Higher Education

Correction to: Reforms in technical education sector: evidence from World Bank-assisted Technical Education Quality Improvement Programme in India Tables 9 and 10 in the original article contained a typographical error. The corrected Tables 9 and 10 are now given next page.

The common in higher education: a conceptual approach Abstract This article provides a map of the three-element conceptual set of the common (the common good, the commons, and the common) in reference to higher education. It does so using a method of political ontology. It discusses the three concepts in reference to the six dimensions of higher education reality (ontology, politics, ownership, governance, benefits, and finance). Thus, it not only presents a systematic view of higher education reality as seen through the lenses of the common but also explains the substantial (and in some cases, subtler) differences between the concepts themselves. Moreover, it addresses briefly the differences between the concepts from the order of the common and those from the order of the public. Finally, the article seeks to offer an insight into what this particular conceptual set may provide the researchers in terms of thinking through, and designing an alternative to the current predicament of higher education.

Does the environment matter? Faculty satisfaction at 4-year colleges and universities in the USA Abstract Faculty members seek employment in an environment that offers good fit and work satisfaction. As in other countries, higher education institutions in the USA vary by size, disciplinary focus, and emphasis on research. This study examined faculty satisfaction by institution type (baccalaureate, master’s, doctoral, and research) for recent full-time faculty members in 100 US 4-year institutions. Findings showed that, overall, satisfaction was highest for respondents in baccalaureate colleges. Subsequent analyses to examine strength of difference across institutional type confirmed initial differences for some facets of satisfaction, but not for others. Although differences that contributed to satisfaction by type were limited, results showed that faculty perceptions of the institutional environment firmly contribute to their satisfaction. Additional findings as well as policy and program implications are discussed.

Reforms in technical education sector: evidence from World Bank-assisted Technical Education Quality Improvement Programme in India Abstract In this paper, we identify factors which improve the quality of technical education using the data from World Bank’s Technical Education Quality Improvement Programme (TEQIP) in India. We evaluate the success of TEQIP in improving the quality of technical education in the country. Our findings show significant impact of this intervention on the quality of the technical education. The design, strategy, and implementation of TEQIP have crucial lessons for developing countries who want to build their technical education sector for rapid economic growth.

User behaviors and network characteristics of US research universities on an academic social networking site Abstract Academic social networking sites are important communication tools commonly used by scholars. In order to obtain an understanding of how scholars at US higher education institutions utilize these sites, this study took ResearchGate (RG) as an example and collected data from 168,059 users from 61 US higher education institutions at three research activity levels as defined by the Carnegie Classification. A hierarchical cluster analysis was conducted, and four clusters of institutions with different behavior patterns were observed. The results indicate that US higher education institutions play different roles based on their academic influence in the network and demonstrate distinct behaviors in overall participation, information seeking, and information sharing. Users from universities of higher academic influence exhibited a preponderance for presentation behavior and were popular in the network, while scholars at moderate research-level institutions were active in seeking behavior as well as self-improvement. However, those at lower levels were comparatively inactive. The hierarchical clustering result also suggests that user behavior on this academic social networking site reflects the academic research activity level and level of academic influence accurately and effectively. These findings show a positive correlation between levels of scholarly output and utilization of academic social networking sites. This study also contributes to the ongoing efforts in understanding the scholarly use of academic social networking sites, and to the debate on whether associated alternative metrics (altmetrics) serve as supplementary evaluation measures of scholarship in higher education. The practical implications of the study are also discussed.

Public goods and public policy: what is public good, and who and what decides? Abstract Higher education (HE) is usually seen as serving the public good, especially when funded directly by the state, and because of potential social effects such as a reduction in inequality and an increase in social mobility. Public support for higher education is conditional; however, on its capacity, capability and willingness to educate citizens, and to create and disseminate knowledge. But what is the public good and what defines it? Recent years have seen many governments adopt the format of a national strategy or development plan for higher education—setting out national objectives. Similarly, many governments (e.g. Ireland, Netherlands, Hong Kong, Finland and New Zealand) are adopting the policy tool of performance agreements or compacts to better align higher education institutions (HEI) with the national objectives, involving identification of appropriate performance management and indicators. The process by which national objectives are determined varies but may involve a group comprising national and international ‘experts’, sometimes using consultation mechanisms (open or limited). The concept of public good has played a significant role in (re)positioning higher education over recent years. This is especially so in response to growing demands for greater accountability for all public organisations, but also, specific concerns regarding growing higher education access/participation, costs/debt, graduate employability/unemployment, and social/economic impact. This paper takes a practical approach—by asking ‘what is the public good’ and ‘who defines it’ and looking at how different countries are approaching the issue.

My best writing space: understanding academics self-professed writing spaces Abstract Research into academic writing has, in large part, focused on the fundamentals of how to write, and as a result, the understanding that writers require a space in which to concentrate on writing is not new. What is lacking, however, is detailed consideration of what influences writing practice and, specifically, an understanding of how scholarly writers construct their writing taskspaces. This paper explored how academic writers organised their best writing taskspaces. The notion of what constituted best was self-defined by informants. Informants submitted photographs of their best writing spaces, and these were analysed using a two-part methodology. First, the artistic and structural elements of the photographs were considered followed by analysis of the each photograph’s aesthetic qualities to determine the participants’ establishment and maintenance practices. The relationship between academic writers and their best writing spaces was categorised around construction and consumption themes. A typology of academic writers was developed from these findings. A four-part research agenda is proposed. This research extends understanding to include the informant’s role in creating writing spaces which may guide building and design, renovations and reallocation plans for departments and assist individual academics to improve writing productivity and effectiveness. The findings may also assist managers to ensure that employer-provided working habitats are conducive to effective writing.

Intercultural challenges, intracultural practices: how Chinese and Australian students understand and experience intercultural communication at an Australian university Abstract In recent years, over half a million Chinese students travelled abroad to study, making China the largest source of international students in the global higher education market. A large Chinese population on campus does not, however, generate prolific interactions between them and local students. Language barriers and cultural distance are frequently cited in the literature as factors that hinder communication, yet it is not clear how they actually affect the communication process. To address this gap, we utilise quantitative and qualitative data collected at one Australian university through an online survey (n = 124) and focus groups (N = 16) to investigate how Chinese international students and local students understand and experience intercultural communication. We find that both student groups are quite positive about language and cultural differences but struggle with comprehension problems and low-quality interactions. Intercultural communication requires interlocutors to establish common grounds between language and cultural variations via meaning negotiation. However, being restricted by intracultural practices and norms, students are not able to fully utilise communication techniques to fulfil this need. This, in return, affects their motivations to have further intercultural interactions. The paper concludes by discussing the implications for universities and suggestions for further research.

How not to scare off women: different needs of female early-stage researchers in STEM and SSH fields and the implications for support measures Abstract Women researchers are underrepresented in almost all research fields. There are disciplinary differences in the phase in which they tend to quit their academic career: in the natural and technical sciences (STEM), it is in the postdoctoral phase, whereas in the social sciences and humanities (SSH) it is during the doctoral phase. This is indicative of disciplinary differences in the barriers women face in their careers. Related studies on these barriers are more numerous in the STEM field, which in turn limits the scope of potential policies and measures that address the needs of women in the SSH field. This article aspires to contribute to an understanding of the obstacles women from different fields face in their careers and to offer a reflection on various support measures. Using qualitative data (interviews, focus groups, workshop notes, evaluation forms) from a Czech mentoring programme for female junior researchers across all fields, the subsequent analysis reveals disciplinary differences in the perceived career path obstacles in research as well as the attitudes held towards it. Furthermore, the analysis points to the reasons for these obstacles and attitudes by using the concept of professional identity, a useful tool for identifying the barriers to the development of professional career ambitions. Additionally, the analysis utilises Becher and Trowler’s categorisation of SSH and STEM fields into rural and urban categories, enabling one to reflect on the social, cognitive and power features of these fields and the influence these features have on the conditions for the start of an academic career. In order to motivate women to complete their PhD and to apply for a job in academia, this article argues that measures should be taken in the SSH field to promote the involvement of women in the academic community right from the start of their PhD, and therefore, along with mentoring, sponsorship is also needed. In the natural and technical sciences, it is crucial to present women in the late doctoral and early postdoctoral phase with positive female role models – not as token superstars, but as young researchers who are just a few career steps ahead and who have managed to balance their career with a family in the frame of an egalitarian partnership. Furthermore, it is necessary to increase the gender sensitivity of these female researchers in order to prevent feelings of scientific inefficacy arising from the discrepancy between their own intended biography and priorities, and the normative notion of the “proper” scientist, which is strongly masculine instead of gender-neutral. Recommendations are also included for transforming this normative notion of the “proper scientist” – a precondition for wider structural changes within the entire academic environment – into a more gender-neutral one.

New public management: global reform script or conceptual stretching? Analysis of university governance structures in the Napoleonic administrative tradition Abstract Higher education (HE) reforms are usually inspired by New Public Management (NPM) global reform scripts. This article focuses on a pivotal object of NPM-driven reforms––central university governance structures. On the one hand, we present the founding ideas of NPM and sketch how they translate for these structures; on the other hand, two further ideal-type public management narratives to conceptualize reforms (Network Governance and Neo-Weberianism) are presented and we deduct the ideal-type institutional governance structures according to each. Then, we take Italy and Portugal as case studies––two countries in the Napoleonic administrative tradition where previous research has stressed that HE reforms differ from the NPM ideal––and we develop a multi-level analysis (at policy and university levels) to compare their central institutional governance structures with the NPM-driven ideal. Our findings show that both countries present hybrid reform outcomes with similar choices in several aspects that differ from the NPM-driven practical outcomes; thus, a specific regional variance is recognizable. Yet, these structures reflect the Neo-Weberian founding ideas rather than those of NPM. The research implications and possible explanations to reconcile the decoupling between discursive convergence on NPM global reform scripts and Neo-Weberian reform outcomes are discussed.