Higher Education Policy Research Articles

Inclusion or Isolation? Differential Student Experiences of Independent Learning and Wellbeing in Higher Education

Independent learning is frequently identified as instrumental to student success within higher education. Although there is a significant body of literature demonstrating the importance of independent learning for retention and progression, to date, the relationship between independent learning and student wellbeing within higher education has been under-explored. This article addresses the gap in the literature by interrogating this relationship, with a particular emphasis on the barriers and enablers to independent learning and the implications for the wellbeing of university students as part of a whole university approach. Drawing on data from a large national student survey and nine focus groups with university staff conducted during the formulation of the University Mental Health Charter, the findings demonstrate important intersectionalities between independent learning and student wellbeing. In particular, they highlight that facilitating independent learning has the potential to allow students to flourish in higher education but only when factors relating to accessibility, inclusivity, expectations, and goals are explicitly addressed. Going forward, it is imperative that these links are more widely acknowledged and addressed within higher education research, policy, and practice to ensure that students are supported to develop as learners during both their transition into university and their journey through and beyond their studies.

Maintaining the status quo: Constructing institutional citizenship in U.S. higher education policies

Institutional policies and plans play a significant role in the daily life of a college or university. In this paper, we explore the ways that policy texts discursively contribute to constructions of institutional citizenship. Using an example drawn from a policy discourse analysis, we explore how institutions (re)make subjectivities according to the institution’s interests. We describe the differential subjectivities produced by this discourse for historically marginalized and historically centered identities and argue that this difference, perpetuated through official policy and instantiated in different institutional citizen discourses, undermines institutional equity efforts. Ultimately, discourses of institutional citizenship work to maintain inequitable status quos, pointing to the potentially conservative nature of both policy and citizenship.

The meaning of academic profession in light of the genuine mission of academic citizens

The main goal of this paper is to examine the power of the notion of academic citizenship to become a widely spread, accepted, and well-grounded concept useful for better and more progressive higher education policy solutions at a global level. I claim that the chances this might occur depend on the implementation of notions of transdisciplinarity and post-nationality into its future theoretical conceptualisations. Furthermore, I recognize the quality of transcending the given infrastructural boundaries as crucial for tertiary education and deal with the distinctiveness of the academic profession which could serve as its organizing principle. The approach from which I observe academic citizenship is geopolitical positionality and I argue the concept might be useful in finding better solutions for transnationally mobile scholars. Key principles of academic citizenship are a sense of belonging to the profession, openness followed by solidarity, freedom and unconditionality of endeavours. While minimal requirements for academic citizenship status are related to formal recognition, the additional qualities are gradually added up. One of the layers of belonging to the academic community is collegiality. In the final part, this article examines the potential of academia to fight back for the values and qualities inscribed into the role of academics.

Producing international students: Migration management and the making of population categories

Producing international students: Migration management and the making of population categories

The Changes of Foreign Language Education Policies in Chinese Higher Education From 1949 To 1977

Since the reconstruction of China after the serious destruction caused by long-lasting wars, many aspects of Chinese society are influenced greatly including the education aspect. Specifically, the foreign language education field is also under great impact of many factors in terms of political and diplomatic aspects. This paper reviews the foreign language education policies (FLEP) in Chinese higher education at the beginning of the foundation of new China. This review is divided into four parts: the explanation of the study’s background and significance, an introduction of theoretical basis, a detailed inspection of specific foreign language education policies and some influencing factors, followed by some conclusions including some possible suggestions from the previous analysis and review. From the review of former studies and the analysis of some specific FLEP, an overall conclusion will be drawn. FLEP in Chinese higher education has not been researched in a comprehensive way, especially in the first three decades. This review aims to detect the changing trend of FLEP in the given period and some factors from both domestic and international environments, which hopes to offer some inspiration to the related subjects.

English medium instruction in Ethiopian university mission statements and language policies

AbstractEthiopia, with no colonial language legacy, adopted English medium instruction (EMI) policy with the establishment of its first higher education institution, University College of Addis Ababa, over seven decades ago. Over the last two decades, the country has significantly expanded its higher education institutions (HEIs) to increase skilled human capital that contributes to economic growth and alleviating poverty. The expansion of HEIs has inevitably increased English taught programmes, which means universities must teach entirely through English presenting myriad issues as most students, especially in rural Ethiopia, have limited English proficiency. This study aims to explore higher education policy statements and how these policy statements were interpreted in public universities’ mission statements. The study further examines language support policy for effective implementation of EMI policy. Data gathered from publicly available Ministry of Education and universities’ official websites were analysed using qualitative content analysis. In our analysis we identified two language-relevant key concerns: English language support and internationalisation. The study uncovered a gap in the statements concerning provision of English language support, despite research evidence and government acknowledgement of students’ and teachers’ weaknesses in the language of instruction. The findings of this study call for Ethiopian universities to focus more on improving provision of targeted language support for students experiencing language-related challenges, and for policymakers to rethink monolingual EMI policy, to raise the quality of education in such contexts.

Initial Teacher Education for Social Justice in South Africa: A Higher Education Policy Perspective

The Constitution of the Republic of South Africa envisions a socially just society where all citizens enjoy fundamental human rights. Education is regarded as significant in realizing social justice (SJ). Hence, South African education policy is underpinned by the conviction that teachers are drivers of societal change and instrumental in creating a socially just society. It is therefore expected that initial teacher education (ITE) programs to train prospective teachers will be infused with knowledge, competencies, values and attitudes to develop the dispositions that would facilitate social justice in a democratic and open South African society. In this desk-top study, we investigate the attributes and competencies promoted and advanced through the Minimum Requirements for Teacher Education Qualifications Policy (MRTEQ) (2015) concerning the training of prospective South African teachers for the realization of social justice. We gathered our data through a literature review and a policy analysis, and we drew from critical social theory (CST), which argues for social transformation, human emancipation, and capacitation to make sense of our findings. We found that the MRTEQ (2015) promotes and advances knowledge, contextual awareness, and critical pedagogy as significant attributes and competencies for realizing social justice through education and, more specifically, ITE. The implication is that all initial teacher programmes must be designed to equip prospective teachers with these attributes to contribute to realizing social justice and transforming society. Against this backdrop, specific recommendations are made to develop these attributes in prospective teachers.

Affirmative Action Policies in Higher Education in Brazil: Outcomes and Future Challenges

This article presents the results of broad research developed by a group of Brazilian scholars to make an assessment of affirmative action policies in admissions to higher education in Brazil, namely the quota legislation in place since 2012, which reserves places for lower-income, Afro-Brazilians and indigenous students in federal universities. The research has been developed through a combination of methods including analysis of secondary data, case studies in six federal universities, and interviews with university leadership and faculty members. The article presents the main results of the study, including the effect of quota legislation in diversifying the profile of higher education students in the last decade. It shows that a significant proportion of Afro-Brazilian students have been able to access good-quality higher education because of this legislation. The article concludes by presenting some challenges faced by quota students in federal universities, especially related to student support policies and a sense of belonging. It also presents recommendations to improve these policies.

Vietnam national competency standards for midwifery: A Delphi study

Background After nearly a decade, Vietnam’s basic midwifery competency standards need to be updated to effectively implement midwives, enhance the quality of midwifery human resources to meet the requirements of integration of countries in the region and around the world. This study aims to develop the competency standards for midwifery in Vietnam by using a Delphi process. Methods The draft midwifery competency standard was initially developed based on a literature review. Midwives and professionals working with midwives completed a two-round Delphi survey to evaluate the relevance of standards of competence on a four-point Likert scale. The criteria with consensus of under 80% were revised and included in the second round. 75 participants were in the first round and 72 participants were in the second round. Phase 3 was led by the Ministry of Health to finalize the consensus on the midwifery competency standards in Vietnam. Results The research results indicated that midwifery competency was mostly rated as quite relevant or higher (over 80%). Some standards were removed, and some were included in the second round of the Delphi process. The final competency standards were issued with 4 areas (midwifery professional practice; care management; midwifery management; professional development), 11 standards and 44 criteria; along with the general skills of midwifery. Conclusions The study developed a midwifery competency standard in Vietnam. These competency standards are consistent with the perceptions of the International Confederation of Midwives and the domestic midwifery context. The higher education institutions, employers, policy makers and midwives themselves benefit from this developed midwifery competency standards. Future research needs to be conducted to validate midwifery competency standards in clinical settings for further responses.

Unwarranted: The OfS Review of Assessment Practices and the Erosion of Institutional Autonomy

AbstractIn England, the relationship between the higher education regulator (OfS) and those it purports to regulate is highly strained. A 2023 parliamentary inquiry into the OfS published an excoriating report which found, among other issues, problems with the execution of its statutory duty to protect institutional autonomy. An OfS policy which evidences this is the requirement for universities to assess spelling, punctuation and grammar. In imposing this mandate, the OfS appears to be ultra vires as it has a statutory duty to protect institutional autonomy, specifically defined to include the freedom to determine assessment practices. This paper uses an adapted form of Hyatt’s Critical Higher Education Policy Analysis Framework to examine the policy steers and socio-political contexts from which the assessment mandate emerged. The warrants for the policy are analysed with reference to three epistemic beliefs relating to declining literacy, higher education quality and employment. This paper also analyses the OfS’s interpretations of its statutory duties in issuing this policy. Despite the highly critical findings of the inquiry, no substantive change in regulatory approach looks likely.

Understanding students’ adoption of the ChatGPT chatbot in higher education: the role of anthropomorphism, trust, design novelty and institutional policy

ABSTRACT The present research aims to highlight the underlying factors that drive students’ adoption of the ChatGPT chatbot in higher education. This study extends the meta-UTAUT framework by including additional exogenous factors of anthropomorphism, trust, design novelty, and institutional policy. Empirical examination with Structural Equation Modelling among 355 students in Dutch higher education institutions revealed attitude and behavioural intention as significant positive predictors of students’ ChatGPT use behaviour. Institutional policy negatively moderated the effect of behavioural intention on use behaviour. Behavioural intention was significantly and positively influenced by attitude, performance expectancy, social influence, and facilitating conditions. Anthropomorphism, design novelty, trust, performance expectancy, and effort expectancy were unveiled as significant positive antecedents of attitude. The central theoretical contributions of this research include investigating students’ use behaviour instead of behavioural intention, establishing attitude as a core construct, underlining additional antecedents of attitude, and highlighting the importance of institutional policy. The present study contributes to prior research on technology adoption, especially in the area of artificial intelligence in education. The findings yield valuable insights for chatbot designers, product managers, and higher education policy writers.

What impacts matriculation decisions? Identifying students’ university choice factors on a global scale with Artificial Intelligence

ABSTRACT This study provides an empirical approach to utilizing an Artificial Intelligence (AI)-based system for identifying students’ university choice factors that impact their matriculation decision. We created an AI-based chatbot that gathered both qualitative and quantitative data from nearly 1200 participants worldwide. The entire human-AI interaction process was managed autonomously by the AI without researcher intervention. We analysed all data collected by the AI and identified relevant matriculation decision factors and themes. The AI collaboration demonstrated remarkable efficacy in streamlining the research workflow by consistently adhering to predefined criteria, eliminating variations and human-induced biases, establishing rapport with participants, and amplifying not just the efficiency and scalability of data collection but also the reliability and generalizability of the research findings. Acquiring such insights into students’ university choice factors from such a diversified and large sample may potentially empower policymakers to make informed decisions that synch higher education policies with students’ preferences, expectations, and needs, ultimately aiding institutions to improve recruitment and retention strategies leading to better overall performance and outcomes for both students and the institution itself. From an economic perspective, gaining this insight can foster closer alignment between higher education and the job market. By understanding students’ aspirations and the influences driving their decisions, institutions can tailor programmes that not only enhance graduates’ job prospects but also proactively contribute to economic growth and the development of a highly skilled and committed workforce.

Políticas institucionales de investigación en educación superior

In Ibero-America, studies on "institutional research policies" in "higher education" constitute a little explored or emerging field; the absence of publications on the subject evokes multi-causal factors such as the lack of maturation of administrative structures oriented to the development of science, technology and innovation -CTeI in the countries, low valuation of knowledge in society, insufficient budgetary and infrastructural capacities in the territories; the instability in the governance of Latin American nations and the volatility in the regulations oriented to research development; makes that for the most part, a divulgative scenario composed of succinct cases with annualized statistical data and without periodicity/transcendence in time is established. This article describes the findings found in the systematic review of the scientific literature on institutional research policies in higher education published from 2014 to 2023. The methodology adopted the guidelines of the PRISMA Statement method and the Cochrane Collaboration manual, to establish a map of motivations, thematizations, and theoretical and methodological contributions; from the deconstruction of records through the MAXQDAÒ qualitative analysis software. The results, discussions, and conclusions are framed in a humanistic perspective of "science and technology studies -ECT" that seek in / from institutional research policies an opportunity to constitute a "research culture" at the various levels of higher education oriented/evaluated from representational, regulatory, identity, productive and usability of knowledge elements.

From an Input to an Output: The Discursive Uses of External Research Funding in Academic Career Assessment

AbstractSuccess in the competition for external grants has become an important indicator when progressing in academic careers. Drawing on interview data with academics across various career stages and academic fields at one Finnish university, the study identifies four discourses that elucidate why research grants are deemed significant in advancing an academic career. The findings indicate that it is appealing for universities to use research funding success as an assessment criterion due to its connections to authoritative discourses in higher education and research policy. For example, funding success is seen as a symbol of high academic quality and as a signal of an individual’s ability to thrive in a resource-scarce environment. However, in the context of limited resources for research and the introduction of new societally oriented funding instruments, utilizing funding success as an assessment criterion overlooks academics’ different prerequisites for gaining funding.

Student loan debt and family formation of youth in Japan

ABSTRACT Since the late 1990s, the number of college student loan debtors has increased rapidly in Japan. Despite the uniqueness of Japanese higher education policies in terms of tuition levels and heavy reliance on educational loans rather than grants, few studies have focused on the influence of student loans on adult youths’ lives. This study is the first to provide a detailed analysis of the relationship between student loan debt and youth life events. We explored the impact of student loan debt on family formation, using a data set of college graduates collected in 2017. We employed survival analysis methods to understand the relationship between student loan debt and marital decisions, and negative binomial models to analyze the impact of this debt on childbearing. The results showed that 2-year college graduate women with student loan debt were more likely to delay marital decisions than women without student loan debt. Taking out student loans also had a negative correlation to childbearing, which was also stronger for 2-year college graduate women. In conclusion, this study revealed that the Japanese government’s reliance on student loans has unexpected consequences. Even following recent reforms, student loan debt continues to be a major financial burden for young Japanese people and is likely to negatively affect family formation in Japan, which has already seen a decline in marriage and fertility rates over the last few decades. Our results call for additional policies to mitigate the negative influence of the Japanese college student aid system.

Racial conflict in a higher education policy vacuum

This study explored how 14 higher education and student affairs (HESA) professionals navigated institutional policy vacuums to address interpersonal racial conflict between students. Grounded in perspectives of policy vacuums, findings revealed that HESA professionals learned about racial conflict by referring to their own personal, professional, and academic training. Additionally, they employed strategies that were often self-generated and informal to address racial conflict. The paper concludes with a discussion of the findings, specifically highlighting that relying on HESA professionals’ dispositions is an insufficient way to address racial conflict and that more institutional support is necessary to train racially responsive HESA professionals.

The Demographic Factor in Shaping State Policy for Higher Education of Ukraine

The article examines key indicators of the demographic crisis in Ukraine, highlighting manifestations of the nation’s aging and natural population decline.It’s determined that understanding and analyzing the demographic situation allows for predicting changes in the size and structure of the student population, which is crucial for the effective development of higher education in Ukraine. Considering the trends of declining birth rates and an aging population, it is important to adapt admission strategies for students and educational programs accordingly. The examination of the demographic crisis helps identify key challenges, such as a decrease in the number of high school graduates, which can impact competition within the higher education environment.The trends examined in the article, including the decline in the birth rate of the Ukrainian population, the aging of the nation, the level of migration, and the loss of the civilian population due to the war, enable us to characterize the situation in Ukraine as depopulation. Notable changes in the demographic landscape and shifts in the population structure occurred after February 24, 2022, including irreversible human losses, population emigration (over 10 million people), and a decline in the average birth rate. A correlation was identified between the number of births each year and the dynamics of educational services’ capacity. It was observed that higher education in Ukraine will confront significant demographic challenges in the next 17 years. In the context of the strategic goal to restore Ukraine’s human capital, the article suggests viewing higher education as an effective instrument of state policy in a cyclical process: attaining higher education, integrating graduates into the national economy, ensuring financial stability, fostering active citizenship, and promoting loyalty to the state—all contributing to an improvement in the demographic situation.

‘Decent work’ as a higher education policy myopia: an ecosystem framework for policy-making

ABSTRACT Globally, higher education policy is typically framed in terms of the technical employability capabilities to advance the economic productivity of nations, and as such, can be myopic to the wider sustainable development challenge of ‘Decent Work’ (a form of employment with good working conditions). This form of myopia can fail to materially change the sociocultural conditions in local contexts of learning and work and ultimately perpetuate structural disadvantage. This article draws from policy participation conducted over 4 years which included (i) longitudinal focus group dialogue involving educational policy makers, implementers and students (n = 102) and (ii) document analysis of formal policy and evaluation reports. The study is conducted in one of the fastest growing economies which is rapidly developing its policy frameworks (Vietnam) to enhance the employability of ethnic minority students. Findings highlight the need for (i) a meta-perspective which encompasses the multiple stakeholders involved in enabling students to access and engage in decent work, (ii) building the capacity of students to actively change and improve their situations and (iii) awareness of the ways in which governments, educational institutions and employers can value the diversity of students and their circumstances. In contrast to the dominant institutional perspective, this article conceptualises the counter-active effects across education-work ecosystems which mediate policy efficacy and advances an alternative conceptual framework that integrates ecosystems, empowerment and recognition theory to inform policy formulation and assessment . This article advocates expansive rather than myopic policy to drive participation in Decent Work.

A critical review of GenAI policies in higher education assessment: a call to reconsider the “originality” of students’ work

This study offers a critical examination of university policies developed to address recent challenges presented by generative AI (GenAI) to higher education assessment. Drawing on Bacchi’s ‘What’s the problem represented to be’ (WPR) framework, we analysed the GenAI policies of 20 world-leading universities to explore what are considered problems in this AI-mediated assessment landscape and how these problems are represented in policies. Although miscellaneous GenAI-related problems were mentioned in these policies (e.g. reliability of AI-generated outputs, equal access to GenAI), the primary problem represented is that students may not submit original work for assessment. In the current framing, GenAI is often viewed as a type of external assistance separate from the student’s independent efforts and intellectual contribution, thereby undermining the originality of their work. We argue that such problem representation fails to acknowledge how the rise of GenAI further complicates the process of producing original work and what it means by originality in a time when knowledge production becomes increasingly distributed, collaborative and mediated by technology. Therefore, a critical silence in higher education policies concerns the evolving notion of originality in the digital age and a more inclusive approach to address the originality of students’ work is required.

Balancing control and legitimacy in higher education policy implementation

A key policy challenge in establishing new universities is the potential risk of lower academic standards and mission drift, which can affect policy effectiveness and outcomes. While regulation and funding tend to be preferred policy instruments for securing control of higher education expansion and achieving policy objectives, this article reports on a nation-wide reform in which various forms of legitimacy and control were actively used as measures in the design and establishment of almost one hundred new elite universities – the Institutes of National Importance (INIs) – in India. Our theoretical framework is based on the need for reinvention in policy design in higher education, that is based on the possible cross-fertilisation between the field of public administration and organisational theory. Through a mixed-method research design that included archival documents related to higher education reform and case studies of seven new INIs, this article demonstrates how ‘soft instruments’ based on legitimacy may align public policy objectives and stakeholder expectations ensuring quality and mission sustainability of new universities. We suggest that institutional and instrumental dimensions related to legitimacy and control can be integrated into a joint theoretical framework for policy implementation in higher education. We inform higher education policy by uncovering a range of legitimacy-based policy options in higher education, including the significance of reputation, national classification schemes, and organisational archetypes, that can be operationalised to minimise mission divergence.