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1 – 10 of over 39000Brian Dollery, David Murray and Lin Crase
To invoke Julian Le Grand's conceptual model of the interaction between human motivation and policy formulation in order to explain how motivational endogeneity in the university…
Abstract
Purpose
To invoke Julian Le Grand's conceptual model of the interaction between human motivation and policy formulation in order to explain how motivational endogeneity in the university environment has distorted policy outcomes in the Australian higher education reform program.
Design/methodology/approach
Le Grand contends that changes in the perception of policy makers of both motivation and agency in the public sector have transformed public sector reform programs in the past two decades. However, because producers and consumers of public services react vigorously to different policy presumptions of their behaviour, a problem of endogeneity arises that may distort the intended outcomes of reform processes. This conceptual framework is applied to higher education reform in Australia from the so‐called Dawkins reform program in the late 1980s onwards.
Findings
Argues that the Le Grand model can shed light on the changes in Australian higher education that have occurred as a consequence of the ongoing reform process and account for at least some of the unintended negative consequences of the reforms.
Originality/value
The paper represents the first application of the Le Grand model to higher education reform.
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Anna Saiti, Ian Abbott and David Middlewood
The purpose of this paper is to investigate and assess the role played by university governance in the effectiveness and efficiency of the higher education system through…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to investigate and assess the role played by university governance in the effectiveness and efficiency of the higher education system through literature analysis and the management evaluation method of Organization and Methods (the O and M technique) and argue for a more radical change in, and greater scrutiny of, university governance so as to improve the efficiency and effectiveness of university operations and thus yield a more optimal satisfaction of social needs.
Design/methodology/approach
The paper employs the O and M technique in order to investigate and assess the role played by university governance in the effectiveness and efficiency of the higher education system.
Findings
The “objective” is education and knowledge and there is no room for experimentation in the system. The higher education sector does not need experiments to develop further. Rather, it deserves cautious, creative and innovative consideration and needs a very distinctive treatment of national problems. No matter the policy orientation of the system, higher education policy makers should not forget that higher education has a tremendous influence on peoples’ attitudes and beliefs so the focus should be on the actual knowledge on social responsibility and on the commitment of higher education to serve social interests and needs.
Research limitations/implications
The analysis developed in this study would benefit from a deeper exploration by investigating more numerous and diverse examples from the international arena of higher education.
Originality/value
This study acts as a complement to previous research on higher education governance since it develops further the analysis and the understanding of university governance. By using as examples two countries with different orientation in their higher education system (mainly due to differences in cultural and ideological perceptions) and keeping in mind that there is no ideal model for university governance, this study could enlighten decision makers in any country to develop a more effective and constructive model of university governance that would serve societal interests more effectively.
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Majid Ghasemy, Mahdiyeh Erfanian and James Eric Gaskin
The rapid pace of progress in academic institutions in developing economies has created stressful and relatively toxic workplaces, resulting in different negative organizational…
Abstract
Purpose
The rapid pace of progress in academic institutions in developing economies has created stressful and relatively toxic workplaces, resulting in different negative organizational outcomes indicating the need to transform universities into healthier academic workplaces. However, a review of the higher education literature in both developed and developing countries shows that the antecedents and consequences of academics' affective states has been a relatively unexplored area. Hence, our study aims at testing basic tenets of Affective Events Theory (AET) in a higher education context to address this issue.
Design/methodology/approach
This is a quantitative study which applies CB-SEM methodology in analyzing the collected data from 2,324 academics in Malaysian higher education sector. We analyzed the data using EQS software package.
Findings
Our results provided substantial support for the applicability and relevancy of AET in higher education domain. Specifically, welfare and supervisory support were identified as the two work environment features which significantly and equally contribute to academics' job satisfaction. In addition, the results showed that positive affect, in comparison with negative affect, was three times stronger in influencing academics' job satisfaction.
Practical implications
Given the considerable role of positive affect in our study, higher education policy makers are urged to make relevant policies to transform universities into more emotionally safe workplaces. In addition, policies should be formulated in a way that encourages supervisory support and decreases workloads to ensure that the conflicts in general are reduced among academics.
Originality/value
This work is the first large-scale study testing the main tenets of AET in the higher education context. In addition, it addresses the problem of multivariate normality and solves this problem based on the robust methodology which corrects standard errors and fit indices, thereby providing more precise and unbiased results.
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Bruno Broucker, Kurt De Wit and Jef C. Verhoeven
This chapter discusses the implications of New Public Management (NPM) and of alternative theories on the higher education sector. Three clusters of alternative concepts and…
Abstract
This chapter discusses the implications of New Public Management (NPM) and of alternative theories on the higher education sector. Three clusters of alternative concepts and theories are identified, positioned in relation to NPM, and discussed. The chapter concludes that the different theoretical approaches: (1) cannot always be distinguished easily, (2) entail a risk of normativity due to the position of higher education in society, and (3) demonstrate that higher education policy and research are in need of a multi-theoretical approach that is able to put higher education back into its social, political, and economic context. By formulating research questions on the role of higher education and on the impact of former reforms, it is suggested that policy and research look further than the current concepts and theoretical approaches to build a new agenda for future.
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The purpose of this project is to examine the development and learning of higher education policy makers in emerging markets as they confront the need for sustainability and…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this project is to examine the development and learning of higher education policy makers in emerging markets as they confront the need for sustainability and global competitiveness of their workforces.
Design/methodology/approach
Comparative commentary is based on representative countries in emerging markets of similar demographics and market maturity.
Findings
Policy makers can deploy scarce resources more wisely with regionally astute strategies that leverage their unique aspects in light of learning from experiences of other emerging market peers.
Originality/value
This review and commentary takes a macro approach to micro policy issues through a boundary spanning comparative approach.
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The purpose of this paper is to provide information about the current reform of higher education in Germany, which can be described as German reading of the Bologna process, about…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to provide information about the current reform of higher education in Germany, which can be described as German reading of the Bologna process, about the problems and deficits occurring in this area, and about ways to correct unwelcome developments.
Design/methodology/approach
The paper starts with a review of appropriate programmatic documents, on the one hand, and of the results of relevant empirical studies on the other. On this basis deficits and risks of the German higher education policy are identified and feasible solutions discussed.
Findings
The overloading of the Bologna process with political ambitions, which no longer have a lot in common with the fundamental thoughts formed at a European level, leads in Germany to unwelcome and counter‐productive effects. One of them is that the space for cross‐border activities for learners and lecturers is not expanding but diminishing.
Practical implications
In Germany, it seems to be time to give up the priority of national aims in the area of higher education policy and bring the basic idea of the Bologna declaration back to the fore. For that purpose various course corrections are required.
Originality/value
The paper is among the first to evaluate the effects resulting from the German reading of the Bologna process and to make out the need for action from a comprehensive point of view.
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Daniela Olo, Leonida Correia and Conceição Rego
This paper aims to find out what conditions are needed to enhance higher education curricula towards employability from the perspective of different stakeholders in the graduate…
Abstract
Purpose
This paper aims to find out what conditions are needed to enhance higher education curricula towards employability from the perspective of different stakeholders in the graduate labour market.
Design/methodology/approach
An empirical study was developed, using a qualitative approach, based on semi-structured interviews with higher education institutions (HEIs) and labour market players, in the north region of Portugal. The data were analysed through content and descrip\tive analysis with NVivo.
Findings
The results show a set of constraints that hinder the match of higher education curricula with employability, namely, (1) the weak connection between HEIs and employers and (2) the curricular structure, which is characterised by a heavy theoretical component and a weak approach to the soft skills required by the current labour market. Possible solutions, with implications for educational policy, are given throughout the study.
Research limitations/implications
The geographical scope and the nature of the study suggest that some precautions are required when generalising results. However, the literature on other areas in Portugal strengthens the findings and compensates for the sample's limitations.
Originality/value
This study combines the perspectives of the different individual stakeholders involved which, when taken as a whole, provide some recommendations for tailored curricula towards employability. Other studies in Portugal address each of these issues individually, without a connection between all the different perspectives.
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Martha Nkechinyere Amadi and Perpetua Ememe
The study was conducted to assess the extent of readiness of higher education curriculum in Nigeria in meeting the demands of the 21st century, to identify the possible challenges…
Abstract
The study was conducted to assess the extent of readiness of higher education curriculum in Nigeria in meeting the demands of the 21st century, to identify the possible challenges facing higher education institutes in Nigeria in meeting the demands of the 21st century and to suggest ways of restructuring higher education curriculum in Nigeria to make it responsive to economic social and political demands of the 21st century. The sample for this study consisted of two hundred (200) respondents drawn from the stakeholders in the education industry which includes curriculum planners, lecturers and students. The study employed the descriptive survey design. The instrument for data collection consisted of structured questionnaire and focus group discussion. The findings from the study revealed, among other things, that higher education curriculum in Nigeria is not yet ready to meet the demands of the 21st century. The reasons for this include poor funding, poor infrastructural facilities, corruption, poor technological/ICT knowledge, lack of collaboration between higher education curriculum planners and labour force, etc. Based on the findings of this study, it was recommended that funding higher education in Nigeria should be given priority, and the stakeholders in the labour force and industry should be involved in curriculum planning. Higher education curriculum should encourage practical hands-on experience for graduates of higher education in Nigeria to make them relevant in the 21st century.
The world of work and education is changing at a rapid pace, driven by continued technological disruption and automation. The future is uncertain and difficult to envisage. A…
Abstract
Purpose
The world of work and education is changing at a rapid pace, driven by continued technological disruption and automation. The future is uncertain and difficult to envisage. A futures thinking scenario planning approach is used in exploring and guiding education policy makers on how best to respond to the range of possible futures. The paper aims to discuss this issue.
Design/methodology/approach
This study utilizes elements of prior scenario planning methodologies to devise a practical model of preferred and plausible likely scenarios in the context of rapid and continuing technology disruption. Based on the notion of “impact and uncertainty,” two possible future alternatives of work and learning were developed. Incorporating elements of the possibility space scenario framework and a vignette approach of current emergent technologies, this paper assessed the usefulness of the preferred and likely outcomes.
Findings
While preferred future scenarios entailing collaborative styles such as human–machine cooperation, smart virtual active learning campuses and living knowledge learning environments may produce more desirable benefits for education stakeholders, the more likely plausible scenario is one based on continued disruptive technologies. Automation, artificial intelligence and the advent of 5G network technologies will drive customization and personalization in higher education delivery and revolutionize the work landscape in the immediate future. Universities will need to embrace and respond to these changes.
Originality/value
The paper gives insights into how universities can prepare their students for future of work and improve their employability. In addition, this author recommends ways in which HEIs can leverage these newer technologies to drive educational services and commercial value.
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Saundra J. Ribando, Catherine P. Slade and C. Kevin Fortner
Institutions of higher education face challenges of fiscal responsibility and their value proposition for students and other stakeholders they serve. Strategies used in business…
Abstract
Purpose
Institutions of higher education face challenges of fiscal responsibility and their value proposition for students and other stakeholders they serve. Strategies used in business sectors, such as merger and acquisition, are being increasingly adopted by higher education governing boards, especially for public institutions and systems. The purpose of this paper is to guide policy decisions related to university mergers.
Design/methodology/approach
This paper focuses on the interplay between the pre-merger status of the institution, the individual faculty member's sense of belonging, and their commitment to the organization on levels of job-related stress, which has well-established negative impacts on individual and organizational performance. Using survey data collected at the same time post-merger from two different universities within the same state system, we explore regression models to identify similarities and differences between the faculty responses in terms of the impact of the merger on faculty stress.
Findings
Differences are found between the two universities in terms of faculty stress with faculty of one low status institution pre-merger having significantly higher stress post-merger. A case is presented for differences in stress based on a part on differences in how the mergers were managed at the system and university levels.
Practical implications
This research is instructive for higher education policy makers and university administrators as the institution of higher education continues this type of transformation.
Originality/value
This paper examines the impact of mergers on a university's single-most important asset, faculty. Comparative and timely faculty survey results from two related universities early post-merger provide valuable insights for leaders in higher education.
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