Development Of Higher Education Policy Research Articles

Looking Back: Reviewing the Challenges of Policy Development During the COVID-19 Pandemic for a TNE Partnership in Higher Education

This paper takes a retrospective view of the year 2020, with a focus on how Higher Education policy development was undertaken on a Transnational Education (TNE) program between the University of Glasgow (UofG) and the University of Electronics, Science and Technology in Chengdu (UESTC), China in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. It explores the approach to policy development under normal circumstances, contrasting this with the approach taken during the emergence of the epidemic and how the unfolding situation impacted on those policies. It demonstrates how the application of management tools for scenario planning and crisis management can be used effectively to develop a clear and prescriptive policy for staff. It also demonstrates how the use of such tools, combined with careful analysis and planning, can minimize disruption to student learning, teaching, and assessment. The paper then goes on to explain the creation and implementation of policies addressing three main areas: learning and teaching, Final Year Projects, and assessment. Finally, it reflects on the student and staff perspectives on the policies, considering how this information might be used to enhance the policy development process in future.

Higher Education Policy in Independent Lithuania (1990–2018): Between Local and Global Public Policy Factors

The article analyses the development of Higher Education Policy in independent Lithuania (1990-2018). The analysis is dwelling on the results of qualitative research conducted in 2018 with a focus on local national and global neoliberal public policy factors that have impact on higher education policy development, as well as Lithuanian education policy issues and it’s funding system. The empirical evidence revealed that higher education policy in Lithuania is highly influenced by global neoliberal public policy, however, the biggest higher education development problems are related to the local political factors: financial resources, political parties, the lack of sustainable higher education strategy.DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.5755/j01.ppaa.17.3.21957

The Stories They Tell: Understanding International Student Mobility Through Higher Education Policy

The movement of students across borders has had profound impact on higher education policy development. This article seeks to unpack international student mobility through a discourse approach, using five policy documents on international student mobility from well-established recruiters of international students. Eight headline findings are presented in this article. It was found that there are many different types of international students. Higher education institutions are located at the heart of the action, and provide a broad range of services across four distinctive stages of the students’ sojourn. Governments reaffirm their commitment in providing good higher education experience to the international student population. However, there are signs that the students’ presence has shaped higher education policies to be more service-, market-, and reputation driven. The ethics of care concept is proposed to balance the present role of higher education as “wealth creation agents,” and to ensure both institutions and students reap the benefits of international higher education.

Who gets left behind? The fate of the unrepresented in the wake of US–India higher education partnerships

The promotion of US–Indian higher education partnerships affects those students who are most marginalized. This article explores the development, implementation, and reception of such partnerships to meet the needs of students who remain on the borders of educational access in India. This article addresses the ways higher education policies systematically universalize the marginalization of certain students, explores the impact of how policies of partnerships will address the needs of such students, and seeks to explore how administrators in higher education institutions see the growth of such partnerships shifting the status quo of privilege and power. Through the evaluation of policy papers, historical documents, media reports, survey data and informal conversations with stakeholders, the findings will address the underlying consequences and effects on higher education policy development in India. This article seeks to deconstruct the directions such relationships might take and consider the impact on students who remain on the periphery of higher education in India.

How to add more "family" to the work-life-balance? - family friendliness in medical under- and postgraduate studies and the workplace.

Today universities have to compete for the best brains more than ever before. The issues of reconciliation of work/study and family and the work-life balance have become increasingly important recently in higher education policy development as higher education institutions in the competition for the best minds are already forced to tackle these issues, some of which are still novel to them, as they are faced with demographic change. High dropout rates among students with children, increasing shortages of physicians and high sector emigration and high levels of childlessness among graduates serve as indicators for urgent action towards more family-oriented university and faculty strategies.But how can medical schools, hospitals and (teaching) hospitals achieve a family-oriented profile? Which key players, which areas of higher education management are relevant to management and decision-making structures? What exemplary measures for designing family-friendly medical studies and work places offer success?The underrepresentation of women in the next generation of scientists also poses an additional challenge to the development of an innovative higher education policy if it is to be sustainable. Thus strategies promoting the next generation and family orientation are key factors for a future-oriented higher education policy. These factors should therefore be seen as leadership strategies which will introduce measures that will make (re)design the university’s profile. To this end, a holistic approach which will lead to fundamental reforms of higher education structures which are outlined below and illustrated with examples are a prerequisite for successful implementation.

From absent to active voices: securing disability equality within higher education

This article discusses the representation and participation of disabled students in the development of higher education policy and provision within the UK, at both a national and institutional level. Findings are drawn from a doctoral study, which identified the importance of student participation in securing equality and inclusion. Power relationships and established boundaries are explored to ascertain how vocal disabled students are in these processes. Questions are addressed in terms of the genuineness and effectiveness of participatory approaches, identifying those barriers that are likely to impede the process. These include the influence of dominant ideology, professional expertise and attitudes towards the capability of disabled students. All are important when considering the increased rights of disabled people.

Social Capital and College Sport: In Search of the Bridging Potential of Intercollegiate Athletics

Intercollegiate athletics in the United States have been linked with enhancing the sense of community between students on campus (Clopton, 2008). Still, little evidence confirms that maintaining a prominent athletics program contributes to the social capital of students on campus who follow those teams. Consisting of networks of relationships based on trust and norms of reciprocity, social capital is disaggregated into bonding (tightening connections between similar individuals) or bridging (establishing new connections with other members of the campus community) varieties (Putnam, 2000). Results suggest that fan identity detracts from a student’s overall social capital and showed no contribution to one’s bridging social capital. This notion has potential ramification in higher education policy development as the connection between student affairs and athletics is increasingly encouraged (McKindra, 2008).

Internationalization of Higher Education: A Case Study of Policy Adjustment Strategy in Malaysia

At the beginning of the new millennium, Malaysia aspires to become a regional hub for education. Therefore, there is an adjustment strategy in Malaysian higher education policy. Among other elements are and the liberalization of the higher education sector in 1997, which led to the development of language-in-education policy; and the formation of the Ministry of Higher Education in 2004. This policy encompasses the economic, political and socio-cultural domains. Instead of only analyzing economic, political and socio-cultural viewpoints, we analyze this policy from the knowledge perspective. We review the literature on the link between knowledge and policy-making. Then, with emphasis on English language usage, we review language policy in general, and in Malaysia. Case study approach is used; because this gives an in-depth understanding of the policy-making process in Malaysia. The Ministry of Higher Education, Malaysia, policy-making process is the case study. Prior to the case study analysis, we also review the general policy-making process in Malaysia. The findings show that first; the Ministry of Higher Education of the Malaysian Federal Government is generally responsible for most of the policy-making process. And second, benchmarking with international best practices is one of the bases for the development of higher education policy in Malaysia.

Internationalisation and reform of higher education: global challenges and local interpretations

'Globalisation' and 'internationalisation' have been dominant concepts in the development of higher education policy no less than in business. This paper analyses the 'semantics' and 'pragmatics' of these key concepts in the discourse of higher education. The common features of higher education reforms in Europe and worldwide which constitute the contemporary social, political and economic conditions for education and social policy making are analysed in connection with the tensions of globalisation. The processes of translation and recontextualisation involved in the implementation of similar policies in specific national settings are then explored in the context of the transition in the higher education system of Russia.

Re-positioning as a response to government higher education policy development – an Australian case study

Australian Catholic University (ACU) has had a long-standing commitment to social justice and to engaging with the rest of the community, arising from its Catholic intellectual tradition and its creation from Catholic teaching institutions. As a university created in 1991 as part of a radical re-structure of Australian higher education, ACU has also been very responsive to government policy higher education policy. Recently, in the environment of a new Commonwealth government with a social inclusion agenda and an education policy described as the Education Revolution, ACU began a process of disentangling the strands of community service, outreach activities, engagement and third stream activities that have been labelled in recent years as ‘community engagement’. This article draws on the findings of a research project aimed at mapping third stream activities at ACU to analyse the ACU response to higher education policy development. It also suggests future directions for the development of third stream activities at ACU.

Off-campus learning and employability in undergraduate design: the Sorrell Young Design project as an innovative partnership

This article reports on research which explored the opportunity for extra-curricular undergraduate learning afforded by the Young Design Project (YDP), aimed at bringing together HE Design students, industry and schools. The research was undertaken in the context of the importance attached to ‘employability’ as a key driver for recent policy developments in Higher Education (see Leitch review and Cox report), as well as the political importance of Widening Participation initiatives between HEIs and schools. This research investigated the second iteration of the YDP in 2007, with 32 undergraduate students from two design degrees at University College Falmouth (BA Graphic Design and BA Spatial Design) on a project based in four Cornish schools (three secondary, one primary). The research sought to answer the question: what do undergraduate students learn from working with pupils as clients and industry practitioners in the context of a school-based project? This question is explored through a case study drawing on four triangulated phases of data collection: desk research of relevant policy documentation; pre-project semi-structured questionnaire; post-project focus group interviews and individual face-to-face interviews with key gatekeepers. As well as reflecting on the opportunity to engage with innovative learning in design, the findings offer fruitful insights to HE practitioners and policy makers considering issues around off-campus learning. This research recommends notions of ‘employability’ be subject to greater scrutiny in HE policy, since a key finding from this research is the crucial importance of appropriately resourced authentic project partnerships for deep and worthwhile undergraduate learning to take place

Off-campus learning and employability in undergraduate design: the Sorrell Young Design Project as an innovative partnership

This article reports on research which explored the opportunity for extra-curricular undergraduate learning afforded by the Young Design Project (YDP), aimed at bringing together HE Design students, industry and schools. The research was undertaken in the context of the importance attached to employability as a key driver for recent policy developments in Higher Education (see Leitch review and Cox report), as well as the political importance of Widening Participation initiatives between HEIs and schools. This research investigated the second iteration of the YDP in 2007, with 32 undergraduate students from two design degrees at University College Falmouth (BA Graphic Design and BA Spatial Design) on a project based in four Cornish schools (three secondary, one primary). The research sought to answer the question: what do undergraduate students learn from working with pupils as clients and industry practitioners in the context of a school-based project? This question is explored through a case study drawing on four triangulated phases of data collection: desk research of relevant policy documentation; pre-project semi-structured questionnaire; post-project focus group interviews and individual face-to-face interviews with key gatekeepers. As well as reflecting on the opportunity to engage with innovative learning in design, the findings offer fruitful insights to HE practitioners and policy makers considering issues around off-campus learning. This research recommends notions of employability be subject to greater scrutiny in HE policy, since a key finding from this research is the crucial importance of appropriately resourced authentic project partnerships for deep and worthwhile undergraduate learning to take place.

Capturing dissonance in university teacher education environments

In response to policy developments in higher education in the UK, the Institute for Learning and Teaching in Higher Education (ILTHE—now merged in the Higher Education Academy) was established in 1999 to provide a national framework for teaching and learning at tertiary level. This article considers the training environment of novice lecturers within the ILTHE framework and identifies areas of tensions within it. Activity systems theory is used as a broad framework for apprehending this environment. Praxis‐related, epistemological, structural and ideological dissonances are identified. Suggestions to advance change in this area are formulated in the light of the main findings. The limitations afforded by the activity systems approach are also discussed.

Discursive Tensions in South African Higher Education, 1990 to 2002

This article focuses on the impact of several competing discourses on higher education (HE) policy formulation in South Africa in the post apartheid period. It argues that there has never been a strong consensus in the HE community regarding the content of a new policy framework. In particular, the analysis focuses on the limits imposed by the neoliberal macro-economic policy framework, Growth, Employment and Redistribution, which drastically reduced the new state’s abilities to coherently steer and plan the fundamental reconstruction and transformation of HE. The article also examines the most recent phase in the development of HE policy, which has been largely to do with attaining institutional efficiencies through mergers—a key element of HE restructuring across the globe during the past two decades. The analysis concludes by arguing that this final phase is best characterised as a period of discursive stalemate.

Government Getting Closer: Higher Education and Devolution in the UK

AbstractSince 1997 there has been a series of far‐reaching constitutional changes in the UK through the devolution of power from Westminster to new legislatures and executives in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland. In addition, an elected assembly in London and the English regional development agencies have been established. This paper examines policy developments in higher education in the four countries of the UK between 1997 and 2004, and the impact devolution may have had on the sector, looking in particular at funding, increasing participation and widening access, tuition fees and student support, and business links and technology transfer. There is a strong sense that the devolved administrations want and expect more from ‘their’ higher education institutions. While institutions are often proactive in seeking links with regional businesses and communities, the relationships between universities and devolved administrations have important implications for institutional autonomy which need to be carefully thought through.

External and internal influences as driving forces and/or stumbling-blocks in the development of the South African quality assurance system nationally as well as institutionally

The development of national and institutional quality assurance and management systems is often forced (rightfully or wrongly) into a specific direction by external and internal environmental influences. In South Africa such influences play a major role in both the national higher education policy developments and the implementation of the higher education policies institutionally. The impact of these guiding interventions resulted in a study to identify the most important internal and external environmental influences directing or hampering national and institutional quality assurance and management developments as well as their implementation in the South African higher education system. These internal and external influences will be discussed and evaluated critically during the presentation. South African Journal of Higher Education Vol.16(2) 2002: 69-74

Higher education policy development in contemporary South Africa

Higher education policy development in contemporary South Africa

South African Higher Education: The Challenge of Change

A is characteristic of periods of political and social transition, South African higher education is in considerable flux. Multiple initiatives are under way as the new democratic government, the new advisory Council on Higher Education, various stakeholder organizations, and the 21 universities and 15 technikons themselves attempt to reconstruct and transform apartheid’s higher education legacy in relation to new policy goals, formulated through a long and extensive process of research, debate, and consultation. The higher education transformation agenda has its source in three related conditions. First, the inherited system was designed, in the main, to reproduce, through teaching and research, white privilege and black subordination in all spheres of society. Higher education was characterized by a lack of vision and a paralysis in policymaking, and problems of legitimacy and other conflicts around governance. Further, it was fragmented and divided along racial and ethnic lines, and reflected severe social inequalities of “race” and gender with respect to student access and success and the composition of academic staff. Finally, major institutional inequities existed between what are termed historically white institutions (HWIs) and historically black institutions (HBIs). Thus, a key policy imperative is to transform higher education so that it becomes more socially equitable internally and promotes social equity more generally. Second, whereas previously research and teaching were shaped by the socioeconomic and political priorities of the apartheid separate development program, higher education is now called on to address and respond to the development needs of a democratic South Africa. These needs are crystallized in the Reconstruction and Development Programme of 1994 as a fourfold commitment: “meeting basic needs of people,” “developing our human resources,” “building the economy,” and “democratizing the state and society.” Finally, South Africa’s transition is occurring during a period that has witnessed the emergence of a global economy and changes in the world captured by the concept “globalization.” It is recognized that, in the words of Martin Carnoy, economic growth, is “increasingly dependent on knowledge and information applied to production, and this knowledge is increasingly science-based.”1 Moreover, there is broad acceptance for Manuel Castells’ argument that “if knowledge is the electricity of the new informational international economy, then institutions of higher education are the power sources on which a new development process must rely.”2 Thus, a related challenge facing higher education is to produce through research and teaching-learning programs the knowledge and human resources that will enable South Africa to engage with and participate in a highly competitive global economy. Higher education policy development, from the National Commission on Higher Education of 1995, to the Higher Education Act of 1997, and the white paper on higher education entitled, “A Programme for Transformation of Higher Education in South Africa,” has taken as its point of departure this triple challenge—overcoming the apartheid legacy, contributing to reconstruction and development, and positioning South Africa to effectively engage globalization. The following policy initiatives have been drawn up from identified higher education priorities: • development of a single, differentiated, and coordinated system; • cooperative governance of the system, institutions, and partnerships; • increased and broadened participation within higher education to meet human resource needs and advance social equity; • curriculum restructuring and knowledge production that are responsive to societal interests and needs; • quality assurance through assessment and promotion of quality and accreditation of programs; • incorporation of higher education programs and qualifications within a national qualifications framework designed to promote articulation, mobility, and transferability; • improved institutional planning and management and the development of three-year institutional plans; and • state funding on the basis of allocated student enrollments and accredited programs with redress funding to overcome historical institutional inequities

Organizational Capacity and Political Activities of Canadian University Faculty Associations

In this study we examine the organizational capacity and political activities of Canadian university faculty associations in the development of higher education policy. We attempt to describe, from the perspective of the faculty associations, their political role both internal and extenral to the university and the extent to which faculty associations perceive themselves as being able to influence issues of policy. We report the findings of a national survey of university faculty associations including data on organizational structure, finance, perceived influence on institutional and provincial government, policy, services and programs, and other factors related to their role as political pressure groups.