Field Of Higher Education Research Research Articles

Demystifying Higher Education: An Analysis of Competing Perspectives in Institutional Theory

Abstract This paper scrutinises and interprets the competing perspectives arising from institutional analysis in higher education studies. Contradictory views in this field include the perception of converging trends versus escalating diversification, and the view of universities as entities resisting change contrasted with those characterised by continual evolution or innovation. These different viewpoints are methodically examined, informed by a wide range of literature on institutional theory and institutional analysis in higher education. In endeavouring to reconcile these divergent perspectives, this paper illuminates the intricacies of institutional behaviour in higher education. The theoretical discussions also pave the way for developing a holistic approach to institutional analysis in the field of higher education research.

Glow up: the power of fiction in higher education research

ABSTRACT Increasing numbers of researchers in the field of higher education research are searching for meaning rather than metrics: something in their data that call to them and that make their hearts soar. This paper leans into post-qualitative approaches and attempts to resist methodological arrest, drawing on the disciplinary language of literary fiction to explore how we can make meaning through creative acts of reading. We trace our literary roots across readings from a diverse range of texts and approaches to show how this method could help us reshape and reframe pedagogic challenges within higher education.

Exploration of University Student Talent Cultivation for Innovative Entrepreneurship Based on the "Tutorial System"

Enhancing the innovative entrepreneurial capabilities of contemporary university students and cultivating specialized application-oriented talents is one of the core issues in the field of higher education research in China at this stage. Among them, the practice teaching team based on the "tutorial system", which combines school professional teachers with frontline industry experts, can improve the societal value transformation of classroom theoretical teaching outcomes through industry-led "real-case, real-action" projects. This in turn promotes the industry participation of university faculty and student teams, further optimizing teaching modules and objectives. Taking the cultural creation project published by Shanghai Sanlian Bookstore as a case study, this article elaborates on the advantages of the "tutorial system" talent cultivation model in industry project collaboration, the application transformation of professional course knowledge points, and the realization of guided innovation achievements. This serves as a reference for the reform of university professional teaching and the construction of first-class specialties.

"Making" an academic supervisor

This paper is based on my reflections on a series of lectures given by me over a period of three years in a course called Supervising doctoral students. The lectures are, to a large extent, based on my own research on higher education policy, academic career, and gender, and highlight various topics concerning gender, power, and supervision. Through Hacking’s (2007) ideas on how research not only contributes to, describes, and analyses different aspects of the world, but also plays a role in how we make up institutions and people, I elaborate on what studies on gender, academic work, and supervision tell us and how we use the stories we tell as researchers. Researchers like me within the field of higher education research know a lot about gender divisions in academic career, but we seldom discuss how we are participating in normalising specific patterns. Can we present these results without also emphasising “gender difference” or gender divisions? The paper discusses how I handle this risk, but also raises issues about what it means to lecture on gender in higher education and includes reflections about my own position and competence as a lecturer.

Povolání učitel – ceněné, ale nedoceněné: Změny profese začínajících učitelů v České republice

The article focuses on the drop-out of graduates of teacher-training programmes from their teaching profession as a little-explored phenomenon in the field of higher education research. Using selected data from the Absolvent 2018 (Graduate 2018) survey, a comparison was made between the target group (graduates of teachers’ fields of studies) and all other respondents to the survey. The analysis of latent classes, distinguishing graduates on the basis of their declared personal and work-related reasons for leaving the teacher profession, shows a cumulative effect with the remuneration playing a major role. Using logistic regression, the influence of family origin and the nature of the study on the probability of drop-out is investigated as well. Graduates of the full-time form of study leave the profession less often than graduates of combined and distance teachers’ programmes. It is also shown that graduates of the three traditional research-oriented universities (Charles University, Masaryk University, Palacký University Olomouc) do not leave the profession more often than their counterparts from other higher education institutions. Completion of English language teaching programs, as well as mathematics, physics and ICT with a focus on teaching also reduces the probability of leaving the teacher profession.

The role of internationalisation in 40 years of higher education research: major themes from Higher Education Research & Development (1982–2020)

ABSTRACT Internationalisation represents a significant disruptive force for higher education over the last four decades, impacting teaching, research, and service provisions in many countries. In response, much scholarly literature has focused on internationalisation’s causes and effects in the sector, leading recent systematic literature reviews to consider it a thematic field of higher education research. To mark the 40th anniversary of Higher Education Research & Development, we consider the extent to which the journal has made a contribution to this thematic field and how the framing of internationalisation has developed or changed over time. A systematic literature review of 151 articles about internationalisation published since the journal’s founding in 1982 demonstrated that this theme is of substantial interest and contribution. We have highlighted through a qualitative discourse analysis of article titles and abstracts that the journal has developed growing criticality towards internationalisation over time through recognition of underlying power differentials and inequalities. Several areas are suggested to move this thematic field forward in the journal and the wider higher education field, including the inclusion of more authors from the Global South and increased criticality towards deficit narrative framings of international students.

Working to learn and learning to work: research on higher education and the world of work

ABSTRACT In recognition of the forty-year anniversary of Higher Education Research & Development, this article reviews the research on higher education and the world of work in the journal, including how ‘work’ has been defined, prioritised, integrated, and predicted in the field of higher education research. Based on an analysis of published articles from 1982 to 2021 in the journal, this article discusses the complexity of higher education research on the topic of work and learning and the relevance and contribution of the journal’s articles to the field. It suggests agendas for future research on higher education and the world of work in the changing social and economic context.

Conceptualizing capitalist transformations of universities: Marx’s relevance for higher education research

This article opens a space for dialogue between Marxism and the field of higher education research. First, it demonstrates to what extent Marx is present in the theoretical and methodological discussions within the field and it examines the reasons behind his absence, i.e. the development of two perspectives regarding capitalist transformations, namely academic capitalism and exceptionalism. Second, it introduces Marx’s method of critique, conceived as the integrity of three different analytical moments and it further explicates how those moments can be translated into the general research programme. It does so in reference to (a) ontological assumptions; (b) sector’s political economy; (c) students and academic protests; (d) ideas about the alternative. Finally, it uses those four areas to reflect on the key differences between Marx’s critique and the two perspectives discussed. By doing so it opens up paths for further dialogue between Marxism and higher education research.

A methodological review of systematic literature reviews in higher education: Heterogeneity and homogeneity

The field of higher education research has bourgeoned in the past decades, addressing a wide range of topics. Being in a rapidly expanding and interdisciplinary field of research, higher education scholars have demonstrated exigency for aggregating research findings to map the research landscape, identify future research directions, and bridge the research-practice divide. In this connection, systematic literature reviews have been carried out to consolidate research findings. With a proliferation of systematic literature reviews in higher education, the aim of this meta, methodological review is to provide a state-of-the-art systematic literature review methodologies in the field of higher education. Adhering to the exploratory nature of this study, this review analyses systematic literature reviews published in 16 top-tiered international journals in higher education (n = 160). Through qualitative research synthesis using thematic analysis and informed by grounded theory, a methodological framework comprising six stages and 20 steps is developed, which might help to instigate methodological dialogue between researchers when it comes to conducting systematic literature reviews. A handy checklist for conducting and evaluating systematic literature reviews in higher education is created.

Borders, paths and orientations: assembling the higher education research field as doctoral students and supervisors

ABSTRACT While higher education (HE) is entrenched as a context for scholarly inquiry in Australian universities, there remains contest about it as a research field. Unlike other forms of ‘Education’, in Australia there is no undergraduate programme inducting students into HE's key questions, scholars, and inquiry modes. For new doctoral students, learning to make an original contribution to a field described as a practice, a discipline, and context is a persistent challenge. In this paper, we ‘think with’ the concepts of borders, paths and orientations to interrogate our practices as doctoral students and supervisors in the field of HE research, under the formation #thesisthinkers. We offer multiple accounts of how #thesisthinkers invites us to confront HE as a field, and in particular, how #thesisthinkers has invigorated us to build a useable landscape of the HE research field that sustains multiple pathways for doctoral researchers, leaving behind traces for others to tread.

The emergence of the higher education research field (1976–2018): preferential attachment, smallworldness and fragmentation in its collaboration networks

The field of higher education research is fast-growing, both in number of publications and in geographical reach. There is however limited evidence on how this growth in publication influences the structure of the underlying co-authorship network. This is important as structural network parameters can change quickly in a fast-growing network, leading to fundamental different network structures, e.g., in terms of hierarchy, fragmentation, and inequality. Ultimately, these network structures can influence the current and future innovation and knowledge production in the field. Empirically, we construct 34 different co-authorship networks of all authors published in 28 higher education journals listed in Web of Science between 1976 and 2018 and perform bibliometric network analyses. We find that the growth of publications and authors in the higher education research field leads to increased clustering among authors, creating a dense core of well-connected author clusters. At the same time, we observe an increasing inequality in the network. The co-authorship network is characterized by high fragmentation and reveals a core-periphery structure. Our analysis shows that co-authorship is a selective process, driven by a Matthew effect based on previous publications. As a result, core authors are unlikely to co-author with newer, less established authors. Moreover, we also detect a growing inequality in the average impact of an article. We conclude the paper by discussing possible explanations and by offering some suggestions for future research.

Social media engagement and Chinese international student recruitment: understanding how UK HEIs use Weibo and WeChat

ABSTRACTUsing a novel longitudinal methodological design, this is the first study to investigate how and to what extent UK higher education institutions (HEIs) use Chinese social media platforms to engage with users. The data was gathered from examining 163 UK HEIs’ use of Weibo public accounts in 2012 and 2018 and WeChat in 2018, combined with student data and university ranking data from secondary sources. The analysis demonstrates a positive association between HEIs’ social media engagement and increase in Chinese student numbers studying at those institutions, after taking into account of university reputation. This study identifies effective social media strategies to gain popularity with Chinese users. Interaction and public replies to followers may generate trust and electronic word-of-mouth to attract more users to follow HEIs’ social media accounts. The findings contribute to the knowledge in the field of higher education research in relation to cross-cultural communication and social media marketing.

Looking back, and looking forward: Does ADCHE embody a mature field of enquiry?

This article attempts to characterize the maturation of the field of research embodied in this journal. This field of research is described as pedagogic in character, and related to the disciplines of art, design and media, within the higher education research context. The article describes the original context for the development of the field, related to the parallel, more mature development of the field of higher education research. It goes on to describe key influences on the development of the field of research, including research assessment exercises in the national and international context, development of higher education systems and research into the student experience and predominant themes in the development of the field of enquiry. Themes identified include research development and situated practices in learning and teaching. The article draws comparisons with the development of a field of enquiry, by referring to review studies in the fields of higher education research and design research. The article concludes that there is much evidence of a mature field of enquiry and argues for further demonstration through synthesis and application of established higher education research methods and frameworks.

Linking Theory and method in higher education research: book review

Review of Jeroen Huisman and Malcolm Tight editors’ book: Theory and method in higher education research, volume 2, 2016. The book presents 12 chapters written by 14 authors from ten countries in three continents, demonstrating a collaborative working capacity in the field of higher education research. They link theory, method and methodologies in a clear and strong way.

Mapping the field of Higher Education Research using PhD examination reports

ABSTRACTThe PhD is the highest formal qualification and signifies a scholar’s rite of passage as a legitimate contributor of new knowledge in a field. Examiner reports make claims about what is legitimate in a thesis and what is not and thus articulate the organising principles through which participation in a field is measured. The authors analysed 39 examiners’ reports on 13 PhDs produced over a five-year period by scholars from the Higher Education Research doctoral studies programme at Rhodes University in South Africa. Drawing on aspects of Karl Maton’s Legitimation Code Theory (LCT), this study uses the dimensions of LCT:Specialisation and LCT:Semantics to explore what kinds of knowledge, skills and procedures and what kinds of knowers are validated in the field of Higher Education Research through the examination process. The study found that despite concerns in the literature about the a-theoretical nature of the Higher Education Studies field, examiners valued high-level theoretical and meta-theoretical engagement as well as methodological rigour. In addition, examiners prized the ability to demonstrate a strong ideological position, to use a clear doctoral voice, and to recognise the axiological drive of the field. The analysis showed that examiners were interested in strong contextualisation of the problem-spaces in higher education in South Africa but also commented positively on candidates’ ability to move from troubling an issue within its context to being able to abstract findings so as to contribute to the field as a whole.

The research agenda setting of higher education researchers

Research agenda setting is a critical dimension in the creation of knowledge since it represents the starting point of a process that embeds individual researchers’ (and the communities that they identify themselves with) interest for shedding light on topical unknowns, intrinsic and extrinsic factors underpinning that motivation, and the ambition and scope of what a research endeavor can bring. This article aims to better understand the setting of individual research agendas in the field of higher education. It does so by means of a recently developed framework on research agenda setting that uses cluster analysis and linear modeling. The findings identify two main clusters defining individual research agenda setting—cohesive and trailblazing—each with a different set of determining characteristics. Further analysis by cross-validation through means of sub-sampling shows that these clusters are consistent for both new and established researchers, and for frequent and “part-time” contributors to the field of higher education. Implications for the field of higher education research are discussed, including the relevance that each research agendas cluster has for the advancement of knowledge in the field.

Supercomplexity and the university: Ronald Barnett and the social philosophy of Higher Education

AbstractRonald Barnett's modern classic Realizing the University in an Age of Supercomplexity (published December 1999), has had a crucial impact internationally on the field of Higher Education research and development since the book was published now nearly 20 years ago. Bridging an academic oeuvre across almost 30 years with close to 30 published volumes, Realizing the University in an Age of Supercomplexity plays an important role in the development and transformation of Barnett's social theory of Higher Education into a social philosophy of Higher Education. In the book Barnett performs an important move from a focus on knowledge and epistemology to a focus on being and ontology in relation to Higher Education practices. Barnett shifts his fundamental perspective and view on the relation between universities and the wider society from one of caution and worry to a perspective of hope and vision that fully embraces the future of Higher Education. This way, Realizing the University in an Age of Supercomplexity has not only paved the way for Barnett's own development of a social philosophy of Higher Education, but also contributed invaluably to the rise and maturing of philosophy of Higher Education as a research field in its own right.

Higher education journals: their characteristics and contribution

ABSTRACTThe study of higher education journals – that is, refereed academic journals wholly focused on higher education – reveals much about the field of higher education research. This analysis identified 86 such journals published in the English language, considering their focus, ownership, location, orientation, age, size and ranking. From this analysis, a shorter list of 28 key journals is identified. It is argued that, given the scale of the contribution being made to higher education research – for example, the 86 journals between them published over 16,000,000 words in 2016, with this total increasing year on year – it may be time to spend more effort on synthesising and disseminating what we have already learnt, rather than, or before, undertaking fresh research.

Research on Higher Education in South Africa: Stocktaking and Assessment from International Comparative Perspectives

The aim of this article is to compare Higher Education research in South Africa with developments in the field of Higher Education research internationally. This will be done by means of a content analysis of Higher Education published locally compared with that published internationally during the decade 2001-2010. While local Higher Education scholarship now seems to be more aligned with international Higher Education scholarship than was the case some two decades ago, there are indications that Higher Education scholarship in South Africa allows itself be dictated to by the current societal status quo, and that critical scholarship is not as thriving as was the case two decades ago. This is a dangerous development. In the light of this, the article concludes with three suggestions for further research regarding the integration of local Higher Education scholarship with international Higher Education research.

Ethnographies of higher education: introduction to the special issue

While acknowledging that ethnography has been a rarely adopted approach in the field of higher education research, I will try to demonstrate the contributions that ethnographies have made to higher education studies. I will introduce readers to several of the most important and interesting ethnographic studies of university settings, focusing on two aspects. On the one hand, I will highlight the novel perspectives on several key themes in higher education research that are enabled by a unique ethnographic perspective. On the other hand, I will spotlight ethnography itself by focusing on the ways the studies were conducted, especially on the methodological and epistemological dilemmas inherent in ethnographic research.