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Article
Publication date: 17 August 2020

Lettie Y. Conrad, Christine S. Bruce and Virginia M. Tucker

This paper aims to discuss what it means to consider the information experience of academic information management from a constructivist grounded theory perspective. Using a…

Abstract

Purpose

This paper aims to discuss what it means to consider the information experience of academic information management from a constructivist grounded theory perspective. Using a doctoral study in progress as a case illustration, the authors demonstrate how information experience research applies a wide lens to achieve a holistic view of information management phenomena. By unifying a range of elements, and understanding information and its management to be inseparable from the totality of human experience, an information experience perspective offers a fresh approach to answering today's research questions.

Design/methodology/approach

The case illustration is a constructivist grounded theory study using interactive interviews, an original form of semi-structured qualitative interviews combined with card-sorting exercises (Conrad and Tucker, 2019), to deepen reflections by participants and externalize their information experiences. The constructivist variant of grounded theory offers an inductive, exploratory approach to address the highly contextualized information experiences of student-researchers in managing academic information.

Findings

Preliminary results are reported in the form of three interpretative categories that outline the key aspects of the information experience for student-researchers. By presenting these initial results, the study demonstrates how the constructivist grounded theory methodology can illuminate multiple truths and bring a focus on interpretive practices to the understanding of information management experiences.

Research limitations/implications

This new approach offers holistic insights into academic information management phenomena as contextual, fluid and informed by meaning-making and adaptive practices. Limitations include the small sample size customary to qualitative research, within one situated perspective on the academic information management experience.

Originality/value

The study demonstrates the theoretical and methodological contributions of the constructivist information experience research to illuminate information management in an academic setting.

Details

Aslib Journal of Information Management, vol. 72 no. 4
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 2050-3806

Keywords

Book part
Publication date: 26 July 2016

Ana Campos-Holland, Grace Hall and Gina Pol

The No Child Left Behind Act (2002) and Race to the Top (2009) led to the highest rate of standardized-state testing in the history of the United States of America. As a result…

Abstract

Purpose

The No Child Left Behind Act (2002) and Race to the Top (2009) led to the highest rate of standardized-state testing in the history of the United States of America. As a result, the Every Student Succeeds Act (2015) aims to reevaluate standardized-state testing. Previous research has assessed its impact on schools, educators, and students; yet, youth’s voices are almost absent. Therefore, this qualitative analysis examines how youth of color perceive and experience standardized-state testing.

Design/methodology/approach

Seventy-three youth participated in a semistructured interview during the summer of 2015. The sample consists of 34 girls and 39 boys, 13–18 years of age, of African American, Latino/a, Jamaican American, multiracial/ethnic, and other descent. It includes 6–12th graders who attended 61 inter-district and intra-district schools during the 2014–2015 academic year in a Northeastern metropolitan area in the United States that is undergoing a racial/ethnic integration reform.

Findings

Youth experienced testing overload under conflicting adult authorities and within an academically stratified peer culture on an ever-shifting policy terrain. While the parent-adult authority remained in the periphery, the state-adult authority intrusively interrupted the teacher-student power dynamics and the disempowered teacher-adult authority held youth accountable through the “attentiveness” rhetoric. However, youth’s perspectives and lived experiences varied across grade levels, school modalities, and school-geographical locations.

Originality/value

In this adult-dominated society, the market approach to education reform ultimately placed the burden of teacher and school evaluation on youth. Most importantly, youth received variegated messages from their conflicting adult authorities that threatened their academic journeys.

Details

Education and Youth Today
Type: Book
ISBN: 978-1-78635-046-6

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 1 April 2009

Lynn McAlpine, Marian Jazvac‐Martek and Nick Hopwood

This paper explores variation in the events or activities Education doctoral students describe as contributing to their feeling of being an academic or belonging to an academic

1230

Abstract

This paper explores variation in the events or activities Education doctoral students describe as contributing to their feeling of being an academic or belonging to an academic community as well as difficulties they experience. The results (drawing principally on students in a Canadian research‐intensive university though with some in a UK university) demonstrate a rich variation in multiple formative activities that are experienced as contributing to a developing identity as an academic, with many lying outside formal and semi‐formal aspects of the doctorate. Yet, at the same time students report tensions in the very sorts of activities they often find significant and positive in the development of their identity. We see this analysis as offering much‐needed insights into the formative role of cumulative day‐to‐day activities in the development of academic identity.

Details

International Journal for Researcher Development, vol. 1 no. 1
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 2048-8696

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 1 August 2006

Jacqueline Granleese and Gemma Sayer

This study set out to explore employees' experience and understandings of gender and age in higher education to identify if women in higher education experienced the double…

5148

Abstract

Purpose

This study set out to explore employees' experience and understandings of gender and age in higher education to identify if women in higher education experienced the double jeopardy of gendered ageism. Further the role of physical attractiveness and appearance in higher education is explored.

Design/methodology/approach

Rich data were afforded by the qualitative method of in‐depth interviewing of 48 employees in a matched by gender, age grouping and academic status design. The recorded transcripts were subject to content and interpretative phenomenological analyses.

Findings

This study supports previous findings in different workplace settings that women, both academics and non‐academics, experience the double jeopardy of being discriminated against on the grounds of their age and gender in a way that men do not experience. Emergent themes are women: question they experience age discrimination as any perceived discrimination may be gender related and not only age‐related (uncertainty); are socialised to tolerate acceptable levels (tolerance); grow to love the perpetrators (identify with the status quo). Physical attractiveness and appearance are seen as relevant to the workplace in higher education. Non‐academics see academics as being career driven by their lack of attractiveness and or poor appearance. Male academics perceive women academics as unattractive and dressing down in appearance. Young female academics play down their “looks”, i.e. attractiveness and appearance so the effect is minimal (minimisation) as they perceive these be a disadvantage in their careers. Male academics do not report such considerations. “Lookism” thus presents a further prejudice that female academics experience beyond gendered ageism.

Research limitations/implications

One experienced interviewer was used to enhance consistency of interviewing but there may be concerns about possible interviewer effects and the generalisability of the findings within higher education.

Practical implications

Having identified and elucidated “lookism” as a concern for female academics, its extent and sequalae in higher education may be addressed.

Originality/value

This is the first study to show female academics experience the triple jeopardy of gendered ageism and how they look i.e.“lookism”.

Details

Women in Management Review, vol. 21 no. 6
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0964-9425

Keywords

Book part
Publication date: 13 December 2023

Brandon Ash, Ivory Berry, Tyron Slack, Le Shorn Benjamin and Jerrod A. Henderson

It is well-known and documented that despite a plethora of efforts by institutions to broaden participation in engineering, the representation, retention, and degree completion of…

Abstract

It is well-known and documented that despite a plethora of efforts by institutions to broaden participation in engineering, the representation, retention, and degree completion of Black males in engineering continues to lag. Coupled with a lack of representation, there is also a dearth of research that has sought to understand the experiences of Black males in engineering. In this chapter, through the lens of Hildegard Peplau's (1991) interpersonal relations theory, we sought to explore the experiences of nine undergraduate Black male engineering majors with academic advisors. Academic advisors are strategically positioned in higher education settings as guides to help students navigate college culture, policies, and procedures. Using thematic analysis, three salient themes emerged: “spots are limited,” building their own “advising team,” and prescriptive perceptions. As institutions imagine routes for broadening participation in engineering, they might also consider how they support advisors and encourage relationship development between students and advisors.

Details

Black Males in Secondary and Postsecondary Education
Type: Book
ISBN: 978-1-80455-578-1

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 24 December 2020

Alka Pandita and Ravi Kiran

Our findings show that the academic culture is base for quality teaching and education delivery and it impacts employee experience through employee involvement in decision-making…

Abstract

Purpose

Our findings show that the academic culture is base for quality teaching and education delivery and it impacts employee experience through employee involvement in decision-making and employee engagement demonstrating benefits for universities such as increased employee attraction, higher retention, greater productivity and improved student service. Higher education institutions that offer development opportunities to their faculty are likely to have less turnover than those that do not. Globally tuned curriculum matching the expectation of students one hand and developing a conducive environment for implementing the changes on the other hand is the need of the hour. Branding and student employability needs the focus of policymakers, and it can highly impact the visibility of institute.

Design/methodology/approach

This research has been undertaken to examine the role of critical success factors (CSFs) for augmenting quality of higher education institutes in India. The aspects considered are: branding, employability, employee experience, student experience. The study tries to analyse their impact on overall performance. The results highlight that academic culture mediates between student experience and overall performance. The current research also indicates that academic culture mediates between employee experience and overall performance. Employee experience through academic culture emerges as a strongest predictor of overall performance. Student experience through academic culture emerges as another important predictor of overall performance. Employability was next to follow. The beta values were low for branding. The results highlight that for improving performance Indian higher educational institutes need to focus on branding. Implementing this model will enable educational institutions to focus on these predictors to boost overall performance and equip engineers with requisite skills through academic culture.

Findings

The results show that employee experience is the most importance significant performance indicator to enhance the performance of the engineering institute when academic culture is taken a mediator (Anderson et al., 1994; Owlia and Aspinwall, 1997; Pal Pandi et al., 2016). The direct effect of employee experience (Beta = 0.473) is less in comparison to the indirect effect (beta = 0.518). The student experience is also second important indicator that is very significant for the overall performance, and this level of signification is even more enhanced when academic culture acts as a mediator. On the other hand, employability of students (EM) (Ashok Pandit and Wallack, 2016) and branding (BR) play an important role to influence the overall performance of the HEIs. However, branding has least impact on the performance compared to the other indicators as it has lowest beta value (0.169). This reveals that engineering institutes need to emphasis on developing strategies to improve branding by participating in activities that enhance outreach and visibility of the institutes (Nandi and Chattopadhyay, 2011). The results of the study showed the academic culture acts as critical pathway to reach the performance peak.

Research limitations/implications

Competition is spreading in the higher education sector with widespread consequences, and in order to effectively respond to the pressures, universities have to be able to draw attention and retain their precious human capital. Developing linkages for faculty and student will generate mutually beneficial sustainable outcomes. Institutes preferably be multi-disciplinary or inter-disciplinary and have both teaching and research focus of an exceptionally high quality. Developing diverse programmes and activities targeting at developing quality of mind, ethical standard, social awareness and global perspectives, let the students shape their own experience and growth. Solid linkages with industry to impart a practical dimension to technical training is must, and an effective semester internship in industry is a testimony of project-led teaching. Research excellence and quality teaching are the basis of quality education. Engagement in external collaborations that extend and deepen institution impact through increasing international engagements. In future, empirical studies can also be conducted on the AQAR model by collecting data through questionnaires based on the perception of students, and it can be tested through hypotheses employing R software to determine the extent of implementation of AQAR in EEIs in India.

Practical implications

The results show that employee experience is the most important significant performance indicators to enhance the performance of the engineering institute when academic culture is taken a mediator (Anderson et al., 1994; Owlia and Aspinwall, 1997; Pal Pandi et al., 2016). The direct effect of employee experience (Beta = 0.473) is less in comparison to the indirect effect (beta = 0.518). The student experience is also second important indicator that is very significant for the overall performance, and this level of signification is even more enhanced when academic culture acts as a mediator. On the other hand, employability of students (EM) (Ashok Pandit and Wallack, 2016) and branding (BR) play an important role to influence the overall performance of the HEIs; however branding has least impact on the performance compared to the other indicators as it has lowest beta value (0.169). This reveals that engineering institutes need to emphasis on developing strategies to improve branding by participating in activities that enhance outreach and visibility of the institutes (Nandi and Chattopadhyay, 2011). The results of the study showed the academic culture acts as critical pathway to reach the performance peak.

Originality/value

The results show that student experience is the most importance significant performance indicators to enhance the performance of the engineering institute when academic culture is taken a mediator. The direct effect of student experience (Beta = 0.101) is less in comparison to the indirect effect (beta = 0.412). The employee experience is also second important indicator that is very significant for the overall performance, and this level of signification is even more enhanced when academic culture acts as a mediator. On the other hand, employability of students (EM) (Ashok Pandit and Wallack, 2016) and branding (BR) play an important role to influence the overall performance of the HEIs; however branding has least impact on the performance compared to the other indicators as it has lowest beta value (0.169). This reveals that engineering institutes need to emphasis on developing strategies to improve branding by participating in activities that enhance outreach and visibility of the institutes (Nandi and Chattopadhyay, 2011). The results of the study showed the academic culture acts as critical pathway to reach the performance peak.

Details

Journal of Applied Research in Higher Education, vol. 13 no. 5
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 2050-7003

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 28 July 2023

Chima Mordi, Hakeem Adeniyi Ajonbadi and Olatunji David Adekoya

This study explored the challenges academics faced with work structures during the COVID-19 pandemic and their implications for their work–life balance (WLB).

Abstract

Purpose

This study explored the challenges academics faced with work structures during the COVID-19 pandemic and their implications for their work–life balance (WLB).

Design/methodology/approach

Relying on the interpretative paradigm and the qualitative research method, the dataset consists of semi-structured interviews with 43 academics in the United Kingdom.

Findings

This study’s findings indicate that academics in the UK experience issues around increased boundary permeability between work and nonwork domains and role overlap, which engender the transfer of negative rather than positive spillover experiences and exacerbate negative consequences to the well-being of academics. ICTs also reinforced gendered work-family boundaries and generated more negative work–life/family spillover for women than for men.

Practical implications

Higher Education Institutions (HEIs) need to address ICT-related health issues through better work designs and HR initiatives that respond to the health requirements of academics. Policymakers should be futuristic and ensure comprehensive work–life policies for academics, which are necessary for humanising overall organisational well-being.

Originality/value

Although COVID-19 challenges are common to all workers, the experiences and effects on specific workers (in this case, UK academics) within specific national jurisdictions play out differentially, and they are often experienced with different levels of depth and intensity.

Details

Personnel Review, vol. ahead-of-print no. ahead-of-print
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0048-3486

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 30 August 2022

Yaming Fu, Elizabeth Lomas, Charles Inskip and Jenny Bunn

The purpose of this paper is to describe, analyze and understand international users' library experience in the Digital Age in order to inform library service design and ensure it…

1250

Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to describe, analyze and understand international users' library experience in the Digital Age in order to inform library service design and ensure it provides an inclusive environment. In this study, the behavioral and experiential aspects of user library experience are merged to develop essential interconnections between information behavior (IB) and user experience (UX) in the context of the academic library with the goal of constructing a more holistic understanding of ‘library experience.

Design/methodology/approach

The study was built on the concept “library experience” through analyzing its essential components of IB and UX. It was developed through findings from mixed methods research, consisting of the quantitative investigation from a library log analysis, and qualitative investigations via cognitive mapping exercises and semi-structured interviews, both targeted on the largest single group of international students in United Kingdom – international Chinese students.

Findings

The findings demonstrated the complexity and multilayered characteristics of international Chinese students' library context, and three unique contexts emerged from the data shaping their library experience. Building on the previous findings on the connections between IB and UX, the work attempted to redefine “library experience” by joining both behavioral and experiential aspects. It is found that the key components of cultural library experience are the multilayered context, cultural group's perception needs, sense-making process and subjective evaluations.

Originality/value

This study joins the behavioral and experiential perspectives together to explore library experience in a more holistic way and proposes a systematic structure to understand and analyze library experience, especially that of international users in a cross-cultural context, which, in turn, will better serve their information needs and inform the design of a more equal and inclusive library system.

Article
Publication date: 18 April 2024

Amrita Hari, Luciara Nardon and Dunja Palic

Educational institutions are investing heavily in the internationalization of their campuses to attract global talent. Yet, highly skilled immigrants face persistent labor market…

Abstract

Purpose

Educational institutions are investing heavily in the internationalization of their campuses to attract global talent. Yet, highly skilled immigrants face persistent labor market challenges. We investigate how immigrant academics experience and mitigate their double precarity (migrant and academic) as they seek employment in higher education in Canada.

Design/methodology/approach

We take a phenomenological approach and draw on reflective interviews with nine immigrant academics, encouraging participants to elaborate on symbols and metaphors to describe their experiences.

Findings

We found that immigrant academics constitute a unique highly skilled precariat: a group of professionals with strong professional identities and attachments who face the dilemma of securing highly precarious employment (temporary, part-time and insecure) in a new academic environment or forgoing their professional attachment to seek stable employment in an alternate occupational sector. Long-term, stable and commensurate employment in Canadian higher education is out of reach due to credentialism. Those who stay the course risk deepening their precarity through multiple temporary engagements. Purposeful deskilling toward more stable employment that is disconnected from their previous educational and career accomplishments is a costly alternative in a situation of limited information and high uncertainty.

Originality/value

We bring into the conversation discussions of migrant precarity and academic precarity and draw on immigrant academics’ unique experiences and strategies to understand how this double precarization shapes their professional identities, mobility and work integration in Canadian higher education.

Details

Equality, Diversity and Inclusion: An International Journal, vol. ahead-of-print no. ahead-of-print
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 2040-7149

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 1 April 2002

Julia Richardson and Steve McKenna

Globalisation has led to increasing international mobility amongst business and education professionals. Whilst expatriate management literature focuses on expatriate assignment…

5849

Abstract

Globalisation has led to increasing international mobility amongst business and education professionals. Whilst expatriate management literature focuses on expatriate assignment of corporate executives, expatriate academics remain an under researched group. Higher education literature has focused on internationalisation of education systems, notably the growth in international strategic alliances between universities, and mobility amongst students. Therefore compared with what is known about the student body, very little is known about the experiences of internationally mobile academics. Drawing on a qualitative study of academics, this paper evaluates the use of metaphor for understanding the “motivation to go” overseas and the “experience” of expatriation. It evaluates four metaphors which have emerged from the study for expatriating and four others for the experience of expatriation. Finally it suggests that the voluntary, self‐selecting expatriate should be much more extensively researched.

Details

Career Development International, vol. 7 no. 2
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1362-0436

Keywords

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