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Environmental degradation has become a major concern around the world. Fostering pro-environmental behaviour is considered among key solutions to reduce impacts towards conservation and rehabilitation of the environment. Various stakeholders have been developing strategies to promote pro-environmental behaviour, especially from an early age that is at student level but environmental issues still prevail on the local and global agenda. Therefore, this makes it questionable about the readiness of learners to change their behaviours towards implementing pro-environmental practices. Literature shows that limited work has been undertaken to assess readiness to change towards pro-environmental behaviour. Taking cognizance of this gap, this paper investigates and analyses the readiness of students towards pro-environmental behaviour by using the Transtheoretical Model of Behaviour Change. A survey was conducted in secondary and higher education institutions in Mauritius. Results showed that demographic factors including gender, level of education and age group had an influence on pro-environmental behaviour. In addition, even though the larger group of participants showed positive attitudes towards protecting the environment, only a smaller percentage had actively changed their behaviours towards a pro-environmental one. As a solution, an integrated framework was proposed in this study to foster pro-environmental behaviour among students. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Focuses on Australian university publications. Choice of performance indicators; Incentive for placement in a prestigious journal.

This paper examines the relationship between political change and epistemologies and methodologies employed at doctorate level. It does so by analysing the range of topics, questions and methodologies used by doctoral students at the University of Pretoria’s Faculty of Education between 1985 and 2005—a time-frame that covers the decade before and the decade after South Africa’s historical transition to democracy in 1994. During this period the composition of doctoral students at that faculty changed from being largely white and male to a more diverse population in terms of gender and race. A crucial shift took place after 2000 with the arrival of a Black dean who sought to introduce a transformational shift. The paper makes use of Karmon’s notion of epistemic environment, which refers to the way knowledge is conceptualised at institutional level. The data shows how the authoritarian and regulated epistemic environment that shaped the conception of knowledge at the faculty until 2000 created doctoral dissertations that aimed to correct and guide the society but lacked critical discourse and relevance to South Africa’s political, social and educational context. While the transition to democracy in 1994 produced merely semantic changes, if any, the strong internal initiative to change the research culture from 2000 onwards has managed to shift basic notions of truth and knowledge and the understanding of the role and nature of research. This movement was, however, constrained by the institution’s long-established epistemic environment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper discusses the role of higher education institutions within the framework of the knowledge triangle between academic education, scientific research and innovation, as it has gained importance in recent years as a framework for innovation policies especially in the OECD and Europe. First, complementary concepts of universities' outreach activities and extended role model such as 'third mission', 'triple helix', 'entrepreneurial or civic university' models and 'smart specialization' are reflected against their fit with the concept of the knowledge triangle, also with respect to new requirements for university governance. Second, a new understanding of spillovers between public sectors research and the business sector according to knowledge triangle is presented. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The ‘independent learner’ is a key construct within discourses of educational policy and practice in the UK. Government policy statements stress the importance of developing learner independence, and higher education pedagogical practices tend to rest on the assumption that students are independent learners. This paper draws on research with undergraduate students in a post-1992 university to offer a critical appraisal of the discourse of the independent learner. The paper examines students’ perceptions of independence in both their first year of undergraduate study, and in the later years of their degree courses. Support for learning and issues related to asking for help are discussed. Whilst students tend to both expect and want to be independent, it is suggested that dominant constructions of the independent learner are gendered and culturally specific, and as such are inappropriate for the majority of students in a mass higher education system. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper analyzes the effect of a statewide merit-based scholarship program on educational outcomes in Arizona. It tests whether Arizona's Instrument to Measure Standards (AIMS) scholarship has an effect on a comprehensive set of educational outcomes such as the number of applicants, student admissions, first-year first-time enrollment, ACT scores of entering freshman, retention rates, as well as on the level of tuition and fees at the three schools targeted by the program; Arizona State University, University of Arizona and Northern Arizona University. Both difference-in-differences estimation as well as synthetic control methods shows that AIMS has an economically and statistically significant effect enrollment. Enrollment effects are greatest among African American and Hispanic students and are significant for both men and women. While point estimates suggest that AIMS also lead to increases in tuition and fees, these results are not robust to placebo tests. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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The paper considers the role of universities as actors in regional development, and the implications for approaches to knowledge, including knowledge construction. The new role for universities requires the production of knowledge, which relates to the needs of the region. Particular attention was given to the Agder region of Norway, and Agder University College. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The aim of this paper is to discuss the prospects of Latin American public universities. Its main assertion is that universities could become important actors of development in Latin America, but prevailing trends point in another direction. The paper focuses on the interactions between, on the one hand, specific traditions and social contexts, and, on the other hand, global trends concerning the role of knowledge and academic changes. The specific traits of the evolution of Higher Education in Latin America are discussed, in order to describe the emergence of an original ‘idea of University’. Changes and continuities during the last decades of the 20th century are summarized. Similarities and differences between developed countries and Latin America concerning current trends in Higher Education are analyzed. Particular attention is given to the interactions between what is happening in Latin American universities and the new insertion of the continent in the global economy. A prospective analysis is attempted, focusing on the social commitment of universities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper examines Oxford University students’ conceptions of the role of the tutorial in their learning. An analysis of interviews with 28 students constituted four qualitatively different conceptions of the ‘Oxford Tutorial’. These ranged from the tutorial involving the tutor explaining to the student what the student did not know, to the tutorial involving the tutor and the student in exchanging different points of view and both coming to a new understanding of the topic under discussion. These different conceptions also appeared to be related to variations in students’ views of the role of the work done in preparation for the tutorial, their view of the student’s and tutor’s roles in the tutorial, and the conception of knowledge that students adopted in relation to the tutorial. The implications of this study are discussed in terms of the relations between students’ conceptions of tutorials and their anticipated learning outcomes and its implications for contexts outside of Oxford in terms of students’ conceptions of academic tasks. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper investigates the joint effects of academic self-efficacy and stress on the academic performance of 107 nontraditional, largely immigrant and minority, college freshmen at a large urban commuter institution. We developed a survey instrument to measure the level of academic self-efficacy and perceived stress associated with 27 college-related tasks. Both scales have high reliability, and they are moderately negatively correlated. We estimated structural equation models to assess the relative importance of stress and self-efficacy in predicting three academic performance outcomes: first-year college GPA, the number of accumulated credits, and college retention after the first year. The results suggest that academic self-efficacy is a more robust and consistent predictor than stress of academic success. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper argues that some of the current trends affecting academe impede on key institutional structures, or sets of interrelated norms for academic conduct, which are necessary for sustaining collective action among academics. In this sense academics and academic units may find themselves `between a rock and a hard place', that is with new pressures for relevance, stakeholder integration and commercialisation on one side, and on the other a number of withering social conditions for actually doing good on these new requirements from the point of view of knowledge creation. The paper identifies and reviews four specific changes in this regard: secrecy and withholding behaviour, new notions of `users', managerialism, and external PhD sponsorship. These changes are then related to three forms of problematic institutional changes: (1) a fragmentation of the academic constituency, (2) a bi-lateralization of information sharing, and (3) deprofessionalization. Finally, a number of possible meta-institutional norms are suggested for academic conduct, which may ameliorate institutional fragmentation and stimulate a coherent professionalization of academic life. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The paper explores international comparisons of the extent of commonality or diversity in the main national external quality assurance frameworks for higher education. It has been suggested, from an European survey, that there are common features in national quality assurance frameworks (van Vught and Westerheijden (Quality Management and Quality Assurance in European Higher Education: Methods and Mechanisms) 1993; Luxembourg, Commission of the European Communities, Education Training Youth). The paper extends the survey, tapping other comparative reports. These comparisons show that a `general model' of external quality assurance does not universally apply, but that most elements of it do apply in most countries. We conclude that the `general model' provides a starting point from which to map deviations. In each country, there may be specific additions of elements or omissions from the model, but more usually there are modifications or extensions of elements. These variations are determined by practicalities, the size of the higher education sector, the rigidity/flexibility of the legal expression of quality assurance (or the absence of enshrinement in law), and the stage of development from state control of the sector. Some additions to the `general model' are suggested. The paper also considers efforts to produce an international scheme for external quality assurance of higher education, and the applicability of the `general model' to the transfer of quality assurance frameworks from country to country. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In current debates over the future of core institutions in a `knowledge society', universities figure most prominently. It seems clear that they are crucial nodes in the overall knowledge producing system, which, however, need to be repositioned and reformed. Therefore, the learning capacities of universities are of central relevance. But how do universities adapt to new challenges? The central claim of the paper is that the rapid change of pace at the level of higher education discourse is hardly met at the level of universities. Here, one has to take the path-dependent character of their structures, practices and identity concepts into account. Therefore, learning the `new, new thing' is a more cumbersome process than might be expected at first sight. Empirical evidence for this claim is drawn from the institutionalization of technology transfer offices at German universities. Based on these findings, further general policy and research perspectives on the role of path dependency in university structures are discussed at the end of this paper. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study reports the results of a survey gauging academic staff response to the notion of introducing a comprehensive system of peer review of teaching for summative purposes into the University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg (Wits), and, through a correlation of these responses with some American perspectives on peer review, proposes a system which might accommodate the needs of academic staff not only at Wits but in any comparable institution at which student evaluation of teaching has come almost to preclude other forms of assessment. The paper argues against the disjunction of formative and summative evaluation, advocating, through the design of the peer review system proposed in the study, the long-term development of the individual within a conception of holistic advancement in the university. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Policies designed to address the crisis of the Ph.D undersupply should take the diversity of size lost generation into account. To document this diversity, this paper Identifies eight general adaptations to the restricted opportunities for Ph.D.'s as then groups these types according to their ease of usefulness for resolving the crisis of undersupply. To facilitate the re-entry of lost generation sociologis this paper clarifies how institutional barriers foster a "Matthew Effect that works against re-entry The paper then concludes by recommending that universities re-place the retiring cohorts by rigorously selecting and training a limited number of new Ph.D.'s while employing full-time competent researchers and teachers from the lost generation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Introduction: More and more universities are receiving accreditation from the Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business (AACSB), which is an international association for promoting quality teaching and learning at business schools. To be accredited, the schools are required to meet a number of standards ensuring that certain levels of teaching quality and students' learning are met. However, there are a variety of points of view espoused in the literature regarding the relationship between research and teaching, some studies have demonstrated that research and teaching these are complementary elements of learning, but others disagree with these findings. Case description: Unlike past such studies, we focus on analyzing the research performance of accredited schools during the period prior to and after receiving accreditation. The objective is to answer the question as to whether performance has been improved by comparing the same school's performance before and after accreditation. In this study, four AACSB accredited universities in Taiwan are analyzed, including one teaching oriented and three research oriented universities. Research performance is evaluated by comparing seven citation statistics, the number of papers published, number of citations, average number of citations per paper, average citations per year, h-index (annual), h-index, and g-index. Discussion and evaluation: The analysis results show that business schools demonstrated enhanced research performance after AACSB accreditation, but in most accredited schools the proportion of faculty members not actively doing research is larger than active ones. Conclusion: This study shows that the AACSB accreditation has a positive impact on research performance. The findings can be used as a reference for current non-accredited schools whose research goals are to improve their research productivity and quality. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Based on the practical experience of establishing three art casting laboratories in three different colleges of Guangdong, this paper focuses on the development of contemporary art casting's education. By analyzing the reason for the shortage of professionals nowadays and the characteristics of modern foundry industry in the Pearl River Delta, the authors try to find out what kind of knowledge structures a modern foundry industry professional should have. Then, from the viewpoint of education, the authors introduce how to combine the art casting laboratory and the creative art casting course as a new teaching pattern, on the one hand, to attract more students to study casting technology, on the other hand, to train them to be qualified professionals for the modern foundry industry. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Many students now are receiving instruction in online environments created by universities, museums, corporations, and even students. What features of a given online course contribute to its effectiveness? This paper addresses that query by proposing and applying an analytic framework to five online introductory chemistry courses. Introductory chemistry was chosen because, as the central science, chemistry is a core component of scientific literacy as well as a long-established prerequisite for science, engineering, and medical fields. An online instructional delivery system has the potential to overcome the limitations of the traditionally large and passive lecture format characteristic of an introductory chemistry course by providing students with opportunities for active engagement and support in the learning process via self-pacing, dynamic expositions, interactive problem solving, and open ended or scaffolded explorations of new information. The proposed framework for addressing the effectiveness of online chemistry courses is informed by both cognitive and chemistry education research on examples, tasks, and explorations and includes a catalog of possible online resources. As a demonstration of the framework, an analysis was conducted on each course’s instruction in stoichiometry, a tool that is both challenging to students and fundamental to the solution-chemistry topics addressed during subsequent coursework. The application of this framework revealed characteristics of the courses that could affect their instructional effectiveness as well as students’ impressions of what it means to “do chemistry.” [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Changed funding arrangements and views of education have resulted in a re-prioritization of activities and practices in Australian universities. While considerable research attention has been given to the consequences of these changes for university policies and the activities of academic staff, less attention has been given to how students perceive these changes. In this paper, undergraduate students’ experience of the commodification of higher education sector are explored. The evidence suggests that the changed context is beginning to affect how students perceive university priorities and their effects on teaching and learning. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper draws on a four-year longitudinal ESRC funded project examining learning experiences of disabled students in higher education in four universities. The focus here is on institutional responses to the demands of audit culture and legislation in relation to making reasonable adjustments for students with impairments. The data comes from institutional documents and face-to-face interviews with key informants within the institutions. The findings indicate that quality assurance regimes and legislation have had some positive effect on improving access for disabled students; however, local factors and type of institution also have a major impact on the way that national policies are expressed in particular contexts. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The future of Western universities as public institutions is the subject of extensive continuing debate, underpinned by the issue of what constitutes valid knowledge. Where in the past only propositional knowledge codified by academics was considered valid, in the new economy enabled by information and communications technology, the procedural knowledge of expertise has become a key commodity, and the acquisition of this expertise is increasingly seen as a priority by intending university students. Universities have traditionally proved adaptable to changing circumstances, but there is little evidence to date of their success in accommodating to the scale and unprecedented pace of change of the Knowledge Economy or to the new vocationally-oriented demands of their course clients. And in addition to these external factors, internal ones are now at work. Recent developments in eLearning have enabled the infiltration of commercial providers who are cherry-picking the most lucrative subject areas. The prospect is of a fracturing higher education system, with the less adaptable universities consigned to a shrinking public-funded sector supporting less vocationally saleable courses, and the more enterprising universities developing commercial partnerships in eLearning and knowledge transfer. This paper analyses pressures upon universities, their attempts to adapt to changing circumstances, and the institutional transformations which may result. It is concluded that a diversity of partnerships will emerge for the capture and transfer of knowledge, combining expertise from the economy with the conceptual frameworks of the academy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Methodological diversity has enriched higher education research. One area about which little is known is the dynamics of multi-investigator multi-institutional projects. This paper examines what happens inside a large-scale, team-based research project with an emphasis on decision points related to methodology and reporting results. Systematically reflecting on the tensions that emerged during one effort can give license to other investigators to openly discuss and manage more productively the decisions and struggles in their research and avoid pitfalls that could compromise the research endeavor. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Nowadays, the principles of sustainable development are becoming increasingly important and universities are acting as agents in promoting these principles within society. In the future, universities will inevitably play crucial role in propagating these principles. This paper highlights important documents and discusses definitions of the term education for sustainable development. Elements, based on continuous feedback loop (Deming spiral) are discussed, in order to incorporate sustainability principles into university activities. The University of Maribor has been used as a case study to test the effectiveness of the proposed integration of sustainable development principles. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Over the last decade, policymakers, educators, and researchers have increasingly sought to understand community college policies and practices that promote students’ success. This effort has been partly driven by an increased emphasis on outcome accountability, but it has also promoted a productive discussion about improving institutional performance. The research reported here has two related goals. One goal is to work towards strengthening the ability to assess and compare institutional performance. We thus have developed a model that can be used to adjust simple graduation rates for institutional characteristics, such as student composition, college resources, size, and location, all of which might influence those rates. Our long-term goal is to understand how to improve student outcomes, so the paper also uses the model to measure the effect of those institutional characteristics on graduation rates. We use data from the Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System (IPEDS) surveys, applying a weighted least-squares procedure for grouped data to estimate an institutional-completion rates model. This analysis confirms several hypotheses about institutional determinants of graduation rates at community colleges. Our results indicate a consistent negative relationship between enrollment size and completion. Additionally, colleges with high shares of minority students, part-time students, and women have lower graduation rates. A final significant finding among institutional characteristics is that greater instructional expenditures are related to a greater likelihood of graduation. The method developed here can be used to better assess the performance of community colleges. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Institutions of higher education are looked to by society as the training grounds and gatekeepers for college-trained workers. However, despite a long history of being viewed by many as unresponsive to labor force needs, the academy has not found ways of effectively meeting these demands, nor articulating why it is that they have difficulty doing so. This paper discusses how institutional researchers can help explain to campus administrators and others the role that institutions play in training individuals for the workplace, and why they cannot always quickly respond to and solve shortages of college-trained workers. The first section outlines what economic theory and research has to say regarding labor markets, how labor market shortages arise, and how students make decisions about which major to pursue. The last section describes problems institutional researchers face when using their skills with data to identify solutions to this problem. Using data from the state of New Hampshire, it will be shown that the data available to institutional decisionmakers can be out of date, inaccurate, and not particularly useful for designing policies that would enable an institution to respond to the labor needs of the economy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Nowadays many schools in higher education implement problem-based learning to foster active learning processes by students. In some schools with a number of years of experience with this approach, phenomena can be observed which indicate signs of wear. The implementation of a large-scale innovation such as problem-based learning (PBL) seems to provoke different activities and attitudes in those actors who are most involved. Students and staff members seem to behave in a way which could be counterproductive to the development of self-directed learning. In the first part of this paper, we briefly describe the cognitive psychological background of PBL. In the second part various adjustments observed in problem-based curricula and their effects on students’ learning are analyzed. Arguments are presented about adverse effects on the implementation of this educational innovation. Special attention is given to teachers’ concerns. In the third part suggestions are made about ways to revitalize PBL processes as well as suggestions about effecting educational innovations on a more solid basis [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Japanese education has been a focus of comparative studies for the past 20 years. Many scholars have attributed the economic success of this industrialized society to a highly literate and well-educated population. Recent studies, however, have tended to be more critical of, in particular, Japanese higher education (HE). Indeed, most universities in Japan are acutely aware of the need for change and a considerable effort at institutional reform is sweeping the nation. Unfortunately most of the constructive criticism of Japanese HE has not yet been published in English. One of the most vocal of the reformists, Professor Ikuo Amano, has published widely on various aspects of HE in Japan. The following paper is a translation of a chapter in his book Challenges to Japanese Universities. This translation is prefaced by both a synopsis of this book as well as a brief introduction to Amano and his work. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The purpose of this paper is to identify the factors that predict students’ perceptions of their institution’s success in achieving a positive climate for diversity. This study examines a sample of 544 students at a large, public, predominantly White Mid-Western institution. Results show that students’ perceptions of the institution’s ability to achieve a positive climate for diversity is a reflection of students’ precollege interactions with diverse peers and the institution’s ability to incorporate diversity-related issues into its curriculum. Results also indicate that these perceptions differ by race and gender. Implications for institutional researchers are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The aim of this article is to outline a theoretical framework to address Higher Education organizational change in a globalized and globalizing age. The paper will start with a brief description of trends characterizing the global landscape and their relationships with Higher Education policies and institutions. Although these trends are well known, their impact on HE institutions is to some large extent ambiguous and open to different and even diverging interpretations. In particular, is possible to identify two main and opposed interpretations concerning globalization outcomes: (1) the convergence thesis, that emphasizes the homogenization processes (2) the divergence thesis that, on the contrary, emphasizes different, pluralistic and localized responses to globalization processes. In terms of organizational change the debate focuses on isomorphic change vs. idiosyncratic strategic responses, translation processes and heterogeneity. Both grasp a part of the truth, but they tend to offer mutually exclusive explanations of responses to wider institutional processes and pressures. The article argues that these perspectives could be integrated in one different, offering an interpretation of change dynamics, based on the concept of organizational allomorphism. This concept is derived from linguistics and it used to point out a morphological variant of a same morpheme depending on the context of use. A morphological variant is meant not to be something different or idiosyncratic, but something recognizable as a declension of one definite pattern or form. In organizational terms, this concept point out that, although organizations adapt or translate institutional patterns in the face of their formal structure and arrangements, as well as of their social context, it is possible to identify a common set of institutionalized patterns, or institutional archetypes, which structure the organizational arrangements and behaviors. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Today, numerous countries utilize unified methods and systematic standardized examinations such as national examinations as formal procedures to select qualified applicants for admission to higher education institutions since higher education is viewed as the major path and criterion to upward mobility. In Iran, the university entrance examination is of primary importance, as it serves a sensitive high-stakes test upon which the Iranian applicants' academic destinies depend. Considering this significance, the present study aimed to systematically review the recent developments and current state of the National University Entrance Examination (NUEE) in Iran which is locally known as "Konkour". To this end, a systematic-narrative hybrid literature review (SNHLR) was chosen for the purpose of the study. Following a manual search, 74 peer-reviewed research articles published (inter)nationally were selected and examined in order to identify key themes, patterns, gaps, and trends with regard to the consequences of "Konkour". The findings revealed that Iranian university applicants have faced various negative consequences such as socioeconomic, psychological, and educational implications as a result of "Konkour". Several challenges and key gaps in the existing studies are also highlighted which need to be empirically addressed in future research. Some suggestions and potential solutions are finally recommended in order to rectify the higher education admission system. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper assesses the effects of Council's 1988 commitment to increasing participation in ASA of faculty at two-year and four-year colleges. An extensive check of records from 1983 to 1994 shows that sociologists in two-year and four-year colleges: (1) now occupy about the same percentage of slots in the Annual Meeting as ten years ago, though the amount of participation by four-year college sociologists has increased significantly (due to the expanded size of the program); (2) are increasingly involved in ASA governance, though a large portion of the participation is confined to a small number of committees; and (3) are now more likely to serve on ASA Journal Editorial Boards, though much of the increased participation has occurred on only a couple of journals for sociologists in four-year colleges and on only one journal for those in two-year colleges. Whether increased participation is better under-stood in absolute or relative terms is discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Presents an article about a research which viewed an academic department at a university as a non-profit labor cooperative. Comparison of the behavior of the academic group with self-managed firms; Analysis of the basic propositions of the research; Comments on the application of discretionary theories of management behavior in the study.

Schools constantly evaluate, classify and differentiate between students in order to monitor their progress and make placement decisions. Educators conscientiously espouse the need for using fair, accurate and un-biased decision-making procedures. The study presented here describes the grading practices used in a university program in English Composition. It is a methodography focusing on graders' activities as they attempt to do what they feel is standardized, systematic, un-biased evaluation of college students' writing abilities. This program has gone to great lengths to make their procedures and criteria as objective as possible, a formal, explicit grading scale is used, graders are trained in the use of the scale, and graders are prevented from knowing anything about authors of the essay examinations they read. Graders evaluating writing skills orient to a number of contextual features of their work. This study examines some considerations that affect graders' ratings of college students' writing competence. It first discusses how graders utilize background knowledge about writers as they evaluate particular features of writing samples, even as these graders attempt to minimize their use of this subjective knowledge. It then examines the prospective orientation of graders' evaluation practices that makes the practical consequences of a grading decision a major determinant of competence designations.

In this paper we analyze the relations between university choice and earnings. We estimate a model in which a choice function determines the decision to apply to a particular university and thereby the switch to a particular wage regime. The wage structures of the options in turn determine the lifetime earnings prospects associated with those options, and these prospective earnings influence university choice. The results reveal some notable differences between the wage structures of graduates from different universities. In the choice function we find that graduates from different universities differ with respect to social background, gender and the motives that they consider important in choosing a department. A test on the possibility of pooling alternatives establishes heterogeneity of departments. Finally, we find that earnings prospects are not a particularly important factor in the choice of a specific university. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

To what extent does state policy for student financial aid affect the distribution of institutional aid awarded to students at public institutions? Using data from the National Postsecondary Student Aid Survey we employ a Tobit model to investigate the relationship between student characteristics, including family income and academic qualifications, and the amount of student financial aid awarded from institutional sources at public masters’ and bachelors’ degree granting institutions. We then ask if the institutional aid is awarded in a manner that complements or compensates for the student financial aid policy in the state. The results support our hypothesis that state policy for student financial aid affects the distribution of institutional aid, but instead of institutional compensation for state policy, we observe what appears to be compliance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The transformation of universities from elite to mass models in developing countries has given the opportunity to new social groups to participate in higher education. As a part of this process, diverse groups of students have benefited in different ways from the equal educational opportunities offered to them. In this paper, we approach the problem of institutional efficiency versus social inclusion in a developing country through the case study of the academic performance of a social group of recent participation in a public university in Venezuela, especifically that of student mothers in the Universidad de Los Andes. This work investigates how student mothers make use of the educational opportunities opened to them and how their academic performance is affected by their particular life circumstances. Evidence shows that the academic performance of student mothers is lower than that of other groups of university students. In practice, student mothers participate as part-time students, although this category is not officially recognized by most Venezuelan public universities. Almost all the life circumstances of student mothers negatively affect their academic performance. The only circumstance that contributes positively to the performance of a student mother is the help provided by her extended family in taking care of her children. The fact that student mothers are able to participate in higher education is mainly due to the help they receive from their extended family. This is a distinctive cultural feature associated to this social group in the context of a developing country such as Venezuela. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In common with universities in the United Kingdom, Canada and NewZealand, increasing numbers of Australian universities have established offshore education partnerships, particularly in the Asia-Pacific region. More than one-third of international students currently enrolled in Australian university courses study at a campus in their home country or somewhere other than in Australia (IDP 2002). Suchpartnerships, also assumed under the rubric of ‘transnational education’ and ‘franchising’, add additional challenges, complexities and risks to the roles of international education managers and administrators. Using convergent interviews and case studies, this paper identifies and examines the critical success factors for the successful establishment and development of relationships between Australian universities and their international partners. Critical among these are the development of effective communication structures and frameworks, the building of mutual trust, and the encouragement and demonstration of commitment between relationship partners. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Since 1999, Italian Universities have been monitoring teaching using students opinions to improve the quality of the education process. The acceleration of the evaluation has been promoted by ministerial laws, that have obliged Universities to write reports containing the main results. In this paper, the aim is to find a method to classify the Universities based on teaching evaluation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article discusses the internal and external dimensions of sociology in Singapore. There is a structural space for sociology in Singapore in the sense that there are people with an interest in the development of sociology in positions and with resources such that interest can be realized. Both the national government and the university are aware of and receptive to the contributions that systematic sociological research may offer. Similarly, there is an institutional space for sociology considering that Singapore meets sociologist Martin Albrow's criteria of a relatively open educational system and a developed research function in government and large organizations. The third kind of space is "cultural" space or "a set of ideas" that permit "reflexible social knowledge" and the study of "social relationship per se." Finally, the larger picture suggests that the majority of sociologists in Singapore implement in their professional work the dual mandate of sociology, that is, to contribute to the scientific growth of the discipline and to the solution of social problems.

Cloud computing is a new computing paradigm that is revolutionizing the way we access and use computer infrastructure and services. Universities in developing countries lag behind their Western counterparts due to lack of cutting edge technology required for teaching, collaboration, and research. The purpose of this study was to investigate the factors that impact diffusion, adoption, and usage of cloud computing at universities in sub-Saharan Africa (SSA). An adoption model was developed focusing on contextual factors and constructs from two technology adoption theories. Structural equation modelling was used for data analysis and model validation. Results from 355 valid responses to a survey of information and communication technology (ICT) experts and decision makers at universities in SSA indicated that socio-cultural factors, results demonstrability, usefulness, and data security significantly impact their propensity to recommend adoption of cloud computing in the universities. The implications of the findings and practical contributions are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The author reflects on the proposed change in the German constitution made by education and research minister Annette Schavan on March 4, 2012. The author says that the proposal focused on the funding of the government on the infrastructure and large equipment in universities. An overview of the funding of the federal government to universities is offered. The author suggests that the federal government should directly assure the survival beyond 2017 of successful institutes.

The Canadian university is undergoing the kind of neoliberal restructuring already well-established in the US. Neoliberal restructuring has increased graduate enrolment at universities, because the economy (apparently) needs well-educated workers. It is in this context that the PhD in Canada needs to be rethought. We need to reclaim our 'right to the university'. The type of 'research' the state, business and even our own universities invite us to conduct is too often in the interests of sustaining a political economy that is unjust. We must make strategic choices in order to undermine the neoliberal university. Inter-alia this may require that we spend less time training our graduate students to be teachers, and invest more energy in supporting original and critical research. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

As elsewhere, Irish universities are now actively rethinking the PhD degree and striving for improved student experiences and outcomes. We present here a student perspective on reform in the Irish system, using the case of the Department of Geography at the National University of Ireland Maynooth for illustration. Specifically we focus upon the introduction of compulsory and formal graduate education modules. We argue that formalised research training is worthwhile; however, we call attention to the importance of the student's autonomy and stress the importance of maintaining flexibility for the individual researcher. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article presents information related to The Faculty of Business Administration of National university of Singapore that offers the Master of Science (MSc) and Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) programmes for qualified local and international research students who want to upgrade their training in business administration, with a special focus on the business environment within the dynamic Asia Pacific region. In addition, to ensure that candidates have the necessary depth of preparation for academic research and teaching in their proposed area of specialization, they may be required to register for advanced readings, up to two such courses for MSc and four for PhD candidates.

The study investigated the stakeholders' perceptions of South Korea's higher education internationalization policy. Based on the research framework that defines four policy values-propriety, effectiveness, diversity, and engagement, the convergence model was employed with a concurrent mixed method sampling strategy to analyze the stakeholders' perceptions. According to the findings, the stakeholders perceived that the government's internationalization policy to date has contributed to the international competitiveness of Korean universities by and large in a quantitative manner. Their views however signaled that the government should consider the quality and identity of Korean higher education institutions when designing and implementing internationalization policy. Based on the implications that the findings have in the policy context, this study suggested two points for future policy research into Korean higher education internationalization: (1) develop a glonacal definition of world-classness for Korean universities and (2) build up a mixture model of centralization and decentralization for the government-university relations, which encourages internal self-governance of Korean universities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Using data from the 2006 cohort of the Wabash National Study of Liberal Arts Education, we developed a student typology based on student responses to survey items on the National Survey of Student Engagement. We then examined the utility of this typology in understanding direct-assessment learning outcomes, self-reported gains, grade-point average, and persistence from the first to second year of college. Results from linear and logistic regression models indicated there were relationships between student types and the various outcomes, and that an engagement-based student typology could help deepen our understanding of the college student experience and college outcomes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The paucity of intercultural interactions among students from culturally diverse backgrounds at university and off campus is widely documented in the literature. A review of this empirical work, however, reveals narrow conceptualisations of the construct of intercultural interactions. Intercultural interactions are seldom conceptualised as part of complex, dynamic activity systems, and across multiple social contexts. Yet, intercultural interactions represent unique relational, socio-emotional and socio-cultural activities with their own, specific underlying cognitive, motivational and emotional dynamics. It is posited that activity theory (e.g. Engeström in Journal of Education and Work 14(1):133-156, ) provides a useful framework for interpreting students' intercultural experiences, because of its emphasis on the evolving and complex interrelations between individuals and their surroundings-conceptualised as activity systems. The multiple contexts angle further stresses the overlapping and/or embedded nature of the activity systems that individuals simultaneously participate in. A series of empirical studies that incorporated quantitative methodologies for identifying meaningful patterns, and qualitative methodologies for gaining experiential insights into students' intercultural experiences across multiple social contexts (i.e. formal on campus and informal, off campus) is presented. Methodological and conceptual issues related to studying the dynamics of motivational, cognitive and emotional aspects of intercultural interactions in activity systems and multiple contexts are addressed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Researchers investigated the impact that a first-year college experience course had on students' first-year grade point averages (GPAs) and retention rates. A sample of 109 first-year students enrolled in the course was compared to a sample of 326 students from the same university who had not taken the course. The goals of the experience course were to reduce attrition, increase grade point averages, and enhance academic skills. Without accounting for selection bias, those who took the course had similar retention rates and lower GPAs than those who did not take the course. After matching on propensity scores, the negative effects of the program on GPA were nullified and those in the program were more likely to enroll for a second year. Although the benefits from the course were weak, the positive impact of the program was more apparent after accounting for individual differences. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

It is often asserted that the gender gap in educational attainment is larger for blacks than whites, but historical trends comparing the black and white gender gap have received surprisingly little attention. Analysis of historical data from the U.S. census IPUMS samples shows that the gender gap in college completion has evolved differently for whites and blacks. Historically, the female advantage in educational attainment among blacks is linked to more favorable labor market opportunities and stronger incentives for employment for educated black women. Blacks, particularly black males, still lag far behind whites in their rates of college completion, but the striking educational gains of white women have caused the racial patterns of gender differences in college completion rates to grow more similar over time. While some have linked the disadvantaged position of black males to their high risk of incarceration, our estimates suggest that incarceration has a relatively small impact on the black gender gap and the racial gap in college completion rates for males in the United States. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]