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1 – 10 of over 2000This chapter is focused on what we can learn from oppressive governance, in this case specifically relating to university governance in terms of vice chancellors and presidents…
Abstract
This chapter is focused on what we can learn from oppressive governance, in this case specifically relating to university governance in terms of vice chancellors and presidents, to the deputy vice chancellor and deputy president and down the ever-growing university hierarchy to deans and heads of schools and their deputies, from a Freirean perspective. Freire wrote at length about how leaders ‘controlled’ education and why they did so, but he also wrote at length about how governments control populations – himself being both a political prisoner and a person in exile to escape persecution. This chapter subsequently examines Freire's ideas around what techniques people employ to control populations and applies them to a higher education setting because the similarities are numerous and the tactics familiar.
Jane Skalicky, Harriet Speed, Jacques van der Meer and Dallin George Young
This paper describes an exploratory, international research collaboration that seeks to gain a deeper understanding of the development and experiences of peer leaders in higher…
Abstract
Purpose
This paper describes an exploratory, international research collaboration that seeks to gain a deeper understanding of the development and experiences of peer leaders in higher education across different international contexts, namely the USA, Canada (CAN), Australasia (Australia and New Zealand) (ANZ), the United Kingdom (UK) and South Africa (SA).
Design/methodology/approach
Data are summarized and compared across each of the participating countries, providing a more global context and depth of perspective on peer leadership (PL) in higher education than is currently available in the literature.
Findings
The findings highlight some apparent differences between countries in relation to student engagement in peer leader roles and the ways in which PL is supported by higher education institutions, as well as some similarities across the different international contexts, particularly in the way peer leaders view the benefits of their involvement in PL.
Originality/value
These insights provide a valuable addition to the literature on PL and practical information to higher education institutions for supporting student leadership development and involvement.
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Chan Hum, Tae-Hee Choi, Sing-Kai Lo, Say Sok and Wai Mui Christina Yu
This study examines the management practices and alignment features needed to develop academic staff’s careers, mainly focusing on teaching competencies in the evolving landscape…
Abstract
Purpose
This study examines the management practices and alignment features needed to develop academic staff’s careers, mainly focusing on teaching competencies in the evolving landscape of Cambodian public universities.
Design/methodology/approach
A multiple-case research design was adopted to collect data from interviews with 11 academic leaders and focus-group discussions (FGDs) with 13 academic teachers at two public universities in provincial Cambodia. A thematic approach was performed to code and analyse data to address the research questions.
Findings
This study found that the management of academic careers in the selected universities was hybrid, deregulating state control to relative institutional autonomy for contracted employees but rather centralised management for civil servants. However, weak institutional leadership and negligence in formulating comprehensive institutional guidelines for strategic human resource management (HRM) have caused misalignments of management practices to develop academic careers in the studied contexts.
Research limitations/implications
This case study limits its findings to two universities in provincial Cambodia. Nevertheless, this study adds to the scarce literature on the research topic in Cambodian public universities and opens a path for cross-institutional and national comparative studies on similar foci.
Originality/value
This is a ground-breaking study set in the evolving space of Cambodian public higher education, where attention to the research area remains limited.
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Muhammad Ashraf Fauzi, Christine Nya-Ling Tan, Puteri Fadzline Muhamad Tamyez, Nurul Ashykin Abd Aziz and Walton Wider
Gender bias and stereotypes are universal issues in today’s society. This study presents a comprehensive review of women’s leadership based on bibliometric analysis. The feminist…
Abstract
Purpose
Gender bias and stereotypes are universal issues in today’s society. This study presents a comprehensive review of women’s leadership based on bibliometric analysis. The feminist approach to leadership is helpful in many ways, and it could be the type of leadership needed in the challenging world of academia. Women present unique characteristics and traits, particularly their motherly approach to leadership.
Design/methodology/approach
A review of the literature based on bibliometric analysis by mapping the knowledge structure of the subject is conferred by uncovering the past, present and future trends based on three bibliometric analyses.
Findings
The finding suggests that gender equality, stereotypes and barriers in women’s leadership are at the forefront of the subject in HEIs. The overall system, mindset and willingness for institutional transformation are needed to change the mindset of accepting women as leaders of HEIs.
Research limitations/implications
This study brought the significant idea of increasing women’s empowerment in HEIs, eventually strengthening institutional leadership’s capability towards advanced education.
Originality/value
This study would present a crucial foundation in women’s empowerment, particularly from the HEIs perspective and from the generic women’s leadership literature.
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Musallam S. Hawas Al-Aamri, Mohammad Soliman and Logendra Stanley Ponniah
This study empirically examines the impact of motivation, transformational leadership and involvement in strategic planning (SP) on academic staff performance at higher education…
Abstract
Purpose
This study empirically examines the impact of motivation, transformational leadership and involvement in strategic planning (SP) on academic staff performance at higher education institutions (HEIs). It also examines how academics' involvement in SP mediates the associations between motivation, transformational leadership and performance.
Design/methodology/approach
This article conducted a quantitative approach based on a self-administered survey. Partial least squares structural equation modeling (PLS-SEM) was applied to analyze the data gathered from 192 faculty members at governmental HEIs in Oman.
Findings
The results indicated that academic staff motivation has a significant and positive impact on their involvement in SP and performance in HEIs. It is also revealed that employee involvement in SP activities is significantly affected by transformational leadership, while the latter does not affect academic staff performance. There is also a significant association between academic staff involvement in SP and their performance. Moreover, the relationships between motivation, transformational leadership and performance are fully mediated by academic staff involvement in SP at HEIs.
Originality/value
The current empirical work is one of the few endeavors to develop an integrated structural model to investigate how faculty members' performance could be affected by motivation, transformational leadership and involvement in SP. Furthermore, it is considered one of the first attempts to explore the intervening role of academic staff involvement in the SP process in the connections between motivation, transformational leadership and performance within the HEI realm.
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Xuening Duan, Yu Chang, Wei Huang and Md Moynul Hasan
A shared cognitive schema is the fundamental source of tacit understanding within a team. This study aims to address how such a shared cognitive schema emerges and evolves in an…
Abstract
Purpose
A shared cognitive schema is the fundamental source of tacit understanding within a team. This study aims to address how such a shared cognitive schema emerges and evolves in an interdisciplinary research team.
Design/methodology/approach
This study uses an exploratory single case study to analyze the emergence and evolution of a shared cognitive schema in an interdisciplinary research team systematically. The authors spent more than two years collecting data from the IAM team via semistructured interviews, archival data and observation. Subsequently, a framework for the resulting mechanism model was developed by analyzing the data using a three-step process.
Findings
This study shows that as the interdisciplinary research team develops, the shared cognitive schema passes through three stages: overlapping cognitive schema, complementary cognitive schema and synergetic cognitive schema. The mechanisms of overlap, complement and synergy play important roles. The convergent roles of partner-based recruiting, knowledge categorization and following the existing institution facilitate the overlapping of knowledge structures. Complementary cognitive schema sharing is facilitated by interdisciplinary member selection, knowledge stock expansion and the effects of accomplished mentors. The synergetic behaviors of group voice, interactive cognition and adaptive learning facilitate synergetic cognitive schema sharing.
Originality/value
This study is the first to discuss the emergence and evolution of a shared cognitive schema at the microlevel of knowledge structure and belief structure. It offers a new theoretical perspective on the development rules of scientific research teams and provides practical enlightenment regarding the establishment and operation of interdisciplinary research teams.
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Anthony L. Wagner and Erich Dietrich
This chapter examines the internationalisation of public higher education in Brazil using the theoretical triptych of internationalisation as developed by leading scholars in the…
Abstract
This chapter examines the internationalisation of public higher education in Brazil using the theoretical triptych of internationalisation as developed by leading scholars in the field: internationalisation at home (IaH), internationalisation abroad (IA), and internationalisation at a distance (IaD). This framework – while rooted in knowledge, systems, and scholarship from researchers and institutions in the Global North – is a constructive tool for categorising and understanding internationalisation at Brazil’s higher education institutions (HEIs) when coupled with an exploration of the history, context, policy, and dynamics of internationalisation efforts. The chapter then summarises and underscores recent and important scholarship by Brazilian researchers and others in the Global South that describes the history of the nation’s internationalisation efforts. It also critiques the powerful influence that Global North-centred objectives and priorities for internationalisation have on the process at Brazilian HEIs. Following a discussion of the theoretical framework and relevant literature, the chapter provides a case study of internationalisation efforts and initiatives of an elite public university, the Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais (UFMG). Content analysis of UFMG’s website and publicly available reports and data demonstrates a high level of institutional internationalisation that has unfolded in recent years, stimulated by federal funding and guided by a strategic framework developed within the Ministry of Education. An analysis of UFMG’s mission, partnerships and programmes finds that the institution serves as an example of internationalisation in Brazil’s public higher education context, as its programmes and initiatives exemplify the overarching objectives of internationalisation in Brazilian higher education.
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This study aims to explore the contribution of Enactus sustainability initiatives to youth empowerment and community development, thus analysing how South African higher education…
Abstract
Purpose
This study aims to explore the contribution of Enactus sustainability initiatives to youth empowerment and community development, thus analysing how South African higher education institutions can increase student involvement in Enactus projects across all faculties.
Design/methodology/approach
Using a systematic literature review approach, the authors searched the Web of Science database for 47 relevant studies, which were found and filtered using the search parameters, and then 33 articles that are strictly relevant to the main topic were chosen as the final corpus.
Findings
The authors found that Enactus facilitates community progress through transformative innovations and students gain valuable skills that increase their employability regardless of their field of study.
Research limitations/implications
The focus of this study is confined to scholarly evidence acquired from peer-reviewed journals, hence empirical studies could be conducted by using literature from books, theses, bulletins, government white papers and gazettes.
Practical implications
These findings highlight several merits of Enactus skill-based training such as learning-by-doing, learning from failures and learning from entrepreneurs.
Social implications
The study findings offer compelling evidence that student transformational innovations could facilitate sustainable development within communities.
Originality/value
Despite the crucial contribution of Enactus projects to nation-building worldwide, literature on this phenomenon in the context of South Africa is limited.
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Stacey Kim Coates, Michelle Trudgett and Susan Page
Senior Indigenous leadership positions across the Australian higher education sector has increased over the past decade. Despite this advancement, there is limited understanding…
Abstract
Purpose
Senior Indigenous leadership positions across the Australian higher education sector has increased over the past decade. Despite this advancement, there is limited understanding in terms of how to best integrate Indigenous leadership into existing governance structures of Australian universities. In 2018 the Walan Mayiny: Indigenous Leadership in Higher Education project commenced, aimed at establishing a model of best practice for the inclusivity of Indigenous leadership in higher education governance structures. This article presents key findings from the project, namely, a model of senior Indigenous leadership within the Australian universities based on the perceptions of a group of Indigenous academics.
Design/methodology/approach
Through qualitative semi-structured interviews with Indigenous academic staff, the perceived value, characteristics and challenges of senior Indigenous leadership were examined. The varying opinions held by Indigenous academics in relation to the qualifications and experience required to fulfil a senior Indigenous leadership position were also highlighted. In doing so, a model of senior Indigenous leadership within the Australian higher education system is presented. The model of best practice presented in this article is underpinned by Indigenous Institutional Theory (Coates et al., 2022), a theoretical framework developed from the Walan Mayiny study.
Findings
The research findings highlight the diverse opinions of Indigenous academics in relation to the qualifications and experience required to fulfil a senior Indigenous leadership position. The six essential components are built upon the core characteristics, values and behaviours that senior Indigenous leaders need to have according to Indigenous academics, in order to advance Indigenous success within the academy.
Originality/value
Given Australian universities are being called upon to ensure that senior Indigenous leaders are in the best position possible to forge institutional change, senior Indigenous leaders within the academy may find the contextual Indigenous leadership model beneficial. The model allows one to uphold cultural integrity and fulfil the responsibilities and obligations of their higher education institution, while being able to serve their Indigenous colleagues and communities, leading to the advancement of Indigenous higher education outcomes. Importantly, the model can be adapted to suit all First Nations Peoples globally, who also find themselves working within the shackles of Western institutions.
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