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World university rankings use the weight-and-sum approach to process data. Although this seems to pass the common sense test, it has statistical problems. In recent years, seven such problems have been uncovered: spurious precision, weight discrepancies, assumed mutual compensation, indictor redundancy, inter-system discrepancy, negligence of indicator scores and inconsistency between changes in ranking and ‘Overall’. These issues render the validity of ranking results suspect. Moreover, discussion on problems in world university ranking has been conducted mostly at the verbal level with little substantiation of supporting statistics. It is argued that discussion on ranking issues needs statistical evidential support. Modifications to the approach of processing ranking data are suggested. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Examines the role of the government in the higher education sector in Australia. Importance of governmental support to the changes needed by the universities; Role of the government in research and teaching funding; Functionality in the development of industrial relations and other related policies; Responsibility in shaping the higher education system for national policy purposes.

This paper analyses the contents of the first thirty years of the Journal of Higher Education Policy and Management and its predecessor, the Journal of Tertiary Education Administration. The paper examines the papers published between 1979 and 2008 according to their authorship, country of origin and broad content, noting changes over time. In the broadest of terms, the proportion of papers written by academic staff and by women has increased, as has the proportion of papers from sources other than Australia and New Zealand. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The work is inspired by a wider policy aim, namely, to raise higher education participation and attainment by Australian regional communities, which have traditionally had lower levels of participation than their metropolitan cousins. The full impact of the pandemic is yet to be known, but the works in this special issue, which were produced during the days of the pandemic and lockdowns, suggest that the challenges that have long plagued the higher education sector continue to do so. It has been a tumultuous period since the publication of the last Master of Tertiary Education (Management) (MTEM) special issue of student practitioner papers, not least of which is the advent of the global pandemic. [Extracted from the article]

This paper analyses the extent to which intersectionality is considered in university strategic approaches to equity, diversity, and inclusion, and how intersectionality is expressed within strategic plans. Intersectionality is a framework for understanding compounding experiences of those who identify with multiple diversity areas and how these factors interact to create an experience specific to this combination. Through a survey of publicly available diversity and inclusion action plans at Australian universities, this paper maps the extent of both intersectionality awareness and enactment. This paper shows that while there were mentions of intersectionality, these were often limited to aspirational statements and acknowledgements rather than meaningful enactment. This demonstrates a desire by universities to respond to intersectionality in education, but either a lack of action or understanding of how to act for positive impact. This paper provides considerations and recommendations for Australian universities to meaningfully include intersectionality in their strategies and action plans. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

While the context is shaped by the COVID-19 pandemic, the major themes of the Special Issue link directly to fundamental moral questions of the purpose and goals of tertiary education. In presenting the Special Issue, we emphasise the diversity of the world's higher education systems, cultures and practices, to expand our collective imagination of what tertiary education is and could be. How nations assert their national and regional cultures in adapting introduced models of higher education is an emerging topic of some urgency, given the continuing role of Western higher education in neo-colonialism. [Extracted from the article]

Qatar's transition from a hydrocarbon-based to a knowledge-based economy spurred the development of Education City, which houses several International Branch Campuses and one home-grown university, Hamad bin Khalifa University. Through the case study of EC, this paper seeks to improve our understanding of higher education policy borrowing and the complex process of indigenisation. Using secondary data from prior studies, it offers a discussion on the key stages and challenges in Qatar's effort to indigenise higher education and outlines areas for further research. This paper uses Phillips and Ochs four-stage Model of Policy Borrowing in Education, as a guiding conceptual model. The paper is constructed as follows: first, a discussion on international branch campuses in Education City; second, outlining the conceptual model; third, a discussion on Education City through the conceptual model; and finally, the case of the home-grown university, Hamad bin Khalifa University. [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]

Few issues have attracted as much policy interest in the tertiary sector as graduate employability. Graduate employability positions universities and their students as key players in the national economy. At the same time, the standard conception of graduate employability, as it has evolved from human capital theory and modified by neoliberal ideology, has met with significant criticism. This paper reports on our analysis of the strategic plans of Australia's 42 operating universities current in 2018 to better understand (1) the extent to which employability was embedded in each university's strategic priorities and (2) the ways in which employability was characterised in those plans. Our paper provides empirical evidence of the way in which Australian universities universally and uniformly adopted a particular model of employability, simultaneously claiming its distinctiveness. Our analysis suggests the need for Australian universities to take a more thoughtful and nuanced approach to graduate employability. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Whilst the practitioner field around current student communications has developed in recent years, most published research still focuses either on prospective students, theoretical benefits of student communications or usage of individual channels of communication. This paper contributes to policy and practice by providing the first UK-wide look at current students' communications preferences and behaviours through a meta-analysis of 17 student communications surveys (total students surveyed 20,134). Results show that students expect their universities to utilise a range of channels (including email, social media and student portals) – i.e. an integrated marketing theory approach. Most students feel that they receive the right level of information; however, overall satisfaction with communications has decreased in recent years. This paper provides recommendations for practice, as well as a template to improve consistency in future institutional student communications evaluations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In more fluid higher education environments, the concept of third space has been developed to explore the activities of groups of staff who do not necessarily fit formal institutional descriptors. This paper draws on qualitative data from 26 respondents, in eight UK universities, who described significant elements of their work as occurring between professional and academic spheres of activity. Comparing individuals categorised as fully fledged 'third space professionals' with those categorised as simply 'working in third space', the paper suggests that the way individuals build and use social capital, and the recognition accorded to them by institutions, not only impacts on the way that they develop their roles but also is a significant factor in determining their career direction and aspirations. Furthermore, this has led to a general shift from the concept of service to one of partnership between colleagues, whether they are formally classified as 'academic' or 'professional'. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Referring to failures in policy-driven public governance research this paper looks at strategising in higher education. It expands horizons for understanding university strategies in a more nuanced way than hitherto has been done. Deploying systems theory, it shows how different temporalities co-exist in strategies and how their change reflects the university's capacity to meet future contingencies. Extending the current research on strategising, the paper uses the present's past, the present's future, the future's present and the future's future as temporal categories to understand strategies. It shows how strategies evolve from traditional linear planning orientation to a novel potentiality-seeking mode with unique meanings attached to unknown futures. It claims that universities develop such responsive contingency awareness to construct a leeway for their self-governance in the face of unexpected future conditions. This change is characterised by the emergence of a potentialising organisation seeking to turn indeterminant futures into its developmental resources. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Anecdotal evidence suggests that there is growing concern about increasing administrative burden within universities around the world. At the same time, the literature explicitly devoted to the issue of administrative burden within universities remains relatively scant. Drawing on various bodies of literature and reflections on the situation at Australian universities, this paper (a) presents a conceptualisation of what constitutes administrative burden, considering its organisational implications for universities, (b) interrogates a range of potential drivers of administrative burden, and (c) outlines avenues for both future research into and for practical responses to the issue. The specific contributions of this paper include, first, showing that administrative burden can impact universities' core activities not only indirectly but also more directly, and second, illustrating that some of the key changes that were meant to make universities more efficient may have inadvertently increased levels of administrative burden. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The purpose of the paper is to examine the financial health of selected public universities in Malaysia. The study assessed the performance of Malaysian research universities, on the primary reserve ratio, viability ratio, return on net asset ratio and net operating revenue ratio, as well as the Hirschman-Herfindahl Index for revenue diversification from 2010 to 2020. Results suggest poor financial health, high dependence on government funding and revenue volatility. Several universities recorded consecutive financial deficits in recent years. Third-stream revenues are low, and the universities are struggling to generate the 25% self-generated revenue target set by the government. This paper provides longitudinal empirical data on the financial health of public universities and has important implications for policymakers and university management in budget allocation and financial management decisions, particularly given the adverse financial impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The COVID-19 pandemic brought unprecedented challenges to higher education. This paper explores the challenges Indonesian female academics encountered during the pandemic in which the boundaries between home and work were further blurred. Accordingly, the gender gap was further widened as unpaid and unacknowledged academic and domestic work disproportionately affected women. This paper draws on data gathered from survey, diary studies and in-depth interviews with female academics in the social sciences and humanities. It examines how Indonesian female academics juggled domestic and professional work at home, caring duties both at home and work, and shouldering administrative workloads. In addition, findings reveal that female academics found new meanings in their academic work and the importance of caring and collective solidarity, especially in a crisis such as the pandemic. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Universities face an uncertain funding environment and turbulent marketplace. Financial scenario modelling offers a potential mechanism to assist in navigating a way forward. Our previous paper on UK universities' practice found some variation in the sophistication of the approaches taken, but the overall impression was of a relatively simple approach, with spreadsheets generally viewed as having sufficient functionality to meet current strategic needs. This subsequent paper offers guidance on the construction of financial scenario models. It addresses the key variables that universities may wish to include, and it offers advice on how models might be formulated and evolve. The characteristics of differing approaches taken by universities in meeting their own scenario modelling requirements are explored by identifying three forms of model: basic, intermediate and advanced. The contribution of this paper is to enable universities, in the UK and beyond, to evaluate and improve their own financial scenario modelling practices. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper draws on a study that examined the experiences of four high-achieving Pasifika physiotherapy degree level students to identify factors contributing to their success. As peer students, they identified five approaches that assisted them to become high achievers within the tertiary environment. This paper refers specifically to these approaches as peer-based Pasifika pedagogies (PbPP) and broadly as culturally responsive practices. The aim of this paper is to examine how Pasifika pedagogies, such as PbPP provide culturally responsive practices that can address the 'culture of silence' while promoting the vā relationality, the cultural nuances and norms of their worldview as well as aligning it with modern pedagogies or tools to enhance success among Pasifika students in the New Zealand tertiary education context. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The sabbatical provides an important illustration of the changing nature of academic life and is a symbol of the growing demands of performativity. Drawing on historical literature and archival sources concerning university sabbaticals at Australian and English universities, the paper demonstrates that underlying assumptions about its purposes have changed slowly, but markedly, over time. A shift has occurred from a conception of the sabbatical as a period of rest, recuperation and academic travel to one of hyper-productivity. This change is linked to the emergence of the so-called research university, the rise of performativity, and the increasing demands of an audit culture. The academic sabbatical is also an often forgotten but significant indicator of the internationalisation of universities in the nineteenth and early to mid-twentieth century. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Working-class students often face more challenges in securing graduate-level jobs than their middle-class peers. This paper applies the concept of boundary crossing in studying the experience of Finnish business graduates from a working-class background (n = 27) and asks what types of boundaries they have faced and how they have managed them on their pathway through and after university studies. We identify three major boundaries: getting the actual study place, learning to be a student in university and graduating and getting a job in the graduate labour market. Our findings indicate that successful transitions are possible, as the Finnish higher education system enables them in many ways. However, successful boundary work demands socialising to the norms and values of the new social field as well as renewed relationships with one's social background. This paper discusses the implications of these findings for the development of inclusive policies and practices. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The demands arising from the COVID-19 pandemic have amplified the importance of resilience not only for students, but also for academics. This narrative review examines a phenomenon which has received little research attention, despite its significance during the pandemic, namely the resilience of academics in higher education. We refer to this as 'academic resilience'. The review investigates how academic resilience in higher education has been addressed in scholarship, with particular attention to the five major pandemics from 2001 to 2020. A review of fourteen relevant papers shows a lack of attention to the resilience of university teaching staff. Uncovering how academics overcome and withstand adversity on the one hand, and how higher education institutions have managed and supported the resilience of their staff on the other, this paper offers a conceptualisation of academic resilience that goes beyond the individual/environmental binary in scholarship. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Many of the universities in England publicise statements of their values, separately from other mission statements, aims or goals. This paper compares universities whose value statements contain direct references to diversity, inclusion or equality, with those that do not and seeks to explore whether such values are reflected in these institutions' student intakes. Although a relatively broad-brush approach, by focusing on the characteristics of student bodies (in terms of ethnicity, disability, and prior background in terms of school type attended and local area) the paper shows that in general there are minimal differences according to whether a university publically claims to value diversity according to available quantitative data. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper analyses the international financing of higher education, an important yet understudied facet of contemporary policy and practice. The paper takes the globally significant China–Australia relationship as a case study. This paper argues that analysing the international political economy of the China–Australia case better illuminates the dynamics of financials flow through situating them in their socio-political context. Through such analysis, the paper makes empirical contributions of relevance to policy and practice. It also contributes more broadly to reframing the design of work in this field by asserting the methodological need for analysing international finance and the conceptual need to take such matters into account. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Universities seeking to establish or expand their research missions in developed countries have at their disposal well-established literature on strategies to foster research capacity in universities. On the contrary, the literature on these processes in the context of developing countries is quite recent and scarce. We offer a descriptive, narrative review of the literature on research capacity building in universities in developing countries, both in terms of the conceptual models or theoretical frameworks used and of strategies reported. We also compare this corpus with recent literature on this set of issues coming from developed countries, covering 40 papers overall. On the theoretical side, we find substantial differences in density and content across both sets of papers. The empirical dimension suggests universities in developing countries tackle the problems of fostering research capacity piecemeal and idiosyncratically without the benefit of an overall conceptual model or blueprint to guide them. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

An introduction to the journal is presented which discusses articles on topics including a government review of New Zealand's tertiary education, the rising profile of non-academic research impact, and the impact of performance-based funding on continuing education.

Within the higher education sector in Australia regionality is not well defined, which is a significant issue for regional universities, given the opportunities for development and growth stemming from the Australian Government's focus on regional higher education. This paper contends that if regional universities are to operate successfully in an increasingly competitive sector, they need to centre their operations around a clear definition of regionality. Based on a review of definitions of regionality in international higher education contexts, and an analysis of how regionality is defined outside of higher education, this paper provides a definition of regionality for Australian higher education. Whilst acknowledging the differences in potential contexts and applications, this definition seeks to provide a basis upon which regional universities in Australia can determine the ways in which they may create a strong identity, achieve the Australian Government's objectives for regional higher education, and reap the associated benefits. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The thesis by publication is expanding across countries, institutions and disciplines, and so a more in-depth understanding of the format across contexts is warranted, to ensure that all stakeholders understand the implications of this format and implement it in a fair and transparent manner. This paper provides a cross-sectional analysis of policies related to the Thesis by Publication in six countries, investigating requirements and restrictions related to the timing and number of publications, publication and authorship status, preferred publication characteristics, and structure and format of the submission, with an ultimate aim to answer the question: what makes a Thesis by Publication? The findings show diversity across programs and flexibility within them, but present a common yet broad conceptualisation that maintains the integrity of doctoral research. Less attention to finer details may reflect flexibility and autonomy but may also lead to uncertainty for doctoral researchers, supervisors, and examiners. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article focuses on the questions of academic freedom, scholar activism, public science, and social engagement. The five authors represent scholars from different disciplines and scientific paradigms as well as diverse gender, sexual orientation, nationality, ethnic, and class backgrounds, yet they share a joint passion for academic ‘activism’. The paper, therefore, reflects a multitude of transdisciplinary perspectives and positionalities. This dialogue was born out of the group’s desire to investigate the role of scientists in public and political matters, including engagement in social justice. The interdisciplinary nature of the dialogue allows for comparisons between how activism is defined, perceived, practiced, and considered (un)welcome in the disciplines of Sociology, Psychology, Law, Media Studies, and Medical Sciences. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study explores the international engagement of academics and the factors influencing their engagement in internationalisation efforts in Cambodian universities. Data were gathered through online semi-structured interviews with academics and university administrators and later coded and analysed using reflexive thematic approach. The findings revealed that academics predominantly participate in outbound capacity development, with limited engagement in joint research projects and the internationalisation of curriculum and teaching. At the individual level, factors such as competencies, networking opportunities, sense of belonging, employment nature, and demographic attributes were found to influence the engagement in internationalisation. Additionally, institutional leadership, policies, human resources, and institution type were key institutional factors shaping their engagement. For effective promotion of engagement in internationalisation, greater commitment and support from the government and universities are crucial. This paper provides valuable insights into the experiences of Cambodian academics, contributing to the limited literature on higher education internationalisation in developing countries. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Globalisation, changes in technology and transportation, and isomorphic trends in the sector emphasise the need to identify the diversity of higher education institutions. As a response, classification mechanisms emerged in higher education in recent decades. While many studies on classification focus on the types and methodology, the examination of the utility of classifications is limited. Thus, this paper examines the perspectives of 14 people in critical positions on the Carnegie Basic Classification of Higher Education and is triangulated by institutional documents. The results revealed some important implications for policymakers and researchers. While the Carnegie Basic Classification seems to remain one of the significant sources in higher education, the availability of big data, along with varying new methodologies, began to threaten the usability of the classification system. Moreover, contrary to the role assigned to it earlier, Carnegie Basic Classification seems to contribute more to homogeneity in the system. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

International students are not only agents for the internationalisation of a campus environment but also a crucial source of income for universities and a country's economy. Thus, their recruitment and retention are vital and prioritised by university leadership and policymakers. However, scant attention has been given to investigating international student withdrawal, even more so on visa-related matters. This paper focuses on the lived experiences of five former students from Syria who withdrew from education pursuits in Malaysia due to visa-related issues. This phenomenological study found the absence of clear knowledge of immigration procedures among institution staff and unsympathetic treatment towards international students were the primary reasons behind withdrawals. These findings suggest negative student experiences affect not only current students but also potential students. Whilst the findings add to existing knowledge and future studies, the study marks the first in-depth investigation concerning the impact of visa-related issues on international student withdrawal. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Although previous work explained internal and external cultural challenges impacting academic integrity in the Muslim world, to date, no study has specifically examined the attempts and practices by the universities to address these challenges. The objective of this paper was to understand the actions taken by academics and institutions in the Muslim world to address, prevent breaches of academic integrity, and to recommend improvement of these practices. To capture institutional efforts and practices, relevant literature from 2010 to 2021 was reviewed to gather evidence of practices of academic integrity in higher education in the Muslim world. The findings suggest a framework that can be used for evaluation of current practices of academic integrity in the Muslim world, to go beyond plagiarism-focussed prevention, detection, and punishments. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

An introduction is presented in which the editor discusses various issues on the transformation in higher education systems, university leadership, and the national policy context in South East Asia

Within the ongoing debate on the roles and tensions between teaching and research in higher education, this paper explores the extent to which the pedagogical case study method can contribute to bridge the gap between teaching and research. Based on an initial survey on 1,057 university academics, the results reveal the existence of five major groups of academics with varying degrees of link between the two topics and demonstrate the variations in the contributions that pedagogical case studies contribute to classroom teaching and to scholarly research for each subgroup. The implications for higher education at both the institutional level and the personal academic level are then explored. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In 2017 Universities Australia initiated their Indigenous Strategy 2017–2020 which outlined a clear commitment for each university to appoint at least one Indigenous person to a senior executive role. Many universities are yet to realise this promise. In some cases, it is a situation of nil intent to do so, while others have an underlying desire to adhere to their commitment but with minimal success. Drawing on a larger study of Indigenous leadership in higher education, this paper focuses on the experiences of three recruiters who have been responsible for recruiting a senior Indigenous appointment. It provides an understanding of cultural complexities, recruitment barriers and key strategies which the sector can incorporate into their business activities to secure the best person for such positions. Notably, this paper argues there is no template for such positions and they are usually diverse in terms of their responsibilities and strategic outcomes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper responds to a growing literature arguing that change in higher education institutions might be better understood and managed if such institutions are understood as complex systems with emergent properties. Based on complexity theory, the paper articulates a set of characteristics that might be expected if institutions are in fact acting as complex systems. The utility of these characteristics for identifying complexity in the field is tested in the context of a large partnered research project involving the mathematics, science and education colleges from six Australian universities and their local K-12 schools. The study finds evidence of subsystem variations on the initial partnership priorities, including substantial boundary crossing, leading to emergence and co-evolution, indicating that a macroscopic view of emergent variation rather than 'micromanaging' may be an essential factor in scaling and sustaining collaborative partnerships. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Increasing focus worldwide on accountability and quality assurance in universities has forced senior management to develop policies to address academic support at institutional-level. One such area is the mathematical and statistical skills that students in many disciplines need to succeed. In common with many countries, large numbers of students at English universities arrive inadequately prepared for their courses' quantitative demands. University-wide mathematics and statistics support provision has been developed to mitigate this problem. We explore such provision from the perspective of institutional accountability and quality assurance, researching the extent to which such support is referenced in institutionally-written regulatory documents. The documents reveal that mathematics and statistics support is stated as contributing to retention, achievement, employability and widening participation. The paper closes with implications and recommendations drawn from the analysis of these documents and therefore is of relevance to those responsible for development and implementation of institutional teaching and learning strategies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

External quality assurance of higher education is possibly the most significant emergent policy within the higher education sector in recent times. This paper examines policy enactment in Samoa, highlighted in the relational tension between the national university and the national external quality assurance body. Research findings indicate that EQA policy enactment was characterised by tensions attributed to mutual distrust, uneven and unnegotiated power relationships, personality clashes at the decision-making level, and disagreement on policy ideas. I suggest that the reason for the drawn-out tension was due predominantly to inattention to the ethics of relationality which underpins Samoan social relations and the need to negotiate the vā in the policy enactment space. Moreover, the disconnect between quality assurance policy expectations and the contextual realities of a developing university was not addressed, further heightening policy tensions. Suggestions for reframing of EQA policy are put forward to support sustainable development of quality higher education in Samoa. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper, based on 100 in-depth interviews conducted in Poland and another 40 in Slovakia, analyses life trajectories of foreign-born scholars who decided to pursue careers in Central Europe. Their narratives are very different from the regular "linear" careers reported in the studies focused on academic profession, which usually start with good student performance and proceed to publications, research projects, and conference appearances, to growing recognition, and finally, retirement. The overarching research question of this paper is, How do contingent factors shape the academic careers of foreign-born scholars in Central Europe? The study demonstrates that, in the semi-peripheries of global knowledge production, a typical recruitment process is triggered by external factors usually unrelated to professional motivations (e.g. a romantic relationship or an unexpected academic job offer). The decision to migrate is usually made with limited knowledge about the receiving country. The emic category of "dart throw" captures this situation well. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Despite the large number of studies about competences in higher education, several important gaps in research can be identified. The present paper aims to fill two of these gaps by analysing the influence of generic-academic competences on individuals' satisfaction with the learning experience, and of this satisfaction on their loyalty to their higher education institution. Loyalty is measured through two components: intentions of recommending the higher education institution, that is, word of mouth (WOM) communication and confirmation of past behaviour. Moreover, two key actors in the learning process -current students and ex-students- have been analysed. Partial Least Squares (PLS) are used to analyse the structural model and to test possible differences between groups. The findings demonstrate that satisfaction is a fundamental mediator between generic-academic competences and loyalty. Institutions have to reinforce generic-academic competences, focusing both on current students and ex-students to obtain loyal customers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article offers the author's insights on the long time and process for journals before its official publication. The author relates on the publication of the "Journal of Higher Education Policy and Management" in which people involving editors, peer reviewers, and printers take time to publish the specific issue. He mentions that papers go through various processes which include restructuring resubmitting, and reviewing. He adds that referencing is also given attention by authors and editors.

Conceptualising the quality of higher education as fitness for purpose begs the question of whose purpose? Thus, understanding who has dominance over Australia's higher education system, and what purpose it is seen to fulfil, is important for ensuring that current quality assurance methods are effective. This paper presents the findings of a discourse analysis conducted to explore the unspoken purpose contained in the documents published by the Australian higher education regulator and quality assurance agency. Through the analysis of the Act, newsletter articles published by the agency, and selected relevant documents, the paper shows that the national system is positioned as an export service industry. The paper highlights some of the implications this has on the methods employed to assure the quality of the national system, including the risk posed to the system by a singularity of purpose, and discusses some of the current conditions which may have led to this state. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper provides a critical account of the role of universities in the development of innovation and technology in Hong Kong.To do so, the paper examines the political economy of Hong Kong's innovation and technology development. It outlines a finance-led regime, under which the vision of long-term innovation initiatives is transformed into short-term finance events, and the development of an entrepreneurial culture in society and in universities is neglected. The paper also suggests that the current research funding system and the rise of managerialism in the higher education sector restrict the development of academic entrepreneurship, though universities play a significant role in the innovation system. The paper closes by examining the recent changes in higher education policy and governance, the intensification of integration with mainland China and their implications for prospects of advocating a culture of innovation and promoting innovation and technology in Hong Kong. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper assesses the evolution and current situation of the Chinese research system, mainly the academic research system from 1996 to 2017, using trend analysis and the revealed comparative advantage (RCA) index. Despite the impressive growth of China's knowledge capability, as measured by the number of publications in the international indexed literature over the past four decades, the country is still in a catching-up pattern with the world's most advanced research systems, instead of being a full-fledged scientific superpower. The analysis shows that China's publication growth has been to some extent inflated, as it was boosted by the inclusion of Chinese language journals in the international indexed literature. Therefore, this growth should be considered in a more moderate light. The competitiveness of China's disciplinary areas appears somewhat stalled when comparing the 1996–2000 and 2013–2017 periods, during which the same STEM-related disciplinary areas were the most competitive. This finding reveals not only a specialised knowledge structure, typical of catching-up countries, but also underperforming and neglected disciplinary areas in the social sciences, humanities and health sciences from a research funding standpoint. Based on this assessment, it is recommended that policymakers and university administrators change their focus from research quantity to research visibility by allocating funding in a less concentrated way to STEM fields, while promoting collaborative initiatives that can encourage the qualifications of academics and the visibility of the knowledge they produce. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Higher education has existed in Australia for 170 years, yet Indigenous Australians have participated for only half a century. One key change the Australian higher education sector has witnessed over the last decade is the steady increase of people occupying senior Indigenous leadership roles. These positions are indeed relatively new and have not been empirically investigated until now. Reporting on findings from an Australian Research Council funded study on Indigenous leadership in higher education, this paper highlights some of the discrepancies in how the skills of Indigenous leaders are interpreted by the academy, with a hope to challenge the sector's next senior non-identified appointments to ensure that Indigenous people become integral architects in designing the future Australian higher education sector. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Definitions of disability are changing, shifting from a narrow medical diagnosis to a biopsychosocial model of disability, where disability is conceptualised as a series of relational conditions that can potentially disadvantage individuals within environments. Implications of this new understanding of disability will have significant effects in the higher education sector, where there is increasing participation of disabled students. In this paper, we discuss one aspect of these implications through the topic of graduate employability. In doing so, we generate a new concept 'Employability for Inclusion' that can be utilised as an equity-focused lens for universities to consider how employability initiatives are inclusive to disabled and/or diverse students. To unpack this concept, we further illustrate how a biopsychosocial model of disability would impact key employability activities (e.g., work-integrated learning) and provide valuable insights into how the higher education sector can adopt emerging conceptualisations of disability and inclusion. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The nature of academic appointments in Australia has changed. Given the recent emergence and growth of teaching focused academics roles across countries and contexts, in this conceptual paper we begin by parsing the language and role descriptions used for these academic appointments. Then, we consider what we know about teaching focused academics roles, and the research approaches used in these studies. We identify that teaching focused academics s struggle to understand, capture, and represent the knowledge creation component of their academic workload. We argue there is a need for research that builds a richer and holistic understanding of teaching focused roles and their workloads. We offer a solution: a learning-practice conceptual framework – combining Ann Webster-Wright's authentic professional learning and Trowler's practice sensibility with Goodyear's framework for design – to open new vistas of research and policy implementation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Skills in science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) are promoted by the Australian government as pivotal for Australia's economic prosperity. Research on equity groups suggests that group membership is associated with several factors linked to 'leakage' from the STEM pipeline of school, university and transition to work. In this paper we draw on longitudinal Australian data to understand what factors influence the participation of equity group students in university STEM courses, and to explore how the STEM pathways of those groups differ from those of non-equity students. We identified several important factors which influence participation at two critical points of the STEM pipeline; transition from school into university, and transition from university into the STEM workforce. Our results indicated that higher levels of mathematics self-concept and instrumental valuing of mathematics in early adolescence predict continuation in the STEM pathway for all students and particularly those from low socioeconomic status backgrounds. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study examines the research output of female staff and the factors that affect their research productivity in the Nigerian university system. The study was carried out with a view to promoting strategies that will enhance productivity and increase the research output of female staff in Nigerian universities. The study adopted a survey research design. The purposive sampling method was used in administering questionnaires to 381 female academic staff from twelve randomly selected universities in the six geo-political zones of Nigeria. The study revealed that female research output was generally low: 59.5 per cent of female academics published one paper annually; 23.6 per cent published up to two papers; 1.1 per cent published three papers; and 15.8 per cent did not publish on an annual basis. Although most female academic staff published annually, most wished to increase their publication rate. The study's results found that marital status, religion, academic position and number of hours of lectures per week had an impact on their ability to carry out research and publish the results. The study concluded that female academics made contributions that are more significant to teaching than research and that the Nigerian university system needs to develop strategies to enhance female research output. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

An introduction is presented in which the editor discusses various reports within the issue on topics including Stuart Palmer's paper on the use of Twitter, Kylie Smith's paper dealing with academic promotion and Lorna Moxham's paper related to issues of doctoral students.