Mass Higher Education Research Articles

HIGHER EDUCATION QUALITY ASSURANCE: CONTEMPORARY TENDENCIES

The article deals with the quality of higher education in the context of global trends in higher education development, taking into account global and international influences that encourage discussion of the problem of higher education quality assurance. The concept of quality has been considered and the lack of consensus regarding its conceptualization and evaluation has been stated. The higher education quality has been considered from a pedagogical point of view – as a systematic methodological category reflecting the degree of conformity of the result to the goal set, as well as the correspondence of the product to the consumers’ requirements and as a set of its characteristics determining the degree of suitability of the product for its intended use. It has been noted that the concept of quality and its indicators are debatable due to the presence of a range of stakeholders – persons interested in higher education. The difference in the value of higher education quality for each of the interested parties has been determined by the presence of their own interests and their own vision of quality. Globalization, the massification of higher education and the ICT revolution have been stressed in the article as factors that have radically changed the higher education environment, creating new challenges for governments, higher education institutions and other stakeholders. Higher education quality assurance has been defined as a global problem, and the growing attention to this problem has been noted in connection with the rapid development of higher education and the increase in the cost of educational services for the state and the public. Recent trends in higher education have been reviewed and their advantages and disadvantages have been noted.

TWO DIMENSIONS OF THE BOLOGNA PROCESS: THE PROBLEM OF QUALITY IN EACH OF THEM

The authors of the article analysed the Bologna process implementation in its two main dimensions in terms of “quality assurance” of higher education. It is found that significant progress has been made in ensuring minimum sufficient quality in the first (internal) dimension “compatibility and comparability”. In the second (external) dimension “competitiveness and attractiveness” the progress in achieving the most perfect quality is insignificant and is primarilyassociated not with the pan-European coordinated Bologna process, but with unique national initiatives to create and support leading universities and their elite associations. It is shown that one of the reasons for the current situation is the Bologna process’s inattention to rating mechanisms for evaluating and motivating university activities at higher levels of complexity and excellence, instead focusing on accreditation mechanisms and mass higher education. Itis argued that the confirmation and aspiration to competitiveness and attractiveness of the European Higher Education Area (EHEA) in the third decade of the Bologna process (until 2030) in the Rome Ministerial Communiqué (2020) obliges to form a strong pan-European policy of real increase of the global competitiveness of the EHEA with the involvement / development of adequate rating mechanisms and strategies for the development of university leadership. In the context of the dimensions of the Bologna process, Ukraine lacks a national strategy-2 for the creation of leading universities and their elite institutional and sectoral associations, which threatens national security, hinders the formation of conditions for effective post-war recovery of Ukraine on a new, highly intellectual, high-tech and highly motivated basis.

Stakeholders in Higher Education - Transforming for Development and Well-Being

Due to globalisation, massification of higher education, and neo-liberal policies in higher education, education started to be viewed as a sort of business, seeing stakeholders becoming vital for the development of HEIs. Stakeholders have the power to respond to, negotiate with, and modify the strategic future of the various institutions. From a power position, political and governmental bodies, and accompanying structures such as the Parliamentary Commission on Education and Ministry of Education, state educational quality assurance bodies are the most important. They define the criteria of quality and independence, while authorisation/accreditation committees have the power to authorise/accredit or shut down a university or educational program. They also define what kinds of learning outcomes are expected from programs (Ministry of Education, 2010), so, whatever is written in the national standards has a huge, maybe determining, impact on what a university does in the pursuit of officially recognised quality

The Effect of Good University Governance on Management Performance: A Literature Review

Governance is becoming increasingly important in universities as it is in the wider world of commerce and banking.Historically,universities were run by their academic communities,but as mass higher education has taken root,because university research has become an important element in the national economy and because the demand for better accountability in financial and academic performance has grown.The purpose of this study was to analyze the relationship between Good University Governance and Management Performance.This study was conducted through a literature review.The literature search was conducted using several electronic databases such as Google Scholar, Scopus, ProQuest,ScienceDirect,ACM Digital Library,by entering the keyword “Good University Governance” and “Management Performance”.

"Neo-Liberal Policies, Governance Reforms and Students’ Politics at Makerere University: A Literature Review"

The study focused on neo-liberalism and its influence on Governance Reforms and Student Politics at Makerere. Systematic Literature Review was employed to review academic journals, policy papers and book chapters. Both broad search and specific focused search were used to generate themes and subthemes of the required literature. The study was guided by the public-private distinction theory which elucidated succinctly on the role of public-private organizations and their relevance to this study. The study revealed that before and after independence, higher education in Uganda was a monopoly of the state. However, in the late 1980s and early 1990s there were reforms in Uganda’s higher education delivery based on neo-liberal policies. It is pointed out that government was no longer competent enough to maintain its monopoly in the management of higher education in the country because of its inability to adequately fund the system. So what happened is that a number of governance reforms were implemented based on neo-liberal policies which focused on market-oriented approaches. Such market-oriented concepts included; cost sharing in public universities, private higher education, commercialization/commoditification and massification of higher education. Students’ response to such neo-liberal reforms was particularly significant especially at Makerere. These policies shaped students’ politics at Makerere characterized by violent demonstrations and strikes which at times led to lose of lives and property in and around Makerere.

The Employability of Graduates of National Characteristic Discipline Programs of Study in China: Evidence from Employers

Prior studies have examined the historical evolution, multiple stakes, measurements and operation models of graduate employability, and the researches on graduate employability have gradually shifted to the perspective of employers with wider labor market uncertainty and higher education massification. However, there is still a gap in research on the demand for graduate employability by employers in national high-end equipment manufacturing that work closely with higher education in scientific research. Namely, it remains unclear what really matters in the processes of employers’ recruitment decisions in national high-end equipment manufacturing. Drawing on Yorke’s definition and CareerEDGE model, this study defines graduate employability as a set of achievements—skills, understandings and personal attributes—that makes graduates more likely to gain employment in national high-end equipment manufacturing, including “emotional intelligence”, “knowledge and skills”, “generic skills”, “work experience”, “character and personality”. Owing to the importance and arduousness of national high-end equipment manufacturing historical mission and main tasks, we argue that employers pay more attention to graduate employability in the recruitment process. Empirically examining based on 831 questionnaires from employers of national high-end equipment manufacturing in China, we show that employers prefer graduates with higher levels of “cooperative innovation ability”, “knowledge and skills”, “stress management and adaptation” within Chinese national characteristic discipline programs. Particularly, although employers in national high-end equipment manufacturing have always emphasized employees’ loyalty and dedication, “character and personality” of a graduate does not have a direct effect on employer hiring preference, but instead the effect of cooperative innovation ability and knowledge and skills are fully moderated by character and personality.

Book review: Retreat or Resolution? Tackling the crisis of mass higher education, by Peter Scott

Book review: Retreat or Resolution? Tackling the crisis of mass higher education, by Peter Scott

Ethnicity on top of social class? Inclusion and diversity in access to higher education degrees in Europe (1950–2010)

The massification of higher education has been an important development across education systems in Europe over the second half of the 20th century. Nurtured by political, economic and social goals, including the improvement of social justice in education and beyond, massification has been associated with inclusion as a goal of higher education systems. Generally, it has been construed as the realisation of a democratic project. This article reports on a study that examined the extent to which higher education systems effectively have moved towards a better inclusion of the various social groups composing national populations. Based on a quantitative analysis using data from the European Social Survey, this article presents an assessment of the level of inequalities in access to higher education degrees by employing indicators that are traditionally used by countries participating in the survey (gender, socio-economic background) and indicators that are not as widely shared (ethnic belonging, religion) in order to offer an original and comprehensive analysis of the extent to which national social diversities are represented in higher education. A comparison of three generations (born 1930–1949, 1950–1964 and 1965–1979) shows a development of decreasing inequality between the first two generations, but a slowing or interruption of this development in the 1980s. Also, the effect of social belongings on educational trajectories became more complex. The importance of ethnic belonging increased, underscoring the importance to consider ethnicity in addition to socio-economic dimensions in sociological research. The study outcomes highlight differences in individual country trajectories in relation to the geopolitical reconfiguration of political territories.

THE CONCEPTION OF DEVELOPING THE COGNITIVE COMPETENCE OF THE STUDENTS OF HIGHER EDUCATION USING INNOVATIVE TECHNOLOGIES

Giving knowledge is the main competitive advantage in society. Another important reason for the inefficient implementation of scientific and creative potential is that some principles of training specialists in our country, formed in other historical contexts, do not have time to adequately develop into changes in the external environment. The volume of knowledge and the number of subjects is growing with a few commands, which are much faster than when the methods and content of education are improving. Educational methodology specialists identify a number of serious problems inherent in secondary and mass higher education. One of such problems directly related to the possibility of forming and educating an innovative type of specialist is the problem of inadequate motivation and skills of independent performance, information search and analysis among school graduates and students.

The Effects of Large Classes on English Language Teaching

Large classes are one of the issues that have been dealt with in the educational sector. Limited academic staff, educational marketing and massification of higher education have all contributed to a global shift in university class sizes. This conceptual paper aims to explore the effects of large size classes on English language teaching. The paper examines the challenges regarding teaching and learning in large classes by reviewing some of the empirical evidence against large class teaching. Giving effective feedback, marking load, lack of class discipline and monitoring, timely evaluation and noise were among the main problems that hindered teaching and learning in large classes. In terms of engaging students in activities and learning, all students could not participate in the activities as well as teachers could not pay attention to every individual student. Lack of materials such as textbooks, chairs, tables, and to name a few were other constraints in large classes.

‘I don’t understand it’: first in family graduates recognising and mobilising capitals for employment

ABSTRACT Success in a complex labour market requires astute planning, preparation and foresight, particularly within the context of the massification of higher education, increasing graduate competitiveness, and a discourse of employability which places the onus of employment on the individual. A cohort experiencing noticeably weaker graduate employment outcomes are students who are the first in their family to attend university, a group often representing a diversity of backgrounds and intersecting equity categories. Drawing on interviews and surveys of near completing Australian first in family (FiF) students, recent graduates and alumni, this article explores how employability was experienced and enacted by participants. Through the application of Pierre Bourdieu’s work on capital theory, the article contributes valuable insights into the experience of FiF students’ graduate employment seeking, specifically how their existing capitals, including those that are social, cultural and symbolic in nature, interacted with the job market to achieve (or otherwise) desirable graduate employment. Findings from this study point to a number of urgently needed strategies for the FiF cohort to achieve professional goals.

5 - Skills or Credentials? Comparing the Perspectives of Degree- and Non-degree-holding Ghanaian Graduates on the Value of Higher Education

The massification of higher education, fuelled in part by demand from young people and their families, has coincided with more competition in the graduate labour market. This article seeks insight into the interpretative framework through which graduates view the relationship between higher education and the labour market. Specifically, given evidence of diminishing employment opportunities for graduates, the study examines the relative strengths of human capital theory and credentialism in explaining the value that young people continue to place on higher education. Using survey data from a sample of 2,036 Ghanaian higher education graduates, the article investigates the relative value students accord to skills and credentials through analysis of two self-report measures: satisfaction with their higher education experience, and, second, labour market expectations in respect of employment and income. Overall, non-degree holders self-assessed as having more skills training. Nonetheless, degree-holders generally were more satisfied with their educational achievements and had higher labour market expectations than those without degrees. These findings imply that young people value higher education less in terms of the skills they acquire and more in regards to the face-value of the qualifications they obtain, indicating a credentialist perspective that is in marked contrast to the human capital approach which undergirds policymaking on higher education in Ghana and much of the African continent.

Assessment for Inclusion: rethinking inclusive assessment in higher education

ABSTRACT How could assessment inclusively consider the diversity of students? In higher education, the most common answer is: through individual assessment accommodations. Inclusive assessment design has also been promoted to foster accessibility for all students. However, both of these approaches have largely drawn on the procedural understanding of ‘inclusion’ as ‘enhanced academic outcomes’. In this conceptual study, a critical, socio-political approach to inclusive assessment is taken instead, considering assessment in its wider context of academic ableism. The rationale for Assessment for Inclusion (AfI) is formulated to harness assessment to promote the inclusion of marginalised students as fully accepted, agentic members of academic communities. Five practical principles for promoting AfI are introduced: rethinking accommodations, anti-ableist work, celebration of human diversity, student partnership, and interdependence. This study suggests that if mass higher education truly wishes to include students from increasingly diverse backgrounds, assessment needs to be rethought from the viewpoint of inclusion.

Sentenced to Debt: Explaining Student Mobilization in Chile

In 2011, Chilean students mobilized in the largest demonstrations since the country’s return to democracy. Students in some other Latin American countries have also carried out mass demonstrations in recent years. What explains students’ participation in mobilizations in Latin America? This article argues that financial grievances generated by neoliberal education policies and the massification of higher education are major causes of student protest participation. In addition, it shows how weak organizational linkages with ruling political parties increase the likelihood of mobilization. The theory is explored through a case study of higher education policy, student-party linkages, and student mobilization in Chile from 1990 to 2011. A statistical analysis of a survey of Chilean students demonstrates that a working-class background, using debt to finance education, and weak programmatic connections to parties in power are associated with higher levels of protest participation.

Teaching for diversity: university educators’ accounts of care work and emotional labour with CALD students

ABSTRACT The massification of higher education has resulted in a highly diverse student body. Within this expansion, the increased number of Culturally and Linguistically Diverse (CALD) students has unquestionably enriched university campuses, but has also brought challenges for teaching and learning within higher education systems. There are limited accounts in the scholarly literature with regard to university educators’ perspectives of their teaching and students. In particular, limited attention has been paid to the care-related and emotional dimensions of teaching diverse cohorts. Through a mixed-method study of university educators, this paper provides a thematic analysis of university educators’ experiences of teaching CALD students, including their reflections on students’ specific needs, the existing supports offered and suggestions as to what supports are needed. It considers the visibility of the care work and emotional labour educators undertake, and problematises how this work is created by institutional assumptions but rarely recognised as legitimate ‘work’.

Competition for Funding or Funding for Competition? Analysing the Dissemination of Performance-based Funding in European Higher Education and its Institutional Effects

ABSTRACT Mass higher education has promoted the development of larger, costlier, and more heterogeneous systems. Like many public services, HE faced tight competition for funding, alongside pressures to become more efficient in their use of public funds. One major development in public funding has been the introduction of performance-based funding. In this paper, we analyse the dissemination of PBF in European HE and discuss its main institutional effects. We will start by discussing the rationales for the introduction of these financial incentives regarding the behaviour of HEIs and their organizational response to externally led stimuli. We then present the dissemination of PBF across European higher education and reflect about the main institutional effects of the dissemination of PBF. We present some concluding remarks about the management challenges created by the emphasis on competitive rationales in public HE.

Trialling micro-learning design to increase engagement in online courses

PurposeThis paper reports on how micro-learning design principles are being trialled in an Australian and a Malaysian university to make online courses more accessible and attractive, and a more positive experience, with the aim of increasing student success. Central to this approach is segmenting materials into “bite-size” instalments by way of short micro-lecture presentations and reducing other content. The aim of this “less is more” strategy is to reduce unnecessary cognitive load as an impediment to learning so that focus can shift to prioritising the most essential skills and content. The purpose of this trial is to explore the efficacy of micro-learning as a means for increasing student engagement and learning.Design/methodology/approachThe trials involved a mixed mode methodology drawing on qualitative and ratings data from course satisfaction surveys and records on grades and completion.FindingsTo date, results have shown significant increases in student engagement and satisfaction, and also performance. Our application of micro-learning included reducing volume of content based on its practical value, use of novelty (e.g. infusing guest presenter input) and design of practical and collaborative student activities.Research limitations/implicationsEarly results are encouraging regarding apparent utility for engaging learners and ease of application, i.e. implementability and transference potential. However, the rapidly expanding area of online learning requires further research to establish a well-validated evidence base for effective online teaching practices.Practical implicationsThe findings are relevant to universities involved in online and blended learning. Micro-learning design methods show promise in being able to address major engagement barriers including cognitive overload.Social implicationsMore students are struggling with learning in today's social environment brought about with the massification of higher education. Micro-learning seeks to address major barriers these learners face with methods that go beyond traditional teaching practices.Originality/valueFindings here are encouraging and contribute to existing understanding on ways to increase learner engagement in the competitive and fast-growing area of online learning for universities globally.

Zero-Achievers Non-Progressing Studies in Finnish Open University: Three Preventive Factors

Current education policy responds to changes and needs in working life by guiding individuals at different stages of working careers to develop their skills in the spirit of lifelong learning. More and more are applying with hope and enthusiasm to the Open University to strengthen their competence but are unable to get their studies completed. The article explores factors related to the non-progression of studies by students at the Open University in Finland. We call non-progressing students zero-achievers who enroll in studies but do not complete a single credit during the period of course. This research is a descriptive mixed methods study. The research data was collected by an online survey sent to 414 of one Open University zero-achiever students and 185 responses were received. The qualitative data was analysed through the means of content analysis and the quantitative data was examined through percentages and averages. The data was analysed comprehensively combining the quantitative and qualitative data by themes according to the three main factors for the non-progression of studies. The Open University student explained their non-progression in studies by three preventive factors: difficulties in reconciling areas of life, lack of generic skills, and passivity in seeking guidance. The purpose of this research is to raise zero-achievement as a phenomenon at a time marked by the ideal of high performance, the ideology of lifelong learning and the digitalization and massification of higher education. Alongside the ideal of efficiency, a wide range of students must be remembered in educational systems. The research contributes important new knowledge to education policy, to academic community and for university students to identify and avoid preventive factors for the progression of studies. Based on the research, the construction of shared understanding about above aspects is recommended to reach common goals.

Student Profiling as a Tool for Inclusive Instructional Design: A Case of a 3rd Year Biotechnology Class, University of Namibia

Massification of Higher Education (HE) has made it difficult for teachers to design instructional strategies that are responsive to the diverse student needs. We here argue that student profiling is a handy tool that the HE teacher can use for inclusive instructional design by thoughtfully selecting learning and teaching strategies, and materials and supports that will maximise student achievement. We designed a student-profiling instrument focusing on capturing students’ biographical information, learning preferences, anticipated learning outcomes, personality traits, and learning related skills-set and administered to students in a 3rd Year Biotechnology class at the University of Namibia. The data on learning style preferences was analysed using the VARK Questionnaire (version 8.01) while a Chi-square (?2) test of association (SPSS software version 24) was used to determine whether there was a relationship between students’ preferred learning styles and the other variables. Seventy-five percent (75%) of the students had multimodal learning preferences while 25% were unimodal for kinesthetic learning style. No students preferred visual or auditory learning alone. The ?2 test revealed no significant relationship between students’ preferred learning styles and any of the other variables including age, place of origin, home language, home setting, residence during school semester, pre-course anticipation, skills set, and personality traits (P > 0.05). We conclude that profiling students’ learning preferences prior to teaching and learning helps HE teachers to tailor their instructional strategies to students’ learning style preferences, maximises epistemological access, as well as enhance inclusivity, equality and equity.

Securitization of Higher Education Expansion in Authoritarian States: Uzbekistan’s Seemingly “Elite” Tertiary System

ABSTRACT While many states move from elite to mass higher education (HE) systems, little is known as to why some authoritarian developing states resist this transition. In post-Soviet Uzbekistan the tertiary system was consciously restricted to cover roughly 10% of the population; a situation that continued for more than two decades. This paper argues that it is the securitization of the role of HE growth that confronts the transition of HE from elite to mass systems. To support this argument, the paper analyses Uzbekistan’s HE policy and the notorious 1992 student protests that legitimized the securitization of HE expansion in the country.