Search results

This paper aims to examine whether the position of universities in the times higher education (THE) impact rankings (IR) is related to the different dimensions of academic quality of universities according to the THE world universities ranking.

The research, based on universities ranked in the top 100 of THE IRs, uses a regression model obtained by the panel data method, using the fixed effects approach, to identify the relationship of academic quality dimensions with that ranking.

The results show an increase in the dissemination of information on sustainable development goals (SDGs) by universities. In addition, it is shown that research, number of citations and international outlook are positively associated with a higher score obtained by universities in THE IRs, which implies a higher impact on the SDGs by these universities.

Based on multifaceted theories, the study highlighted the universities that are best positioned in the THE IRs in relation to their contribution to the SDGs.

The purpose of this paper is to present a conceptual framework that explores the determinants, mechanisms and consequences of reporting on the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (UN SDGs) by universities. The framework considers the relationship between reporting on the SDGs and the three main activities of universities: research, teaching and service. As universities hold a unique position in society, understanding their experiences with SDG reporting offers insights into the promotion and integration of SDGs into reporting and practice more broadly.

The paper adopts a conceptual approach and draws on existing literature to develop a framework for understanding reporting on the UN SDGs by universities. The framework considers the challenges faced by universities in providing sustainability information and examines the motivations and outcomes associated with reporting. It also explores the coordination and collaboration necessary across departments within universities and discusses the risks associated with greenwashing.

The paper highlights that reporting on the UN SDGs can enhance university engagement with stakeholders, improve their reputation, and foster innovation and transdisciplinary research ideas. However, universities encounter challenges such as limited data availability, resource constraints, lack of coordination and competing priorities. The growing scepticism surrounding reporting motives has led to increased allegations of greenwashing within the sector.

This paper contributes to the accounting literature by presenting a comprehensive framework that explores the determinants, mechanisms and consequences of reporting on the UN SDGs by universities. The framework offers insights into how reporting on SDGs can lead to embedding the SDGs in research, teaching and service activities and can be adapted to other organisational contexts. The paper also emphasises the need for further research on the mechanisms of reporting, which play a crucial role in driving long-lasting change.

This study aimed to find possible answers to whether U.S. universities are merely looking good or doing good regarding their third mission using elements of the triple bottom line (people, planet, prosperity) and the 2030 Agenda.

Qualitative exploratory empirical study based on an in-depth analysis of publicly available documents (i.e. mission statements and strategic planning) and information from the Impact Rankings 2020 edition (webpages). The study uses a multilevel analysis to capture the parameters “looking good” and “doing good.” The sample consists of 15 U.S. universities.

The findings demonstrate that universities are looking good in terms of their effort to support their third mission. Data show that all universities covered themes related to people and prosperity in their mission statements and strategic planning. However, when the authors dived into the managerial metrics, KPIs, benchmarks and other evidence to characterize them as doing good, the authors encountered some challenges in identifying evidence. The data suggest that universities most likely participated in the Impact Ranking act as “cherry pickers” and might participate in unproblematic goals for their organization.

The 3Ps and the 17 Sustainable Development Goals used in this study to examine the university public mission never used in other studies. The goal in this study was not to evaluate those universities in terms of looking good and doing good but rather to contribute to the gap in the literature and provide suggestions to university C-suite.

This paper examines the ways in which Chinese university middle managers evaluate subordinate performance in response to the Chinese Double First-Class University Plan, a national project that ranks the performance of universities. In exploring compromise arrangements, the hybridised valuing activity of middle managers is found to be shaped by emergent and extant macro-foundations.

The qualitative data from 49 semi-structured interviews at five Chinese public universities were conducted. Drawing on macro-foundational studies and the sociology of worth (SW) theory, the analysis helps to identify socially shared patterns of actions and outcomes.

The findings elucidate the interplay between diverse economic, social, political and institutional values and the compromise-making by middle managers. The authors find that contextual factors restrict Chinese academic middle managers' autonomy, preventing workable compromise. Through the selective adoption of international and local management practices, compromise has evolved into a private differential treaty at the operational level.

A nuanced explanation reveals how the macro-foundations of Chinese society influence middle managers who engage with accounting when facilitating compromise. This study helps outsiders better understand the complex convergence and divergence of performance evaluative practices in Chinese universities against the backdrop of global market-based forces and the moral dimensions of organisational life. The findings have wider implications for the Chinese government in navigating institutional steps and developing supportive policies to enable middle managers to advance productive but also sustainable compromise.

Given declining tuition funds and government grants, Kenyan universities need to develop strategies, including increased research grants and collaborations, to diversify their income sources. Well-managed doctoral students can boost a university’s teaching and research outputs. However, numbers of students enrolled in doctoral programmes at Kenyan universities are low, and graduation rates and time-to-graduate statistics are disturbing. Research undertaken elsewhere underline the important role played by supervisors and peers in facilitating students’ sense of belonging and their success. Therefore, this study aims to investigate the influence of supervisory and peer support on PhD students’ sense of belonging and their success at Kenyan universities.

In this cross-sectional study, data were gathered through an online questionnaire from 614 students admitted to doctoral programmes at Kenyan universities between 2010 and 2018. We used multi-item scales to collect data on PhD students’ self-efficacy, supervisory and peer support and a sense of belonging.

Structural equation modelling results revealed that PhD students’ modes of study and self-efficacy were significantly associated with the quality of supervision, peer support and a sense of belonging. However, only age, a sense of belonging and the quality of supervision were directly linked to their success.

This study contributes to the literature on doctoral-level education, responding to the need for research on the influence of relationships with supervisors and peers on PhD students’ sense of belonging and their success, especially in developing countries.

Establishing and developing digital science and education evaluation platforms (DSEEPs) have several practical implications for the development of China's science, technology and education. Identifying and analyzing the key factors influencing DSEEP user experience (UX) can improve the users' willingness to use the platform and effectively promote its sustainable development.

First, a literature survey, a five-element model of UX and semi-structured interviews were used in this study to develop a DSEEP UX-influencing factor model, which included five dimensions and 22 influencing factors. Second, the model validity was verified using questionnaire data. Finally, the key influencing factors were identified and analyzed using a fuzzy decision-making trial and evaluation laboratory (fuzzy-DEMATEL) method.

Fourteen influencing factors, including diverse information forms and comprehensive information content, are crucial for the DSEEP UX. Its optimization path is “‘Function Services’ → ‘Information Resources’ → ‘Interaction Design’ → ‘Interface Design’ and ‘Visual Design’.” In this regard, platform managers can take the following measures to optimize UX: strengthening functional services, improving information resources, enhancing the interactive experience and considering interface effects.

This study uses a combination of qualitative and quantitative research methods to determine the key influencing factors and optimization path of DSEEP UX. Optimization suggestions for UX are proposed from the perspective of platform managers, who provide an effective theoretical reference for innovating and developing a DSEEP.

The purpose of the study is to measure the performance level of halal compliance practices by the halal-certified restaurants in Malaysia and rank and rate them based on several dimensions of halal compliance.

A total of 320 halal restaurants were surveyed. The absolute measurement approach of the analytic hierarchy process (AHP) was applied to rank and rate the restaurants. Finally, ANOVA and independent t-test were applied to assess if there is any significant difference in halal compliance performance between different groups of the respondents.

The AHP application resulted in only 19 restaurants (5.94%) achieving an “Excellent” rating. A significant difference has been observed between different groups of the respondents regarding their halal compliance performance.

An onsite audit and ranking of all the restaurants in Malaysia were beyond the scope of the study. The research was able to rank only 320 restaurants across Malaysia.

The findings and methodology of the study will provide policymakers with a clear roadmap for establishing a comprehensive rating system in the fields of the halal food industry to enhance the quality and integrity of the halal food management system.

To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this is the first time an empirical approach, like AHP, has been used to determine how Malaysia’s halal-certified restaurants stack up against one another. Similar studies can be carried out in other sectors of the halal industry as well as in similar context.

The purpose of this article is to theoretically outline and empirically test two contribution-based indicators: (1) the scholars' annual contribution-based measurement and (2) the annual contribution modified h-index, computing six criteria: total number of papers, computed SCImago Journal Rank values, total number of authors, total number of citations of a scholar’s work, number of years since paper publication and number of annual paper citations.

Despite widespread scholarly agreement about the relevance of research production in evaluation and recruitment processes, the proposed mechanisms for gauging publication output are still rather elementary, consequently obscuring each individual scholar’s contributions. This study utilised the Technique for Order of Preference by Similarity to Ideal Solution method, and the authors built two indicators to value author's contribution.

To test both indicators, this study focussed on the most productive scholars in communication during a specific time period (2017–2020), ranking their annual research contribution and testing it against standard productivity measures (i.e. number of papers and h-index).

This article contributes to current scientometric studies by addressing some of the limitations of aggregate-level measurements of research production, providing a much-needed understanding of scholarly productivity based on scholars' actual contribution to research.

This study aims to investigate the relationship between management support, quality infrastructure, staff training and the effectiveness of quality enhancement cells (QECs) established in higher education institutions.

Data were acquired via a structured questionnaire dispatched to faculty members across 12 public and private universities, primarily situated in Punjab, Pakistan. Among the 200 questionnaires distributed, 180 were retrieved and 140 were deemed valid. The proposed relationships were examined using SPSS–25 and PLS–SEM.

The results show a positive and significant relationship between management support, quality infrastructure and staff training with QECs' effectiveness. The study also highlights that the effectiveness of QECs is “Good” in only two of the 12 universities, while in most universities it is “Barely Acceptable”. Furthermore, QECs' effectiveness is slightly better in public universities compared to private institutions.

The study employs convenience sampling and a cross-sectional approach, focusing on faculty members from 12 universities, primarily in Punjab, Pakistan. To enhance future research, larger samples and probability-based sampling should be considered, while involving quality managers and students for a broader perspective.

The research suggests policymakers and university leaders should strengthen their support by providing resources, quality infrastructure and training for academic and administrative staff. This would enhance the effectiveness of QECs and improve the overall quality of education in both public and private universities.

This study contributes to the literature on quality assurance in higher education by emphasizing the significance of QECs concerning management support, quality infrastructure and staff training – areas that are often overlooked in Pakistani universities.

The purpose of this research was to discover the impacts of taught environmental sustainability-focused geography postgraduate programmes on student attitudes, behaviours and practices in relation to environmental awareness within two research-intensive universities in the UK.

A case study involved online surveys to measure environmental attitudes, behaviours and practices at the start and end of four taught geography postgraduate programmes.

There was widespread attitudinal change and an increasing prioritisation of environmental issues reported among participants after they had completed their programme. However, behavioural change was limited, and there was little evidence of greater awareness being translated into changed practices. The learning benefits included a greater focus on interdisciplinarity, holistic thinking and critical self-reflection.

The findings demonstrate that postgraduate taught (PGT) programmes in sustainability improve student awareness and concern about environmental issues but do not necessarily lead to widespread behavioural change. This raises questions for programme convenors about how education for sustainability can be truly transformational and avoid leading students to develop eco-anxieties over the scale of change required.

There is a lack of research engaging with students on PGT programmes, especially in understanding their impacts on environmental attitudes, behaviours and practices. The research provides an evidence base for understanding the effects of PGT programmes in challenging student values, attitudes and practices and by implication knowledge transfer post-graduation, with the potential to help protect the environment and identify ways of living better with the ever-changing planet.