Higher Education Policy Makers Research Articles

Research degrees in Information and Communication Technology (ICT): Why so few doctoral students?

A ‘knowledge society’ relies on a workforce with high-level skills in Information and Communication Technology (ICT). Continuing development of ICT will arise partly from research undertaken by doctoral graduates. However, compared to other cognate disciplines, ICT has relatively few students taking up doctoral studies. This article explores some of the perceived barriers to undertaking doctoral studies in ICT in three Australian universities. Current students were surveyed regarding their post-course intentions relating to employment and further study, and the resulting data was analysed in terms of type of university attended, gender, nationality and first-in-family status. Overall, the perceived barriers to doing a research degree were related to the financial implications of such study and a limited understanding of what research in ICT involves. The following recommendations are made to universities and higher education policy-makers: that universities ensure that students have accurate information about the financial costs of doctoral studies; that students be provided with authentic undergraduate research experiences; and that pathways be developed to facilitate a smooth return to research degrees after periods of working in industry.

Social Networking Experiences on Facebook: A Study on the Students’ of Comilla University

This study is to identify the students’ experiences on the uses of their favourite social networking site like Facebook and its effect on their daily life. In this paper, a survey was conducted by ninety five (95) students’ from the six faculties of the Comilla University are taken as samples. Data were collected by using a questionnaire during July to August 2016.Most of the respondents reported that a constructive effects of using social networking sites is evident in their daily life. This study significantly found that they used Facebook for communication with their friends and others, getting information, educational purpose, sending birthday greetings, job purpose and entertainment etc. This study also suggested that there is a need for higher education policy makers in Bangladesh to properly connect the students’ involvement in social networking to their academic purposes.

Undergraduate Research Mentoring: Obstacles and Opportunities

Researchers and policy-makers in higher education increasingly espouse the view that undergraduate students should have the opportunity to learn about scholarship and research in the context of faculty-mentored research experiences. There is mounting consensus that mentored undergraduate research should be standard pedagogical practice in all undergraduate disciplines. Although high-impact, mentored undergraduate research, scholarship, and creative work (URSCW) requires significant resources, with faculty time and energy foremost among them. This article addresses the current gap between aspiration and effective execution of well-mentored URSCW, including the most prevalent obstacles (e.g. institutional, departmental, individual) to undergraduate mentoring. This article is written for academic leaders and institutional officers. It concludes with several specific recommendations for increasing the frequency of mentored URSCW experiences for undergraduates.

Policymaking as a multi-layered activity. A case study from the higher education sector in Norway

This paper deals with policymaking in the higher education sector as an activity which happens on many levels, with many and varying interests involved. As the present thematic issue highlights, language is present in higher education policymaking, whether explicitly or implicitly. This special issue’s initial claim is that “Policy is what happens while you’re busy doing something else”. What this statement brings to the fore is the sometimes overlooked fact that language policies are not the only policies influencing language choice or the overall language distribution of the higher education sector, neither nationally nor globally. This paper describes a case study of a university department in Norway and the various interests and considerations involved in making a decision to move from Norwegian to English as the language of tuition. It discusses how internationalisation policy and language policy may be imposed by different agencies, and sometimes involves a conflict of interest having to be resolved. The paper further discusses how the university department in the case study in its local linguistic practice relates to policies made at the institutional, national and international levels, and reversely how actual practice at the local level influences national policies. The paper thus aims to develop our understanding of the “micro-” and “macro-” levels involved in determining language choice and language distribution in the higher education sector.

The Readiness of Applying m-learning among Saudi Arabian Students at Higher Education

This paper presents study investigating the extent to which Saudi students understand and are familiar with mobile learning. It investigates students’ use of handheld devices and considers the daily activities for which they could be used while also evaluating m-learning in Saudi Arabia - a topic that has not yet received adequate attention from researchers. Initial data was acquired through a questionnaire carried out among 131 Saudi students at UK universities in July 2013. The study confirmed that students’ are confident using mobile devices in their daily lives and that they would welcome more opportunities of mobile learning. The findings reinforce the fact that higher education policy makers in Saudi Arabia need to consider the possibility of creating mobile learning environments at academic institutions.

European Students in the Bologna Process

One of the student organizations in Europe has played a particularly visible role in the Bologna process. ESIB (the National Unions of Students in Europe), which has been renamed ESU (European Students' Union [www.esib.org]), has taken active part in the Bologna process, ensuring that student interests were reflected in its policies. At the same time, ESU used the process to upgrade its visibility and role in European higher education policymaking in general. The Bologna process has thus unexpectedly also created circumstances that led to cooperation among the student unions and strengthened their resolve to empower ESIB to represent them on the European level.

Engaging Academics in Training in Information Communication Technology (ICT): An African Experience with special focus on Uganda

Training academics in ICT utilisation has been widely regarded as a key to successful staff development practice in higher education and, hence, considerable efforts and resources have been invested into ICT training programmes. However, little is known about the extent to which higher education policymakers in Africa give attention to the issue of preparing academics for ICT usage. This paper reports the findings of a research study exploring the utilisation of ICT in Uganda, Africa. Qualitative research methods were employed and data were collected through interviews, observations and open-ended questionnaires. The findings indicate that the university has put resources into the development of ICT policies, including policies related to training academics. Subsequently, academic staff were trained in ICT utilisation. However, little attention appears to have been given to the issue of engaging academics in ICT training. The paper also highlights the importance of engaging academics in ICT training for successful ICT staff-development outcomes.

Diversity and Diversification of Higher Education: Trends, Challenges and Policies

Most current discussions of diversity within higher education systems focus on comparing and contrasting universities located at different positions in the vertical rankings hierarchy. This paper innovates by identifying trends and patterns in horizontal diversification—i. e., diversity of types of study programs, educational concepts, and specializations—and ultimately reaches the conclusion that the current frenzy over rankings is causing quality to be unevenly distributed throughout higher education systems and undermining the concept of “the wisdom of the many.” It begins by distinguishing between the various types of diversity. It then describes various educational reforms and attempts to engineer horizontal diversity across Europe. A discussion follows about the origins of ranking systems and how they took root and gained currency in Europe, where informal differences between universities had previously been seen as trivial and secondary to formal differences, and the possible damaging implications such rankings might have for the quality of education throughout the entire world. Higher education policymakers, the paper concludes, must deliberately focus on bolstering the quality of all educational institutions, not just those with the highest rankings.

Perceived Service Quality (SQ) and Customer Satisfaction (CS): Students’ Perceptions of Kenyan Private Universities

This paper illustrates the relationship between service quality (SQ) and customer satisfaction (CS)through empirical evidence using structural equation modeling of data collected through a survey conducted among a sample of 522 students at private universities in Kenya, aself-administered questionnaire was used to collect data classified on Higher Education Performance Model (HEdPERF) framework, comprising non-academic, academic, reputation, access, programme issues and understanding aspects of SQ. The results revealed that the six SQ dimensions of HEdPERF needed to be collapsed into four variables of SQ that were significant to students of private universities. Furthermore, the dimensions had a positive and significant relationship with SQ, and in turn influenced CS. Recommendations are made to the university managers and higher education policy makers to improve SQ by taking note of the importance of the variables identified as being of benefit to customers, as quality services improve satisfaction, university’s competitiveness and excellence. DOI: 10.5901/mjss.2014.v5n23p2739

Malaysia's National Higher Education Research Institute (IPPTN): narrowing the research-policy gap in a dynamic higher education system

Policy decision-making in Malaysia has long used an approach based on intuition, ideology, or conventional wisdom. But as Malaysian society matures within an increasingly complex policy environment, a move toward an evidence-based approach to public policy-making is called for. This paper discusses the experience of the National Higher Education Research Institute (IPPTN) in its attempts at linking research to higher education policy formulation. The main aim is to understand the perspectives of the IPPTN researchers regarding the use and impact of higher education research on policy-making, and the challenges they experienced. The findings provide insights into the future of evidence-based higher education policy-making in Malaysia and the IPPTN's capacity and capability for evidence-based policy research.

On the Quality of Higher Education in Jordan: Empirical Evidence from Princess Sumaya University for Technology

This paper investigates the main indicators of scores of K-12 leavers who were admitted at Princess Sumaya University for Technology, PSUT, in Jordan and their graduation scores. It uses time series data covering the period 1993-2012, including all 3,229 Bachelor graduates in all specialisations. The paper applies several statistical techniques to describe and test the relationships among educational variables. After that, the paper specifies an Auto Regressive Distributed Lag (ARDL) model that determines the relationship between K-12 leavers' grade-point average (GPA) and Bachelor graduates' GPA. It uses Granger causality to test the existence of causality. We also test score differences for gender, specialisation and time variations. Empirical results of these tests provide strong evidence that secondary GPA has no significant effect on graduation GPA. Moreover, the two GPAs had very small correlations and secondary GPA does not cause university GPA. The implication being that variations in university GPA are not caused by variations in secondary GPA. Therefore, admission policy, which is based on secondary GPA, should include other factors of admission criteria. For many years, job growth in Jordan is not consistent with the increase in the number of university graduates, and the chronic unemployment problem is a major obstacle to economic growth. Employers insist that their demand for graduates is not being met by educational output. Moreover, many policy makers, in education field, are increasingly calling for improvements in pre-university education system while others are blaming the higher education system for failing to provide K-12 leavers with the right specialisations that can match higher education sector outputs to labour market demand. Indeed, current rates of unemployment among Bachelor graduates in Jordan, shown in Table 1, are self-explanatory. It is unfortunate that policy makers in higher education do not fully recognize the importance of human capital in economic development. Current debates in higher education hinge on analysis of students' academic achievements in terms of scores. Therefore, the relationship between secondary GPA and graduation GPA has significant policy implications for designing and implementing education policies at both secondary and university levels. This situation calls for a critical analysis for the quality of education including analyzing scores of students. In developed countries, agendas are driven by sophisticated analyses of data in the areas that affect student performance. It is true that for some jobs, GPAs and test scores are worthless criteria for hiring. While specialized skill sets are required for many jobs, there are some hiring attributes, such as high GPAs, which make prospective employees more desirable to employers all over the world. The first step is to utilize qualitative techniques to create measures that may be useful for both educators and researchers wishing to improve education and increase degree attainment. Although many quantitative assessments remain fragmented, education systems increasingly rely on data to determine next steps in terms of policy. This paper follows the developments of the main indicators of students' achievements, expressed in terms of their GPAs, to contribute in the evaluation of education quality. It considers PSUT as an example of other universities in Jordan. PSUT is a Jordanian private non-for-profit university, founded in 1991, in accordance with the Ministry of Higher Education laws. The university is a private university owned by a non-for-profit organisation, the Royal Scientific Society, and together they are part of El Hassan Science City located in Amman. PSUT aims to be the hub of technology and innovation in the region, a research platform for Jordanian

The Mind and Method of the Legal Academic, Introduction

This Introduction (pp. 1-7) to the book The Mind and Method of the Legal Academic assesses the recent turn away from doctrinal research towards a more empirical and theoretical way of legal investigation and offers a fresh perspective on what it is that legal academics should deal with and how they should do it. The book also considers the consequences which follow for the organization of the legal discipline by universities and uses this context to discuss the key questions of the internationalization of law schools, quality assessments, legal education and the research culture. Being the first book to address the aim and goals of legal scholarship in an international context, this study will appeal to academics, graduate students, researchers and policymakers in higher education.

Goodfellow, Robin & Lea, Mary R ed (2013) Literacy in the digital universityRoutledge (New York & London) isbn 978‐0‐415‐53797‐1 213 pp £24.99 http://www.routledge.com/books/details/9780415537971/

SummaryThis book brings together practice and theory from the interface between academic and digital literacy, learning and teaching, and learning technologies. It argues for the importance of digital literacy at the heart of approaches to learning and teaching in the modern university. It is highly recommended for teachers, educational developers, practitioners in learning technology, and policy makers in higher education. Indeed, if this book's content is likely to be relevant to you, I recommend you buy a copy for yourself.Pete Cannell

Student power in a global perspective and contemporary trends in student organising

Students, if organised into representative student governments or movements, can be a highly influential agency shaping higher education policy. This article introduces the Special Issue on student power in a global perspective, which addresses the question of how students are organised in different world regions and what role they play in higher education policymaking within universities or at the national level. The article discusses conceptual considerations in the study of student governments and movements and reviews the contemporary trends in student organising globally.

Global attributes or local literacy? International students in Japan’s graduate employment system

International students graduating from Japanese universities are becoming an important component of graduate recruitment strategy in globalising Japanese firms. They are praised for possessing exactly the kinds of attributes seen as lacking in their Japanese counterparts – such as intercultural communication skills, self-confidence and a competitive spirit. Their value is also emphasised in national policies addressing the human resource challenges of globalisation. Higher education policy-makers, too, are increasingly conscious of the need to connect efforts to attract international students to Japan with strategies to maximise their utility in the Japanese workforce. To succeed in the job market, however, international students are required to conform to the conventions of graduate job-hunting. Career support services offered by universities and third-party intermediaries tend to focus on bringing students into line with these conventions rather than developing alternatives thereto. This article explores this interface between policies and practices surrounding international graduate job-seekers, analysing the positions of several different stakeholders – including the job-seekers themselves – in order to develop a more critical understanding of the possible outcomes of current moves towards internationalisation of higher education and employment in Japan and the future of the graduate job-placement system itself. The article highlights a paradox whereby the ‘global’ attributes that underpin the expectations placed on international students originally are overshadowed by a concern with testing local socio-cultural literacy through the application of the conventional norms and practices of the graduate job hunt.

Positioning Mauritius as a Knowledge Hub in the Context of Globalisation

Knowledge is the most valued commodity in the global economy. Since 2005, it has been proposed to develop Mauritius into a knowledge hub and a centre of higher learning, thus meeting the needs of an increasingly competitive, knowledge-based and globalised economy. Therefore, this paper provides an understanding of the higher education system in Mauritius. Secondly, it explores the interconnection between globalisation and higher education in Mauritius. Thirdly, it also focuses the challenges facing the higher education institutions and policies in Mauritius in this globalised era. For the purpose of this study, both primary and secondary data have been collected. A qualitative research has been privileged, whereby semi-structured interviews have been carried out mainly with the higher education policy makers and professional. In this age of globalisation, the landscape of higher education across the world is in the midst of massive economic, financial and technological change. Mauritius cannot be isolated from the globalisation process, has no options but to take advantage of the process and adapt itself as an island state to its challenges. The main findings of this study have shown that the globalisation process is reshaping the higher education institutions. Since turning Mauritius into a knowledge hub is of key importance in this globalised era, various issues such as building a strong university sector and world class institutions, investing in research and development, creating a highly-skilled environment for transferring knowledge between the university sector and business, the use of technology, internationalisation of tertiary education and regional partnerships have been addressed.

Factors impacting university students' engagement with classroom activities: qualitative study

Student engagement is a topic of interest to higher education policymakers due to lack of student interest with classroom activities. This study aims to explore the factors which contribute towards university students’ engagement with classroom activities in a developing country context of Pakistan. For this exploratory study, naturalist-paradigm is followed and qualitative data is collected through detailed interviews, conducted with students of a local university in Pakistan. The personality of instructor, courses with practical relevance, lecture contents, students’ intrinsic motivation, and discussion-based classes are found to influence the extent of engagement. This research will be useful for university professors and administrators who are striving hard to find ways to engage university students with classroom activities.

Higher education in emerging markets: a comparative commentary

Purpose – The purpose of this project is to examine the development and learning of higher education policy makers in emerging markets as they confront the need for sustainability and global competitiveness of their workforces. Design/methodology/approach – Comparative commentary is based on representative countries in emerging markets of similar demographics and market maturity. Findings – Policy makers can deploy scarce resources more wisely with regionally astute strategies that leverage their unique aspects in light of learning from experiences of other emerging market peers. Originality/value – This review and commentary takes a macro approach to micro policy issues through a boundary spanning comparative approach.

Some Issues That Permeate Higher Education Discourse in South Africa That Require Attention by Traditional Universities and Business Schools

This paper explores an array of higher education issues that require careful consideration by traditional universities, distance education colleges and universities, academics and indeed government and its bureaucracy in terms of how higher education is approached generally in respect of the formulation of some education policy imperatives within higher education in South Africa. In reality the paper explores or takes the approach of delineating a compact of issues that will require serious understanding and discussion in respect of the issues being raised. In approaching this paper, the writer will for all intents and purposes summarize some of the articles and issues discussed in the supplement of the Mail and Guardian Getting Ahead, August 3 to 9: 2012. Where applicable other issues will be raised that go beyond the issues raised in the series of articles discussed in the supplement. In addition, the writer will also project on the issues discussed by generating some of his own opinions within the narrative. In so doing the following issues will be nuanced and discussed:  Matching policy with reality for young people in South Africa.  The free market for students.  Research at the cost of teaching.  Research is at the mercy of plutocracy.  Former Technikons have an identity crisis.  Social cohesion by promoting the teaching of African languages.  The need for multifaceted leaders to meet the challenges of globalized higher education and for purposes of development.  Postgraduates need a better deal It is hoped that the discussion of the above issues will stimulate reasoned debate and that both traditional and distance higher education institutions and South African Business Schools, and higher education policy makers will incorporate some of these issues within the ambit of their policy formulation, and the vision and mission of their institutions. Kuwait Chapter of Arabian Journal of Business and Management Review Vol. 3, No.2; Oct. 2013 113 The paper in no way pretends to capture the issues discussed, in terms of any finality, nor does it pretend to have captured or for that matter exhausted the issues to any degree of finality.

There is nothing generic about graduate attributes: unpacking the scope of context

This paper sets out to examine the situated nature of graduate attributes through using activity systems theory to explore their contextual nature. It builds on earlier work into graduate attributes by examining the reasons behind the significant variation in their interpretation, thus providing an analysis of the contextual nature of teaching and the implications this has for research and policy. The paper examines the local and individual factors which have a significant influence on the ways in which graduate attributes are understood by teaching staff. Rather than describing graduate attributes as generic, this paper suggests that the teaching of graduate attributes is embedded in local meanings and highly situated and this needs to be acknowledged in higher education policymaking, curriculum design and teaching.