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1 – 10 of 110China's resource allocation mechanism in education has become an important factor in determining residential access to educational resources. The purpose of this paper is to…
Abstract
Purpose
China's resource allocation mechanism in education has become an important factor in determining residential access to educational resources. The purpose of this paper is to analyze the impacts made by the individual natures of buyers, the external environment, as well as the characteristics of residential properties on the willingness price of buyers. The study's aim is to lay theoretical foundations for the determination of problems related with the matters under consideration.
Design/methodology/approach
Using the panel data of 54 districts and counties in Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou and Shenzhen, the study unifies macro factors and micro factors in a model for empirical analysis.
Findings
Basic education resources can affect housing prices via the “capitalization of education.” The degree of those educational resources’ influence on willingness price changes according to personal income levels, standards of living, housing price fluctuations, the convenience of the residential area and the degrees of urbanization in a district. The greater the buyer's income and standard of living is, the higher is their willingness price. Buyers in urbanized areas prefer increases in educational resources. Increased educational resources increase the values of residential downtown areas. In developed areas with private educational facilities, the role of educational resources in influencing property prices is relatively small.
Originality/value
This paper uses data concerning the consumption and investment of residential properties to build a theoretical model for the willingness price of buyers. It unifies macro factors and micro factors in a single model and presents new results about basic education resources and the willingness price of buyers under different conditions.
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Linda Anne Barkas, Jonathan Matthew Scott, Karen Hadley and Yvonne Dixon-Todd
The purpose of this article is to examine the role of social capital and higher order meta-skills in developing the employability of marketing students at a UK university.
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this article is to examine the role of social capital and higher order meta-skills in developing the employability of marketing students at a UK university.
Design/methodology/approach
This conceptual article, bolstered by illustrative primary data, provides a broader conceptualisation of employability. This is to address the specific research question on how social capital (contacts and connections) is deployed (via capability-based higher order meta-skills) in a UK university developing the employability of a specific group of students. The article is situated in the highly fraught context of teaching excellence measurement schemes [such as the teaching excellence framework (TEF) in the UK].
Findings
The research findings highlighted the role of social capital and higher order meta-skills in developing the employability of marketing students at a UK university.
Research limitations/implications
While the illustrative primary data are not generalisable, as they are limited to one group of marketing students in one UK university; the conceptual development, including a new social capital based definition of employability that incorporated the capabilities, provided by higher-order meta-skills, is widely applicable.
Practical implications
The article has highlighted how the impact of social capital, etiquette and meta-skills, while being “between the lines” of the employability discourse and the metrics of the TEF, explains the differing perceptions of the value of employability initiatives. The article highlights the grey area of between the reasons given as to why some candidates are valued over others. Perhaps no rhyme or reason sometimes, just the “hidden” perception/interpretations of the interview panel of the “qualities” of one candidate over another.
Originality/value
The difficulty in ascertaining the influence of social capital (and how it can be deployed through higher-order meta-skills as capabilities) results in challenges for universities as they endeavour to respond to the data requirements of “learning gain” within teaching excellent measurement schemes such as the UK teaching excellence framework.
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Salem Alteneiji, Nizar Mohammad Alsharari, Rasha Mohamed AbouSamra and Roudaina Houjeir
This study aims to explore the relationship between students' happiness, stress and emotional closeness to others to help move toward evidence-based practices in the United Arab…
Abstract
Purpose
This study aims to explore the relationship between students' happiness, stress and emotional closeness to others to help move toward evidence-based practices in the United Arab Emirates' (UAE) higher education. Therefore, the primary purpose of this study is to examine whether college students' perceived happiness differed significantly based on stress, frequency of stress management techniques and emotional closeness to others (social support).
Design/methodology/approach
An increasing number of studies suggest that the relationship between higher education and happiness is either significant or positive. However, most of these studies use life satisfaction as a proxy for happiness. The survey was conducted during the academic semester whilst students were studying, to measure happiness during the performance of different duties and to avoid the impact of having free time on raising the ratio of happiness. “This period of time was chosen to depict the study-related happiness elements during experiencing these factors by the students.” The sampling technique used in this research is the simple random sampling technique to enable the researchers to use the probability sampling techniques in testing the research hypotheses and for the purpose of generalizing the research results. The sampling unit is the student who is enrolled in the population of Higher Colleges of Technology (HCT) students during the academic year 2020–2021. The sample is randomly representing all levels of students as well as all faculties and campuses of the HCT. The 400 HCT participants represented both male and female local UAE students with differing GPAs. The reason to have only one nationality is the policy of HCT that accepts only local students to be enrolled in the fall and spring semesters, which are the semesters of the data collection period of the academic year 2020–2021. Prior to completion of the survey, students were interviewed in a class environment to explain the research and to gain their consent for participation in the research. The data collection has been supported by discussions and interpretations with two focus groups including 20 students to validate the research results.
Findings
The research has statistical evidence on the relationship between the positivity of expectations and happiness with achievement. Each one of these two main factors is measured by sub-constructs like positivity about the career, conformance between expectations and reality, believing in the kindness of people, strong English language skills and feeling the fairness and similarity with other students in the same context.
Originality/value
The regression analysis results of this study reveal a strong positive impact of the positivity of expectations in students' perception on the level of happiness with achievements. The model is capable to predict the future behavior of the students' happiness with achievement and that it is determined by the level of positivity of expectations. This paper investigates the relationship between higher education happiness with achievements and the positivity of expectations of an undergraduate student.
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Marcus Bowles, Benjamin Brooks, Steven Curnin and Helen Anderson
The value of transverse skills, including human capabilities, has been acknowledged for a significant period of time by major organisations such as UNESCO and the World Economic…
Abstract
Purpose
The value of transverse skills, including human capabilities, has been acknowledged for a significant period of time by major organisations such as UNESCO and the World Economic Forum. This paper reports on the application of microcredentials linked to the Human Capability Framework in a major telecommunications organisation that has a vision to establish a baseline to develop the levels of capability for both individual employees and the entire workforce. In this case study, capability is evidenced through learning and applied performance specified in a microcredential that carries a credit-entry score into higher education qualifications. The value of the microcredentials lies not in recognising learning outcomes; rather, it lies in an individual's ability to validate their full potential, open sustainable employment opportunities and prepare for emergent new roles.
Design/methodology/approach
This commentary offers a case study of how a major Australian telecommunications organisation implemented microcredentials that are aligned to the Human Capability Framework Standards reference model.
Findings
The approach in this case study demonstrates how a company that confidently invests in non-traditional learning approaches that increase the value of human capital can tangibly grow the capacity of the workforce to deliver not only its strategy but also its cultural values.
Originality/value
The multi-award-winning model described in this case study is novel and clearly informs current research and thinking addressing this topic.
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Andrei Ternikov and Mikhail Blyakher
This paper focuses on the factors related to faculty workload in the context of resource scarcity to examine whether there is a relationship between them and grade inflation.
Abstract
Purpose
This paper focuses on the factors related to faculty workload in the context of resource scarcity to examine whether there is a relationship between them and grade inflation.
Design/methodology/approach
As for methodological novelty, the authors created an indicator of students' expectations about grades that is related to grade inflation and conducted regression analysis using cluster-robust error correction based on this indicator.
Findings
The results suggested that proper workload allocation among the faculty can mitigate grade inflation. Namely, such measures as control for concurrent courses, the length of courses and the labor intensity of the faculty are suggested for grade inflation prevention.
Originality/value
Academic literature posits that a steep increase in average grades might cause a long-term depreciation of the quality of higher education. This article is, therefore, focused on various factors connected with grade inflation in higher education. The authors highlighted problems associated with teaching evaluation imperfections, academic norm transformation and workload intensity.
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Maria Gribling and Joanne Duberley
The purpose of this article is to compare the effects of global competitive pressures on the UK and French B-schools' management systems through the lens of career ecosystems.
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this article is to compare the effects of global competitive pressures on the UK and French B-schools' management systems through the lens of career ecosystems.
Design/methodology/approach
This is a qualitative inquiry employing in-depth, semi-structured interviews with 44 business school academics in the two countries.
Findings
This paper demonstrates the importance of top-down and bottom-up ecosystem influences for creating contrasting performance management systems in competitive B-schools in the two countries, to different outcomes for institutions and faculty careers.
Research limitations/implications
The authors focus on faculty working in top business schools, which limits the generalizability of the findings. Future research could apply the ecosystem lens to other institutions and geographical areas to highlight best practices and evaluate their transferability across borders.
Practical implications
The study highlights alternative HR practices and potentially workable adjustments to current systems that could be envisaged in order to enhance performance of individuals and institutions without jeopardizing the chances of valuable human resources to bring their contributions to the success of B-schools.
Originality/value
This paper compares and contrasts different performance management systems, taking into account exogenous and endogenous influences on B-schools that operate in a highly competitive and rapidly changing global management education market.
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Chloé Adler and Carole Lalonde
The purpose of this paper is to synthesize a body of research addressing changes in academic identity brought on by neo-liberal university management while proposing a new…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to synthesize a body of research addressing changes in academic identity brought on by neo-liberal university management while proposing a new interpretation based on the institutional work theory and a relational approach to agency.
Design/methodology/approach
The authors analyzed 19 qualitative empirical studies regarding the impact of new public management policies on academic identity within universities from different countries to support a qualitative meta-synthesis.
Findings
The meta-synthesis established a classification of work identity and self-identity that reflects variable but globally difficult experiences with the universities’ neo-liberal management. The results also indicate that, paradoxically, academics contribute to the perpetuation of managerialism through protection strategies and institutional maintenance work while acknowledging their painful effects on their identity. Despite the control and monitoring measures put in place by university administrations, academics have assumed a pragmatic approach to identity by using the prevailing spaces of autonomy and engaging in constant self-questioning. Those involved could make better use of these free spaces by adopting projective agency, that is by expanding the areas of support, collaboration and creativity that, by their own admission, make up the academic profession.
Originality/value
This meta-synthesis sheds light on the limits of current academic identity research while advancing studies conducted on institutional work, primarily by highlighting the type of agency used by actors during institutional change; at a practical level, this research promotes discussion on the manner in which academics could use their agency and reflexive skills by pushing their institutional work surrounding identity recreation further.
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The purpose of this exploratory study is an examination of some perceptions of US education, as experienced by foreign MBA students.
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this exploratory study is an examination of some perceptions of US education, as experienced by foreign MBA students.
Design/methodology/approach
A longitudinal field study captured perceptions of a group of 51 international students over a one-year interval. The first anticipatory survey was done in India, and the follow-up was made in the USA at the end of a foreign sojourn semester. Inter-item correlations and t-tests were used to examine variance in student perceptions, highlighted by qualitative elements.
Findings
In general, the students went home, less impressed than they had expected to be in terms of the perceived general quality of the American business education, as well as their abilities to make friends with the local people. Additionally, the observed preparation of the American students for master’s studies was not nearly as high as the foreign students had anticipated.
Research limitations/implications
Results are not generalizable to broad populations, as the sample was small and localized.
Social implications
Emerging markets are successfully luring locals and sojourners based on cost and proximity as they achieve greater legitimacy in their institutional credentials. This could challenge the preeminence of Western higher education, especially in light of concerns arising from marketization and rigor. Meanwhile, developed market institutions need to be strategically mindful of their international guests as a resource rather than a commodity.
Originality/value
Extant internationalization studies tend to focus on administrative viewpoints, whereas this research examines the perspective of international students, which may be indicative of lessening gaps between perceptions of quality of developed and emerging market higher education.
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Colin Clarke and Lesley-Jane Eales-Reynolds
– The purpose of this paper is to examine if customer care (CC) can be directly linked to patient safety through a human factors (HF) framework.
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to examine if customer care (CC) can be directly linked to patient safety through a human factors (HF) framework.
Design/methodology/approach
Data from an online questionnaire, completed by a convenience healthcare worker sample (n=373), was interrogated using thematic analysis within Vincent et al.’s (1998) HF theoretical framework. This proposes seven areas affecting patient safety: institutional context, organisation and management, work environment, team factors, individual, task and patient.
Findings
Analysis identified responses addressing all framework areas. Responses (597) principally focused on work environment 40.7 per cent (n=243), organisation and management 28.8 per cent (n=172). Nevertheless, reference to other framework areas were clearly visible within the data: teams 10.2 per cent (n=61), individual 6.7 per cent (n=40), patients 6.0 per cent (n=36), tasks 4.2 per cent (n=24) and institution 3.5 per cent (n=21). Findings demonstrate congruence between CC perceptions and patient safety within a HF framework.
Research limitations/implications
The questionnaire requested participants to identify barriers to rather than CC enablers. Although this was at a single site complex organisation, it was similar to those throughout the NHS and other international health systems.
Practical implications
CC can be viewed as consonant with patient safety rather than the potentially dangerous consumerisation stance, which could ultimately compromise patient safety.
Originality/value
This work provides an original perspective on the link between CC and patient safety and has the potential to re-focus healthcare perceptions.
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Patient experience is a complex multidimensional phenomenon that has been linked to constructs that are also complex to conceptualize, such as patient-centeredness, patient…
Abstract
Purpose
Patient experience is a complex multidimensional phenomenon that has been linked to constructs that are also complex to conceptualize, such as patient-centeredness, patient expectations and patient satisfaction. The purpose of this paper is to shed light on the different dimensions of patient experience, including those that receive inadequate attention from policymakers such as the patient’s lived experience of illness and the impact of healthcare politics. The paper proposes a simple classification for these dimensions, which differentiates between two types of dimensions: the determinants and the manifestations of patient experience.
Design/methodology/approach
This paper uses a narrative review of the literature to explore select constructs and initiatives developed for theorizing or operationalizing patient experience. Literature topics reviewed include healthcare quality, medical anthropology, health policy, healthcare system and public health.
Findings
The paper identifies five determinants for patient experience: the experience of illness, patient’s subjective influences, quality of healthcare services, health system responsiveness and the politics of healthcare. The paper identifies two manifestations of patient experience: patient satisfaction and patient engagement.
Originality/value
The paper proposes a classification scheme of the dimensions of patient experience and a concept map that links together heterogeneous constructs related to patient experience. The proposed classification and the concept map provide a holistic view of patient experience and help healthcare providers, quality managers and policymakers organize and focus their healthcare quality improvement endeavors on specific dimensions of patient experience while taking into consideration the other dimensions.
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