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This paper stems from a 12-month collaborative enquiry between a group of Syrian academics in exile in Turkey and academics from the University of Cambridge into the state of Syrian Higher Education after the onset of the conflict in 2011. The purpose of this paper is to draw on 19 open-ended interviews with exiled Syrian academics; two focus groups; mapping and timeline exercises; and 117 interviews collected remotely by collaborating Syrian academics with former colleagues and students who were still living inside Syria at the time of data collection. The findings of the research suggest that Syrian HE after 2011 was fragmented across regions; in some cases non-existent, and in others deemed to be in a state of reform in order to meet student needs. Key issues that emerged from this work are human rights’ abuses directed against academics and students including the detainment, purging and kidnapping of academics, an increased militarisation of university life and a substantive loss of academic and human capital.

The overall design involved two workshops held in Turkey (in June and July, 2017) at which the Cambridge team explained the stages of undertaking qualitative research and planned the collaborative enquiry with Syrian co-researchers. The first workshop addressed the nature of qualitative research and explored the proposed methods of interviewing, using timelines and mapping. The instruments for interviewing were constructed in groups together and mapping was undertaken with the 21 Syrian academics in exile who attended the workshop. Syrian academics also built their own research plans as a way of expanding the consultation dimension of this project inside Syria, engaged in survey and interview protocol planning and discussed ways to access needed documentation which could be drawn upon to enrich the project. The Syrian co-researchers interviewed remotely HE staff and students who had remained in, or recently left, Syria; the key criterion for group or participant selection was that they had recent and relevant experience of Syrian HE. The second workshop focused on data analysis and writing up. There was also wide consultation with participants inside and outside Syria. As part of the research, the Cambridge team conducted open-ended interviews with 19 Syrian academics and students living in exile in Turkey. This involved interviewing Syrian scholars about their experiences of HE, policy changes over time and their experiences of displacement. The researchers developed this protocol prior to the capacity-building workshops based on previous research experience on academic and student displacement, alongside extensive preparation on the conditions of Syrian HE, conflict and displacement. In addition to interviewing, a pivotal element of methodological rigour was that the authors sought to member check what participants were learning through mapping and timeline exercises and extensive note-taking throughout both workshops. The major issues that the authors confronted were ethical concerns around confidentiality, the need to ensure rigourously the protection of all participants’ anonymity and to be extremely mindful of the political sensitivity of issues when interviewing participants who may not feel able to fully trust “outsider” researchers. Issues of social trust have been reported in the literature as one of the most significant drawbacks in conducting research in “conflict environments” (see Cohen and Arieli, 2011) where academics and students have been working and/or studying in autocratic regimes or were operating within political contexts where being open or critical of any form of institutional life such as university work or the nation could cost them their jobs or their lives.

The accounts of Syrian academics and students emerging from this work point to some of the state-building expressions of HE manifested in the shaping of professional and personal experiences, the condition and status of HE, its spatial arrangements and their associated power formations, and resulting in feelings of intense personal and professional insecurity among Syrian scholars and students since 2011. While acknowledging that the Syrian situation is deemed one of the worst humanitarian crises in the region in recent decades, these accounts resonate, if in different ways, with other studies of academics and students who have experienced highly centralised and autocratic states and tightly regulated HE governance regimes (Barakat and Milton, 2015; Mazawi, 2011).

Currently, there is virtually no research on the status and conditions of higher education in Syria as a consequence of the war, which commenced in 2011. This work presents a first-person perspective from Syrian academics and students on the state of HE since the onset of the conflict. The major contribution of this work is the identification of key factors shaping conflict and division in HE, alongside the political economies of HE destruction which are unique to the Syrian war and longstanding forms of authoritarian state governance.

Little is known about the impact of HIV/AIDS on education worldwide. Much of the mystery surrounding HIV/AIDS and education lies in the fact that their intersection is contextualized by many other factors. For example, many of the children who are at risk of not finishing school or have never had the chance to attend school live day-to-day in communities with high HIV/AIDS infection rates. To exacerbate the problem, in some countries the highest HIV/AIDS infection rates are in marginalized and extremely poor communities while in others it is among the most affluent communities. Girls, young women, orphaned and vulnerable children either living or working in disadvantaged communities have some of the highest risk for HIV/AIDS infection because of their frequent exposure to HIV/AIDS. But, those who are more mobile due to their occupations or wealth are also at high risk in countries worldwide.

Children experience toxic stress if there is pronounced activation of their stress-response systems, in situations in which they do not have stable caregiving. Due to their exposure to multiple poverty-related risks, African American children may be more susceptible to exposure to toxic stress. Toxic stress affects young children’s brain and neurophysiologic functioning, which leads to a wide range of deleterious health, developmental, and mental health outcomes. Given the benefits of early care and education (ECE) for African American young children, ECE may represent a compensating experience for this group of children, and promote their positive development.

The purpose of this paper is to provide a review of the Management History literature in the Journal of Management History from 2010 to 2014.

This review utilized a thematic analysis approach.

The author found seven distinct themes in the literature in addition to four subthemes. The themes include management pioneers, crisis management, the dark side of management (including the subthemes of slavery, child labor, monetary factors and gender issues), ancient texts, regional differences, religion and historical impacts of key management concepts.

This review displays management history research themes, which enables a manager to efficiently view various lenses with which to analyze management issues.

By bringing together previously disparate streams of work to understand the themes of management history, this paper analyzes the direction of research, identifies gaps in the literature and begins to more effectively build a cumulative research tradition.

Women continue to be disproportionately represented in top leadership positions. Leadership development programs typically focus on skills attainment. The purpose of this paper is to explore the perceptions and experiences of academic leaders in order to inform how leadership development programs may more effectively address the gender gap in leadership.

A sequential mixed methods study design was used. Participants completed the Leadership Practice Inventory ®(LPI) survey followed by individual interviews of a subset of participants. The survey results were analyzed and compared by gender using the t-test. Thematic analysis was used to compare themes across and between genders. Quantitative and qualitative findings were integrated in the final analysis.

In total, 65 leaders (38 women; 27 men) (37.7 percent response rate) participated in the survey. There were no significant demographic or statistical differences between women and men on any of the LPI® components. Five women and five men were interviewed. Thematic analysis revealed common leadership aspirations and values. Gender differences were noted in leadership attainment, mentorship and the influence of gender on leadership. While the male narratives reflected cognitive awareness of gender inequities, the female narratives also included lived experiences. Male participants focused on the importance of meritocracy whereas the female participants emphasized the gendered social and structural influences on leadership attainment.

Leadership development programs need go beyond generic “skills-building” in order to conceptualize leadership within a gendered social context. This framework will enable critical awareness and tools for developing both women and men’s fullest leadership potential.

This study was conducted in order to better understand how academic health leaders experience the intersection of gender and leadership. The findings contribute to the current literature by providing insight into perceptual gaps that exist at the level of practice between women and men leaders. In doing so, the authors discuss how leadership development programs may play a more effective role in addressing gender equity in leadership.

The chapters in this volume focus on how university partnerships for pre-service and teacher development apply novel ideas to improve teacher quality in global communities. The purpose of these programs is to improve education systems for all participants. Case studies in this volume present a broad and in-depth review of partnerships that apply novel ideas to transform organizations. This chapter provides an overview to this volume by discussing important elements of teacher quality by defining teacher quality characteristics, shared collaboration, and providing ideas for professional development agendas.

Building leadership skills among faculty in academic medicine is essential, yet professional development programs focused on leadership are not always attentive to the needs of faculty on diverse career pathways or at differing career stages—nor are they often rigorously assessed. Evaluations commonly focus on participant satisfaction and short-term learning but not behavior change and institutional impact, which are difficult to assess but arguably more meaningful. Given the substantial time and money invested in these programs, more rigorous evaluation is critical.

The authors evaluated an intensive, shared leadership-focused training program for early-career and mid-career faculty, offered by the University of Pittsburgh’s School of Medicine over the course of a year. They administered a pre/post-program assessment of confidence in key skill areas, and conducted semi-structured interviews with 21 participants between 1–4 years after program completion.

Participants in both programs showed statistically significant improvement (p < 0.001) on every item measured in the pre/post-test. Analysis of the interviews revealed indications of substantial behavior change as well as institutional impact. The evaluation also suggested particular benefits for female professionals.

The authors conducted a long-term assessment of leadership training focused on career pathway and career stage and found that it (a) prompted both positive behavioral change and institutional impact and (b) suggested benefits for female faculty in particular, which could potentially help to eliminate gender-based disparities in leadership in academic medical centers.