United Kingdom Higher Education Research Articles

How does entrepreneurship education affect employability? Insights from UK higher education

PurposeThe purpose of this study is to examine the underexplored link between entrepreneurship education (EE) and graduate employability in the higher education (HE) sector in the United Kingdom (UK).Design/methodology/approachThe study draws on a thematic content analysis of semi-structured interviews with 45 professionals in UK HE, representing the “supply” side of EE.FindingsThe findings demonstrate a unidirectional link between EE and employability outcomes. This link is affected by societal, stakeholder-related, and teaching and learning-related factors.Research limitations/implicationsAlthough the value of universities’ initiatives connecting EE and employability for economic development is emphasized, the study does not provide direct empirical evidence for this effect. Macroeconomic research is needed.Practical implicationsEE and employability would benefit from knowledge exchange between universities’ stakeholders and a broader understanding of what constitutes a valuable graduate outcome.Social implicationsThe study reveals the benefits of EE on a micro level. Participation in EE supports the connection between individual investments in HE and employability.Originality/valueBased on human capital theory, many policymakers regard EE as a vehicle through which the relationship between investments in HE and career success on a micro level and economic growth on a macro level can be nurtured. Challenging this logic, the study highlights the potential of institutional theory to explain a contextualization of the link between EE and employability on a national level.

“Unmeasured” and never-ending working hours in UK higher education: time for workers, unions and employers to reinterpret the law?

ABSTRACT Higher Education staff in the United Kingdom (UK) work long hours to complete their duties. In a 2021 survey, staff reported a weekly average of 51 hours: a fact well understood to undermine health and educational quality. Yet, UK law sets a maximum working week of 48 hours, and failure to uphold this maximum is a criminal offence for employers. Seeking to understand this contradiction, the article reveals that staff are denied otherwise universal legal Health and Safety protection by the development and reinforcement of legal interpretation that assumes they have sufficient ‘autonomy’ to avoid overwork. As this is a position mutually constructed and accepted by both employers and unions, all efforts to reduce hours, including Industrial Action, have worked from this premise. However, critical analysis of university Terms and Conditions, against relevant jurisprudential developments, adds significant original value by questioning the validity of the status quo legal interpretation. Specifically, a landmark legal ruling against the UK by the European Court of Justice, and the resulting 2006 amendment to the UK Working Time Regulations, strongly suggests most University Terms and Conditions are legally noncompliant. As such, HE stakeholders should pressure powerbrokers involved in this omnipresent dispute to revisit the law: specifically with a view to re-establishing any fundamental rights of which they are currently illegitimately deprived. Where this was successful, empirically informed weekly workload modelling – rather than irrelevant, abstract annual calculations – would become a legally enforceable necessity for the benefit of staff and students alike.

UK higher education sector's response to the war in Ukraine

PurposeThis article aims to address the response from the higher education (HE) sector in the United Kingdom (UK) to the full-scale war in Ukraine which started in 2022.Design/methodology/approachRelying on theoretical ideas of neoliberalism and the collection and thematic analysis of relevant official communications from six UK universities, the article uncovers three major ways in which these universities have been responding to the war.FindingsThey include (1) altruistic responses, (2) the promotion of equal treatment of all people and (3) the condemnation of the invasion and its implications for UK’s international cooperation in HE. These responses suggest the strengthening of the liberal ideals in the UK HE sector, heavily dominated by marketisation.Originality/valueThis analysis is significant not only for advancing a very limited scholarship on the topic of HE in the context of this war but also for understanding the development of the neoliberal landscape of UK HE and neoliberalism as a phenomenon in times of crises.

This is not an exit: accounting education and attempting to escape the capitalist realist “cage”

PurposeThrough this reflexive, theoretically informed polemical piece, this paper aims to seek to reflect on the role of accounting education in United Kingdom Higher Education (UKHE). The authors reignite an old, but pertinent debate, whether accounting graduates should be educated to be accountants or receive a holistic, critical education.Design/methodology/approachThe authors adopt a theoretical position drawing on the work of Slavoj Žižek and Mark Fisher, and their fusion of Lacanian psychoanalysis and Marxism, in particular Fisher’s (2009) conceptualisation of “capitalist realism” to take a critical standpoint on the effects that UKHE marketisation is having on the teaching of accounting and other business-related disciplines.FindingsThe authors outline four key aspects of where accounting education in UKHE is influenced by capitalist realism, as a result of the marketisation of UKHE.Research limitations/implicationsThe paper is a reflexive polemic and so is limited by this written style and presentation.Social implicationsThe authors argue that capitalist realism is a dominant theme that influences accounting education. They propose that universities now, more than ever, must focus on their societal duty to foster critical viewpoints in their graduates and dispose of a model that is subject to capitalist realism ontology.Originality/valueThe theoretical stance allows for a potentially deeper consideration of issues surrounding marketisation of higher education, from the micro level of social interaction (that of the accounting academic and their impact/perceptions of the reality).

There are Winners and Losers: ‘Wokery’ and Racial Inequality in UK Higher Education

This article discusses how initiatives to tackle racial inequality in higher education (HE) in the United Kingdom (UK) have been viewed as ‘wokery’, a challenge to academic freedoms and free speech at universities, or a step too far towards ‘political correctness’. Nevertheless, the evidence suggests that racial inequality continues to pervade HE. Despite shortcomings in their implementation, equality frameworks and action plans offer universities a supplementary structure to shape and maintain their diversity and inclusion initiatives, without which the sector would be retracting on its commitment to diversify its structures and be more inclusive. Yet, there are concerns that such frameworks are little more than a manoeuvre for indoctrination and censorship, engineering the corporate view of HE. The question this paper considers is: Should efforts to tackle racial inequality in UK HE be viewed as expressions of ‘wokery’, and therefore as signs of excessive sensitivity, or as legitimate attempts to address a real problem?

Mainstreaming the alternative format thesis in UK higher education: a systematic narrative review of institutional policies

ABSTRACT The alternative format PhD, in which doctoral candidates produce a thesis composed of a series of peer reviewed publications, is growing in popularity internationally. However, across the HE (HE) system in the United Kingdom (UK), universities have been slower to adopt the alterative thesis format. This paper presents a systematic narrative review to understand the development of institutional-level policies pertaining to the alternative thesis format across UK HE institutions (n = 135), identifying best practice and opportunities for improvement. The paper evidences a fragmented policy landscape in which there is a notable lack of consistent and coherent policy and guidance across institutions, that may in fact compound existing inequalities in doctoral provision. Recommendations are made to encourage the design of institutional policies that support PhD candidates to opt for the alterative format thesis where appropriate, with wide ranging implications for the HE sector.

Ombining words and drawings, the better to understand students’ lived experiences

This case study presents and interprets two data sets – interviews and line drawings – about barriers to learning in the HE context, as seen from the student perspective. Eleven undergraduate students participated in this exploratory study, which took place at a United Kingdom higher education (HE) institution. The findings help reveal to the reader the lived experiences of students and present opportunities to consider intervention practices that can be used to support student transition from further education (FE) into HE. This case study also discusses how to collect and use this mixed data set and highlights how employing this method promotes student voice. Researchers may find that the approach may be applicable to their own project design.

Working in unprecedented times: Intersectionality and women of color in UK higher education in and beyond the pandemic

AbstractThe ongoing COVID‐19 pandemic has exacerbated existing inequalities and inequities. Injustices within the labor market mean that the lives particularly of women of color have been negatively affected by the crisis in multiple ways. Guided by standpoint epistemology, we take an intersectional approach and use autoethnographic methods in which we draw on our personal experiences within the United Kingdom's higher education institutions during the pandemic. We illustrate how institutional decisions, approaches, and policies enacted in the wake of COVID‐19 exacerbate inequalities and inequities. Three themes stand out from our experiences: (1) meritocracy and the problem of cumulative (dis)advantage, (2) the lack of racial awareness in management decisions, and (3) the operations of power and silencing. We show that universities justify decisions by deploying discourses of meritocracy and ignoring context and the ways women of color staff are persistently disadvantaged due to structural racism and sexism. We find that universities are likely to indicate that their response policies treat all staff absolutely equally without candidly assessing the intersectional impacts of the pandemic on minority staff, which consequently prevent the achievement of equity. We also describe the ways in which the pandemic exposes cultures of institutional silence and silencing when women of color speak up. We conclude with glimpses of hope for resisting the downward pressures of the pandemic crisis toward cultivating more equitable futures.

The Black Professoriate: Assessing the Landscape Within British Higher Education

The paucity of Black higher education professors within the United Kingdom (UK) illuminates the systemic inequity of the higher education system within Britain. The dearth of Black Professors within the professoriate in UK Higher Education (HE) is reflective of the racially discriminatory landscape. This paper offers a succinct synthesis of recent evidence in relation to assessing how the Academy systemically marginalizes Black academics from the professoriate in the UK. This paper highlights the need for the sector to mobilize greater opportunities for Black academics to progress throughout the Academy to the professoriate, in addition to challenging the sector and HE policy-makers to play more of a pivotal role in advancing ethnic equality in UK universities.

‘A one-sided view of the world’: women of colour at the intersections of academic freedom

ABSTRACT Academic freedom is a necessary principle. Current attempts to (re)conceptualise, (re)frame, and reduce the principles of free speech from universal concepts to specific and narrow conceptions are however underpinned by political expediency and accompanied by erosions to press freedom and protest rights. The current enacting and policing of academic freedom is purposely acontextual, colour-blind, and ignorant of differential costs of dissent and (non)compliance. This paper focuses instead on the interlinked conditions of precarity, neoliberalisation, internationalisation, digitisation, and state-encouraged intervention that lead to increased surveillance, (self-)censorship, and cultures of silencing, to show that women and people of colour are caught in the crosshairs of the ‘culture wars’ in unique ways. Drawing primarily on the United Kingdom Higher Education (UKHE) sector alongside other international examples, this paper contends that the conditions, structures, and policies around research and teaching amplify state-encouraged backlash against the teaching and research on specific topics. It shows that the renewed fervour for academic freedom continues to disguise bad faith ideologies whilst amplifying politicised interests keen to reinforce the status quo. Historically excluded and minoritised academics face new risks and greater pressures building on already deep-rooted institutional cultures of targeted silencing.

An Overview on Internationalisation within the United Kingdom Higher Education

This study aimed to analyse how the trend towards internationalisation for higher education has been constituted considering the perspectives of solidarity. Internationalisation is understood as integration among worldwide higher education institutions in the current scenario. Thus, the term does not conform to the definitions of globalisation as a phenomenon. The work discusses the process of the UK universities internationalisation and analyses how this process has occurred, where the internationalisation was the result of a formal policy of the institution or if, in reality, internationalisation was the result of actions predominantly determined by individuals. The paper explores internationalisation and Brexit with higher education in the United Kingdom. It focuses on the impacts of globalisation on universities caused by Brexit. It also emphasises the concepts such as internationalisation and mobility, globalisation and higher education and research, collaboration, and EU funding. The research results reduce the literature on the internationalisation of higher education, particularly the dynamics of the internationalisation of universities located in developing countries. The research also reveals and emphasises the internationalisation actions, that is, the importance of teachers, researchers and administrators as catalysts of this process. Therefore, universities should find new strategies for attracting more international students, effective digital media marketing, strongly branded marketing campaigns, and worldwide satellite campuses, resulting in significant changes.

Student fears of oral presentations and public speaking in higher education: a qualitative survey

ABSTRACT Oral presentations and public speaking are an important aspect of the student experience in the United Kingdom higher education. Many modules (self-contained units normally within a programme of study) use presentations as a form of assessment and require students to verbally engage in small and large group settings to enhance learning. Previous research evidence has indicated that many students experience fear in public speaking. The aims of this qualitative survey were two-fold. First, it sought to gather further insight into the fears experienced and strategies used by students who fear public speaking, including oral presentations. The second objective was to determine whether their fear affected their experience of higher education. A qualitative survey comprising four open-ended questions was completed by 46 undergraduate and postgraduate students with a fear of public speaking from the University of the West of England (UWE), Bristol. All participants were attending one of the Stand Up and Be Heard (SUBH) UWE library-based workshops for fear of public speaking. Thematic analysis was used to identify the following six themes, namely: fear of being judged, physical symptoms, uncertainty about the topic, negative effect on university experience, practice and preparation, and more practical support needed. The results of this survey identify the specific fears students have in public speaking and provide evidence of the overall negative effect on their higher education experience. This survey provides further evidence that higher education institutions should acknowledge public speaking fear among some students and provide more support in oral presentation assessments.

Be SMART: A BAME staff-student partnership to enhance graduate employability

This case study explores ‘Be SMART’, a black, Asian and minority ethnic (BAME) staff-student collaboration to enhance graduate employability, piloted at St Mary’s University, Twickenham. It provides a novel insight into how students, staff and external organisations working in partnership can successfully engage BAME students in enhancing their employability skills and experiences. Be SMART offered BAME students the opportunity to access mentoring, leadership and professionalism workshops and also flexible paid internships. We explore the impact of Be SMART by means of a questionnaire and a series of semi-structured interviews with participants. Our findings show that participants, who widely reported significant improvements in their self-confidence, acquired a range of professional-level skills from their engagement. They also developed a stronger sense of belonging to the University, enhanced their peer network and were subsequently more likely to engage with the Careers Service. Our case study critically explores the success factors of Be SMART to facilitate wider uptake of BAME-targeted, co-created employability initiatives in United Kingdom higher education.

The COVID crisis – ‘Academic firefighting’

Teaching exchange programmes involving United Kingdom Higher Education delivered in the People’s Republic of China were directly impacted by Covid-19, requiring the immediate adoption of alternative plans of delivery for both teaching and assessment. In examining the impact this reflective analysis suggests that in a global crisis the educational world becomes a smaller more unified place of collective cross border experience.

Institutional barriers to participation in EU framework programs: contrasting the Swiss and UK cases

The aim of this study was to examine how institutional barriers arising from policy decisions influence the level of participation of third-party countries in European Framework Programs (EU-FPs). To achieve this, we contrasted the effect of EU funding restrictions following Switzerland’s 2014 reclassification as a “third country” in Horizon 2020, and the political uncertainties resulting from the 2016 Brexit vote in the United Kingdom (UK). We compared the participation patterns of Swiss and UK higher education institutions (HEIs) with control groups of similar European HEIs over time and, complementarily, analyzed changes in the participation of small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). Our results showed that the Brexit-induced uncertainty had stronger negative effects than the Swiss reclassification, which was, however, characterized by effective EU funding restrictions. In both cases, the negative impact of institutional barriers was stronger for the more central HEIs in EU-FP networks. These results suggest that the effect of institutional barriers is closely linked to consortium building mechanisms, where research collaboration requires stability and projection over the long term. Regarding individual grants, the impact was stronger for Marie Skłodowska-Curie actions than for European Research Council grants, suggesting that a researcher’s mobility is affected by political uncertainties. Finally, in the UK case, we observed a steep decrease in the participation of SMEs. Based on these results, we suggest that a stable framework of participation and a clear ruling on relationships with the EU for what concerns people’s mobility and economic relationships are key to fostering the participation of third-party countries.

The Powerful Student Consumer and the Commodified Academic: A Depiction of the Marketised UK Higher Education System through a Textual Analysis of the ITV DramaCheat

Through a textual analysis of four episodes comprising the 2019 ITV 1 psychological thriller Cheat, this article explores a fictional representation of the United Kingdom (UK) Higher Education (HE) setting in a television drama. We discuss our analysis in the context of growing marketisation of UK HE, where academics are increasingly viewing students as powerful consumers. We focus on one of the central characters, final-year undergraduate student Rose Vaughan, and the staff with whom she interacts in a fictional HE institution – St. Helen’s College. This article engages with the following themes: ‘The powerful student consumer’ and ‘The commodified academic’. Insight gleaned through the textual analysis of this dramatised depiction of UK HE allows us to attempt to understand how both students and academics might be navigating the neoliberal university and negotiating place and status as (paying) students and (commercial) academics. Although heralded as powerful student-consumers in much literature, our analysis of this television drama shows how students can potentially disrupt the united front often attempted by HE institutions, but ultimately are faced with a ‘the house always wins’1scenario. Our article offers an important contribution to the psycho-sociological literature into how the television drama depicts that the student experience has been transformed and impacted by HE’s marketisation. This includes a reconsideration of how the television drama portrays what it means to be a student, by exploring how one student is conceptualised, understood, and represented in the psychological thriller.

Is quality assurance compatible with technological innovation? Case studies of massive open online courses (MOOCs) in United Kingdom higher education

ABSTRACT Both innovation and quality assurance are prominent concerns in higher education institutions but research is ambiguous with respect to the relationship between quality assurance and innovation. Specifically, it is unclear whether quality assurance supports innovation or, conversely, acts as a hindrance. As a relatively new innovation, massive open online courses (MOOCs) yield insights into the relationship between quality assurance and innovation in higher education institutions. This article explores how quality assurance is adapted to accommodate MOOCs based on case studies in five universities in the United Kingdom. Our findings suggest that quality assurance does not support innovations such as MOOCs because most universities use a relatively superficial approach that focuses on technical requirements rather than academic quality. The study provides suitable empirical evidence to support a cogent argument that universities should evaluate MOOCs through quality assurance, both to identify strengths and to expose weaknesses that need to be developed.

Supporting SoTL Development through Communities of Practice

Increasingly, academics are engaging with the Scholarship of Teaching and Learning (SoTL). However, within United Kingdom higher education, the definition of and activities that constitute SoTL remain open to debate. In this article, we explore SoTL through four career histories that give insight into how SoTL has developed and played a role in the careers of four life sciences-based, teaching-focused academics in UK universities at different points in their careers. The recurring themes in the career histories include collaboration; professional development; sharing and dissemination; and funding. The career histories also highlight aspects of and the importance of communities of practice. We reflect on the role of communities of practice in supporting SoTL and discuss how communities of practice external to one’s home institution can play a role in developing SoTL and teaching practice. Internationally there is a growing focus on SoTL, and although the four career histories presented here are authored by academics based in UK institutions and focused on the UK context, the themes they reveal are widely applicable.

Transformational, inclusive, and multicultural or empty rhetoric? Perceptions and experiences of international academic staff

ABSTRACT Using a bi-dimensional, fourfold model as a thinking tool to contemplate acculturation strategies we analyse the intercultural experience of international academic staff (IAS) in the United Kingdom higher education. The literature suggests that IAS feel undervalued as a professional group and that institutions do not capitalise on their diverse contributions. We position IAS within the strategic sphere of ethnocultural groups and the institution within the larger society. In a single case study, we analyse IAS acculturation strategies and their perceptions of how their institution accepts diversity. Findings show that IAS are willing to integrate, but do not aim to remove all traces of their own culture and values, adopting integration strategies. Their perceptions are that the larger society does not seek to segregate IAS; however, it does not provide the conditions for IAS to flourish in professional practice, especially at the early stage of transition.

The UK higher education senior management survey: a statactivist response to managerialist governance

ABSTRACT In this paper, we present results from an extensive survey of United Kingdom (UK) university academics investigating satisfaction with senior managers and university governance: the Senior Management Survey (SMS). In total, 5888 academic staff across the United Kingdom Higher Education (HE) sector completed the survey, and results were used to construct a league table of staff satisfaction with management. This table is a stark indictment of the current state of the UK HE sector, showing a mean satisfaction score of 10.54%. The SMS also collected qualitative data, and we extend the league table’s insights using these data. Thematic analysis revealed seven major themes: the dominance and brutality of metrics; excessive workload; governance and accountability; perpetual change; vanity projects; the silenced academic; work and mental health. We conclude with a discussion of how this statactivist research can be used to bring about change in management and governance of UK HE.