British Higher Education System Research Articles

The diversity of the English higher education system: a multilevel quantitative analysis

ABSTRACT Although the diversity of higher education (HE) systems is a widely debated topic in literature, this has been rarely examined considering multiple levels of analysis. This article adopts both a multilevel and longitudinal perspective to study which dimensions of horizontal diversity diversified the English HE system most. Diversity, and how this has changed over time, is investigated at the level of the HE system (macro-level) at the level of homogeneous groups of universities, i.e. mission groups (meso-level), and at the level of individual universities (micro-level). The comprehensive multivariate quantitative analysis performed across the three levels of analysis shows the polarization between research and teaching orientation emerges as the dimension on which the HE system and universities horizontally diversify most together with the internationalization of the student body. The analysis furtherly suggests that mission groups well represent the diversity of the English HE system and universities’ membership in one of these groups emerged as an element that restrains distinctive institutional positioning patterns of universities. Younger universities and those not affiliated to any mission groups are indeed those that present changes in their strategic positioning paths over time, and thus affect more the diversity of the HE system. However, while the horizontal diversity of the HE system has slightly increased over time, this paper also suggests that competition has concurrently contributed to reinforcing the hierarchical stratification of English universities.

Embedding interdisciplinary learning into the first-year undergraduate curriculum: drivers and barriers in a cross-institutional enhancement project

ABSTRACT Engaging with interdisciplinary learning during higher education (HE) study can provide students with skills and modes of thinking informed by multiple worldviews. Opportunities for interdisciplinary learning in the English HE system are limited; associated primarily with postgraduate study or later undergraduate stages. This paper reports on an enhancement project that sought to engage first-year students with interdisciplinary learning. Drawing on data gathered from staff interviews, student focus groups and module enrolments, we examine drivers and barriers impacting on the planned curriculum transformation. Whilst drivers emerged from many directions (e.g. professional bodies, staff advocates), these were overwhelmed by the barriers – both administrative and ideological. Student responses were mixed. Some would have liked a wider choice of truly interdisciplinary modules, but it was clear many students did not understand the rationale for the modules and felt that they needed more support to participate.

Slavonic and East European Review, 1922–2022

Slavonic and East European Review, 1922–2022 Simon Dixon (bio) This year marks the one-hundredth anniversary of this journal, launched in June 1922 as the Slavonic Review, renamed Slavonic (and East European) Review in 1928, and known since 1931, when the brackets were silently dropped, under its current title, commonly abbreviated to SEER. The centenary offers a natural opportunity to reflect on the journal's achievements and vicissitudes and to glance forward to challenges ahead.1 Except for the war years, 1941–44, when the numeration was maintained but SEER was published without British involvement in the United States, it has been edited in London at the School of Slavonic and East European Studies (SSEES). A constituent part of King's College from 1915 until 1932, when it became an independent Senate Institute, SSEES struck some outsiders as one of the more inward-looking institutions in the British higher education system before its merger with University College London (UCL) in 1999.2 However, both the School and its cosmopolitan staff developed in counterpoint with the turbulent history of the region they studied and with changes in academic life in the world beyond. The same is true of the Review. Conceived as 'the joint product of British and American [End Page 1] Slavonic scholars, and of representative Slavs in every field of intellectual effort',3 the journal relied from the outset on the fluctuating international collaborations highlighted in this article. Since the journal's lifespan has so far fallen into two distinct parts, the article's final section focuses on the years after 1950, when SEER became an academic periodical among a growing galaxy of specialist competitors. But I begin in the aftermath of the peace settlements of 1919–20, when Slavonic studies gained unprecedented prominence in Europe and the United States, and when the Review first appeared as a hybrid combining scholarly articles with politically committed contributions inspired by the shared Liberal vision of its two principal founders, R. W. Seton-Watson* (1879–1951) and Sir Bernard Pares* (1867–1949). Scholarship and political activism, 1922–40 In presenting their new journal as a multi-disciplinary miscellany, studded with essays and documents on contemporary affairs, Pares and Seton-Watson ran against a swelling tide of academic professionalization originating in Germany. In their own subject — history — France's Revue historique (1876), the English Historical Review (1886) and the American Historical Review (1895) had all been established in the wake of the Prussian Historische Zeitschrift (1859) as bastions of a 'scientific' method designed to supplant the romantic effusions of 'men of letters'.4 Nevertheless, the transition was neither universal nor smooth.5 And it was especially uneven among historians who sympathized with the 'oppressed' nationalities of the Habsburg Empire and rejoiced in their new-found statehood after 1919. Barely a decade after collaborating with Seton-Watson in British intelligence, the émigré Polish Jew Lewis Namier* (1888–1960) published The Structure of Politics at the Accession of George III (1929), a work whose very title signalled the author's determination to privilege what he called 'sociological' analysis over teleological narrative.6 By contrast, Seton-Watson and his Liberal friends remained faithful to a heroic vision of national emancipation, granted as a reward for moral courage. Warning against the spurious claims to objectivity of 'colourless' history that 'gave [End Page 2] no clue to the author's party allegiance or ulterior motive', Seton-Watson insisted in his 1928 Creighton Lecture that 'no historian who is worth his salt can altogether avoid taking sides in the tremendous controversies of Authority and Reason, of Tradition and Liberty, of unquestioning faith and sceptical inquiry'.7 Harold Temperley* (1879–1939) might have agreed. Though he launched the austerely professional Cambridge Historical Journal in 1923 and checked his contributors' references at the Public Record Office, Temperley never wholly suppressed the romantic streak that inspired his fascination with the Serbs, the Hungarians and the Slovaks. Having partly overcome his initial mistrust of academic interventions in affairs of state — 'Oh these Professors', he wailed to Seton-Watson in 1909, 'how they fail in politics' — Temperley went on to play a minor part in the peace settlement ten years later.8...

CIRCUMSTANCES OF THE HIGHER EDUCATION SYSTEM OF ENGLAND, THEIR POSITIVE AND NEGATIVE ASPECTS

This article briefly lists the main factors that influenced the formation of the main features of the English higher education system. The characteristic features of the higher education system in England are given in terms of their positive and negative sides. The relevance of the topic of the article is indicated in the light of the increase in the spheres of influence of the Bologna Declaration in the international arena.

From Ethnic Minorities to Black Majorities: The Challenges and Dilemmas of Attempting to Decolonize the British Higher Education System

ABSTRACT Using a decolonial and Black-feminist-inspired analytical lens, this paper explores the dilemmas and challenges that Black academics face in trying to bring about change in universities within the British higher education system. Higher education-focused campaigns such as “Why Isn’t My Professor Black?” “Why Is My Curriculum White?” and “Rhodes Must Fall” have positioned education as a site of struggle for the empowerment and liberation of Black communities. Yet there are still fewer than 100 full professors of African descent occupying academic positions. This article critically examines whether the British university can truly be a site for decolonization and liberation for African descendants and people of color. In reflecting on the 400th-year anniversary of African-descendant forced migration to the Americas, the article argues for a renewal of African-descendant collaboration along pan-African lines to decolonize the British-education system and foster systems of education that empower African-descendant communities across the globe.

A profession in peril? University corporatization, performance measurement and the sustainability of accounting academia

This paper examines the effects of university corporatization on accounting academics with reference to an in-depth case study of a research-intensive English business school that strongly embraced managerialist and marketized approaches to higher education. It discusses how accounting research became marginalized as the school directed research funding towards business disciplines it deemed more likely to deliver top-ranked publications, large research grants and substantial industry partnerships. The paper moreover explores how accounting teaching, curriculum design and the administrative hierarchies of the business school started to be colonized by teaching fellows with backgrounds in private sector accountancy tuition. As a result of these two developments, the school’s accounting department gradually transformed into a teaching-only operation which delivered largely standardized and highly technical accounting education. The paper links this transformation of the accounting department to the growing emphasis on research and teaching performance measures in the English higher education system and concludes that the academic accounting profession, as defined by original research and research-informed teaching, is in danger of disappearing at many English business schools.

FACTORS INFLUENCING STUDENTS’ CHOICES AND DECISION- -MAKING PROCESS: A CASE STUDY OF POLISH STUDENTS STUDYING IN A BRITISH HIGHER EDUCATION INSTITUTION

The main aim of this paper is to investigate the factors which influence students when deciding to study abroad. The case study is based on Polish students studying in the British higher education system (UK HE) and the paper examines these students’ choices and their decision-making process when selecting their university studies. The literature review suggests that there are two types of factors influencing students’ decision- making process: push factors, which operate within the home country, and pull factors, meaning that students are attracted by the host country and encouraged to study there. Polish students constitute a significant group of EU students who study in the UK and yet there are very few studies on this particular group. The results from this qualitative research on Polish students studying in a selected British university indicate that, contrary to a number of other studies, pull factors could be more important in influencing Polish students’ decision-making process regarding studying abroad.

‘I shouldn’t have to prove myself’: The experiences of Black women at Russell Group Universities

The intersection between racism and sexism means that Black women are more vulnerable to oppression in various environments, including the university, where it could be enforced on both an institutional and personal level. However, while there is some research on the topic, there has not been much that explores this within the British higher education system. Focusing particularly on Russell Group universities (RGUs), due to their low intake of Black students, an interpretative phenomenological analysis was conducted to explore the experiences of Black women at these universities. Six Black female undergraduate students from various RGUs took part in semi-structured interviews and the following themes were established: Motivations (strong family influence, cultural pressure), identity development (questioning their identity, changes in self-presentation and the ‘Strong Black Woman’) and reacting to prejudice (deciphering microaggressions, responses to discrimination and ‘ambassador’ for Black women). From this, suggestions for future research include exploration of other intersections and expansion on the resulting themes, as well as a call for multicultural counselling and transparency in the handling of discrimination reports for universities.

An Exploration of Issues affecting the assessment of social Work students on practice placement in England

The authors of this practice note acknowledge the centrality of practice learning in social work training in England. They recognise it is a defining feature of social work training. However they critically discuss the current model used to assess social work students on placement in England; a process prompted by research one of the authors presented at the 12th International Conference on Practice Teaching and Field Education in Health and Social Work, September 2018.The PN reviews persitant issues in the assessment of students on placement and argues these have been exacerbated by changes to practice within the English higher education system and social work practice. They argue the current system is fundamentally flawed and encourage the SW profession to reflect using imagination and creativity to envisage alternative ways to assess students practice and to identify new ideas to pilot.

The neoliberalization of higher education in England: An alternative is possible

In this article, we provide a critical explanation and critique of neoliberalism. We attempt an innovative focus ranging from the wider contemporary political and ideological shifts, to the way in which neoliberal policy specifically influences higher education and the consequences thereof. We follow a narrative logic in three parts where we first explore the bigger picture, then concentrate on specific examples, finally taking a long-term perspective with regard to class struggle. In the first part, we lay out neoliberalism and explicate its basic principles in abstraction. This is necessary for part two, where we contextualize neoliberalism specifically within the English higher education system with specific reference to the policy agenda of successive governments since 1979. In the third and final part of the article we suggest an alternative higher education model that simultaneously exists and flourishes along with and against the neoliberal hegemony. We conclude by suggesting the strengthening possibility of class formation and struggle in this moment of history when neoliberalism is expanding and deepening.

Incentive Effects in Higher Education: an Improved Funding Model for Universities

We examine the incentive effects of risk-sharing between student and university in the English higher education system. The ‘graduate premium’ has been widely reported and has been used to justify rising higher education participation and increased individual or governmental expenditure. But this premium is simply the mean of a wide distribution, varying, inter alia, by subject, institution, year of graduation and individual. We assume that universities exist in a state of monopolistic competition and are subject to a budget constraint. Using US college data we find evidence suggesting that a funding model which incorporates risk-sharing improves the efficiency of educational delivery while maintaining subject diversity and access.

Peer relations in higher education: raced, classed and gendered constructions and Othering

In spite of the relative success of the Widening Participation policy and strategies to increase the numbers of students from Black and Minority and White working-class backgrounds going to university, universities in Britain continue to be White and middle-class-dominated institutions. We found, in our two-year qualitative Higher Education Funding Council England/Higher Education Academy-funded study (2010–2012), the existence of fear and raced, gendered and classed antagonisms, underpinned by White middle-class student attitudes and perspectives towards those they constructed as the Other. In the article, we discuss the development of ‘us and them’ from the perspective of White middle-class, mainly male, students, and demonstrate dysconscious racism and racialised social segregation, which in some disciplines is replicated in the learning context. The context of the research is that of a highly competitive, neoliberal, British higher education system where competitiveness for individual success is paramount. Within this context, anxieties around success and notions or perceptions of authenticity: the ‘authentic university’ and the ‘authentic student’ are palpable. These perspectives combine with White privilege and a sense of ‘supremacy’ and entitlement leading to a desire for distancing from the ‘Other’.

Student Attitudes towards Teaching Methods Used in Universities the UK

This study was in the context of exploring effective teaching and learning in the British higher education system from a student’s perspective. To explore the differences in level of knowledge of UK teaching methods between three subgroups of students and their attitudes towards those methods; to examine whether or not there is a relationship between students’ knowledge about those teaching methods and their attitudes towards them. Twenty participants at one University in UK were chosen. A survey research method was applied. Data collection was conducted through questionnaire with closed items, and then SPPS was used for data analysis.There existed a significant difference between Western and Eastern students in their knowledge of teaching methods used in UK universities. The difference in attitudes towards teaching methods between male and female students was not significant, either. Neither a positive nor a negative relationship between student knowledge of teaching methods and their attitudes towards them was found. Although there was no positive relationship between knowledge of teaching methods and attitudes towards those methods used in UK universities, some important implications about cross-cultural teaching and learning might be drawn from the significant difference between Western students and Eastern students in their knowledge of those teaching methods.

The decision-making and changing behavioural dynamics of potential higher education students: the impacts of increasing tuition fees in England

Recent changes in the English tuition fee policies have spurred a debate on the impacts on student choices for higher education. Expectations range from a sharp decrease in participation in higher education to relatively little change in student demand. We surveyed 1549 year 12 sixth-form students from four institutions spread geographically across England. We have broadened the approach to the study of student choice by not only considering the impact of going to higher education or not, but have included in our choice scenarios the consideration of looking for cheaper higher education alternatives and of looking for higher education abroad. This brings our study from a focus on widening participation and access into the realm of the dynamics of increasing choice in a globalised world. The data suggest that financial issues are key influencers. We conclude that the English higher education system may be confronted with significant changes in student choice patterns, given the study’s finding that students show high levels of anxiety and consequently consider a much broader range of study options: within or outside higher education; in publicly funded or for-profit institutions; and in the UK or elsewhere.

Changes in the political and policy response towards disabled students in the British higher education system: a journey towards inclusion

This article maps a journey of political and policy change in the response towards disabled students studying in British higher education: changes which were underpinned by dominant perceptions about disability. Findings are drawn from an analysis of archival material linked to UK legislative and policy development, together with key informant data, which included the views of senior policy staff and disabled people. Recent changes in the response towards disabled students incorporate findings from an in-depth study at a case study university, which involved extensive interviewing of staff members and disabled students. It is argued that disability was perceived as a welfare issue within higher education policy and provision and, consequently, disabled students were treated differently to other groups who were viewed as experiencing inequality, for example, women and people from ethnic minorities. The failure to understand disability in terms of equality and rights, and as a form of oppression, meant that the inequality and the lack of inclusion experienced by disabled students remained unchallenged until more recent legislative developments.

“Bearing Down” on Student Non-Completion: Implications and Consequences for English Higher Education

This article traces recent policy developments relating to full-time undergraduate student retention within the English higher education system. It focuses specifically on the changing government policies and strategies designed to influence institutional behavior to promote widening participation while attending to the student experience and through that to raising student retention rates. The article finally explores the potential impact of recent proposals to allow institutions to be free to raise tuition fees, placing the burden of cost on the student alongside an encouragement to open the market to more completion through “for profit” new private sector providers.

The University of Leeds and the British Higher Education System, 1963–2004

Having entered the 1960s in a mood of confident expansion epitomized by the Robbins Report of 1963, British universities found their budgets ravaged by inflation in the early 1970s and struggled for financial equilibrium over the next three decades. While the 'unit of resource' halved between 1976 and the end of the century, the very nature of a university came into question as renewed growth succeeded cuts in the 1980s, and institutions were required to balance their books by supplementing the traditional functions of teaching and research with a contribution to 'knowledge transfer', local regeneration, and the search for social inclusiveness. In this increasingly competitive system, the 'big civics' faced the spectre of relative decline in the 1990s, as the State continued to support the elite 'golden triangle' and diverted further funds to support struggling 'new' universities, while smaller 'plate glass' institutions were swifter to respond to a new culture of public league tables. This article examines the University of Leeds's changing responses to these challenges, comparing the 'political' leadership of Vice-Chancellors Lord Boyle and Sir Edward Parkes with the managerial approach of Professor Sir Alan Wilson.

British higher education and its older clients

The older clients of the British highereducation system are both extremely numerousand extremely diverse. In this paper we drawupon the results of a national survey ofgraduates to show how this diversity in termsof age and mode of study, and by implication interms of motivation, gender and subject ofstudy, directly impacts upon the types ofoutcome measurements that are appropriate andupon the levels of outcome that are achieved.

イギリスの一元的高等教育システムにおける旧ポリテクニク大学

The purpose of this paper is to investigate effects of the market mechanism on the structural changes in the British higher education system, focusing on the differentiation of positions and functions between Pre-1992Universities and Former Polytechnic Universities.From the late 1980s there was a rapid expansion of higher education in Britain.Age participation rates in higher education approximately doubled during a period of less than ten years.This expansion meant a structural change from an elite into a mass system.In this “massification” process, the British government transformed its higher education system into a unitary system from a binary one under the Further and Higher Education Act 1992. In this Act, many of the public sector higher education institutions (mainly Polytechnics) were given university status. As a result of these reforms, about half of the universities we see today were upgraded from Polytechnics after 1992. Today, the unified university sector is comprised of institutions that originally had different histories and missions.

Principles and Pragmatism in the ‘Privatisation’ of British Higher Education

English The British higher education system has been a site of privatisation for nearly two decades. While this has not been officially acknowledged, an incremental and uneven process of privatisation has occurred in the context of managerial and administrative reform. Although the impetus for privatisation was initiated by Conservative governments concerned to reduce higher education funding dependence on the state, increasingly privatisation measures are being considered more widely within the higher education sector as a pragmatic response to the current funding crisis. Yet, the ground work for privatisation – the ideas, plans and proposals as well as the advocacy and agenda-shaping activities to soften public opinion in favour of fees, loans and private capital – occurred many years in advance. Accordingly, this paper provides a study of agenda setting and the gradual acceptance of privatisation ideas in higher education prior to the 1997 general election.