Higher Education Research Institute Research Articles

Exploring the Impact of Artificial Intelligence Generative Tools on Research in Higher Education Institutions: A Perspective from Portugal

Artificial Intelligence (AI) generative tools have emerged as transformative instruments in various domains, including research and academia. It is important to see what is positive and what is not. This study focuses on the integration of GAI in Portuguese higher education institutions and explores its multifaceted implications and potential. Our research was conducted through a comprehensive survey between April and June 2023, garnering 77 responses. To this purpose, the analysis will have several insights into the research process, namely, to assess the frequency of use and objectives of using generative AI for higher education research and to explore possible trends and future directions in the adoption and application of generative AI in this field.

Black-White Differences in The Effects of Parental Education on College Students' Beliefs about Racial Discrimination.

Racial discrimination remains a significant issue in the United States, particularly affecting Black individuals. Understanding how beliefs about the persistence of racial discrimination are shaped by race and parental education among college students is crucial for developing strategies to address these inequities. This study aims to examine the multiplicative effects of race and parental education on beliefs about the persistence of racial discrimination among Black and White college students. We hypothesize that Black students, particularly those with highly educated parents, will exhibit stronger beliefs in the persistence of racial discrimination as a significant issue compared to their White peers. Data were drawn from the Higher Education Research Institute (HERI) study, which includes a national sample of Black and White young adults on college campuses across the United States. We conducted statistical analyses to explore the influence of race and parental education on students' beliefs about racial discrimination. Black students demonstrated stronger beliefs in the persistence of racial discrimination compared to White students. Additionally, students with higher parental education levels were more likely to recognize racial discrimination as a significant issue than those with lower parental education. The impact of parental education on these beliefs was more pronounced for Black students compared to White students. Black college students, especially those from higher SES backgrounds, exhibit a heightened awareness of racial discrimination due to their lived experiences and educational exposure. High SES Black individuals often face increased visibility and prejudice in predominantly White environments, further reinforcing their beliefs about the persistence of discrimination. These findings highlight the need for targeted interventions to support Black students in higher education and promote awareness of racial discrimination. Policy solutions should include comprehensive anti-discrimination policies, increased diversity and inclusion efforts, and educational curricula that address systemic racism and social justice. The cross-sectional nature of the data limits causality inference, and self-reported measures may be subject to bias. Despite these limitations, the study's large and diverse sample enhances the generalizability of the findings. Race and parental education have multiplicative effects on college students' beliefs about the persistence of racial discrimination. Black students, particularly those from high SES backgrounds, are more likely to perceive racial discrimination as a continuing problem. Addressing these disparities through targeted policies and interventions is essential for creating equitable and inclusive educational environments.

The research productivity profiles of the Philippines’ most research productive higher education institutions: Analyses by regional clusters and ownership types

Using SciVal, this article examines the bibliometric data of the Philippines’ most research-productive higher education institutions (HEIs) to provide policy recommendations that will collectively boost the research production of the country. The study reveals that 1) NCR leads in the bulk research production, number of authors, citations per paper, percentage of papers in the top 10% journals, percentage of papers with international collaboration, and percentage of papers with corporate collaboration. However, statistically significant differences among these regionally clustered most research-productive Philippine HEIs are limited to bulk research production, number of authors, and percentage of papers with corporate collaboration; 2) Privately-owned HEIs perform much better than publicly-owned HEIs, but the statistical differences are limited only to bulk research production and number of authors; 3) the statistically significant correlations among the bibliometric data are limited to bulk research production and number of authors, bulk research production and number of citations, number of authors and number of citations, number of authors and percentage of papers with institutional collaboration, and number of citations per paper and percentage of papers in top 10% journals. These results underscore that in a knowledge-based economy where research production is recognized as a key element in building the competitive edge of any industrialized country, there is an urgent need for the country’s policymakers and HEI research managers to monitor the trends in the research productivity of the Philippines’ most research-productive HEIs.

Welfare-Maximizing Pooled Testing

This letter provides an overview of our recent work on COVID-19 testing mechanisms that appeared at EC'23. Large-scale testing is crucial in pandemics but resources are often prohibitively constrained. We study a scenario in which a population under lockdown utilizes a limited budget of tests to allow healthy individuals to resume in-person activities. Our work explores the optimal allocation of pooled tests in populations that are heterogeneous with respect to individual infection probabilities and utilities that materialize if included in a negative test (and being permitted to resume in-person activities). Non-overlapping allocations of tests, where no individual in the population is included in more than one pooled test, are both conceptually and logistically simpler to implement. We show that the welfare gain from overlapping testing over non-overlapping testing is bounded. Moreover, we design a heuristic mechanism for finding test allocations that is fast and empirically near-optimal. We also implement our mechanism in practice and provide experimental evidence on the benefits of utility-weighted pooled testing in a real-world setting. Our randomized trial at a higher education research institute in Mexico suggests that performance and mental health outcomes of participants under our testing mechanism are no worse than under the counterfactual of full access for individuals without testing.

BUILDing Engaged Mentors: Examining the Efficacy of BUILD-led Mentor Training.

The practice of mentorship is a critical focus in science, technology, engineering, mathematics, and medicine (STEMM) disciplines. This quasi-experimental study investigated the efficacy of undergraduate mentor training in biomedical sciences programs in the NIH-funded Building Infrastructure Leading to Diversity (BUILD) initiative comprised of research-rising institutions. We used data from the Higher Education Research Institute's Faculty Survey (2016-17 and 2019-20). In cross-sectional comparisons of 379 BUILD-trained faculty with 755 colleagues who were not BUILD-trained, those who participated in BUILD mentor training reported more engagement with mentees. Utilizing propensity score matching of 314 with longitudinal cases, mentoring confidence and engagement were stronger over time for BUILD-trained faculty. Findings suggest BUILD mentor training yields positive results for undergraduate mentors at research-rising institutions.

Mapping the Scholarly Landscape of Entrepreneurship Education Research in Higher Education Institutions: A Comprehensive Bibliometric Overview

This study aims to assess the trends of entrepreneurship education research in higher education between 1993 and 2022 using bibliometric analysis. A total of 1309 seminal articles were identified from the Scopus database and used advanced bibliometrix tools for analysis. The research findings revealed that the United States and the United Kingdom had taken the lead in entrepreneurship education research. Notably, author Bell R emerged as a prominent figure in this field. By scrutinizing the articles, it was also evident that keywords such as entrepreneurship education, business education, entrepreneurship, entrepreneurial intention, and entrepreneurial education hold significance within the domain. The insights gleaned from this analysis suggest valuable strategic information to researchers and aid them in formulating and mapping out future studies in entrepreneurship education.

Research in higher education institutions of Northwestern Mexico during COVID-19 times

This paper presents the results of qualitative research on new practices (habitus) of researchers in higher education (HE) in Mexico during the pandemic in three institutions in the State of Sonora. The research focused on modified or new practices or habitus during the pandemic, the challenges those scholars faced, and their view on remote scientific production in this period. Bourdieu's concepts of Habitus, Discipline, and Socialization are instrumental in interpreting data. Data was collected through semi-structured interviews. The data were analyzed using coding and MAXQDA software. The main results refer to the individual, academia, and the constraint to produce knowledge. The results show that for individuals, habitus refers to the care of people. In the face of a health emergency, the focus is on it combined with academic, administrative, and research activities. Such weight is distributed unequally among the female gender; it is about caring for the family, attending research, and more work. In the case of academia, the specific tasks of some disciplines, such as economics, do not present restrictions on productivity, while others do. The regulations of Mexico’s National System of Researchers, SNI constitute a rule that constrains researchers. We assume that it is the primary mechanism for evaluating his/her productive habitus.

ADVANTAGES AND DISADVANTAGES OF THE RESOURCE MANAGEMENT SYSTEM IN THE HIGHER EDUCATION SYSTEM OF KAZAKHSTAN

Resource management is crucial for ensuring quality education and research in higher education institutions. The higher education system in Kazakhstan has undergone various reforms to improve resource allocation and utilization. This paper examines the advantages and disadvantages of the current resource management system in Kazakhstan's higher education. The centralized governance model concentrates decision-making powers regarding resource allocation with the Ministry of Education and Science. This allows aligned strategic development and coordinated quality assurance across all higher education institutions. However, centralized control limits institutional autonomy and flexibility in resource utilization. The norms-based financing methodology promotes equitable distribution of resources based on objective workload indicators. But it overlooks qualitative outcomes and contextual requirements of individual institutions. The focus on per capita financing norms overlooks the need for optimal allocation across different expenditure heads. The analysis suggests that the resource management system has ensured stability and quality control in Kazakhstan's higher education system. However, there is a need for calibrated reforms to allow greater institutional autonomy along with accountability; balanced financing across different inputs; and linking resource allocation with qualitative outcomes. The recommendations include development of institutional leadership capabilities, clustered/differentiated approach to financing, linking funding with outcomes, and adoption of total quality management principles in resource governance.

Who feels taught to lead? Assessing collegiate leadership skill development

PurposeUsing a panel of over 433,000 college students from over 600 institutions of higher education in the USA, we investigate students’ opinions of leadership skill development during their undergraduate tenure.Design/methodology/approachThe data used in this analysis come from the Higher Education Research Institute, which runs the Cooperative Institutional Research Program (CIRP) housed at the University of California, Los Angeles. Among others, the CIRP administers two surveys known as The Freshman Survey (TFS) and the College Senior Survey (CSS).FindingsThe present research supports the extant literature and conventional wisdom of academic and student affairs professionals with regards to engagement in leadership classes or training where students have an opportunity to increase their knowledge bases through course content, and when there are opportunities for them to apply leadership principles, the students are more likely to report an increase in leadership capacity upon completion of their collegiate degree.Originality/valueIf colleges and universities are serious about fulfilling their espoused visions, then it is essential that awareness of leadership courses and applied opportunities be heightened and made a strategic priority to ensure resources are allocated in appropriate places to support these key efforts. It also suggests greater collaboration between academic and student affairs, as well as other departments (e.g. athletics and centers), is needed, as well as prioritizing experiential learning.

Psychological capital research in HEIs: Bibliometric analysis of current and future trends

This study presents a comprehensive bibliometric analysis of the literature on psychological capital (PsyCap) within higher education institutions (HEIs). Its main objective is to offer an encompassing perspective on this field's current state and potential developments. To achieve this, the study examines present research trends and predicts future directions using a bibliometric approach. A total of 412 journal articles were gathered from the Web of Science database. The analysis identifies influential publications, outlines the knowledge structure, and forecasts future trends through bibliographic coupling and co-word analyses. The bibliographic coupling revealed five distinct clusters, while the co-word analysis identified four clusters. Despite the growing significance of PsyCap research in HEIs, there remains a need for greater academic efforts to comprehend the research landscape fully. This paper provides valuable insights into the expanding area of PsyCap research within HEIs. In conclusion, the study sheds light on the extensive research conducted on PsyCap in the context of HEIs and offers insights into its potential for further growth.

Interdisciplinary Research, Tenure Review, and Guardians of the Disciplinary Order

ABSTRACT While interdisciplinarity has been promoted in universities for decades, research suggests that untenured faculty struggle to receive recognition for their interdisciplinary research. Informed by the microfoundations of institutional theory and discursive legitimation, we examine how members of academic departments participate in the legitimation and reproduction of tenure and promotion norms in relation to disciplinary and interdisciplinary research in a prestigious private university. Our analysis draws on 59 interviews with department chairs, directors of interdisciplinary centers, and disciplinary and interdisciplinary untenured faculty in the STEM fields, the social sciences, and the humanities. Our findings reveal three mechanisms and processes through which tenure and promotion norms become legitimated and reproduced in academic departments: 1) institutional micro-practices concerned with evaluation and gatekeeping, 2) discursive legitimation of the expulsion of interdisciplinarity at the pre-tenure stage, and 3) scholarly positioning through discursive boundary strategies directed at rationalizing the expulsion of interdisciplinarity or the expansion of existing tenure and promotion norms. Taken together, these findings advance our understanding of the tensions between the promotion of interdisciplinary research in higher education institutions, reproduction of the disciplinary order in academic departments, and interdisciplinary early-career scholars’ career advancement.

Possible research trajectories for the students in culture and art universities (on the Example of the Ekaterinburg Academy of Contemporary Art)

The article is devoted to the development of research activities of students at universities of culture and art. On the example of the Ekaterinburg Academy of Contemporary Art, the problematic aspects of the formation of students’ motivation for scientific activity are considered. The analysis of the existing practices of involving students in the scientific context showed their inefficiency and the lack of motivation for a significant number of students to participate in scientific events. One of the reasons for this is the specificity of practice-oriented training, aimed mainly at developing an individual or group final product. Fundamental research in higher education institutions of culture and art is unclaimed by students as non-targeted areas of activity. To form the necessary skills of scientific work among students and develop an effective model for the development of student science, possible research trajectories are proposed (urban studies, contemporary art research, inclusion in the field of culture and art, and others), as well as formats of scientific events aimed at more active involvement of students in the discussion of scientific problems. In conclusion, the prospects for further research of this problem are presented.

Measuring university size: A comparison of academic personnel versus scientific talent pool data

Abstract This paper compares two measures of the organizational size of higher education institutions (HEIs) widely used in the literature: the number of academic personnel (AP) measured according to definitions from international education statistics, and the scientific talent pool (STP) (i.e., the number of unique authors affiliated with the HEI as derived from the Scopus database). Based on their definitions and operationalizations, we derive expectations on the factors generating differences between these two measures, as related to the HEI’s research orientation and subject mix, as well as to the presence of a university hospital. We test these expectations on a sample of more than 1,500 HEIs in Europe by combining data from the European Tertiary Education Register and from the SCImago Institutions Ranking. Our results provide support for the expected relationships and also highlight cases where the institutional perimeter of HEIs is systematically different between the two sources. We conclude that these two indicators provide complementary measures of institutional size, one more focused on the organizational perimeter as defined by employment relationships, the other on the persons who contribute to the HEI’s scientific visibility. Comparing the two indicators is therefore likely to provide a more in-depth understanding of the HEI resources available.

INSTITUTIONAL POLICIES ON ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE IN UNIVERSITY LEARNING, TEACHING AND RESEARCH

Generative artificial intelligence is rapidly transforming the educational process and the scientific work of students, lecturers, researchers and administrators of higher education institutions. There are limited and contradictory recommendations for the use of artificial intelligence in the educational process and in the educational programmes of higher education institutions. To define the scope of AI application, there is a need to develop institutional policies for higher education institutions, which will allow the academic community to determine the appropriate scope of AI application in the educational process and prevent the use of AI in areas where ethical norms are violated. The purpose of the article is to summarise and systematise the experience of forming institutional policies for the application of artificial intelligence in education, training and research in higher education institutions using the experience of Kherson State University. The article presents the developed institutional policies for students, lecturers and researchers with recommended and not recommended initiatives for the use of AI in the educational process and research at Kherson State University. The purpose of these institutional policies was to create an inclusive environment of modern digital tools for involving of lecturers of non-professional specialties and define the framework for the use of artificial intelligence in education, teaching, and research of all subjects (participants) of educational activity. The recommendations are aimed at empowering all participants to select educational components creatively and at improving the efficiency of the educational process and research activities through the use of AI tools. Issues requiring further research regarding generative platforms lie in three thematic areas: knowledge base; transparency and ethics; digital transformation of organizations and societies. It is also relevant to create an educational environment that encourages the interaction and dissemination of positive practice of digital transformation of all participants of the educational process.

The Visibility of Women in Senior Management: A Research in Higher Education Institutions

İnsanoğlunun ilk günlerinden bu yana kadınlar toplumların gelişimi açısından sosyal hayatta aktif rol almış ancak buna karşın yönetimde yeteri kadar söz sahibi olamamış, otoriteyi elinde bulunduramamıştır. Ülke yönetiminde çeşitli dönemlerde kadın liderlere rastlanılsa bile Dünya’nın gelişim sürecinde kadın yöneticilerin güce sahip olma örnekleri çok azdır. Sanayi Devrimi ile çalışma yaşamındaki değişiklikler ve kadınların iş hayatına katılımı, binlerce yıldır kadınlara atfedilen rollerin yavaş yavaş değişimini hızlandırmıştır. Bu hareketliliğe rağmen günümüzde kadınların üst düzey yönetici olarak temsil edilme oranları çok düşüktür. Kültürel özellikler, toplumsal önyargılar, stereotipler kadınların çalışma hayatındaki kariyer serüvenleri üzerinde belirleyici olabilmektedir. Dünya’nın çoğu ülkesinde kadınların çalışma hayatına katılımının sağlanması, kadınların üst düzey pozisyonlarda erkekler ile eşit oranlarda temsil edilmesi amacıyla birtakım destekleyici politikalar mevcuttur. Diğer taraftan gerek özel sektörde gerekse kamu yönetiminde kadınların iş hayatında yükselmesinin önündeki engellerin ortaya çıkarılması amacıyla çalışmalar yürütülmektedir. Bununla birlikte cinsiyet ayrımcılığı sorununun çözümüne yönelik ulusal ve uluslararası projeler gerçekleştirilmektedir. Tüm bu farkındalık çalışmalarına rağmen kadınların tepe yönetiminde hak ettikleri pozisyonlarda yeteri kadar yer edinemediklerini söylemek mümkündür. Eğitim seviyesi yüksek, kariyer meslek alanlarında emek sahibi kadınların üst yönetimde daha fazla yer alması toplumlarda kadınların eğitime katılımı ve ekonomik kalkınmanın gelişimi konusunda tetikleyici bir unsur olarak değerlendirilmelidir. Bu araştırmada kadınların üst yönetimdeki rolleri ele alınmış, ülkemizdeki veriler derlenmiş ve kadınların üst yönetimdeki görünürlüğü üzerinde cinsiyet ayrımcılığının olup olmadığının ortaya çıkarılması amaçlanmıştır. Bununla birlikte Yükseköğretim Kurulu Üniversiteler listesinde yer alan 201 üniversitenin üst yönetim ve yönetici kadrolarındaki veriler cinsiyet bağlamında frekans analizi kullanılarak incelenmiştir. Araştırma kapsamında incelenen üniversitelerde üst düzey kadın yönetici oranlarının ve görünürlüğünün erkeklere göre düşük olduğu gözlemlenmiştir.

A Survey on the Current Status of Research Data Management in Mecklenburg-Vorpommern

High quality research data management (RDM) is essential to support state of the art comprehensible and reproducible research processes and, thus, foster the sustainable production of novel and trustworthy research findings. While there are lots of national and international initiatives supporting researchers in all respects of RDM, the local infrastructures provide the foundation for these concepts. In this contribution, we present preliminary results of a study that collects the requirements of researchers on these local infrastructures in all seven higher education research institutions in Mecklenburg-Vorpommern (MV).

Barriers to knowledge mobilisation: implications for responsible and inclusive research in higher education

ABSTRACT From an understanding of knowledge mobilisation as a set of strategies that favour responsible and inclusive research, the aim of this paper is to identify the obstacles or barriers to carrying out such research in higher education institutions, as perceived by researchers. In this descriptive study, content analysis is used to examine semi-structured interviews carried out with eighty research groups from five European countries (Austria, Romania, Serbia, Slovenia and Spain) that participated in the research. Results reveal the main barriers researchers perceived are associated with social commitment, relational aspects, encouragement to participate (attitudinal, organisational and institutional barriers) and knowledge mobilisation practices (derived from the research process and research evaluation policies). Ethical and policy implications for more responsible and inclusive research are drawn in the conclusions.

Agglomeration, diversity, and tradition: an analysis of fractionalized web of science publications in EU regions

ABSTRACT A region’s science output depends on several spatial factors. A generalized least squares function with random effects was estimated to gauge the impact of such factors in European NUTS2 regions. The main findings are that output is positively associated with the number of researchers in higher education institutions and negatively associated with the Herfindahl index of disciplinary specialization. Regions with old universities and good accessibility are also more productive, but these effects are mostly limited to Europe’s core. Most leading science regions are in western or northern Europe. They combine large agglomerations of university scientists, disciplinary diversity, old university traditions, and good interregional accessibility.

INTEGRATIVE APPROACH IN THE DEVELOPMENT OF EUROPEAN HIGHER EDUCATION

The article substantiates the integrative approach as a trend in the development of European higher education. The educational process in institutions of higher education is the environment for the formation and development of a successful person capable of constructing a personal identity. The complex, multifaceted nature of the influence of integration in the field of international education on the entire course of modern social development is emphasized. The main goal of integration in education is determined - the unification of the efforts of the world community in educating a person with a humanistic view of the world, in preparing him for a comprehensive approach to solving global problems of humanity. Integration processes in international education should become a priority, and their results should act as a kind of general substrate for international cooperation in other areas. The rapid development of modern means of telecommunications and the latest technologies contributes to the anticipatory nature of integration processes in world education. The factors that ensure successful international cooperation in the field of education and contribute to integration and improving the quality of teaching and conducting scientific research in higher education institutions are identified: socio-cultural incentives aimed at improving the positive reputation and image of higher education in the country and the world; economic, that is, the attraction of alternative financial means aimed at the development of educational institutions, improving the quality of teaching and research; political incentives that ensure freedom of financial resources. The advantages of double degree programs are determined: the prestige of a diploma of a foreign institution of higher education; familiarization with unique educational disciplines that are presented in the foreign market of educational services; development of international cooperation in scientific, educational, information and other areas, expansion of ties to solve a complex of scientific and regional tasks containing scientific, educational, economic and political aspects. It is concluded that the integration of education can become a kind of stabilizing element of the development of integration processes of the economy, politics and other areas.

Developing an Undergraduate Career Conference: Leveraging Mentorship to Promote Career Discovery

Are students ready for jobs when it comes time to graduation? This is a common question, and one that is often addressed in the media (e.g., Collie, 2019). Despite psychology being one of the most popular degree plans for undergraduate students (e.g., Higher Education Research Institute, 2008), many students in undergraduate psychology programs fail to see the relevance and value of their degree (Borden and Rajecki, 2000). In this work, we designed, delivered, and assessed a career conference for students in psychology. Intentionally different from a career fair where students seek jobs, this event applied a mentorship-based conference model. In this conference model, in addition to professional development training, industry mentors who work in professional fields related to psychology were invited to provide personal insight on their careers in a small-group format. Critical to this model, students were encouraged and able to ask questions that may not be appropriate for a job fair where hiring is happening. Further, this career model involved intentional connections with our Career Services office, allowing for programmatic delivery of career-based content within the domain-specific event. We provide early empirical evidence that this method of career development supports students in learning about career paths that psychology can lead to, identifying skills that will assist them in finding a career, feeling confident in their ability to network effectively, and feeling more connected with professionals in careers related to psychology. We suggest that this model may be beneficial across disciplines.