ or ‘leakiness’ as some have suggested? We then move on to ask questions about the duties and functions of professional associations, using the PSA UK as an example.

Transitions and Challenges

It is a great honor and joy for me to welcome you to read this first volume of Journalism & Mass Communication Educator in 2013 under my editorship. I took office on October 1, 2012, following in a long line of great editors that includes Dr. Dane Claussen, who just completed a remarkably successful editorship of nearly seven years. The past few months have been a transition period, marked not only by my inheriting previously accepted manuscripts but also by Dane's magnanimous mentoring.My intent as editor is to be as helpful as possible to scholars wishing to publish their research and to affirm the primary mission of this journal in addressing the professional needs of the journalism and mass communication educator and administrator on both secondary and collegiate levels. I will accept commentaries and invite a variety of commentators to opine in a provocative-and perhaps even controversial-way on different topics. If you have strong opinions and wish to share your thoughts about certain aspects of journalism and mass communication education in a well-written commentary, please feel welcome to send your opinion piece to me. Please also let me know of any breakthrough pedagogical or administrative ideas and projects that you think may interest JM encouraging efforts to improve instruction through the development of innovative materials and techniques, sound instructional designs, and improved evaluation methodologies; and enhancing the status of teaching in the university and beyond. Papers should be submitted by April 1 via All Academic on the AEJMC website: www.aejmc.org. For more information, please email Dr. Linda Aldoory at laldoory@umd.edu, or Dr. Jennifer Greer, at jdgreer@ua.edu.Today's journalism and mass communication education discipline, similar to education itself, is in constant ferment. We are coping with digital technologies that have revolutionized the discipline and with the challenge of how best to prepare students for a professional or entrepreneurial world that we cannot accurately predict. Other changes that affect us include the changing nature of higher education where state funding for public universities has dwindled to a fraction of what it once was and where massive open online courses are now searching for a revenue-generating business model and are likely to compete with traditional schooling. Faculty includes large numbers of fixed-term, contingent, or adjunct faculty, often with full-time contracts, who are teaching a growing percentage of courses. Adjuncts rarely are members of- or often even cognizant of-the AEJMC and are usually not expected to engage in scholarship. And key administrators frequently are selected for their promise of fundraising ability, a key administrative criterion and duty.Shared governance, criteria for personnel decisions, dwindling public esteem for professors, cuts in many institutions to compensation and benefits, the role and influence of advisory boards, the constant demands on faculty to keep pace with revolutionary change, faculty workloads, student preparedness for college-level work, changing student expectations, resource allocation, dual emphases on undergraduate and graduate education and training are but some of the countless issues adding to the current challenges. …

The Acquisition of Generic Skills of Culturally-diverse Student Cohorts

The changing nature of higher education and the structure of graduate labour markets have increased emphasis on employability and graduate outcomes. Universities have responded to this changed environment by embedding generic skills in the curriculum. This paper examines the generic skills that students perceived they acquired in their accounting studies in preparation for graduate employment. Given the changed background profiles of students studying accounting degree in Australia, and the employment difficulties they encounter on graduation, the study specifically addresses the perceptions of students from diverse cultural backgrounds. The findings demonstrate that, overall, students believed that their accounting course assisted in developing generic skills, while differences in perceptions were identified between different cultural cohorts. The research highlights the need to develop educational practices which embed generic skills development in the curriculum in a way that maximises the opportunities for culturally-diverse student cohorts to enhance their employment outcomes on graduation.

Challenges faced by tutors in Higher Education

This paper explores some of the ways in which the changing nature of Higher Education, especially the increase in the number of 18–25-year-olds attending university and the uncertainty about funding arrangements, has impacted on the role of an academic tutor. The effect of psychodynamic defences both at individual and the institutional levels is explored and some ways in which these can make it difficult for academics to effectively support students are discussed. The paper highlights the particular problems faced by senior tutors acting at the boundary between academic tutors and the specialized counselling service and suggests additional support for these staff is needed to allow the University to function as a more nurturing environment.

‘I'm neither entertaining nor charismatic …’ negotiating university teacher identity within diverse student groups

This paper focuses on the ways in which lecturers in two universities negotiated their identities as teachers of students from diverse backgrounds within the context of the changing nature of higher education. This research forms part of a two-year project which explored, among other things, the influence of student and teacher identities on academic engagement. Drawing on interview, focus group and classroom observation data, we consider the influence of educational and professional experiences on teacher identity. We also explore the influence of teachers’ conceptions about themselves as teachers, about their students and their institutions on the teaching and academic engagement of students from a range of backgrounds. We conclude by suggesting how academic developers might support teachers in developing their understanding of student diversity and create opportunities to explore these concepts in relation to their own identities as teachers.

Changing Research Perspectives on the Management of Higher Education: Can Research Permeate the Activities of Manager‐Academics?

AbstractThe paper considers whether, and if so how, research evidence can permeate the world of higher education (HE) management in publicly funded institutions. The paper explores the author's experience of two recent research projects (1998–2000 and 2004) on aspects of managing UK HE institutions and issues arising from the preparation of the HE element of a third study of leadership and public service change agendas in education and health during 2004. Despite the topicality in education and other public services of debates about evidence‐based practice, there is little indication that this debate has permeated HE management qua management. The paper utilises Bourdieu's work on academics and social and cultural capital to explore why manager‐academics may resist taking the findings of research seriously in relation to their own work. It is suggested that, where there is reluctance to learn from research, this may reflect the changing nature of HE, the status of HE research as an academic field and form of academic capital and the relative paucity until recently of training in management for most UK manager‐academics.

Globalization and Women in Southeast Asian Higher Education Management

This paper draws on data from a group case study of women in higher education management in Hong Kong, Singapore, Malaysia, and Thailand. I investigate culture-specific dimensions of what the Western literature has conceptualized as “glass ceiling” impediments to women's career advancement in higher education. I frame my argument within recent debates about globalization and “glocalization” to show how the push–pull and disjunctive dynamics of globalization are experienced in local sites by social actors who traverse global flows and yet remain tethered to local discourses, values, and practices. All of the women in this study were trained in Western universities and are fluent English speakers, world-class experts in their fields, well versed with equity discourses, and globally connected on international nongovernment organization (NGO) and academic circuits. They are indeed global cosmopolitans. And yet their testimonies indicate that so-called Asian values and religious-cultural ideologies demand the enactment of a specific construct of Asian femininity that militates against meritocratic equality and academic career aspirations to senior management levels. Despite the global nature of the university and increasing global flows of academics, students, and knowledge, the politics of academic glass ceilings are not universal but always locally inflected with cultural values and norms. As such, the politics of disadvantage for women in higher education require local and situated analyses in the context of global patterns of the educational status of women and the changing nature of higher education.

Globalization and Women in Southeast Asian Higher Education Management

This paper draws on data from a group case study of women in higher education management in Hong Kong, Singapore, Malaysia, and Thailand. I investigate culture-specific dimensions of what the Western literature has conceptualized as “glass ceiling” impediments to women's career advancement in higher education. I frame my argument within recent debates about globalization and “glocalization” to show how the push–pull and disjunctive dynamics of globalization are experienced in local sites by social actors who traverse global flows and yet remain tethered to local discourses, values, and practices. All of the women in this study were trained in Western universities and are fluent English speakers, world-class experts in their fields, well versed with equity discourses, and globally connected on international nongovernment organization (NGO) and academic circuits. They are indeed global cosmopolitans. And yet their testimonies indicate that so-called Asian values and religious-cultural ideologies demand the enactment of a specific construct of Asian femininity that militates against meritocratic equality and academic career aspirations to senior management levels. Despite the global nature of the university and increasing global flows of academics, students, and knowledge, the politics of academic glass ceilings are not universal but always locally inflected with cultural values and norms. As such, the politics of disadvantage for women in higher education require local and situated analyses in the context of global patterns of the educational status of women and the changing nature of higher education.

Strategic Developments in Open and Distance Learning in Central and Eastern Europe

This article provides a synopsis of the findings of a strategic study on developments in open and distance learning in Central and Eastern Europe. The study was undertaken during 1999 under the aegis of the PHARE Multi-country Programme in Distance Education. The aim of this article is to provide an overview of the issues addressed by the study. These include contextual issues relating to the development of open and distance learning and the changing nature of higher education, an exploration of developments across Europe and the problems associated with those developments, and a discussion of possible solutions to those problems in Central and Eastern Europe with particular reference to legislation, quality assurance and recognition, and strategic management.

Stress and the Contemporary Student

Is contemporary student life stressful? And if so, what factors are associated with stress among students? This paper attempts to provide answers to these questions in reporting a research project that explored physical and mental health among students studying at Newcastle University in 1995. Forty‐nine per cent of a stratified random sample of students (956 students) completed a postal questionnaire which, as well as addressing questions of health, covered numerous aspects of student living conditions and lifestyle. Stress was measured by the 12‐item General Health Questionnaire, which was converted into a 36‐point scale. The analysis identifies various factors that were associated with stress, and culminates in the construction of a multi‐variate model that explains 25 per cent of the variance in student stress. The findings are discussed within the context of the changing nature of higher education in Britain