Higher Education Domain Research Articles

Language Issue in German Higher Education Internationalization: Ideologies, Management and Practices for English-Medium Instruction

Employing document analysis and corpus-assisted discourse analysis, this study examines the language ideologies in German higher education internationalization policies and strategies, across European, German federal and university levels. It further investigates how these policies and strategies relate to the English-medium instruction practices in German universities, adopting Spolsky’s (2004, 2009) framework for language policy analysis. Results show that all institutions at the three levels recognize the role of EMI in promoting the higher education internationalization, but their policy documents adopt evasive attitudes towards EMI to varying degrees. The internationalization policies at the European level show the most tendency to evade the language issue, especially English, while the German federal internationalization documents include more contents about language, even EMI, and they are concerned about promoting the German language alongside English. At the university level, the welcoming attitudes towards EMI are displayed most overtly in the internationalization strategies and the rapid development trend and the predominant English-only type of EMI programs. The study underscores the potential benefits of a multilayered analysis of higher education internationalization policies and EMI practices, and the universities’ important role in balancing the English and the national language in the higher education domain.

Simulation-Based Learning in Higher Education: A Meta-Analysis

Simulation-based learning offers a wide range of opportunities to practice complex skills in higher education and to implement different types of scaffolding to facilitate effective learning. This meta-analysis includes 145 empirical studies and investigates the effectiveness of different scaffolding types and technology in simulation-based learning environments to facilitate complex skills. The simulations had a large positive overall effect: g = 0.85, SE = 0.08; CIs [0.69, 1.02]. Technology use and scaffolding had positive effects on learning. Learners with high prior knowledge benefited more from reflection phases; learners with low prior knowledge learned better when supported by examples. Findings were robust across different higher education domains (e.g., medical and teacher education, management). We conclude that (1) simulations are among the most effective means to facilitate learning of complex skills across domains and (2) different scaffolding types can facilitate simulation-based learning during different phases of the development of knowledge and skills.

Affective events theory as a theoretical lens for improving the working environment of academics in developing economies

PurposeThe rapid pace of progress in academic institutions in developing economies has created stressful and relatively toxic workplaces, resulting in different negative organizational outcomes indicating the need to transform universities into healthier academic workplaces. However, a review of the higher education literature in both developed and developing countries shows that the antecedents and consequences of academics' affective states has been a relatively unexplored area. Hence, our study aims at testing basic tenets of Affective Events Theory (AET) in a higher education context to address this issue.Design/methodology/approachThis is a quantitative study which applies CB-SEM methodology in analyzing the collected data from 2,324 academics in Malaysian higher education sector. We analyzed the data using EQS software package.FindingsOur results provided substantial support for the applicability and relevancy of AET in higher education domain. Specifically, welfare and supervisory support were identified as the two work environment features which significantly and equally contribute to academics' job satisfaction. In addition, the results showed that positive affect, in comparison with negative affect, was three times stronger in influencing academics' job satisfaction.Practical implicationsGiven the considerable role of positive affect in our study, higher education policy makers are urged to make relevant policies to transform universities into more emotionally safe workplaces. In addition, policies should be formulated in a way that encourages supervisory support and decreases workloads to ensure that the conflicts in general are reduced among academics.Originality/valueThis work is the first large-scale study testing the main tenets of AET in the higher education context. In addition, it addresses the problem of multivariate normality and solves this problem based on the robust methodology which corrects standard errors and fit indices, thereby providing more precise and unbiased results.

Federal University’s Role in the Implementation of the Russian Federation “Soft Power” Conception in Central Asia (The Case of Northern (Arctic) Federal University Named After M.V. Lomonosov)

Introduction. Currently the notion of the “soft power” is perceived as an effective way of nation’s non-forcible influence on other countries with a view to implement one’s own objectives. Suchlike implementation is confined to particular spheres to form a positive image of the nation. Higher education today is one of the most efficient instruments of the “soft power” implementation in the countries of Central Asia, for it allows securing friendly political and economic elite as well as enhancing the quality of labour migrants to the Russian Federation. The aim of the research is to analyze particular features of the “soft power” implementation in the domain of higher education in case with the region of Central Asia on the example of Northern (Arctic) Federal University named after M.V. Lomonosov (the city of Arkhangelsk, Russia, henceforth NArFU). Methods and materials. The study is based on systematic and comparative approaches to the analysis of the Russian “soft power” strategy in the domain of higher education. The study in hand also draws on general approaches to the “soft power” implementation in the region of Central Asia. The main sources for the analysis are annual reports on implementing the NArFU programme of development. These reports pay a great deal of attention to academic recruiting and academic mobility. Analysis. The Central Asia region is crucial from the view point of Russia’s interests. The region is rich in hydrocarbon deposits, it boasts a great transit potential in international trade, and this is the region where the biggest number of migrants come from to Russia. For these reasons Russia is strengthening its “soft power” influence on Central Asian countries in general and in the sphere of higher education in particular. From the very day of the NArFU foundation in 2010, the region of Central Asia has been considered as a high-priority region. The example of NArFU demonstrates that the number of international students in the total number of full-cycle students has risen by 8.4 times, wherein the growth is secured mainly by students from Central Asian countries. Central Asian students’ percentage of the total number of international students is 82–89.3%. The percentage of students from the region in question, doing short-term educational programmes is also high – 49.5–61.4%. Diverse mechanisms are exploited to attract would-be students to NArFU: agreements with educational establishments of the region; visits of NArFU’s representatives (both lecturers and students) to the region; NArFU’s participation in international exhibitions on education; presenting NArFU’s educational programmes on the basis of “Rossotrudnichestvo” regional offices; inviting school graduates to study within the quota for fellow-countrymen residing abroad; arranging off-site university testing and multi-disciplinary intellectual contests; higher educational allowances and medical insurance compensation; active promotion with the help of social media. The international Friendship Club and the team of tutors were set up to ensure better social and cultural adaptation, regular events and excursions take place on the same purpose. Results. Despite the fact that there is no general state-level integral concept on attracting school graduates from the countries of Central Asia to the universities of Russia, NArFU managed to occupy the niche on the educational market of the region. University’s administration has been pursuing a clear course towards attracting would-be students from Central Asia, exploiting a wide range of mechanisms to enhance academic recruiting, relying upon the advantages of Arkhangelsk region in the sphere of migrants’ adaptation. Over the recent ten years the factors mentioned above have brought about more than eight times growth of students from the region of Central Asia in NArFU.

Social Realist Ontology for Analysing BRICS Educational Governance: A Higher Education Perspective

This study advocates a social realist ontological framework as an effective, analytical blueprint for identifying problems and solutions in BRICS, educational governance systems; specifically as related to the higher education domain. The methods of the study include a textual analysis and description of a social realist ontology to illustrate how it may be applied towards mapping human experiences, including our undergoing processes of educational governance and their tangible outcomes in society. The study also highlights media and scholarly texts from BRICS nations to illustrate shared, yet contextually diverse educational challenges in the tertiary system. The value of comparing contemporary BRICS-related educational challenges, within a social realist ontology, is that it was possible to identify similar and diverging mechanisms which BRICS nations applied towards solving them. The results of the study indicate that a social realist ontology is also an applicable methodology for comparing challenges in the higher education sector and diverse educational governance responses to them by BRICS nations. The study highlights that in each nation, social structures including statutory bodies, culture, including those of citizens, as well as agency, including administrators and students, equally impacts on the efficacy of educational governance and its goals. The study concludes that by highlighting the powers of culture, social structures and agency in BRICS nation’s educational governance processes, member states may effectively direct necessary human, social and financial capital where they are needed in educational systems. Further, it was found that a social realist ontology enables BRICS nation-states to compare best practices of educational governance in the higher education sphere in order to learn from each other.

Key Quality Attributes for Computational and Sustainable Higher Education Strategy Implementation in Saudi Arabia

Higher education institutions (HEIs) in many developed and developing countries are facing big challenges in terms of quality in the face of growing global demand. Ensuring quality education is necessary to secure future prosperity and promote sustainable development. Hence; to ensure the success and sustainability of higher strategy; it is necessary for HEIs to improve the quality of strategy implementation processes and address the dynamic complexities of their attributes to identify areas for improvement. However; there are obvious issues associated with strategy implementation related to process modeling; automation; dynamic complexity; and cognitive limitations. This research is a step toward bridging the gap in adopting computational models in the higher education strategy implementation process to foster its automation and promote its sustainability. The aim of this research is to study the phenomenon of computational strategy implementation in the higher education domain using grounded theory to understand the criteria and quality attributes of the strategy implementation process and to generate a descriptive and explanatory model for strategy quality attributes (SQAs) of higher education; which entails the implementation of automated technology and computational models for more effective and sustainable strategy.

Aspect-based sentiment analysis of reviews in the domain of higher education

PurposeStudent recruitment and retention are important issues for all higher education institutions. Constant monitoring of student satisfaction levels is therefore crucial. Traditionally, students voice their opinions through official surveys organized by the universities. In addition to that, nowadays, social media and review websites such as “Rate my professors” are rich sources of opinions that should not be ignored. Automated mining of students’ opinions can be realized via aspect-based sentiment analysis (ABSA). ABSA s is a sub-discipline of natural language processing (NLP) that focusses on the identification of sentiments (negative, neutral, positive) and aspects (sentiment targets) in a sentence. The purpose of this paper is to introduce a system for ABSA of free text reviews expressed in student opinion surveys in the Serbian language. Sentiment analysis was carried out at the finest level of text granularity – the level of sentence segment (phrase and clause).Design/methodology/approachThe presented system relies on NLP techniques, machine learning models, rules and dictionaries. The corpora collected and annotated for system development and evaluation comprise students’ reviews of teaching staff at the Faculty of Technical Sciences, University of Novi Sad, Serbia, and a corpus of publicly available reviews from the Serbian equivalent of the “Rate my professors” website.FindingsThe research results indicate that positive sentiment can successfully be identified with the F-measure of 0.83, while negative sentiment can be detected with the F-measure of 0.94. While the F-measure for the aspect’s range is between 0.49 and 0.89, depending on their frequency in the corpus. Furthermore, the authors have concluded that the quality of ABSA depends on the source of the reviews (official students’ surveys vs review websites).Practical implicationsThe system for ABSA presented in this paper could improve the quality of service provided by the Serbian higher education institutions through a more effective search and summary of students’ opinions. For example, a particular educational institution could very easily find out which aspects of their service the students are not satisfied with and to which aspects of their service more attention should be directed.Originality/valueTo the best of the authors’ knowledge, this is the first study of ABSA carried out at the level of sentence segment for the Serbian language. The methodology and findings presented in this paper provide a much-needed bases for further work on sentiment analysis for the Serbian language that is well under-resourced and under-researched in this area.

Exploring the challenges of information and communication technology localization in South African higher education: a language management approach

ABSTRACTOver the past decades, the language management discourse in South Africa has focused on the development and intellectualization of the functional status of indigenous African languages in high-status domains. African languages are marginalized despite the existence of various empowering and restorative legislative provisions and policies of the new democratic dispensation. Of particular interest in this paper are the challenges that affect the localization of information and communication technologies in the higher education domain. The reliance mostly on former colonial languages for the transmission of knowledge in education has had a negative impact on the development and intellectualization of these languages. It has been argued that Information and Communication Technology (ICT) localization has the potential of improving information access in indigenous languages which can further facilitate the maximum utilization and development of these languages. The promotion of African languages and their use in scientific domains is critical in addressing historical linguistic inequalities and injustices in the South African higher education sector. In this paper, I argue that the dynamics associated with the connection between macro and micro level language management, and some socio-linguistic and socio-cultural factors affect the ultimate goal of achieving language management goals associated with ICT localization.

RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN THE QUALITY OF HIGHER EDUCATION AND BALKAN COUNTRIES’ COMPETITIVENESS

The main purpose of the research is to determine the link between the quality of higher education and the competitiveness level of the Balkan countries. In addition, the goal is to identify critical factors in the field of higher education that require improvement. The methods used in the paper are comparative analysis, descriptive statistics, correlation analysis, cluster analysis and benchmarking analysis. The results of the research point to the fact that there is no high positive correlation between the quality of higher education and the competitiveness level of the Balkan countries. However, it is noticed that the Balkan countries record better results when it comes to higher education than the level of competitiveness. Apart from the necessity of improving certain domains of higher education, the priority of the education policy and development policy makers in the Balkan countries should be the utilization of the results achieved in education in the function of improving competitiveness.

Clustering University Programs in Accounting to Enhance Selection Productivity: Precursor to Recommendation System Development

ABSTRACT Selecting prospective programs in higher education can be a problematic and inefficient task for applicants. In particular, one of the most significant challenges entails locating a specific subset of programs likely to be a good fit. In this paper, clustering techniques are employed in evaluating a specifically created data set of AACSB-accredited doctoral programs in accounting so as to aggregate them by type. In so doing, one is then better positioned to identify which schools best align with his/her relevant characteristics and objectives, thus gaining insight concerning the most appropriate subset of schools to initially consider for application purposes. This approach provides meaningful differentiation between the various program types, offers a means for improving productivity relative to the university application process, and demonstrates promise as an initial foundation for eventual construction of a program recommendation system for use in ostensibly any program application initiative within the higher education domain.

A qualitative research to explore practices that are utilised for managing talent development in the higher education environment

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to investigate generated themes associated with talent development in the Australian higher education sector. This is because there are pragmatic advantages for universities that are focused on developing talents. For example, talent is a primary source of competitive advantage for educational institutions.Design/methodology/approachThis study depends on the individual interview method as the main tool for data collection. The sample consisted of six participants who are talented. High-level individual interviews were transcribed and thematically analysed using NVivo 11.FindingsIndividual interviews have identified four key themes of talent development: performance management, coaching talent, leadership development and talent acquisition.Research limitationsThis study only targeted one country (Australia), and one sector (higher education). Hence, the generalisability of these results is limited to the Australian university sector in Queensland.Practical implicationsThis study collects rich and original qualitative data regarding talent development in the higher education domain. Therefore, for instance, the research findings validate what was already found but are significant because practical data rather than theoretical were gathered through a discussion with experts in talent management. This study has a high quality because of strengthening the effect of an in-depth case study.Originality/valueThe study offers a value added to talent management theory through investigating themes of talent development for the higher education sector. This would assist researchers in this field to provide a deeper understanding and develop a theoretical foundation for their further studies. This implication is unique to the advancement of talent management theory.

Emerging National Qualification Framework in India: A Journey of Dilemmas

The global spread of the National Qualification Framework (NQF) for education provides a structure of well-defined, nationally accredited qualification while focussing on learning outcomes. In India, the NQF is emerging as a mechanism to regain confidence in the system of education by making it competitive and compatible with market demands. However, the Indian education system is so diverse that it creates problems of comparability and difficulties in establishing equivalence. Moreover, there is more than one Qualification Framework (QF) in the higher education domain alone. This article seeks to examine how policy should metamorphose by stitching the fragmented fabric of Indian higher education system and the QFs in such a comprehensive manner that it responds effectively to reform it in the present age of globalisation. It argues that a dynamic synergy and remapping is required between the Indian QFs and the NQF policies which should be based on evidence-based research and a detailed understanding of the education system recognising its unique complexities.

The Status of Women in American Higher Education

This is a comprehensive overview of the status of women using charts to document trends. The charts are divided into two parts. Part 1 charts in the demographic domain show the spectacular success of women beginning to outnumber men as early as 1980 in the college-going rate, college enrollments, and earned degrees. By 2010 women even earned more doctorate degrees than men. More women than men are employed in higher education in every position, including administration. Part 2 charts show a dismaying lack of continuing success of women in the economic domain of higher education. The number of bachelor degrees earned by women has fallen off from earlier peaks in all the STEM fields. Degrees earned by women continue to be predominantly in the lower paying social science fields. Women professors are paid less than men and the salary gap continues to grow. After huge gains in the number of professional degrees earned by women, the trends have plateaued in recent years. Finally, the number of women college presidents and the number of women serving on governing boards has hit low ceilings. The paper concludes with a search for explanations of these trends and recommendations for aggressive action to restore progress toward equality and equity for women in American higher education.

The personal and professional importance of post-registration postgraduate education

The nature of both pre-registration and post-registration midwifery education has changed dramatically over the last two decades, being firmly established within academia and the higher education domain. Notwithstanding the changes to midwifery education, midwives' perceptions of post-registration education, and continual professional development in particular, are mixed. The terms professional training and post-registration education are used interchangeably despite representing different goals. This article will explore professional perceptions of the post-registration educational journey, the concept of further academic development for individual midwives through postgraduate study and how engagement of midwives in postgraduate study could benefit both individual midwives and the collective profession of midwifery.

Primena inteligentnih tehnologija u visokom obrazovanju

Achievements of artificial intelligence are incorporated through information technologies into different spheres of contemporary life, yet in the domain of higher education there is a sporadic utilization. For this very reason, the paper analyzes the existing diversified aspects of the application of artificial intelligence in higher education. The first concerns the application of these technologies in the educational process itself and includes expert and tutoring systems that are, either independently or in combination with classical methodological approaches, used to train both students and teaching staff. The second aspect is recommender systems that support the career guidance and students counselling in an automated way. The third aspect includes knowledge discovery from data, especially unstructured data such as social media content relevant to the business and reputation of higher education institutions or web logs of visitors to an institutional website. The presented approaches and positive examples illustrate the comparative advantages of intelligent technologies in the domain of higher education and empasize their large application potentials.

Evolution of Higher Education:Are we Future Ready?

The objective of this editorial is not to suggest a roadmap for the future, but to try and identify the areas of concern in the domain of higher education which deserve immediate attention from the authorities. Higher education is no longer elitist, much less a luxury, but has become more accessible and is, moreover, essential for survival in today’s world. Hence, higher educational institutions and universities have to be centres for entrepreneurship, innovation, creativity, scholarships and knowledge production. Universities should be a platform to breed knowledgeable citizens with cultural and ethical values imprinted in them.

The Effect of Proximal and Psychological Factors on Future Orientation and Developmental Outcomes: The Case of Palestinian Adolescents in Israel

The main question of this study concerns the future orientation antecedents pertaining family relationship effect on the future orientation of Palestinian adolescent and its outcomes pertaining academic achievement and career expectations. Data were collected from 881 Palestinian adolescents in Israel: 71.4% female participants and 28.60% male participants. Four sets of questionnaires were administered: family atmosphere, intrapersonal variables, higher education domain of future orientation, and developmental outcomes. Structural equation modeling analysis revealed that in the case of girls, future orientation variables are affected by two proximal variables: family environment and family attitudes, whereas in the case of boys, only family environment affects future orientation. In addition, girls’ future orientation affects both career expectation and academic achievements, whereas males’ future orientation affects only career expectation.

The Competence Screening Questionnaire for Higher Education: Adaptable to the needs of a study programme

There is a lively discussion on how to evaluate competence-based higher education in both evaluation and competence research. The instruments used are often limited to course evaluation or specific competences, taking a rather narrow perspective. Furthermore, the instruments often comprise predetermined competences that cannot be adapted to higher education needs. The aim of this paper is to provide a flexible screening instrument into which practitioners/evaluators of study programmes can themselves insert the competences they are interested in, i.e. competences students ought to acquire through their study programme. The present study describes the development of the Competence Screening Questionnaire for Higher Education (CSQ-HE) in different domains of higher education. Results show that the CSQ-HE provides plausible screening information whilst fulfilling evaluation standards. It can be integrated into a higher education institution’s internal quality management system to demonstrate a programme’s legitimacy and enhance competence-based teaching and learning. Strengths, weaknesses and implications for practice are discussed.

Social software as a tool of promoting indigenous African languages in Higher Education

ABSTRACTWithin the discourse of language planning and policy, there is an increasing realisation of the strategic role of information and communication technologies in the promotion of indigenous African languages. The article discusses the strategic role that social software, in particular blogs and wiki, can and should play in the development of African languages in South African Higher Education. The paper argues that while the colonial and apartheid legacy can be blamed for the underdevelopment of African languages, the reality of entrenched misconceptions about the use of African languages and poor language policy implementation in the post-apartheid era continue to hinder the promotion of these languages. The increase in the adoption of such social software tools in Higher Education institutions is therefore envisaged to present a platform for the development and promotion of African languages in the Higher Education domain.

Cambodian higher education in transition: an institutional governance perspective

PurposeThe paper aims to ascertain the governance arrangements of higher education providers in Cambodia and to seek insights into institutional governance while its higher education sector is in a significant transition towards the market model.Design/methodology/approachThe empirical research underpinning this paper applies a qualitative method, based on an interpretivist approach to inquiry. The study uses semi-structured interviews with 38 key research participants from relevant institutions. The data analysis follows a thematic coding approach.FindingsThe study has found that despite their divergent governance arrangements, three forms of higher education providers – public institution, public administrative institution and private institution – have become increasingly similar because of their convergent trend towards commercialization and politicization. These two critical issues are considered threats to institutional development in Cambodia.Research limitations/implicationsThe interviews were conducted with the key actors at leadership and management levels. This leaves room for future research to investigate the institutional governance issue at faculty and student levels to develop a deeper understanding about the on-the-ground implementation. This paper is a useful information source for policymakers, institutional leaders and educational practitioners.Originality/valueThis paper addresses the under-researched issue of institutional governance in Cambodia and critically examines the assumption that devolution and privatization of higher education in Cambodia will help advance the sector for economic development. The paper contributes to the ongoing academic debate in the higher education domain while higher education institutions are struggling to sustain their place in the competitive marketplace.