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This study explored academics' and institutional leaders' perception of the empowerment of various actors in Ethiopian higher education institutions. Little is known about university autonomy in Ethiopian higher education in the context of the Bologna Process. Three public universities were selected from the 31 public universities using a stratified sampling technique. A mixed method exploratory research design was employed. The study used descriptive statistics (mean and standard deviation) and inferential statistics (ANOVA and Tukey's posthoc test) for the quantitative data analysis while thematic analysis was used to identify the emerging themes and meanings within qualitative data. The findings of this study showed that the Ethiopian public universities are hierarchal (top-down) in terms of autonomy as power is highly centralized, and the autonomy of the academic units is constrained. Both academics and institutional leaders expressed dissatisfaction with the current situation. They noted the need for more autonomy for the University, which they expected would subsequently lead to them having greater academic freedom. From the findings of the study, there is a critical need for a flexible and responsive system of governance, where academics and institutional leaders are empowered to execute their core activities. University autonomy should be supported by more collegial and less hierarchical systems of governance. The study suggests shared governance or consultative governance for mutual accommodation if Ethiopian universities are to maintain their academic freedom and institutional autonomy and optimize their contribution to national development. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

For a large number of Higher Education institutions in the UK, the recruitment of international students remains vital for economic, political, cultural and educational benefits. Increasing competition within the international student market has encouraged many Higher Education institutions to pay closer attention to the quality of their educational offer, as well as the expectations and experiences of international students themselves. With an aim to present a more insightful picture of this position, this article examines the 'service quality' of UK Higher Education through the lens of one group of international students at a single Russell Group institution while also engaging the academic perspective in direct comparison. To achieve this, a mixed-methods research study was carried out at a location in the South East of England, with quantitative survey data collected from a convenience sample of 139 Chinese students and 27 academics, with 11 qualitative follow-up interviews. Results show both consistency and inconsistency between participant perceptions and where those consistencies and inconsistencies may exist. The findings suggest caution when assuming, as is currently prevalent in the context of highly marketised UK Higher Education, that 'service quality' of Higher Education can be comprehensively understood and efficiently improved from the student perspective alone. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In March 2020 virtually all UK universities were suddenly thrown into an unprecedented and sudden closure of campus and facilities owing to the British Government's Covid-19 pandemic lockdown policies. Further evidence suggests that this exacerbated existing gendered differences. This paper reports on UK academic responses from an international survey examining the work-life balance of academics under Covid-19 lockdown. The aim of the study was to examine the experiences and perceptions of academics, using these to inform how universities can improve the work-life balance of academics during the current and post-lockdown scenarios, as well as in the longer term, given a pandemic-prone future. Rich in qualitative comments, primarily derived from women academics, gendered contrasts in work-life balance appear magnified under conditions of lockdown. Key lessons for HE internationally emerge from the findings. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Gratitude may help Universities to sustain relationships with alumni and stimulate valuable input into current students' learning experiences. This small-scale, qualitative study draws from the voices of alumni associated with a UK University. The study explores gratitude's role within alumni's reflections on Higher Education. We find that alumni's feelings of gratitude appear to resonate most clearly towards academic teaching staff. Despite these feelings of gratitude, there are few verbal expressions of gratitude from alumni towards academics. Indeed, alumni have a variety of concerns about saying thank-you to academics including feeling awkward and may even see saying thank-you as a sign of weakness. However, hidden expressions of gratitude are evident. Alumni engage in behaviour which benefits the institution and are prepared to do more if asked, especially by key academic staff. We suggest that it is useful to think of expressions of gratitude as known and unknown. The inequity between feelings of gratitude and known expressions of gratitude may mean that Universities and academics remain less alert to the evidence and potency of gratitude within Higher Education than reality would merit. Indeed, we argue that gratitude is a central idea with the ability to inform HEIs' alumni engagement strategies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Writing experiences have a crucial role in the wellbeing of academics and PhD researchers and this paper seeks to extend a body of work on writing retreats, by exploring them from a wellbeing perspective. Drawing from literature on wellbeing and the practical experience of developing and delivering writing retreats, it highlights wellbeing outcomes that arise as people write together and engage in social and physical activities away from the university. A sense of wellbeing is developed through the combination of social, physical and sharing activities, which create feelings of confidence, safety and belonging, and a sense of being calm, focused and clear-headed. These states contribute to the writing task, but more importantly can support a general sense of being well. The conclusions draw attention to the importance of non-writing aspects of writing retreats and their role in enhancing peoples' broader sense of wellbeing. The challenge going forward is how to translate these subjective, personal and relational wellbeing benefits back in to university life. It is difficult to envision how writing retreats might have comprehensive wellbeing impacts unless they are integrated into wider strategic initiatives which start to tackle some of the wider causes of ill-being in HE. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Commitment and word-of-mouth communication are important relational ideas: commitment a central and defining aspect of relationships; word-of-mouth a key relational outcome. This research examines the relationship between commitment and word-of-mouth communication within the context of higher education. The study tests a new conceptual framework which explains the impact of students' commitment on students' intentions to emit word-of-mouth. It uses structural equation modelling to analyse data from undergraduate students studying at four UK Higher Education Institutions (HEIs). Interestingly, whilst students feel stronger levels of affective commitment towards their university than towards their academic tutors, it is the affective commitment towards academics which has the greatest influence on students' intentions to talk positively about their university experience. This research corroborates extant studies which articulate the importance of affective commitment as a driver of positive word-of-mouth, highlighting the critical contribution of affective commitment directed towards people. If Universities are looking to generate positive stories about the experiences they offer, then the relationships between students and academics are a likely determinant of success. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The purpose of this paper is to investigate the impact of organisational and individual factors on the knowledge sharing behaviour of UK academics. Although there a few articles that explore knowledge sharing between academics in an Asian context, there is currently only one article that explores this topic in a UK context. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with 12 academics to gather insights into their views on the factors that affect knowledge sharing. Findings demonstrated that academics are prepared to share different types of knowledge; a range of factors affecting this process were highlighted by interviewees. Trust was discussed more than other individual factors and was often associated with social exchange. Culture was described by most interviewees as collaborative and leaders were generally considered to have integrity, but often did not themselves share knowledge. Regular face-to-face contact was emphasised as being critical for knowledge sharing. This study demonstrates there is a culture of trust in most departments and academics are willing to share knowledge with their colleagues. They do, however, believe that the matrix structure, that is typical of academic departments, has resulted in unclear roles and responsibilities, which could hinder the design of structures to promote collaboration and sharing. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In an attempt to raise China's international competitiveness, the Chinese government has instituted a series of sweeping reforms in recent years, all with the aim of rapidly expanding the number of higher education places within tertiary institutions. However, this rapid rate of expansion has led to a new set of problems, most notably a scarcity of resources, a drop in educational quality, and a weak international academic standing. In recent years, the Ministry of Education has attempted to alleviate these problems by initiating a series of employment reforms. However, the new reforms have posed a new set of challenges for university academics. Based on the data reported in this study, we can see an increased implementation of managerial measures into the university employment system. The new employment system was viewed by university academics with a great deal of scepticism and disagreement. Ultimately, after serious consideration, the academics we interviewed chose to sacrifice their standards of living in order to maintain a focus on producing serious academic work. However, they also urged the state and university to offer a more agreeable environment in which professors could concentrate on authentic academic endeavors without having to sacrifice work stability. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article explores the importance of giving academics the space to be creative in developing new teaching materials in the context of a government drive to increase the quality of the student experience, and what this means for 'academic staff development'. Academics who have engaged with a UK Centre for Excellence in Teaching and Learning (CETL) in one institution were interviewed about their experiences of the creative process and the reward and recognition strategies put in place to support its activities. The paper acknowledges the pressures and challenges facing academic staff in attempting to develop innovative materials, yet find that enthusiasm for looking at new ways of teaching and learning is still fervent. The paper argues that financial rewards are least important to staff when undertaking projects with the CETL, yet to managers with targets for income it is perceived as a priority. The importance of a supportive team and environment when engaging with CETLs is evident in building staff capacity and developing skills to take learning to a new level. A model of engaging with the CETL in creating e-learning materials is suggested to illustrate the stages academics go through in the pursuit of developing innovative exemplars of best practice. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]