Higher Education Stakeholders Research Articles

Non‐institutional influences and student perceptions of success

Student success, variously understood as engagement, persistence, completion, graduation and entry to employment, has become a central focus for stakeholders in higher education. Theoretical and empirical research exploring these varied conceptions has mushroomed since the 1980s. Much of this literature focuses on what and how higher education institutions contribute to student success; a substantial amount also reports on the part students play in their own success. Less frequently studies investigate how non‐institutional influences affect student success. This article addresses this gap. It uses data from a survey of first‐time enrolled students in New Zealand higher education to investigate the importance of family, cultural, employment and personal influences on student perceptions of success. Findings show that non‐institutional influences exert a moderate effect on student success, and that they are influences which need to be considered by institutions interested in fostering student success.

Building capacity in Australian interprofessional health education: perspectives from key health and higher education stakeholders

A substantial literature engaging with the directions and experiences of stakeholders involved in interprofessional health education exists at the international level, yet almost nothing has been published that documents and analyses the Australian experience. Accordingly, this study aimed to scope the experiences of key stakeholders in health and higher education in relation to the development of interprofessional practice capabilities in health graduates in Australia. Twenty-seven semi-structured interviews and two focus groups of key stakeholders involved in the development and delivery of interprofessional health education in Australian higher education were undertaken. Interview data were coded to identify categories that were organised into key themes, according to principles of thematic analysis. Three themes were identified: the need for common ground between health and higher education, constraints and enablers in current practice, and the need for research to establish an evidence base. Five directions for national development were also identified. The study identified a range of interconnected changes that will be required to successfully mainstream interprofessional education within Australia, in particular, the importance of addressing issues of culture change and the need for a nationally coordinated and research informed approach. These findings reiterate those found in the international literature.

Knowledge Management and Technology Knowledge Management Model for the Higher Technology Colleges of Ministry of Manpower, Oman

Over the past decade there has been a growing concern about the role of higher educational institutions and how they are meeting the needs of stakeholders like industry, students, parents, and in general community. There have been many firms and organizations that have implemented KM principles, methods, practices or tools. However, academic institutions in particulartechnology and management institutes have taken more interest recently, in introducing KM approaches. In general, the educationsector could be described as one where there is slow creation and diffusion of knowledge management toos. The general question is when KM is a driving force for change elsewhere, how is the education system responding and how should it respond? (Walshe,J., 2002). Success in an increasingly competitive educational market depends critically on the quality of knowledge which institutions apply to their key academic and organizational processes. This paper presents a framework for the adoption of KM principles in colleges of Technology under Ministry of Manpower, in Sultanate of Oman, in the context that is used to improve efficiency and effectiveness of creation and sharing of knowledge among people, industry and other stake holders of higher education. The study envisages developing a conceptual framework of knowledge management especially to Higher Technology Colleges of Ministry ofManpower which further seeks to develop an effective academic and administrative management system.

Stakeholders Perception of Transparency and Accountability in Higher Education Financing In Lagos State

The study examined how the stakeholders of higher education in Lagos State of Nigeria perceive the level of transparency and accountability of higher education financing in the state. Bearing in mind the funding state of the Nigerian education system, with the lowest budgetary allocation in Africa according the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU),stakeholders are questioning the efficiency used in administering the monies allocated to education with the recent reforms introduced in the sector. Recently, the community accountability and transparence initiative (CATI) for universities, polytechnics, colleges of education and the states(in respect of primary schools) was introduced by the government for two reasons: first, to ginger the general public to ask questions about how the various funds meant for education and sent by the federal government to various arms are being spent. Second: to provoke the interest of the public in the sorry state of public schools and ask legitimate questions about specifics which the various funds were meant for. The issue of transparency and accountability in education in Nigeria has taken the front burner in recent times as the goals of education at all levels are not being achieved. The products of the Nigerian education system are falling short of the expectations by the society. Consequently, the different stakeholders want to know who should be held responsible for this downward trend in the fortune of the Nigerian education system. The main concern of the stakeholders is the problem of who to hold accountable for fund disbursement and execution of educational programs. The second concern is the degree of transparency in financial dealings with a view to check irregularity and ultimately enhances efficiency. Using the ‘Perception Survey’ method, subjective data was collected from stakeholders through the administration of Stakeholders Perception Questionnaire (SPQ) and the data collected was analysed using the Chi-square statistical tool.Moststakeholders felt that there was no transparency and accountability in the financing of higher education and therefore nobody could be held responsible for any inefficiency within the system. It was recommended that fund tracking techniques based on transparent transaction from the state government level to institutional levels be introduced such that from budget proposals, appropriation and releases, stakeholders can actually track the movement of the financial dealings as most of them has lost confidence in audited reports that can be manipulated

Entrepreneurship education in sub‐Saharan African universities

PurposeThis paper aims to investigate entrepreneurship course offerings in business administration/management curricula in sub‐Saharan higher education institutions.Design/methodology/approachThe authors conducted a survey of online course catalogs to analyze entrepreneurship course offerings.FindingsThe results of the study demonstrate that most higher education institutions in the sample offer courses in entrepreneurship and/or small business management but few offer specialization in the area. Newly created institutions are more likely to offer entrepreneurship courses and specializations than traditional ones while a few operate university‐based entrepreneurship centers. The study findings are consistent with the environmental school of entrepreneurial thought.Research limitations/implicationsThe study depended exclusively on online data. Several institutions were excluded from the sample because their web sites were unavailable. Future research should use a larger sample.Practical implicationsThe paper will assist researchers, practitioners, policymakers, and other stakeholders in higher education in strengthening the discussion about enterprise and entrepreneurship education in sub‐Saharan business programmes.Originality/valueThis is the first study on the content of entrepreneurship courses in sub‐Saharan African Universities.

Conceptual foundations and strategic approaches for eCompetence

eCompetence combines the motivation and capability of faculty members to use Information and Communication Technologies (ICT). This paper develops a theoretical framework for the concept of eCompetence of academic staff, and it explores principles for the design of respective faculty development measures. A literature review identifies key components and assembles them into a model of action competence which serves as the basis for developing an approach to eCompetence. The concept of eCompetence is specified by contextual factors that teachers face in eLearning scenarios. The paper finally discusses portfolio models to increase the motivation of faculty to use learning technologies for their courses. The main managerial implication of this paper for involved higher education stakeholders is that universities have to create holistic portfolios for faculty development which considerably extend both the scope and the breadth of traditional training measures.

Knowledge Economy and Knowledge Society—Role of University Outreach Programmes in India

India has the necessary potential to become a global leader in the knowledge economy. However, this cannot be achieved without the universities playing a prominent and leading role. Globally, higher education is poised to become more responsive to societal needs. Although many developments have taken place in the Indian higher education system, it still has to come to terms with modern society. The university outreach programme concept is fast picking up globally, and many universities use it for community development and building relationships with industries. In offering outreach programmes for community or for industries, we should go beyond merely providing some relevant courses. Some examples of universities where the relationship with society or industries has moved on from just offering distance education courses are given in this article. We need to find ways to use the ‘whole’ university, incorporating the various recent developments and meeting the requirements of various stakeholders of higher education. It is shown that university outreach is one of the best strategies where we can include various concepts like open distance learning, online learning, virtual universities, corporate universities, and so on, which have taken place in recent years. Universities, both traditional and distance education institutes, should move beyond their traditional boundaries to become more flexible and incorporate the new innovations that help in creating a knowledge society.

A Market/Value Based Approach to Satisfy Stakeholders of Higher Education

ABSTRACT What value does the university offer in terms of economic and social development? Having stakeholders question the contribution and value of colleges and universities is not new nor is it unique to American universities. Institutions of higher education are currently facing a crisis of confidence by parents, prospective students, alumni, congressional committees, and the media. Many stakeholders are concerned about the value provided by colleges and universities. Although there has been an effort to call attention to the issue and to examine select educational processes, there is a dire need to address all aspects of the university product. This article provides a market-based paradigm to help university/college administrators understand the critical aspects of identifying, defining, managing, and delivering superior value to all stakeholders of the institution. This article also provides a university planning process model for incorporating value in the strategic planning process of any university. Faced with increasing pressure to reduce the churn rate of students and increase retention, universities' focus must shift toward attracting students who fit with the value proposition (delivery) of the institution. This article is not an attempt at resolving the debate over the role or purpose of the university; our intent is to present a market-based approach to facilitate the delivery of value to all university stakeholders in keeping with the vision and mission of the institution.

Leadership for learning: a literature study of leadership for learning in clinical practice

To report a literature study of leadership for learning in clinical practice in the United Kingdom. Background Previous research in the United Kingdom showed that the ward sister was central to creating a positive learning environment for student nurses. Since the 1990s, the ward mentor has emerged as the key to student nurses' learning in the United Kingdom. A literature study of new leadership roles and their influence on student nurse learning (restricted to the United Kingdom) which includes an analysis of ten qualitative interviews with stakeholders in higher education in the United Kingdom undertaken as part of the literature study. Learning in clinical placements is led by practice teaching roles such as mentors, clinical practice facilitators and practice educators rather than new leadership roles. However, workforce changes in clinical placements has restricted the opportunities for trained nurses to role model caring activities for student nurses and university based lecturers are increasingly distant from clinical practice. Leadership for learning in clinical practice poses three unresolved questions for nurse managers, practitioners and educators - what is nursing, what should student nurses learn and from whom? Leadership for student nurse learning has passed to new learning and teaching roles with Trusts and away from nursing managers. This has implications for workforce planning and role modelling within the profession.

Toward a Sustainable Relationship between City and University

While the impact of knowledge assets on regional economies receives much attention in the economic literature, management and planning issues regarding the relationships between academic and local agents are underinvestigated. In this article, it is argued that universities could be a driving force for urban development, provided cities succeed in embedding knowledge in the local social and economic networks, which is seen to depend to a large extent on the balance in the process of exchange between the various stakeholders of higher education: students and academic communities, entrepreneurs, and local communities. A model of sustainable city-university relationship is proposed and matched with evidence from nine case studies of European cities hosting a large higher education sector; the role of policy and planning to sustain and enhance such links is also brought to the fore through the illustration of various best practices in the case studies.

Students’ Views Regarding their Participation in University Governance: Implications for Distributed Leadership in Higher Education

The paper examines the views of students regarding the extent of their participation in the management of their university and their satisfaction with the degree of this participation. After an examination of the literature on student participation in university governance, the author presents the results of a survey based on data collected from 135 students of the University of Cyprus in 2002. According to the findings, respondents believed that their involvement in the management of their institution was very limited. This applied to both high and low levels of decision making, even though respondents recognised that their input was greater in less important decisions. The perceived limited involvement resulted in feelings of frustration and dissatisfaction among students, with the majority of respondents demanding a higher level of participation for all three decision making situations considered in the study. The paper discusses the implications of the findings for the practice of distributed leadership at contemporary universities, with emphasis on the need to abandon outdated leadership models. Specifically, it proposes measures for increasing student participation in university governance in the framework of a distributed leadership approach designed to empower the key stakeholders of higher education.

Development of external quality assurance schemes: an answer to the challenges of higher education evolution

This paper traces the development of quality assurance mechanisms in Chile through the analysis of the changes in the higher education system in the country and the challenges to the quality of educational offerings presented by these changes. These mechanisms involve the establishment of compulsory licensing processes for new higher education institutions, and of voluntary programme and institutional accreditation. It then goes on to analyse the impact of these different mechanisms, even though some of them have been in operation for a brief period of time. It shows that there is some evidence of a cultural change: a system without any formal quality assurance scheme as late as 1989 now has structured mechanisms, accepted by the majority of higher education institutions and endorsed by most stakeholders in higher education.

Audit and control of the use of the Internet for learning and teaching: issues for stakeholders in higher education

The Internet is becoming more widely used by academic institutions to support the learning and teaching activities of students and academic staff. Whilst this is a very efficient mechanism, it is, arguably, important that there are adequate controls in place to ensure that the information is not libellous, defamatory, inaccurate, illegal or inappropriate. The interactivity of the Internet, the immediacy of access to its contents and the public accessibility to much of its information, however, do provide a different operating environment and therefore different audit and control issues arise. This paper discusses the roles and concerns of a range of stakeholders and suggests that the control mechanisms might be failing, or might not be adequately policed in practice. A number of examples are provided where the manner in which controls are put in place do not operate effectively, or where there may be control loops that are open‐ended. For each of the stakeholder groups that are identified, an account is given of the use to which the Internet is put and where regulation currently exists or may be desirable.

Subject Review--What are We Trying to Achieve?

In the early 1990s, the Higher Education Councils were charged with assessing the quality of provision in higher education. The process of Teaching Quality Assessment was used in Wales and Scotland, followed by Subject Review, organised by the Quality Assurance Agency, in England and Northern Ireland. This provided stakeholders in higher education with access to objective information on quality of provision. Key aspects of quality assurance in education are fitness for purpose and team-working, to provide coherent and appropriate provisions. The system has been criticised on the grounds that it is unnecessary and wasteful of time and resources. However, it has acted as a major awareness-raising exercise in the higher education sector. Ultimately,it is about how well we care for our students. All the Schools of Pharmacy, who have long been subject to professional body accreditation, scored highly at TQAI Subject Review.

Tacit Knowledge, Tacit Ignorance, and the Future of Academic Librarianship

This theoretical essay uses tacit knowledge, the often-undocumented wisdom of expert practitioners and practitioner communities, to explore future prospects for the academic librarian. Traditional and emerging valuations of the academic librarian held by higher education stakeholders are identified. The practical implications of these views for university funding and other support are explored using the philosophical stance of cultural pragmatism and by applying the sociological perspective of the “stranger,” tacit knowledge gained by the author as a researcher and a faculty member in an LIS program and as chair of a university Committee on the Library, and insights from a spectrum of publications. In the process, the March of Dimes, an organization that successfully repositioned itself after accomplishing its primary purpose, is examined as a possible model for enhancing the academic librarian’s perceived value.

Quality Assessment of University Students

Quality assessment in higher education is of global interest; government and public demand for accountability from higher education institutions has steadily increased over the past decade (Brennan, Fedrowitz, Huber, & Shah, 1999). Given this demand, the need for ensuring the validity and utility of the assessment process has also increased. One issue of validity is whether the assessment responds to its audience, those who have mandated the assessment as well as those who will be affected by it. To be useful, the assessment must meet the needs of the people whom it is intended to benefit and aid the evaluated institution to make improvements. Quality assessment is frequently undertaken in response to external authorities who expect clear, ratified criteria to be used in the accountability process. If the assessment is to be beneficial, however, change must be effected within the institution. This means that administrators, faculty members, and students also need an understanding of the criteria that can guid e and facilitate improvements in the way they function. Thus, to be both valid and useful, the approach taken to assessment must be aligned or consistent with the goals of the institution; assessment results must be credible and incorporable. The criteria on which an assessment is based must fit the institution's goals and priorities as well as being understood by the larger community. Indicators of student quality have been used regularly as measures in the evaluation of postsecondary institutions. However, because different types of stakeholders in higher education--the public, administration, faculty, or students--have their own perspectives and goals, they assign different values to criteria of quality. The public wants students to graduate with general abilities and emphasizes criteria such as communication skills (Cave & Hanney, 1992). University administrators are expected to show that resources are being used efficiently and effectively; for them, student completion of program requirements is an important criterion (Nadeau, Donald, & Konrad, 1992). Faculty view the primary obligation of the university to students to be the development of intellectual independence (Baird, 1988; Barzun, 1993) and hence focus on criteria such as the ability to think critically (Barnett, 1988; Trice & Dey, 1997). Students, meanwhile, are increasingly preoccupied with career concerns; they value criteri a such as the ability to get a job (Dey, Astin, & Korn, 1991). To come to an understanding of higher education goals and criteria for judging success in meeting them requires an analysis of the value attached to them by different stakeholders. The issue of aligning the approach taken to assessment with the goals of the institution is equally complex. The most common approaches to quality assessment are based on reputation and resources (Astin, 1985). Reputation is a global assessment of the perceived status or excellence of an institution or program, typically measured by asking knowledgeable experts to rate the institution or program. For example, presidents of research universities might rate other research universities for excellence (Cave & Hanney, 1992). The institutions or programs are then ranked according to their averaged ratings. The resource approach to quality uses input measures of faculty and student quality and physical and fiscal resources (endowments, per-student expenditures). Within the resource approach, one of the most frequently used measures of quality is the academic ability of students at entry to college or university. A third approach uses performance indicators or global outputs to define quality--indices such as progra m or degree completion rates, the proportion of undergraduates admitted to graduate education, or alumni satisfaction ratings. The flaw in these approaches is that they do not suggest how improvements in quality could be made. Arguing that these approaches to quality are counterproductive, Astin (1985) recommended that quality be considered in terms of talent development. …

The role of the institute for learning and teaching in higher education in supporting professional development in learning and teaching in higher education

This article explores the concept of professionalism in teaching and the facilitation of learning in United Kingdom higher education. Examination of the sociological literature on professionalism and the activities of currently established professional bodies suggest that the control of standards of performance and control of the right to practise are the defining characteristics. A consideration of the present and projected situation in higher education suggests that regulation by a professional body of the right to practise will become increasingly difficult to implement. However, the articulation of professional standards of performance, for an increasingly varied student population, poses a significant challenge for the membership of the newly created Institute for Learning and Teaching in Higher Education (the first professional body created in this area), whose results will benefit both the higher education community and the external stakeholders in higher education.

Higher Education: The Views of Parents of University Students

Abstract The parents of university students are one of the major stakeholders in Higher Education, yet there appears to be little investigation of their views. A postal questionnaire was distributed to a sample of some 640 parents or parent substitutes having at least one child currently taking a first degree at a British university. 335 completed questionnaires were returned. These give a very consistent and homogeneous picture, with no important variations related to university, subject studied, or level of parents’ education, and almost none related to sex of parent. In general, parents take a clearly traditional view of Higher Education, with research as the most important activity of universities followed by teaching students. The latter should gain personal maturity and a useful qualification from their studies. There is a very strong preference for students to live away from home. These views are highly consistent with those of students themselves, both at university and before; but less so with tr...

Demystifying Critical Thinking

Critical-thinking scholarship is in a mystified state. No single definition of critical thinking is widely accepted, but stakeholders in higher education often enter conversation about critical thinking with the premise that their individual definitions are uniformly shared. With an increasing emphasis on academic accountability, we need to work toward a better understanding of the varying ways the term critical thinking is used and explore the implications of the variation for effective pedagogy. In this article, I describe the confusion about critical thinking in psychology and offer suggestions for demystifying the concept. I provide a framework for organizing critical-thinking scholarship into meaningful dimensions. Finally, I describe a psychology curriculum using performance-based assessment practices as one context in which critical thinking in psychology can be made clearer for students and faculty.

Concepts of Quality in Higher Education

Concerns about the quality of higher education are currently monopolising the national policy agenda. The notion of quality is being viewed in a variety of ways, but two main approaches may be discerned. One approach uses “quality” to focus rather narrowly on performance, control and simple outcome measures. The other involves a broader, more comprehensive approach that accommodates more adequately the rich complexity and intangibility of higher education's processes and outcomes. This paper explores the views embodied in recent statements by higher education stakeholders about quality in higher education, employing as a framework two basic approaches to quality which have been termed the “production‐measurement” and the “stakeholder‐judgement” views.