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The journey to pursue and persist with a career in STEM is a complex process that begins at a young age, continues across secondary education and the end of school transition to university. Such decisions are influenced by a range of personal, social and environmental factors, highlighting the practical complexities of supporting young people in their transition to university. This paper explores the post-school transition of two students, one female and one male, with strong technological dispositions and aspirations to pursue careers in STEM fields. We focus on two STEM disciplines, Information Technology and Engineering, chosen by our participants. We employ the theory of practice (Bourdieu 1977) to analyse two students' experience of transition. The findings from these case studies are not intended to be generalised. Rather the in-depth stories and theoretical case analysis provides a nuanced account of transition to study STEM disciplines. Importantly, the pathways into university were not equal for the participants. Class and gender intersected with university structures to enable and constrain students' transition highlighting the significance of institutional supports within STEM disciplines to better support diverse students across the period of transition to university. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: This paper aims to examine the roles of quality managers at community colleges, their experiences balancing accountability and improvement and their insights into the future of quality assurance. Design/methodology/approach: This phenomenological, qualitative study used semi-structured interviews with eight community college quality managers to investigate their roles, experiences and perspectives. A reflexive thematic approach was used to analyze the interview data. Findings: Four themes were identified from participant responses: quality managers frame and enable program quality, quality managers drive program change, quality managers cultivate a culture of quality and quality managers seek system change. The findings illustrate the roles played by quality managers as they work to improve college education at program, institution and system-wide levels. Research limitations/implications: The decision of participants to accept the recruitment invitation might reflect particular attitudes, perspectives or experiences. Practical implications: Quality assurance has emerged as a key mechanism for ensuring postsecondary programs are current, relevant and meeting the evolving needs of students and employers. This study advances the understanding of how quality assurance processes play out at the operational level and explores the experiences of quality managers as they navigate various quality tensions. Originality/value: Quality managers play key roles in leading, evaluating and influencing quality assurance processes in postsecondary education yet they are underrepresented in the literature. The findings of this study shed new light on the aspirational and influential roles they play in advancing quality assurance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper examines staff perspectives on institutional representations of a range of areas of diversity and inclusion in a key post-compulsory education sector: that of UK Higher Education (HE). The paper focuses on comparing representational statements made by institutions with the reality of their lived experiences as perceived by staff. The paper first reviews literature around key issues of promoting and progressing in these areas, and how these areas are represented by institutions and the sector as a whole. It presents and discusses data from a survey (n = 300) to show strong agreement with representational statements as mirroring those of institutions, yet statistically significant differences between representations and the reality of lived experiences, particularly in relation to the lived experiences of staff. These data are discussed in the light of progress made by institutions, and the challenges faced in translating representations into real lived experience. Suggestions for institutions and policy makers are made to help better align reality with these representations in the UK Higher Education sector and, theoretically, for post-compulsory education sectors elsewhere. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Especially in higher education – but true for any setting – what students do within a learning environment determines their learning outcomes. Given that they regulate their own learning, students do not always act in accordance with the instructions and intentions of the designed learning environment, which in turn has implications for their learning and achievement. To better understand this phenomenon, a variety of research examined factors that are presumed to influence students' learning behavior within learning environments. This paper aims to broaden this research by pointing attention to students' knowledge of micro-level education as a type of domain-independent prior knowledge. This so-called 'instructional knowledge' of students is also presumed to have important implications for learning in educational settings. An attempt was made to map this construct by thematically analyzing 91 drawings depicting Flemish higher education students' spontaneous and general knowledge of instruction. Findings confirm previous research by revealing that students' instructional knowledge is (a) very similar, and (b) rather 'classical' in nature. In extension to previous findings, it was also revealed that in addition to classical and common elements, many drawings portray new (especially digital) and individual elements. This study contributes to understanding instructional knowledge as a complex and personal set of shared and unique experiences susceptible to slow structural change. Moreover, it provides opportunities for further research and – in time – the enhancement of instructional design models. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: The aim of this paper is to outline the collaborative approach used to craft national learning standards for tertiary programs in the field of environment and sustainability in Australia. The field of environment and sustainability is broad and constituted by diverse stakeholders. As such, articulating a common set of learning standards presents challenges. Design/methodology/approach: The authors developed and used a staged collaborative curriculum design methodology to engage more than 250 stakeholders in tertiary environmental education, including discipline scholars, students, professional associations and employers and other environmental educators. The approach was adaptive, to ensure underrepresented stakeholders' perspectives were welcomed and recognised. The project was commissioned by the Australian Council of Environmental Deans and Directors (ACEDD) and funded by the Federal Government's Office for Learning and Teaching. Findings: The collaborative approach developed and used for this work facilitated an inclusive process that valued diversity of perspectives, rather than marginalise diversity in favour of a perspective representing a minimum level of agreement. This is reflected in the standards themselves, and is evidenced by participant feedback, piloting of the standards and their subsequent application at multiple universities. Achieving this required careful planning and facilitation, to ensure a democratisation of the stakeholder consultation process, and to build consensus in support of the standards. Endorsement by ACEDD formalised the standards' status. Originality/value: Collaborative curriculum design offered the opportunity to foster a shared sense of common purpose amongst diverse environmental education stakeholders. This approach to curriculum design is intensive and generative but uncommon and may be usefully adapted and applied in other contexts. The authors note one subsequent instance where the approach has been further developed and applied in transforming a generalist science program, suggesting the methodology used in this case may be applied across other contexts, albeit with appropriate adjustments: the authors offer it here in the spirit of supporting others in their own complex curriculum design challenges. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: The global labor market has been upended and a new landscape has emerged. New models for ensuring the value and relevance of post-secondary education are needed. Learners need better understanding of the value and relevancy which the education provides and more immediate return on the educational investment. Education providers must ensure the relevance of the credentials. Employers require transparency into skills an individual possesses based on the credentials they hold. New models are needed to guide an understanding of credentials so that all have equitable pathways to opportunity. This paper aims to discuss the aforementioned objectives. Design/methodology/approach: The authors in this paper discuss how Western Governors University implemented a Unified Credential Framework (UCF) for ensuring credentials are relevant, verified, transparent and portable. The UCF is predicated on the use of skills as an underlying foundation. Findings: Using a structured theory for understanding skills and micro-credentials creates more transparency into what post-secondary credentials represent, and the value they hold for individuals, employers and education providers. Research limitations/implications: This paper represents a use case where the proposed solution is still emergent. Additional research is warranted as longitudinal data become available on student outcomes and impacts. Originality/value: This paper presents a model that any organization can implement for clearer line of sight into the value and relevance of post-secondary credentials. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Fair access and widening participation currently occupy a prominent position in the UK higher education agenda, but these terms remain ambiguous. In this paper we identify two prominent strands of policy in the government's approach to access and the widening of participation and contrast these with a third, more progressive perspective. The academic strand seeks to attract 'gifted and talented' young people into an unreformed higher education system. The second strand, which we term the utilitarian approach, posits a need for reform. However, this is undertaken largely to meet the requirements of employers and the economy. In contrast, a transformative approach values diversity and focuses on creating a system of higher education that does not place the burden of change upon potential entrants. This framework is used to explore some of the implications of the government's White Paper The future of higher education. First, the purpose of higher education is discussed, with particular reference to the distinction between economic and social objectives. Second, the government's view of the structure of the higher education sector is examined, by scrutinizing the notion of institutional differentiation and the role of the access regulator. We conclude that within a more differentiated higher education sector different aspects of the access discourse will become dominant in different types of institutions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The demand for higher and tertiary education in Africa is now high, and as a result, public institutions are enrolling many students, a phenomenon now called massification (Pillay, 2020; Noui, 2020). The term massification is defined as the increase in the enrollment of students without a proportionate boost in resources (Adetiba, 2019; Mohamedbhai, 2016). Zimbabwean universities are enrolling many students to fund operations since government funding has dwindled (Garwe, 2016; Madzimure, 2016). The provision of quality education is becoming a challenge due to the high lecturer-student ratio, especially on courses that are highly practical in nature (Adetiba, 2019). There is a lack of proper management and engagement of students in very large classes, and as a result, students resort to memorizing content learned instead of engaging in critical thinking (Madzimure, 2016; Lee, 2016). Literature points out that if students develop self-regulated learning strategies, they will overcome challenges brought by massification. The purpose of this paper was to develop and evaluate the impact of a multimedia teaching tool in assisting students to develop selfregulated learning strategies so that they improve their performance while learning computer programming in a large class setup. Purposive sampling was used in this study, and the researcher adhered to design science research methodology.Students enrolled in introduction to computer programming used the multimediaClearn teaching tool that was developed hencepurposive sampling was used in this study.One class (BITH131) was the control group and students enrolled in BSIT 131 were the experimental group. Results obtained indicated that students who used the Clearn teaching tool performed better in a programming test as compared to students in the control group. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Studies of time and higher education emphasize how macro-level changes influence everyday university practices and how time is experienced and perceived in various ways. This paper adds to these studies by looking at time as infrastructure. We explore how students relate to time and unpack the challenges caused by the temporal structure of higher education. The analysis presents material from ethnographic fieldwork carried out with students following three Bachelor's programmes. Treating time as infrastructure directs attention to the ways in which temporal structures serve to both enable and constrain practices. We found that the students related to several temporal horizons and that these required different paces, so that the horizons sometimes clashed. However, students also adopted strategies disrupting the pace and direction of the scheduled time, using cracks and openings in the temporal infrastructure to create time for immersion and reflection. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper studies the accumulation of financial resources in higher education. Its focus lies on the Quality Pact for Teaching (QPT) , a large-scale funding programme that aimed to improve the quality of tertiary education in Germany. Starting in 2011, the QPT allocated almost 2 billion euros over a 10-year period. Yet, unlike prior national funding schemes, the QPT was strongly inspired by New Public Management measures and marked the first time that a substantial amount of teaching grants was awarded in a competitive manner. My estimations show that institutions with a successful history of acquiring third-party funds coped best under these novel circumstances, thus revealing a clear pattern of cumulative advantage. Although typically dedicated to research purposes, the level of previous third-party funding emerges as a strong predictor of QPT success. Therefore, it appears that the QPT unintentionally contributed to steeper financial gaps in Germany's academic landscape. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The spectacular increases in schooling figures in the first two decades after the Romanian Revolution of 1989 are often discussed from the perspective of "massification" of higher education. Causal explanations of the expansion of tertiary education as a social phenomenon have been advanced by academics belonging to different schools of thought. In this paper, I will refer to the explanations of the school of human capital, whose main exponent is Gary Becker and how the explanation is built around human capital and technology, two factors that augmentate each other from Becker's perspective. Because investments in education generate skills, and skills generate technological progress, then this progress creates a demand for specialized labor and increases the earnings of those who invest in their education. Therefore, increased earnings are strong incentives to invest in education. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In recent decades, technological progress has fundamentally changed the field of primary, secondary and tertiary education. Accordingly, the term „educational technology" is also becoming established in higher education research. The present paper outlines the state of research on technology-based learning in higher education and presents a descriptive model that incorporates four different contexts and components relevant to educational technologies. Scientific papers dealing with the use of technologies in higher education show a gratifying range and focus on a variety of different issues and research interests. In this context, three thematic focal points are emphasized with particular frequency: (1) instructional approaches and didactic mediation concepts that structure comprehensive learning episodes; (2) scenarios and formats that support learning processes; (3) systems and methods that record, formatively control and evaluate learning processes. Subsequently, the individual contributions of the special issue are presented and classified along the outlined focal points. As a conclusion it can be stated, that the „newly discovered" attention for educational technologies should be used to strengthen this research field in German-speaking countries. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The primary purpose of this systematic review is to assess how undocumented students in the United States leverage their assets to successfully attend and graduate from higher education institutions (HEI). A 1982 U.S. Supreme Court decision gave undocumented children access to public education from pre-school through grade 12. While no single U.S. legislation forbids the enrollment of undocumented students in HEI, there are laws that remove access to federal financial aid. Federal legislation gives states the freedom to determine whether these students receive reduced in-state tuition rates and state financial aid. This paper explores how undocumented students use the strengths of their communities to patchwork together the financial and emotional resources needed to overcome systemic barriers. It also examines the ways that students pay it forward through shared information and activism. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper contributes to the debate on the varieties of national manifestations of the public good(s) in higher education. Drawing on a set of 33 semi-structured interviews (with politicians, university managers and faculty), it addresses the three following research questions: How do the actors in the field define the public good(s)? To what extent does the global public good play a role in their views? What are the specificities of the national system that shape understandings of the public dimension of higher education in Poland? The three definitions of the public good are proposed. The findings are discussed alongside the following four themes: higher education as a public good, higher education and the state, tuition fees, and the global public good. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article looks at the projections on the current state of the world's post-secondary education and a prediction of what will need to be addressed and in place by 2030, in order to prepare for a significant rise in student enrollment. UNESCO presented governments and higher education institutions with a call to action to implement policies and procedures to provide accessible, equitable, and quality education via digital technology. This paper discusses the various actions the University of Miami put in place as a global provider of education and training to all learners including transitioning to micro-credentials, cultural understanding workshops, course design for academic disciplines, and engaging adult online learners. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Every country's development is practically anchored on education and its basic conditions for socio-economic and technological transformation of the nation. This paper examined the extent to which public-private partnership and collaboration in education contributes in the sustainable development of tertiary institutions in the areas such as infrastructural and human development. The paper x-rays the concepts of publicprivate partnership and sustainable development of tertiary institutions, types of public-private partnership. The paper also examine the benefits public-private partnership and collaboration in education, such as cost saving, enhancement of revenue generation and others. It further examines the role of public-private partnership and collaboration in education; it also highlighted the risks associated with public-private partnership in development programmes. The paper further reveals that the attainment of meaningful and sustainable development requires the genuine participation of the public, the organized private sectors, donor agencies, individuals and civil society. Such as loss of control by the public sector where private partners commit more funds to a project than the public sector, there is a likelihood that private partners would seek for more control over how services are provided and priced. It further examined the ten tips for successful public-private partnership in higher institution. The paper recommended among others that public-private partnership should be encouraged for sustainability of our university systems. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper revisits the issue of institutional diversity in Australian higher education, taking account of international trends and research on the subject. Drawing on empirical studies over the last three decades, I adopt a within-country case study approach to analysing institutional diversity in the Australian higher education policy context and consider post-COVID systemic implications. Catalysts for this analysis include revisions to the Australian provider category standards, government policy shifts influencing the undergraduate curriculum, and the systemic impact of a global pandemic. The paper concludes with three propositions, arguing that institutional diversity will be more important than ever to meet the diverse needs of students and the labour market; an ecosystemic approach to post-secondary education will be a key enabler of sector diversity; and a paradigm shift, enabled by such drivers as government policy and proactive institutional leadership, will be essential to achieve enhanced institutional diversity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

VET colleges in China are positioned at the bottom of the educational hierarchy, absorbing the 'left-over' students with 'less desirable' academic records. VET students are stereotyped as 'stupid and lazy' youths suffering considerable prejudice in Chinese society. Drawing on Bourdieu's theoretical insights, this paper investigates the experiences of students in VET colleges and their teachers' perspectives on them. I explore how teachers' stereotyping habitus is practised in VET colleges and how it affects their students' learning experiences. The findings demonstrate that the teachers' pedagogic practices in class impose a designated cultural arbitrary via a hidden curriculum. The students adopted 'passing time' attitudes in class as a response to their teachers' 'misrecognition'. The paper examines how a system of unequal power relations in Chinese VET college is maintained and legitimised, which contributes to the 'transmission' and reproduction of the very culture that has shaped the standing of VET in Chinese society. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper investigated the language resources needed for communication in Vietnam's import/export services and the level of alignment with the associated English for Specific Purposes (ESP) course. To examine the communicative practices used in this workplace, the study employed methods of semi-structured interviews and a collection of 48 emails and eight phonecalls adopted to interact with customers. Similarly, semi-structured interviews and ESP teaching materials were administered to explore teachers' practices and the language input. The findings indicate an increasingly valuable variety of English as a lingua franca (ELF) which is identified in particular genres with different choices of registers and stylistic features adapted to communicative conditions in the fluid globalised workplace. Given the agility and unpredictability of work in a globalised setting, the analysis shows how the workers' mobile language repertoire is not tied to the criterion of linguistic accuracy, but rather favours the achievement of meaning and function. However, the adaptable, truncated 'good enough' language used in the workplace does not align with the lexicogrammatical focus of the ESP course. The study contributes to understandings of alignment in ESP curricula and materials redevelopment in times of globalisation and countries such as Vietnam where ELF is used for international interactions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In order to investigate faculties' barriers to mentoring freshmen within an interinstitutional (and possibly reluctant) context, a questionnaire survey (N = 390), based on the Theory of Planned Behavior, was conducted prior to the inception of a wide mentoring program involving nine Belgian higher education institutions. Stepwise multiple regressions pinpointed the predictors of faculty's intention to participate in the program and their underlying beliefs. Results reveal that the obstacles commonly attributed to mentoring in the literature do not necessarily come out of this empirical approach and, conversely, that normative factors, underrepresented in research, can play an important role in resistance to or acceptance of mentoring. These findings contribute to a better knowledge of how likely freshmen instructors are to become involved in a mentoring program. It also has practical applications in helping to anticipate possible difficulties in implementing such a program. Lastly, the paper highlights practical implications for the Belgian consortium. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The internationalization of students in tertiary education has increased worldwide for the past 20 years. International students (IS) are considered consumers of Higher Education (HE) in host countries and are often a significant contributor to many countries' economies. This paper explores the push and pull factors that influence international Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) students to select Higher Education in the UK as a preferred destination of choice and the potential implications this may have for the wider international student body. The authors utilized face‐to‐face interviews and purposive sampling of 40 undergraduate students from a university in the UK North West. The sample was nationals from Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, and the United Arab Emirates. NVivo11 software was utilized by the researchers to facilitate data management and analysis. Analysis revealed six main push factors that led those sampled to depart their home country and pursue their university education in the UK. Alternatively, there were 10 pull factors that encouraged GCC students to pursue their university education in the UK. It is imperative that UK Higher Education institutions/universities are cognizant of the push/pull factors that boost GCC international students' intake at their institutions since there is an observable decline in international student numbers in recent years that can negatively impact the said universities and the wider UK economy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The voices and experiences of formerly incarcerated college students are emerging throughout the social science literature. The importance of documenting their narratives is grounded in the reality that more than an estimated 12,000 system-impacted people are enrolled throughout the California postsecondary education system. This paper highlights the knowledge and skills formerly incarcerated students possess and deploy to navigate higher education successfully. Our study adds to the growing body of literature examining the experiences of formerly incarcerated Latinx students from an anti-deficit perspective. We use the theory of funds of knowledge and semi-structured interviews with 16 formerly incarcerated Latinx students at different points of the postsecondary education pipeline to understand their experiences. We find that formerly incarcerated Latinx students tapped into their "hustle" to move from surviving to thriving in higher education. These pre-college skills, acquired through their life experiences, allow students to seek academic and financial resources, create academic networks, and make personal connections with institutional agents to overcome various personal and institutional barriers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this special issue, the five previous articles trace the longstanding presence and integration of carceral practices in both K-12 and postsecondary education systems. As illuminated by the authors, carceral practices disproportionately criminalize students of color and impact pathways, trajectories, and how educational opportunities are experienced. In our review and closing comments for this special issue, we expand and share three emergent themes running throughout this volume: 1) Power Analysis, an investigation of macro systems and structures that determine specific contexts entrapping current and prospective students in the carceral system; 2) Worth/Value, an interrogation of the paradigms contributing to the devaluation, and ultimate criminalization, of Black and Latinx students within educational spaces; 3) Reform or Reimagine?, an inquiry and challenge on whether to advance with useful, but insufficient, changes to an unjust system or a move forward with new wide-sweeping and radical approaches to minimize damage to individuals. Our paper concludes with reimagining educational systems using these more radical approaches. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper is about how people experience places through the visuals that populate the place. I interviewed people who are part of Rhodes University in South Africa. It is the case that people experience places in a highly targeted manner and that from this manner they fashion ideas about the place. Experiencing universities through their visual culture is a phenomenon that is seldom studied. In South Africa, this reality of rare study was highlighted by the occurrence of the 2015 #RhodesMustFall moment when students across the country argued that there are visuals within the university space that remain experientially problematic within a postcolonial society. The South African higher education landscape was taken by surprise as it had not been adequately aware of the power that visuals can gain when considered as part of a culture of representation. Visual culture is in this paper defined as what is seen and allows itself to be placed within a culture of seeing and representation. As South Africa is a postcolonial society, it has been argued that the colonial period showed bias towards certain visual cultures throughout the country's spheres – especially in the country's tertiary education institutions. This is a paper documenting how students at a South African university experience the university through its visual culture. In‐depth mobile interviews, closely related to transect walks, were conducted with 12 "Rhodians" purposefully selected in the hope for maximum sample variation. The study finds that the experience of Rhodes University as a place through its visual culture is highly informed by the isolation of parts of the visual presentation of the built up and decorated environment, the expectation of what the visual culture should be, and the experience of alleged contestation over what is visually presented as the university. Ultimately, the university space is experienced often through its socially‐learned visual representations and the experiential templates that people bring to the place as seen. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper is based on a qualitative research study conducted across urban and regional Australian universities. The aim of the project was to investigate the enablers and constraints faced by refugee background students transitioning from high school to university. A refugee is defined as a person who has been forced to flee his or her country because of persecution, war, or violence [UNHCR(2016). "Global Trends: Forced Displacement in 2016." Accessed January 2019. ]. Studies on refugee background students in school contexts have been prolific but research of this population in higher education is still embryonic. This can be attributed to the fact that many refugee background students do not attain the necessary skills required for access to, and participation in, tertiary education in spite of their high aspirations for a university qualification. The paper will show, through the narratives of four refugee background university students that transition at university needs to be reconceptualised as holistic, extending beyond classroom walls and building on the resilience and assets they bring to learning. This is significant because it draws attention to the paradoxical relationship between the rights-based vision that many universities purport to have for their diverse student cohorts and the realities that refugee youth face at university on a daily basis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper critically interrogates the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) in relation to higher education in low-income countries. While the SDG Goal 4, Target 4.3, calls for ensuring 'equal access for all women and men to affordable and quality technical, vocational and tertiary education, including university' around the world by 2030, the SDGs lack targets that would make this a reality in many countries where higher education requires reform and rebuilding. Instead of providing assistance to these countries to (re)build and strengthen their fragile higher education systems and institutions, the SDGs, as expressed in Target 4.7, aim to only provide opportunities to a select group of individuals to study at universities in developed and some developing countries. This approach has failed in the past and will only lead to the creation of dependency on foreign aid and assistance and continuation of chronic lack of capacity in many countries. This paper will show that despite the rhetoric about leaving no one behind, the SDGs will leave many behind through the neglect of higher education in low-income countries. Building local institutional and other forms of capacity in the higher education sector in low-income countries should have been one of the priorities in the SDGs. This way countries would be able to develop and strengthen universities and other institutions of higher learning and deliver quality education to their populations. The paper will map out a possible way forward for those interested in assisting low-income countries to strengthen their higher education systems and institutions as this is a prerequisite for inclusive socio-economic development and environmental sustainability. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Student borrowing is a major higher education public policy issue, with students in both England and the United States increasingly relying on loans to finance postsecondary education. Our paper examines prospective higher education students' attitudes towards debt in England and the United States. It exploits a unique dataset which allows us to compare students' responses to similar surveys conducted in both countries during the same time period. Our study is the first of its kind to explore how students' borrowing attitudes differ across the two countries. It confirms widespread loan aversion among prospective higher education students in both countries. But students in the United States are more debt averse than their peers in England. These debt averse attitudes also predict lower intentions to pursue higher education, potentially exacerbating existing inequalities in access. We consider how these attitudes to borrowing are likely shaped by each country's distinctive student loan system. We conclude that the design of loans matters. England's income‐contingent loan repayments, in contrast to North America's mortgage style repayments, make borrowing less risky and reduce the impact of loan aversion on participation decisions, while borrowing is more common, and the system less complicated, in England. Thus, there are lessons for other countries considering introducing student loans or reforming their provision. We contribute to the extant literature on the determinants of, and socioeconomic differences in, higher education participation and the overlooked role of student debt aversion. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, I introduce a new term to the online learning lexicon, mesocredentials, an emerging and transformative approach to integrating massive open online courses (MOOCs) within the higher education system. A mesocredential connects MOOC achievement with academic credit applied to a traditional academic degree. I distinguish mesocredentials from microcredentials based on four requirements: accreditation, delivery modality, academic credit, and flexibility. Through the lens of chaos theory, I explore why mesocredentials are transformative and identify ways they can support adult learners. By linking academic credit to MOOC achievement, mesocredentials create a tangible value for learners and address challenges that MOOCs have experienced in trying to gain a foothold within the higher education landscape. To highlight the potential impact and features of a mesocredential, I examine the MicroMasters® program a registered trademark of The Center for Reimagining Learning, the interim name for edX. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This research paper is a result of a comprehensive survey conducted in Further Education Training Colleges (FETC) providing educational services to South Africans residing in the various regions of Gauteng Province in South Africa. The main theme of the research was barriers that undermine service quality in teaching and learning in FETC institutions. The principal stakeholders of the study are educational leaders and administrators who sit on board councils in FETC institutions. Leadership quality in FETC institutions was measured and quantified by using a benchmark introduced by Northouse [2018. Leadership: Theory and Practice. Sage publications]. Ordered logit analysis was used for estimating and quantifying key predictors of service quality in teaching and learning as well as the efficient management of FETC institutions. Findings of the survey revealed that there is a need for elements of good institutional leadership. Examples of desirable attributes of leadership are honesty, personal integrity, accountability and transparency. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper analyses a sample of academic 'quit lit' to explore how graduate students might be better prepared for the realities of higher degree research and employment. It will pay particular attention to how graduate programs can provide realistic, transparent career advice and promote alternatives to academic (Alt-ac) employment for graduates. By considering the reasons 'quit litters' themselves give for their departure from the tertiary education sector, this investigation will be listening to the voices of those most affected by the rapidly changing face of academia. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study sought to fill a gap in the literature by considering the role of motivation in post-secondary aspirations of adult learners, specifically full versus part-time status, previous level of educational attainment, years of work experience, and the selection of an academic program. The data from this study came from adult students ages 25 and older at 8 institutions in the Midwest. Statistical analysis determined there were significant differences in gender motivation, level of education is predictive of type of educational credential being pursued, and type of adult learner motivation influences which degree, academic program, and enrollment status is pursued by adult learners. Furthermore, this research revealed as adults acquire more work experience, their postsecondary educational aspirations are more likely motivated by extrinsic factors. These findings have meaningful implications for linking motivation with continuance and graduation from collegiate programs for which this paper identifies and discusses in the context of postsecondary education. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The 2018 United Nations Development Program (UNDP) presents clearly that the lower the human development indices (HDI), the more significant the decrement in secondary and tertiary education enrolment (higher and academic). For example, tertiary education in the very high-HDI countries shows 72% enrolment, where enrolment in the medium and low HDI parts of the world is only 24% and 8% respectively. The data illustrate the impressive paucity in education, hence knowledge production. This paucity in education is predicted to result in a weak knowledge economy of available and accessible knowledge. This root cause analysis discloses a significant area of attention to narrow and bridge the existing knowledge gap. Education in these countries has been focused almost exclusively on vocational education of technical skills with limited theoretical attention (knowledge) and rudimentary attention to topics such as governance, human capacity investment, and appropriate application. Education needs the proper environment and climate at primary, secondary and tertiary education levels, resulting in an effective knowledge economy and contributing to advancing progress and improvement of quality. The healthcare system for example needs to be available and accessible to all. This environment can only be created and developed when countries establish national structures, institutional environment, and a competent leadership and management cadre. This depends on the existence of a well-educated and motivated cadre of 'intelligentsia', competent and responsible policymakers and governors, and creating an inviting and inspiring education climate, irrespective of the level of knowledge to be acquired. The paper provides a global situation analysis of qualified and quantified key elements of the knowledge economy, and analysis of the impact of differentials between knowledge economies of the various human development groups on national healthcare structures and patient safety as a final outcome. Additionally, it alludes to methods on how to improve on the identified gaps. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Teaching in higher education in the Netherlands was affected, as in most other parts of the world, due to the COVID-19 pandemic. This paper reflects on how two courses were taught and experienced by students during the 2020-21 academic year in the MA Media Studies: Digital Cultures at Maastricht University. It particularly focuses on how the integration of open educational resources into the course design, what we call a third pedagogic pillar, contributed to the success of the two courses and students' positive learning experience. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

While the number of refugees in tertiary education remains small in comparison to the total number of refugee youths, with 1% of university-students worldwide, their social, economic and political impact in refugee societies is believed to be significant. Yet, the role of higher education in their socialisation, the way humanitarian actors invest in the field of higher education with specific agendas in mind and the ways that these young scholars position themselves in relation to these policies and discourses have remained largely unexplored. Focusing on Congolese refugees studying at a Rwandan University and supported by the world's largest academic scholarship programme funded and administrated by a UN agency, this paper aims to contribute to a better understanding of how students negotiate their identities as 'highly educated persons'. The analysis draws on various forms of what the humanitarian rhetoric calls 'community-based investment' with which students engage in the public space of the camps during summer or semester breaks. The different types of engagement that are discussed in this paper serve as a case study to examine how different understandings and perceptions of 'becoming an intellectual' coexist in individuals' minds, according to the different political subjectivities and regimes they navigate in. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Higher education transformation in the Czech Republic has been aimed at increasing the competitiveness of Czech higher education institutions within the European context, as well as strengthening their role as the main sources of innovation for sustainable development in its economic and social dimensions. This transformation has undergone a turbulent development in last years. The paper elucidates some recent legislative amendments and aims of the Ministry of Education's development plans. We also clarify some research steps that have been undertaken to shed light on the next steps in the transformation. The problem with the reform process is that many systemic undertakings come under pressure from changes in policy cycles, governmental priorities, budgeting, and socio-demographic conditions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Alternate Reality Game (ARG) is a relatively new form of gaming. Offering puzzles across a variety of media, ARGs require players to navigate digital and real worlds, form social connections, and demonstrate a wide variety of skills. This paper presents an Action Research approach to the use of ARGs in tertiary education contexts. Through two iterations of an Action Research cycle, the research identifies benefits in student engagement, attendance, attention to detail and connection with course materials. Through learning from the first cycle, a puzzle schema was developed for implementation in the second cycle. The first cycle also identified the need for a strong narrative structure for the game, and drew attention to a tension in the tradition of ontological ambiguity in ARGs: the 'this is not a game' fiction and the interpenetration of imaginary and real-world elements. Discarding this tradition in the second iteration, the research found significant advantages and no clear deficits in the clarification about the activity as a game. The research reaffirms the power of ARGs as a pedagogical tool, and offers a model of ARG implementation specifically designed for tertiary teaching environments. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Multiple refugee crises are taking place simultaneously in several regions of the world. Despite the fact that large numbers of refugees are children and youth, research on policy discourse related to the educational access of refugees beyond remains limited. This situation is particularly acute in the USA even though over 3 million refugees have resettled in that country over the course of the last three decades. In this paper, we take a policy-as-discourse approach (Ball in Education reform: a critical and post-structural approach, Open University Press, Philadelphia, 1994; Discourse Stud Cult Politics of Educ 36(3):306–313, 2015) to analyze policies related to post-secondary education access among refugees in the USA. This analysis reveals refugees' status in US policy as an invisible group, frequently confounded with other groups under the euphemistic umbrella term "New American." Moreover, in these policies, refugees are represented as economic burdens, and their economic independence is presented as the key priority of relevant US policies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The increase in years of study plays an important role in formulations about opportunities in the labor market and also about the chances of social mobility. This paper aims to discuss to what extent an increasing number of graduate workers corresponds to a greater allocation of the workforce in jobs that require higher education. The analysis of this relationship is particularly significant in the current scenario when substantial expansion of tertiary education and profound structural changes in the labor market are taking place. The text examines the changes in the educational profile of the workforce over the last forty years, taking into account the relationship between years of study and labor market opportunities and / or inequalities. Based on data produced by the Brazilian Institute of Geography and Statistics, the article shows that, despite the growing number of workers with higher education, most of this group is not employed in a job that is compatible with their qualification, indicating an increase in the graduation rate for posts that do not require this level of education. The results also show that access to higher education and the Brazilian labor market remain marked by significant gender and color / race inequalities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Assessment of higher education is a multifaceted and multidimensional concept. Therefore this paper focuses on assessment of preferences by business university students. The aim of this paper is to identify preferable course of study and benefits of business higher education in case private business university. The paper shows how students perceive and evaluate study support by modern information and communication technologies and identifies most important areas of their preferences during studies. The results are based on a quantitative survey by questionnaire data collection from all students of surveyed Business University. Descriptive statistics, correlation analyisis, analysis of differences and factor analysis was conducted to find responses from students regarding their perception of the educational process. The analysis found groups of variables with significant appearance of students’ main preferences. The results show orientation of students on benefits of university education mostly in career development (p = 0.000). Prefered curiculum of graduates most importantly contains independent work, significant position at job market and self management. In the area of study support students mostly prefer flexibility and availability of study texts and materials online using mobile applications (Cramer’s V = 0.314, p = 0.013). Other significant group of students focus on expert teachers and knowledge and online / mobile consultaions. The results may help to set up students’ support in order to address current students’ needs and expectations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose Indicators for quality of schooling are not only relatively new in the world but also unavailable for a sizable share of the world’s population. In their absence, some proxy measures have been devised. One simple but powerful idea has been to use the schooling premium for migrant workers in the USA (Bratsberg and Terrell, 2002). The purpose of this paper is to extend this idea and compute measures for the schooling premium of immigrant workers in the USA over a span of five decades.Design/methodology/approach In this paper, the authors focus on the schooling premia for the Latin American and the Caribbean region and compare them to those of migrants from other regions, particularly from East Asia and Pacific, India, Northern Europe and Southern Europe, all relative to immigrants from former Soviet Republics. The available data allow us to measure such premia for workers who graduated from school, either at the secondary or tertiary levels, in their home countries between 1940 and 2010.Findings The results show that the schooling premia in Latin America have been steadily low throughout the whole period of analysis. The results stand after controlling for selective migration in different ways. This contradicts the popular belief in policy circles that the education quality of the region has deteriorated in recent years. In contrast, schooling premium in India shows an impressive improvement in recent decades, especially at the tertiary level.Originality/value In this paper, the authors extend the idea of computing schooling premium for migrant workers in the USA (Bratsberg and Terrell, 2002) and present comparative estimates of the evolution of schooling premia in 17 Latin American countries for both secondary and tertiary schooling levels. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Within any higher education institution, there are great teachers who recognize the challenges to sustaining a commitment to highly effective teaching. The current paper explores the beliefs and practices of 10 faculty members who won an undergraduate teacher of the year award at a research-intensive institution. The paper explores the challenges faculty face in prioritizing teaching, the strategies they use to meet these challenges, and suggests institutional supports with the potential to facilitate high-quality teaching in higher education. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

With the growing demand for tertiary education, especially in Africa, the transformation of contact universities to dual-mode institutions is critical. However, conventional universities have had limited success establishing the dual-mode delivery stream. This paper assesses barriers to adoption and implementation of open and distance learning (ODL) in conventional higher education institutions in Cameroon, Kenya and Rwanda by applying a framework on innovation adoption to case studies of ODL in higher education in these countries. This qualitative meta-study shows that the transition to dual-mode is not systematic and that there are various barriers, ranging from national policy and funding; infrastructure, organisational structure and capacity; complexity and cost of ODL; as well as student and staff skills and perceptions, which have impeded adoption. Based on the findings, this paper makes recommendations for implementing ODL in existing conventional universities. Cases of successful transition to dual-mode are provided. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article announces that the periodical "Teaching in Higher Education" welcomes contributions concerning knowledge, identities, and teaching in relation to higher education purposes for its special issue on "Purposes, knowledge and identities." Information on the suggested questions and topics to be discussed which include economic, political, and social contexts of teaching, and others are included. Information on the abstract and article length, email address to whom the contribution will be submitted, and submission date are also included.

This paper seeks to re-evaluate the pedagogical and curricular influence of Fluxus artists who have been under addressed in curriculum studies scholarship. Between the late 1950s and early 1970s this group of avant-garde artist-pedagogues experimented with new ways to think about curriculum and pedagogy in institutes of higher education and in their artistic practices. We argue that a Fluxus approach to curriculum and pedagogy can be understood through the concepts of class as art, multiples and intermedia. We draw on interviews with contemporary artist-pedagogues from a research-creation project to illustrate the ways in which the influence of Fluxus is ongoing in contemporary post-secondary settings. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, we explore a pragmatic approach to tertiary music education. We propose that the conflation of tool, technique, and technology (Graham 2017: 19-20) has led to a situation where dominant music education models too often focus on teaching what you use to make music with rather than how you make it or why, and as a result are dependent on privilege and access. The COVID-19 pandemic provided a unique situation in which to test these ideas due to the enforced disruption to established ways of teaching and learning, in particular the radical pivot to onlineonly delivery. We explore our experiences of rethinking tool-based tertiary music education in this context and focus on our MacGyver (1985-1992) approach to music making and communicating information. We argue for the potential of a pragmatic approach in music education as one that follows music industry practice of an economy of availability and takes a step towards addressing inequities and the socialising of music making. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Assessments are important to academic institutions because they help in evaluating students’ knowledge. The conduct of assessments nowadays has been influenced by the continuous evolution of information technology. Hence, academic institutions now use computers for assessments, often known as Computer-Based Assessments (CBAs), in tandem with Paper-Based Assessments (PBAs). The literature, however, shows that the use of CBAs has received controversial reactions, and also shows that students face challenges when undertaking CBAs. This study was conducted to understand the perceptions of students and the challenges they face when undertaking CBAs. The study employed a descriptive research approach and data was collected through questionnaires. A total of 210 questionnaires were distributed to students. Findings show that students find it easy to undertake CBA and hence prefer it to PBA. However, the findings also show that students experience challenges that include Internet connectivity and mode of presentation of items, when undertaking CBA. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Research points to several determinants of the private demand for higher education, which include individual, social, economic, and institutional variables. Of these variables, economic factors are considered to be highly relevant, especially in the current financial crisis. The paper investigates the link between expected rates of return to higher education and the intention of secondary education graduates to pursue university studies. The effect of additional variables influencing the choice of higher education (ability, gender, socioeconomic status [SES], type of secondary school, area of residence) is also examined. The findings show a significant link between the perceived rates of return and the intention of secondary school graduates to enter tertiary education. With the exception of residence, all independent variables are strong determinants of the intention to enter higher education. The paper also points to the considerable effect of the financial crisis on students’ expectations in that respondents reported lower perceived rates of return compared to previous estimates in the same country. The implications of the findings for higher education policy are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

This paper outlines a rudimentary process intended to guide faculty in K-12 and higher education through the steps involved to produce video for their classes. The process comprises four steps: planning, development, delivery and reflection. Each step is infused with instructional design information intended to support the collaboration between instructional support staff and faculty to produce video that will be meaningful to students and support their success in a class. In outlining this approach, the paper also explores technological and pedagogical considerations related to each of these steps that can help faculty and staff determine how best to incorporate video into online classes. Finally, supported by research on best video practices and with examples from our own experiences as instructional designers and instructors, the paper outlines how these steps relate to four broad categories of video: introduce, model, explain/inform and feedback. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper advances theorising around student geographies in higher education ( HE). It extends recent work, which has problematised the primacy of social class and binary thinking about student mobilities, and presents local/non-local experiences and im/mobility as a defining dualism. Drawing on a qualitative longitudinal study of women's experiences during and on completion of HE, the following explores the ways in which a more diverse and constantly negotiated set of mobility practices emerge relationally, in the stratified field of HE, and through shifting personal and emotional attachments. Theoretically, the paper develops a new approach to student mobilities, synthesising dominant Bourdieusian notions of field with relational theories pertaining to mobilities (e.g. Adey, 2009), emotion (e.g. Holmes, 2010) and personal life (e.g. Mason, 2004; Smart, 2007). Such an approach makes it possible to move beyond the binary thinking that has become entrenched in policy and academic debates about student mobilities, and recognise a broader range of movements, flows, stops and starts that emerge relationally, emotionally and temporally as students and graduates move into and through HE. It is argued here that, given the policy emphasis on accelerated and flexible HE provision ( BIS, 2016), a gradational view of student mobilities is more important than ever. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]