Participation In Higher Education Research Articles

Academic survival: student retention in sport and exercise sciences

ABSTRACT Retention of higher education students is of major concern within the United Kingdom due to the financial and reputational impact on institutions, financial and personal impact on students and loss of potential skills and knowledge within society. Student background characteristics are acknowledged as the initial factors influencing retention within various models, however subject specific understanding is limited. This study aimed to identify pre-enrolment factors associated with student retention in Sport, Health and Exercise Science programmes. Student retention at department and programme level were calculated by ‘time to event’ analysis using Kaplan–Meier survival trend curves and log rank (Mantel–Cox) analysis for; gender, age, locality to the university, highest qualification on entry and participation of local areas in higher education (POLAR4) classifications. Results identified that male students, students from low Higher Education participation neighbourhoods and students who enter Higher Education without A-Level or foundation qualifications were at an increased risk of degree non-completion. Importantly, these characteristics were also disproportionally high in the student populations considered here. It is imperative that initiatives to improve retention, particularly in these populations, are sought and implemented at department level to improve student and institutional outcomes.

Embedded approaches to academic literacy development: a systematic review of empirical research about impact

ABSTRACT This systematic literature review identifies evidence used to justify embedded approaches to academic literacy development. This inquiry is of direct relevance to widening participation in higher education and persistent inequity with completion rates for linguistically and culturally diverse student groups. Using the PRISMA-P checklist, 20 studies were included. Analysis focused on their research designs, types of evidence presented, pedagogic practices implemented, and journal choice. Findings show that research designs often involved questionnaire, interview, and focus group data to generate insights about student and staff perceptions. Descriptions of pedagogic practices were brief and not always related to claims about impact, and publishing targeted a variety of disciplines. These findings highlight the need for research teams with discipline knowledge and literacy knowledge so that evidence about the impacts of embedded approaches on academic performance are included, as well as complementary publications that detail the pedagogic practices contributing to change in academic performance.

Digital equity

ELearning has been touted as the way in which universities can enable participation by large numbers of students from non-traditional cohorts. There is no doubt that the flexibility of access that eLearning allows makes study accessible for a number of cohorts, including those engaged in full-time work or caring duties. However, cohorts such as incarcerated students and other students without Internet access, are sitting on the wrong side of the digital divide and are increasingly marginalised by the very technology anticipated to overcome their exclusion from study. This paper examines the fundamental issues of equity involved with eLearning, and particularly for incarcerated students. The very issue of access to the Internet is fraught with rates of access varying widely between different sectors of society. This discussion prompts higher education providers to think beyond business-as-usual when speaking of increasing participation in higher education.

Experiencing leadership: Perceptions of leadership development for higher education contexts.

Higher education is complex and so is the leadership needed in this context. Educational leadership is not well understood despite an increasing interest in studying the phenomenon. This interpretive study aimed to identify aspects of leadership theory found in practice and implications for leadership education by exploring, analyzing, and interpreting experiences of people who earned an Educational Leadership Doctorate at Simon Fraser University. I conducted in-depth interviews and analyzed data to identify themes within and across interviews while also triangulating with my systematic reflections. This paper presents findings on leadership development, focusing on four themes that emerged from 18 interviews with higher education participants: Pathways to Formal Leadership, Learning “How to Be a Leader”, Learning “About Leadership”, and Learning “the Dialogue of Practice”. Leadership was perceived as an intricate lifelong journey. Overall, participants developed their leadership through their own experiences as leaders, followers, or observers of leadership, by engaging in leadership education (formal, informal, and non-formal), and by interacting with others. Finally, both successes and challenges supported learning, yet challenges were more salient and had more memorable lessons. This paper provides valuable insights on leadership development to leadership scholars and practitioners, as well as organizations offering leadership education.

Is international student mobility still a distinctive strategy? A study of upper milieu students in Germany

ABSTRACT Drawing on Bourdieu’s theory of social reproduction, the article examines whether international student mobility (ISM) is still a distinctive educational strategy of upper-milieu students in the 21st century. As a result of the Bologna process, ISM has become widespread in Europe. Does this also mean that international mobility loses its distinctive character? Based on current studies that point to a differentiation within ISM, we investigate to what extent students from upper milieus may strive to re-establish the ‘structure of distances’ - as Bourdieu puts it – in the field of higher education. Our research design consists of 95 qualitative interviews with Master’s students in Germany. The study conducts a comparative analysis to differentiate between lower, middle and upper milieus (vertical axis), with the main focus of the research being directed towards the upper milieus. In addition, the differences within upper milieus (horizontal axis) are examined by including three academic disciplines in the research design: management/business administration, medicine, and musicology. The results of our study suggest that, even within the context of a knowledge society, characterised by an increased participation in higher education, there remain numerous symbolic, spatial, and cultural opportunities for students from upper milieus to distinguish their educational paths in distinct ways, e.g. the destinations chosen, the rhetorical framing of international mobility experiences, and the integration with work-related practices beyond the course of study.

Kemiskinan Perkotaan dan Angka Partisipasi Pendidikan Tinggi di Indonesia

This research aims to investigate the relationship between urban poverty and higher education participation in Indonesia using time series data during the 1998-2021 period. The analytical model used is simple linear regression which is then estimated using the ordinary least squares (OLS) approach. Through empirical data analysis, this research finds that urban poverty has a significant negative influence on higher education participation, indicating that high levels of poverty in urban environments can be a barrier to higher education access and participation for economically marginalized communities.

Exploring the Educational Significance of Competitions in Chinese Higher Education

Competition is a widely welcomed and promoted means of ability cultivation and knowledge examination under the current education model. In order to better leverage the positive impact of competitions in education, this study conducted questionnaire surveys and face-to-face interviews with competition participants in higher education from the perspectives of gender differences, competition mentality, students' social skills and teamwork abilities to explore the advantages of competitions. The educational significance and impact on students provide effective experiences and suggestions for students, educators and educational managers. The conclusion is that in subject competitions, the psychological pressure of students, especially girls, needs to be appropriately relieved. Students have many ideas and purposes for participating in competitions, and the guidance and publicity of educators are the most important reasons. Students are willing to use their imagination and innovation ability in competitions, but they still need certain guidance and teaching in the process of transforming from theory to practice.

Using a Five-Phase Applied Linguistics Design to Develop a Contextualized Academic Literacy Placement Test for Pre-University Pathway Students

ABSTRACT For students who have faced previous educational disadvantage, academic literacies are key to access and participation in higher education. Reliable placement in academic literacies courses engages these learners in appropriately pitched learning activities, ensuring optimal learning while developing their confidence and motivation. In this context, we aimed to develop a reliable assessment of students’ academic literacy knowledge to ensure accurate and context-sensitive placement in one of two foundational academic literacy courses. These courses were situated in a pathway program in a regional Australian university that aimed to broaden participation in higher education for individuals from under-represented groups and educationally disadvantaged backgrounds. In this article, we describe, sequentially, the use of a five-phase applied linguistics design to develop the Academic Literacy Level Test (ALLTest). The phases represent the underlying principle of allowing pragmatic considerations to precede (but not preclude) theoretical ones, and consist, in turn, of (1) identifying the language challenge, (2) applying technical imagination and knowledge, (3) devising an initial (and iteratively subsequent) solution, (4) providing a theoretical justification, and (5) revising or finalizing a blueprint. We demonstrate how this process resulted in an organizationally efficient, context-specific, valid and reliable test of academic literacy.

Social Justice Profiles: An Exploratory Study towards an Empirically Based Multi-Dimensional Classification of Countries Regarding Fairness of Participation in Higher Education

The aim of this article is to suggest a better—theoretically and empirically grounded—understanding of the complex character of social justice in higher education. Theoretically, this article conceptualises social justice in higher education as mediating participation in, completion of and outcomes from higher education. It introduces the concept of composite capability for achieving higher education that captures capabilities to participate in, complete and gain outcomes from higher education. This study also develops a methodology for building an empirically based classification of countries regarding social justice in participation in higher education, taking into account the assessed inequality in students’ pathways to higher education as well as inequality in their social conditions, associated with students’ social origin. In so doing, it develops three indices: the index of inequalities in students’ pathways, the index of inequalities in students’ social conditions and the index of participation in higher education. Using microdata from the EUROSTUDENT VII survey (2019–2021) for 12 European countries, it applies the developed methodology to classify countries, for which data are available, by the degree of fairness in participation in higher education. This study’s results demonstrate the social embeddedness of social justice in higher education in different economic and political contexts.

Forms of the higher education participation in ensuring labor productivity

Such a formulation of the question as labor productivity in the context of higher education may seems unusual and controversial, since in most cases this issue is considered in the analysis of economic problems, of the use of such resources in production as the improvement of technology, equipment and management, working conditions and organization. However, this list of means for increasing labor productivity should include an analysis of the preliminary stages at which future specialists begin to develop a set of qualities for productive work - educational process in all its diversity, which receives insufficient attention. The article identifies the forms of participation of Russian universities in solving one of the central tasks in increasing the efficiency of the economy - training future specialists for productive work. As a rule, the concepts ‘productive labor’ and ‘labor productivity’ are used in relation to the real production, as evidenced by numerous studies, technological and economic policies, and actual production activity. The article shows that for the implementation of the national program “Labor Productivity and Employment” the preparatory stage for solving this problem is especially important, which involves a radical reconstruction of the universities’ strategies for training students for future work: career guidance, professional selection, professional practice, and professional adaptation. The author considers these forms of the higher education participation in solving problems of labor productivity and productive labor referring to the research conducted by the Institute of Sociology of the Federal Center of Theoretical and Applied Sociology of the Russian Academy of Sciences and by the Russian State University for the Humanities and to the conclusions and suggestions of scientists, teachers and practitioners who studied, applied and/or summarized the experience of students’ preparation for future professional life.

Fifty years on – limitations and opportunities within Ireland`s higher education system and structures

Regional Technical Colleges, later Institutes of Technology, were developed just over fifty years ago in response to a perceived gap in knowledge, skills, and competencies required to promote market growth and success ( Thorn, 2018 ). It was envisaged that this change to Ireland’s higher education landscape would be capable of continuing adaptation to the social, economic, and technological changes (to meet the needs of employers and students (Steering Committee on Technical Education Report to the Minister for Education on Regional Technical Colleges, 1967, 11). Fifty years after this initiative began, the presented paper wishes to reflect and review what is occurring within today’s higher education landscape, posing the question: Did the newly introduced additional higher education institute type evolve from their modest beginnings? Specifically, did they, as suggested by the Steering Committee on Technical Education Report to the Minister for Education on Regional Technical Colleges (1967), avoid the dichotomy and provide students with an opportunity to study in a variety of fields close to their home, or has something else emerged and evolved that is in contradiction to this ambition. This research paper examines these questions using available Higher Education Authority data, considering what this means for student access, equity, and choice within Ireland’s higher education system. The findings of this review suggest that while increased student participation in higher education is evident, the choice for today’s aspiring student is less noticeable or possible within some fields of study because of the socially constructed configuration of Ireland’s higher education system.

Physical activity participation of university students in the United Kingdom

Every year more than 2.38 million students attend university in the United Kingdom. However, there is limited research up to this date addressing current physical activity participation of the university students in the United Kingdom. This study explored the current physical activity habits among students studying at university level in the United Kingdom. An online survey was administered and completed by 466 students from over 52 faculties. Participants answered questions on demographic variables such as gender, age, socioeconomic status of family, location of studies, types of studies, year of studies, living arrangements and monthly expenditure. They were provided the English version of the IPAQ-Short form and asked to fill out the questionnaire with their physical activity habits during a typical week of university study. Results identified 64.4% of the sample were “moderate” active, with 14.2% “high” and 18.5% “low” active as categorized by the IPAQ-Short form scoring. Disparities in physical activity participation were present on demographic variables such as gender, year of study and family socioeconomic level upon analysis by ANOVA. To conclude, a discussion of the results within the overall field of physical activity participation in higher education was positioned and critiqued.

Exploring Stakeholders' Interventions in Addressing Gender Roles and Norms that Obstruct Refugee Women's Access to Higher Education: A Case of Bidibidi Refugee Settlement in Northern Uganda

Gender roles and norms are known to affect women more than their male counterparts disproportionately. In effect, it discourages women and denies them the opportunity to fulfil their potential in various sectors/fields. Specifically, this study focuses on stakeholders' interventions in addressing gender roles and norms obstructing refugee women in Uganda from accessing higher education. The study was carried out in Bidibidi Refugee Settlement in Northern Uganda. The study used the qualitative research approach anchored in the advocacy worldview using intersectionality with a liberal feminist perspective as a philosophical lens. Using purposive and snowball sampling, 49 participants took part in the study. Using one-on-one interviews and focus group discussions, the study found that some stakeholders' initiatives have facilitated refugee women's access to higher education. Initiatives such as awareness raising, career guidance and mentorship, and legal and policy frameworks, among others, have been put in place to promote refugee women's access to higher education. Nevertheless, the study found that these initiatives have not adequately addressed the cultural, gender, socio-economic, and structural barriers that are still hindering refugee women's access to higher education. Thus, the study recommends that stakeholders should undertake more rigorous and intensive sensitization and advocacy to raise community awareness on aspects of gender roles and norms to break the gender-role stereotyping that is largely hindering refugee women's access to higher education. Also, the study recommends that livelihood and skilling programmes should target women refugees to curb the risk of being forced into desperate survival situations. These should be continuously monitored and evaluated, and refugee women are also encouraged to seek family planning services to relieve them from the childcare role so as to enable access and participation in higher education

The medium-term impact of a conditional cash transfer programme on educational outcomes in England

ABSTRACT This paper uses longitudinal data from England to examine the medium-term impact of a means-tested conditional cash transfer programme, Education Maintenance Allowance (EMA), on higher educational participation and attainment. Combining regression modelling with entropy balancing, this paper finds that two-year EMA recipients are more likely to participate in higher education than non-recipients. Moreover, the impact of EMA is more substantial for male students, those with higher prior academic attainment, and students whose parents have higher educational qualifications. These findings suggest that even though EMA is a costly programme, it will benefit young people over a longer time frame.

Flipped classroom with collaborative learning approach in enhancing writing skills of Indonesian university students

The intention of this study was to examine how a flipped classroom with a collaborative learning approach improved the writing skills of Indonesian higher education students. To achieve the study’s aim of 48 Indonesian higher education participants, the Oxford Quick Placement Test (OQPT) was employed. They were divided into two groups: experiment and control. Following that, as a pre-test, both groups were given a written exam. The experimental class (EC) was then positioned in a flipped classroom. Students were permitted to bring smartphones to class and utilize them while learning, and the flipped classroom was equipped with an internet connection, a laptop, and a projector. The control class (CC) got standard classroom instruction. This strategy was employed until the very last session. The experimental group outperformed the control group on the post-test, according to the results of the independent samples t-test and one-way analysis of covariance (ANCOVA). Furthermore, the results revealed a significant difference in post-test performance between the EC and CC.

Do academically selective school systems strengthen the link between students’ family backgrounds and the likelihood of higher education participation?

ABSTRACT Proponents of academic selection argue that academic selection helps children from disadvantaged backgrounds have better lifelong outcomes. However, the evidence needs to be clarified since selections by performance could be a proxy for selection by socioeconomic class. Based on the unique situation in England, where both selective and non-selective systems coexist, we evaluate whether students from selective schools are more likely to continue higher education than those in non-selective schools and whether the link between students’ family backgrounds and their likelihood of higher education participation is stronger under a selective system. The results show that attending selective schools is associated with some post-18 advantages for pupils who stayed until the end of Key Stage 5, but brings disadvantages for those who left at earlier stages, even if we look at the upper bound of the selective school effect. Meanwhile, the link between students’ family backgrounds and future opportunities is consistently stronger under the selective system.

Distance Education as a Catalyst for Women's Empowerment in India

The concept of distance education has been developed in various developed countries of the world. Distance education also serves dropouts, older students, and disadvantaged groups. In India, distance learning is a useful tool in closing the gender gap and empowering women. It plays a significant part in providing women with access to higher education. This paper attempts to study the enrolment of female students at higher education levels in distance education for upgrading the status of women in India. his study was qualitative and documentary in nature. Results showed that the enrolment of female students in undergraduate and postgraduate is higher than in PG diploma and certificate courses. The study concluded that distance education played a significant role in women's empowerment through female students' participation in higher education. The study suggests remedial measures to overcome constraints faced by female students in pursuing higher education.

Motivation for E-Sport Participation in Higher Education: The Case of Turkey

Araştırmanın amacı, e-spor (Elektronik Spor) ile ilgilenen üniversite öğrencilerinin E-spora katılım motivasyonlarının belirlenmesi ve farklı değişkenlere göre karşılaştırılmasıdır. Tarama modelinin kullanıldığı bu araştırmada amaçlı örneklem kullanılmış ve kolay ulaşılabilirlik ilkesiyle hareket edilmiştir. Nevşehir, Kayseri, Osmaniye, Adana, Niğde, Balıkesir, Hatay ve Yozgat illerinde yaşayan ve üniversitelerin farklı fakültelerinde (Eğitim, Spor Bilimleri, İlahiyat, Fen Edebiyat, Mühendislik ve Mimarlık, İktisadi ve İdari Bilimler, Güzel Sanatlar, Sağlık Bilimleri, Yabancı Diller) öğrenim gören ve e-spor yapan 100 (38 kadın, 62 erkek) üniversite öğrencisi araştırmaya katılmıştır. Verilerin elde edilmesinde, Öz ve Üstün (2019) tarafından geliştirilen “E-spor Katılım Motivasyonu Ölçeği (EKMÖ)” kullanılmıştır. Araştırma verileri etik kurul onayı alındıktan sonra Google form aracılığıyla sosyal medya üzerinden toplanmıştır. Araştırmadan elde edilen verilere ilişkin hesaplanan Cronbach Alpha değerleri toplam ölçek için α=0.962, alt ölçekler için ise α=0.780 ile α=0.944 aralığında bulunmuştur. Verilerin analizinde bağımsız gruplarda t testi ve tek yönlü varyans analizi (ANOVA) teknikleri kullanılmıştır. Araştırma bulgularına göre, üniversite öğrencilerinin ölçek toplam puanları ortalamaları 3.95 ± .86’dır. Cinsiyet ve gelir düzeyi açısından yapılan karşılaştırmada, öğrencilerin e-spor katılım motivasyonu ortalamaları arasında istatistiksel olarak anlamlı bir fark olmadığı görülmüştür (p>.05). E-spor deneyim yılı açısından yapılan karşılaştırmada, “taksonomik” alt ölçeğinde 1-2 yıllık deneyimi olanlar ile daha fazla yıllık deneyimi olanlar arasında anlamlı fark olduğu (p

Research on the Path of High-Quality Development of Student Management under the Explanatory Structural Model Oriented to Solve the Dilemma of Collaborative Governance of Student Management in Colleges and Universities

Abstract This paper firstly studies the student management model, analyzes the mechanism of explaining the operation of the structural model, and proposes the DEMATEL method. Secondly, the ISM model is established on the basis of DEMATEL, and the cross-matrix multiplication method is introduced to explore the diffusion of interrelationships among factors in the system. And finally, the construction of the DEMATEL-ISM model is completed. Then, 11 experts were selected to set up an ISM group to construct the relevant reachability matrix after determining the key factors of the problem, and a multi-layer recursive order structure model was established based on the high-quality management influencing factors. Finally, an empirical examination was conducted to examine the overall effect of student management quality in S colleges and universities. Among the key factors of student management, classroom management was identified as the most critical factor affecting the quality of student management, with the ratio of the most important and the important summed up to 76.1%. Among the classroom student participation in higher education, the highest score was given to participatory behavior, with an interval between [2,5] and a mean value of 3.4808. The quality of student management in higher education was characterized by a high level of dissatisfaction among students and teachers, which was 41.94% and 51.28%, respectively. It can be seen that daily management, moral education, teacher management, and teacher competence are insufficient. Colleges and universities need to strengthen the construction of these 4 aspects and put forward relative coping strategies for the deficiencies that exist.

‘The people, the spaces, the talking!’ Igniting community-based higher education

In the context of rapid economic, social, and demographic change, fostering equity and inclusion in third level education is a prerequisite for adaptability, social cohesion, and human development. Community-university collaborations demonstrate significant potential to widen participation in Higher Education (HE). In the following article, we examine community-based HE through the lens of a single case study. An Cosán is a community education centre, working in the heart of the communities of Tallaght in West Dublin, Ireland. An Cosán is a Linked Provider of the South East Technological University (SETU). Initiated in 2008, Linked Provision has enabled over 1,000 non-traditional students to achieve a third level award to date. They comprise of those ‘priority groups’ most under-represented in traditional university settings. The present mixed-method research draws on learner voices and practitioner reporting to analyse what works and why. We present new findings from An Cosán’s recent Certificate in Personal and Professional Development programme. Drawing on feminist and Freirean theory, the article highlights the important enabling role of flexibility, wraparound support, and transformative education. Community-based HE supports adult learners’ capacity to meet the level of critical challenge presented by tertiary education while enhancing self-esteem, empathy, and intercultural understanding.