Institutional Hierarchy Research Articles

‘I don’t need professional development; I want institutional development’: legitimising marginalised epistemic capital that disrupts generative AI discourse

ABSTRACT Responding to GenAI technologies, academics press for PLD that informs pedagogical practice and policy development. However, insufficient critical evaluation of whose knowledge informs this and its underlying complexity has resulted in excessively reductive offerings that either champion specific tools or advocate for their prohibition. Engaging with critically complex perspectives provides an opportunity to deepen discourse through untapped funds of knowledge, while considering PLD’s broader role in policy and institutional development. English for Academic Purposes (EAP) lecturers are typically peripheral within universities, positioned as a remedial or technical service who ‘fix’ academic integrity and student language development issues. GenAI disruption has created a heightened demand for language expertise, offering an opportunity for EAP lecturers to advocate for the critical complexity underpinning their funds of knowledge. Using Legitimation Code Theory (LCT) within a Delphi study with senior EAP academics, we argue that engaging with critical complexity can empower institutionally marginalised expertise. The panel established design principles and actionable measures to (i) move beyond individualistic PLD and (ii) formalise the voicing and valuing of diverse expertise through collaboration across institutional hierarchies. Taken together, these offer ways to leverage epistemic relations to disrupt entrenched power structures through transformative PLD and thus catalyse institutional change.

Paediatric Nurses' Personal Accounts of Being Told Not to Disclose Information to Children With Serious Illness-An Interpretative Phenomenological Study.

To explore the experiences, and perceptions of nurses who are told to withhold clinical information from children diagnosed with serious illnesses. An interpretative qualitative phenomenological design was used for the study. Sampling was purposive and data were collected using semi-structured interviews from nurses working in a paediatric setting within the preceding 5 years. Nurse-participants described their personal experiences of withholding situations ('non-disclosure directives'). Their accounts of specific examples of situations ('personal accounts') were extracted from the interview transcripts and analysed using inductive content analysis to identify patterns and concepts within the descriptions. Data management was supported using Dedoose. Nurse-participants were interviewed face-to face and online between November 2019 and December 2020. Twenty-six Australian nurses who have cared for seriously ill children within the preceding 5 years participated in the study. Thirty-nine accounts of non-disclosure situations (personal accounts) were extracted from interview transcripts. Four types of non-disclosure were identified in the personal accounts: withholding information, temporary withholding, lying and combined withholding/lying. The inductive content analysis identified three key aspects of nurse-participants' accounts: beliefs and perceptions (about the child and parents), the nature of the experience and feelings about the experience. Moral distress occurred when nurses' actions conflicted with their moral values in response to a non-disclosure directive, particularly when asked to directly lie to children. Nurses felt disempowered by the parent's authority and the institutional hierarchy that limited their ability to participate in discussions where a non-disclosure directive was given. Nurse-participants were afforded a platform for reflection which proved valuable in allowing them to process their experiences in a non-disclosure situation. Nurses directed to withhold medical information from children should be afforded opportunities for reflection to mitigate moral distress. Nurses should be included in the planning of ethically appropriate responses to withholding directives.

The International and the Local Worker: Understanding Multi-layered Processes of Racialisation in International Development Organisations

AbstractThis article seeks to examine how institutional hierarchies relate to processes of racialisation in development organisations that are multiracial. Complementing and building on existing literature focussed on race and development it shows how processes of racialisation help to produce and legitimate distinctions between local and international development professionals. It argues these divides cannot always be neatly mapped onto phenotype but are related to processes of racialisation tied to knowledge and class and this, in turn, helps to produce inequalities—power imbalances, pay differences and differential access to organisational benefits—between development workers. Therefore, while forms of racism and their material impacts shape the experiences of international staff of colour, there is another layer of racialisation at play that cannot be explained through existing racial categories but that draws on colonial ideas of epistemic superiority to create specific forms of racialisation within development organisations.

Некоторые особенности документирования финансовой деятельности учреждений власти и самоуправления Нальчикского округа в начале ХХ века

The article focuses on studying some features of documenting the financial activities of govern-ment and self-government institutions of the Nalchik district in the early twentieth century. The paper considers the records of government and local government institutions that were entrusted with financial functions (district and district boards, Treasuries, including Nalchik, Stavropol Treasury Chamber, Congress of Trusted Rural Societies of Greater and Lesser Kabarda and Five Mountain Societies, Kabardian public Sum and its treasurer, rural boards, rural public funds). The informative impact of such clerical documents as prescriptions, resolutions, reports, relations, re-ceipts from residents of villages, bills from various institutions to the treasurer of the Kabardian public sum and the head of the Nalchik district, statements, receipts, certificates, etc. is deter-mined for the study of various areas of the economic history of the Kabardian and Balkarian popu-lation of the district. The exchange of information between the subjects of financial relations oc-curred through telegrams and notices, and their description is given. It is concluded that the rec-ords of the institutions of government and self-government of the Nalchik district in financial ac-tivity contain information about how, in what form and on what issues they interacted with each other and with other non-financial institutions, what the hierarchy of financial institutions of the Nalchik District looked like during the period under study; and also reflected information on the composition of employees of financial institutions, authorities and self-government and their em-ployees, including representatives of the Kabardian and Balkarian population.

The psycho-social implications of institutional hierarchy: an exploratory study into Chinese doctoral graduates’ engagement in career planning for non-academic employment

The psycho-social implications of institutional hierarchy: an exploratory study into Chinese doctoral graduates’ engagement in career planning for non-academic employment

Building capacity through networking

Networks are an ally for higher educators: providing them an avenue to connect beyond the boundaries of space, time, and institutional hierarchy, to build professional capacity. This paper reports on an ethics approved mixed methods study on the value of networking to develop capacity for teaching with technologies. Data were collected via the means of anonymous online questionnaire and semi-structured interviews. There were 218 valid questionnaire responses and 31 interviews with participants from 23 countries worldwide. The value creation framework by Wenger, Trayner and deLaat (2011) was the main reference concept for data collection, analysis and reporting. The findings show that higher educators create value in networks to build capacity to teach with technologies by taking the role of Lurker, Seeker or Leader.

Research ethics in social science research during health pandemics: what can we learn from COVID-19 experiences?

The COVID-19 pandemic posed many ethical and practical challenges for academic research. Some of these have been documented, particularly in relation to health research, but less attention has been paid to the dilemmas encountered by educational and social science research. Given that pandemics are predicted to be more frequent, it is vital to understand how to continue crucial research in schools and other learning communities. This article therefore focuses specifically on research ethics in educational and social science during the pandemic of 2020–2022. The research involved interviews and workshops with University College London (UCL) academics, professional staff and graduate students and encompassed those involved in reviewing ethics applications, researchers dealing with ethics in projects that continued despite disruptions caused by COVID-19, and successful research projects specifically designed to study the effects of COVID-19 in various contexts. The article discusses some of the crucial knowledge and practical experiences that were accumulated. The operational and epistemological lessons learned from this particular institution may have wider relevance to research ethics processes in higher education environments where academics and students are grappling with post-COVID-19 ethical dilemmas and inform broader debates about how research institutions can build institutional knowledge to improve practices of ethics review at the times of health emergencies in future. Our evidence points to the significance of inter- and multidisciplinary, collaborative approaches that flatten institutional hierarchies and to the crucial role played by professional staff. In addition, we argue that ethics review processes must be underpinned by critical debates about wider issues of unequal power relationships between research partners, the nature of knowledge production, ownership and utilisation. To enhance equity and epistemic justice in research practices, ethics education should be an ongoing integral part of research ethics within research institutions.

‘Tick boxes are just tick boxes’: Problematising evidence-based teaching and exploring the space of the possible through a complexity lens

This article seeks to provide a new paradigm for questioning how quality and excellence in teaching practices are understood and evaluated. By combining ideas from complexity theory and Michel Foucault’s conception of polymorphous correlations, I argue that a shift away from the forms of thought that engender reductionist evaluations can become a starting point to redefine the efficacy of teaching practices. By examining teaching practices through data obtained from interviews and classroom observations at a further education college, this article justifies disrupting our current common sense by which quality is defined in the landscape of educational policies and research. It is necessary, first, to try to unsettle the so-called discourse of evidence-based teaching, resulting in the production and dissemination of universalised pedagogical forms. By exploring how ecological factors affect institutional hierarchies and influence teaching practices, I challenge the notion that power relations in education are solely one-directional and oppressive. Insights from theory and teaching practices suggest that there are new forms of power at play, drawing attention to the concept I refer to as ‘transphenomenal awareness', and offering a more profound understanding of the significance of transcending the confines of pedagogical determinism that presently guides educational policymaking.

The narratives of Chinese women academics: exploring gendered career trajectories for those who are not leaders

ABSTRACT Despite women academics reaching higher positions, in institutional hierarchies they still face multiple tensions that hinder reaching leadership positions. 1 This study explores the perception of leadership among Chinese women academics who currently do not hold academic leadership positions. A feminist critical discourse analysis of 14 Chinese women academics’ narratives, using Butlerian theory, indicates that institutional discourses have been shaped predominantly by men’s norms and preferences, creating challenges for women assuming leadership responsibilities. The findings show that women and men academics appear to have different career trajectories, with men taking on more administrative roles and advancing further in their academic careers. For many women, leadership conflicts with family obligations, as families often take priority, consistent with gender norms. This study also reveals how social and institutional regulatory power, such as gender norms and institutional discourses, constitutes and shapes a gendered structure of academic leadership positions in Chinese universities.

Urban wastewater management in Nepal: generation, treatment, engineering and policy perspectives

ABSTRACT Rapid urbanization has caused a worldwide increase in the discharge of wastewater effluent. Although Nepal has a noteworthy history of wastewater management, progress in this field has been hindered by persistent issues. These problems encompass insufficient sewer coverage, deficient treatment and sludge disposal facilities, inadequate treatment infrastructure, lack of coherent institutional frameworks, and a lack of comprehensive planning. This review provides a glimpse into Nepal's current urban wastewater landscape while also offering a concise historical overview of its wastewater management trends. The study gathered data, information from government organizations, as well as related research, review articles, and reports from 1999 to 2023. Our findings reveal that more than 85% of urban households in Nepal rely on onsite sanitation, with limited access to septage treatment facilities. The ratio of wastewater treatment to generation is disconcertingly low, further emphasized by the concentration of centralized treatment plants in the capital city. This low ratio underscores the inadequacy of the existing wastewater system and the novice approaches of the government, which contribute to the poor sewerage facilities in Nepal. This study unequivocally highlights the imperative need for functional and institutional hierarchy emphasizing local communities, substantial changes in resource allocation, governance practices, and technical infrastructure.

Understanding institutional layers and modes of change for energy transitions: Analysis of Norway's electricity sector reforms

AbstractInstitutions have significant implications for whether and how energy systems restructure, evolve, and successfully transition. Yet, literature analyzing energy sector reforms often approach transitions from economic or technical perspectives, with much less attention to the underlying roles and influences of institutions. This paper explores the roles and influence of institutions on the speed, direction, timing, and sequence of energy transitions. A conceptual framework integrating the hierarchy of institutions with an historical institutionalist approach is developed and applied to explore transitions in Norway's electricity sector as a case study. Results show that conversion followed by layering emerge as the dominant modes of institutional change in Norway's electricity sector reform, illustrating the importance of alignment between institutions in creating the conditions for large‐scale energy transitions and the importance of boundaries to maintain alignment between levels of institutions. Governments can minimize potential gaps between transition intentions and outcomes through effective conversion and layering of institutional arrangements, but layering challenges emerge when institutional change introduces new actors or energy arenas to existing policy paradigms.

Transdisciplinarity from the grassroots: exploring student-led dialogues for sustainability

ABSTRACT The responses of higher education (HE) institutions towards the climate crisis and escalating social inequalities have been researched from either ‘top-down’ (i.e. institutionally-led) or ‘bottom-up’ (i.e. student-led) perspectives. As scholars call for enhanced insight into the space between these two poles, this paper provides an autoethnographical account of a ‘bottom-up’ network led by doctoral students – Researchers 4 Sustainability (R4S) – initiated within a UK university to contest ‘top-down’ structures by way of disciplinary silos. Likening disciplines to communicative subsystems, we draw on a social constructivist perspective of dialogue to demonstrate how three forms of dialogue – exploring, explaining and expanding – support not just the transcending of disciplinary boundaries, but crucially, institutional hierarchies, in the creation of sustainability knowledge. Herein, we introduce a framework against which to organise student-led dialogues relative to their inter- and/or trans-disciplinary orientations and offer recommendations for theory and practice.

Institutions and Corporate Tax Evasion: A Review of the Literature and a Methodological Approach

ABSTRACT We first review the recent research published in the Journal of International Accounting Research (JIAR) on the influence of international institutions on accounting practices. We follow this with a discussion of the literature by studying the influence of institutions on tax avoidance and tax evasion. We then propose a new methodological approach that draws on the theory of institutional hierarchy proposed by Williamson (2000) and examine the relative importance of three broad types of institutions (informal, formal, and media) in curtailing perceived tax evasion activities. We contribute to the international accounting literature by summarizing the recent research that addresses tax avoidance and tax evasion and by providing preliminary evidence on how employing an institutional hierarchy approach can address the interdependencies between commonly used institutional factors. Data Availability: Data are available from the public sources cited in the text. JEL Classifications: H26; G28; O16.

Failing Forward in European Economic Governance: The Cyclicality of European Integration and Institutional Competition in the COVID‐19 Crisis

AbstractThe European Union's (EU's) response to the pandemic has been accompanied by reconfigurations in its institutional hierarchy, affecting the sites where institutional reforms are prepared and implemented. Whereas the Eurogroup drove reform during the euro crisis, the Commission had a more pronounced role in the development and implementation of pandemic instruments. This article ties in with failing‐forward arguments that view European integration as cyclical, arguing that this cyclicality also concerns the institutional dynamics in European economic governance. Based on expert interviews, official documents and reports, the analysis reconstructs and compares the institutional configurations during the euro crisis and the pandemic. Its findings suggest three modifications to ‘failing forward’: first, incomplete intergovernmental decisions are often the result of dominant particular interests rather than ‘lowest common denominator’ solutions; second, supranational bodies can exploit the delegitimization of intergovernmental solutions; and third, ad hoc measures can prolong the failing‐forward cycle and displace lasting integration steps.

Stakeholders’ perspective on collaboration barriers in low-income housing provision: a case study from pakistan

The prevailing housing situation in Pakistan is alarming, as more than 47% of urban households are estimated to be living in squatters. Housing stakeholders require an enabling environment to collaborate to reduce the drastic inequity with too many housing options for the high-income and too few for the low-income groups. Existing literature reveals that Pakistan lacks stakeholder studies with a collaborative focus on providing low-income housing in urban areas. This study explores the barriers and impediments to stakeholder collaborations in the low-income housing sector through in-depth interviews within the urban setting of Lahore, the capital and the most populous city of the biggest province, Punjab, Pakistan. The findings identify the emergence of five cross-cutting collaboration challenges (GLIPP), placing government capacity, institutional complexity, and political willpower & intervention as dominant ones. This study stresses revising the organizational hierarchy of government institutions to develop a collaborative culture in the Pakistani housing sector. As part of practical implications, this paper would agitate policymakers to develop housing policies and programs for low-income groups.

The politics of migration policy implementation in Ghana

AbstractThis article dives into the complex web of actors and processes of migration policy implementation in Ghana, revealing political tensions as they play out in this field. The analysis is based on semi‐structured interviews with bureaucrats and practitioners involved in migration governance initiatives in Ghana. The study reveals how institutional power hierarchies and funding structures affect execution processes on the ground. Mapping out observations concerning implementation as it is experienced across the vertical scale of involved actors, the study reveals that politics are engrained in Ghanaian migration policy implementation through experiences of (1) incoherent narratives on policy and migration; (2) local‐level exclusion from policy design; and (3) mismatch between policy targets and local realities. The article concludes by contemplating theoretical needs and proposing avenues for future research.

Rethinking non-governmental organizations – at the crossroad of economics and civil society

RESEARCH OBJECTIVE: The article aims to close the existing knowledge gaps, show why non-governmental organizations are founded and maintained, and elaborate and systematize the existing knowledge through an analysis of the existing subdisciplines within economics, laying the groundwork for the economics of non-governmental organizations.
 RESEARCH PROBLEM AND METHODS: The article was written based on a structured literature review with an approach similar to the grounded theory method. The research question is: Why are NGOs founded and what is their modus operandi?
 PROCESS OF ARGUMENTATION: After determining the research question, literature evidence was collected from a variety of sources, which led to the creation of a theoretical explanatory model. Nevertheless, a deductive, top-down approach has been taken to present the final model in a more comprehensible and transparent way.
 RESEARCH RESULTS: Based on the institutional hierarchy of O.E. Williamson and drawing from the theoretical framework of the economics of the public sector and the motives behind the sharing economy, a model was built that explains why NGOs are founded and maintained, thus elucidating the route from social theory (in particular, institutional environments) all the way to undertaking actions to solve a given issue.
 CONCLUSIONS, INNOVATIONS, AND RECOMMENDATIONS: The article influences and enhances the current state of knowledge regarding non-governmental institutions, including the placement of NGOs in particular disciplines within economics. It also significantly supports researchers doing subsequent studies regarding this area of social science. After further research in the proposed direction, more practical implications may arise in the future, including improvements in the management of NGOs that will facilitate their more efficient operation.

Dance-Musicking: Non-prescriptive dance, music, and dance-music engagement in cross-sectoral collaborative teaching and learning

This article explores dance-musicking as a non-prescriptive process of interdependent engagement with dance and music in their teaching and learning contexts. The author asks how this engagement challenges and disrupts uneven institutional hierarchies, and how it cultivates a more holistic understanding of, and access to the knowledge embedded in the dancing and dance-musicking processes. The discussion is informed by the author's dance, music, and dance-music practice oscillating between formal and non-formal settings, and continuous research on the same in East Africa. It is premised on a critical observation that within the twentieth century, dance and music knowledge has continued to grow more into an institutionalized form than it has into a communal one. The article pivots the dance-musicking process as a cross-sectoral collaborative engagement for teaching and learning dance, music, and dance-music discussed on both micro and macro levels of artistic (co)existence. As such, it highlights core elements of 'communitarian' teaching and learning approaches, which have not favourably evolved alongside formal education. This situation is attributed to a lack in cross-sectoral complementarity between the formal and non-formal dance, and music knowledge bases —complementarity that works well in transforming higher education institutions into intellectual resources that positively influence, and that are influenced by their communities.

Co-Developing a Radical Mental Health Doula Model of Support

Feminist Participatory Action Research (FPAR) has the potential to create impactful research outcomes, challenge institutional hierarchies and disrupt conditions that oppress and marginalize women in the research process. This paper reflects on the application of FPAR as a methodology during the development of an innovative Radical Mental Health Doula (RMHD) framework and the accompanying training curriculum. Women and their experiences with mental health systems and services are at the centre of this project. Experts through their own experience, women co-researchers (WCRs) were instrumental in identifying problems and determining how to address gaps in what they recognized as an often cruel, fragmented and dehumanizing model of mental health care. The FPAR approach allowed us to question the roles of expert, researcher and subject. This enabled an exploration of how women’s voices and experience, which are traditionally silenced, can challenge hierarchical and patriarchal practices in mental health systems and research. Reflecting on the use of FPAR, through an analysis of data from consultation meetings with WCRs, we identified three key practices that led to the successful application of this methodology in the RMHD project. In this paper we highlight the voices of women co-researchers to examine 1. Relationship building, 2. Inquiry with women co-researchers and respect for lived experience, and 3. Holding space to share vulnerability and emotion in the FPAR process.

Be A Teacher And Shut Up: When The Violation of The Psychological Contract Stands as A Perfect Mediator in the Relationship Between Sexual Harassment and Continuous Commitment

Purpose: The purpose of this article is to shed light on the issue of sexual harassment towards women who hold lower positions in the hierarchy of higher education institutions. These women often feel powerless to refuse indecent advances from their hierarchical superiors, which violates the psychological contract between them and their subordinates. This highlights the close connection between sexuality and power relations in the workplace. Design/Methodology/ Approach: The study employed a quantitative methods which applied the survey questionnaire to get response from Tunisian higher education sector, including PhD students, permanent teaching assistants, and temporary teachers. We utilized 370 valid cases to infer the results. Findings: The results showed that sexual harassment has a significant and positive impact on both continuous commitment and violation of psychological contract, which has a significant and positive impact on continuous commitment. We also found that the violation of the psychological contract acts as a mediator in the relationship between sexual harassment and continuous commitment. Research, practical and social implications: The study would be valuable to contrôle the issue of sexual harassment of females who are affiliated and not affiliated with the university. The study would help prepare the policies regarding controlling potential harassers. Originality/ value: The study shed light on the important issue of sexual harassment towards women who hold lower positions in the hierarchy of higher education institutions in Tunisia.