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New technologies and the knowledge economy are destabilising graduate professions, with artificial intelligence and the analysis of 'big data' making significant impacts on formerly secure jobs. Blockchain technology, offering automated secure credentialling of undergraduate students' activities and achievements, may significantly erode existing systems of assessment. The challenge for universities will be not only to maintain the relevance of their curricula but also to manage erosion of their current near-monopoly in awarding degrees. This paper envisions a landscape in which universities must outsource parts of their course delivery and assessment in order to remain competitive. It examines a potentially sustainable mission strategy: to move away from narrow academic disciplines towards an authentic learning curriculum focusing on the development of students as whole persons with rounded educations. This paper examines implications for the academy of the convergence of artificial intelligence, data analytics and blockchain technology. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Facing increased pressure to improve participation and attainment, and significant constraints in available revenue and resources, regional Australian universities are seeking opportunities to enhance student retention in a way that is sustainable and addresses the unique circumstances of regional universities. Whilst advising models, nationally and internationally, are predominantly concentrated on an expensive and time-poor academic workforce, it is proposed that there exists an opportunity to create an advising workforce from existing institutional support services. This paper provides an analysis of competencies required for academic advisors and suggests that a model that builds on the comprehensive knowledge about course structures and institutional rules, policy, and processes already endemic to staff providing student support services, could create an effective student success advising service using existing professional services staff. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Universities are increasingly utilising social media for student recruitment, the most highly used channel for prospective students. However, research on information gathering and electronic word-of-mouth (eWOM)-seeking behaviours on social media is generally absent. This paper explores the information sought by prospective students on social media, by analysing data from actual conversations on Quora, a social media question-and-answer site. Content analysis of 865 questions was conducted to examine the information regarding the factors students seek when selecting a university. The findings report information requirements on five major dimensions, namely reputation, career prospect, learning and leaching, administration and student life. This paper contributes to higher education literature by revealing the university information search factors students most commonly seek on social media, utilising a unique data source derived from actual online questions. Through understanding the eWOM-seeking behaviours of prospective students, universities can more accurately target their social media content. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

University-Industry Collaboration (UIC) has been identified as an essential item on Malaysia's agenda for transforming itself into knowledge and innovation-based economy. However, despite the efforts, most initiatives have had limited results. This paper reports on an explorative study that sought to understand the contemporary realities of UIC in the Malaysian context. In particular, the study identified the expectations and impediments to UIC, from the perspectives of three groups of stakeholders - the academics, the industry players and policymakers. The findings reveal a number of barriers, including cultural differences, perceived lack of academic expertise and reputation, an inadequacy of institutional policies and regulations, lack of trust, issues of intellectual property rights, and the lack of an appropriate reward system. This paper concludes by proposing policy recommendations and strategies that could be used by the government, university, and the industry to promote further and foster university-industry collaborative opportunities and initiatives. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The aim of this paper is to evaluate the impact of internationalisation on academic work within a department of management in a large Australian university. It has been argued elsewhere that internationalisation strategies have transformed the nature and demands of academic work through the massification and commodification of educational curricula. Drawing on one of our university's projects to develop and deliver internationalised common curricula to students in Asia, South Africa and Australia we contend that internationalisation strategies have contributed to what we identify as the "Taylorisation" of teaching and learning. Frederick Taylor's principles of scientific management, exemplified by the growing trend towards standardisation of delivery and curricula, are readily identified in the pedagogical processes and expected academic practice in higher education. This paper draws on the work of others who highlight the complexity of internationalisation issues in the development and delivery of curricula and suggests a comprehensive programme of internationalisation that more effectively addresses the economic and social demands of the current global competitive environment. We argue for a programme of internationalisation that is counter-hegemonic, ongoing, comprehensive, multifaceted and integrated and we offer some practical suggestions to redefine the principles and practices of internationalisation within an Australian university. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In 2010, the Australian government established the Higher Education Participation and Partnerships Programme – a funding agenda to promote programmes that respond to the under-representation in higher education of people from low socioeconomic status (SES) backgrounds. Many government-funded programmes and projects have since emerged that respond to theproblemof low SES under-representation, based on partnerships between higher education providers and other organisations. The arguments made in this paper draw on one such project: a mentoring programme implemented from 2011 to 2013 that targeted theaspirationsof Year 9 regional secondary students. We discuss data and documentation that provide insights into the conception and design of the mentoring programme, and the strategies used to evaluate it, in order to discuss how funding and policy contexts influence the possiblesolutionsthat might be implemented in response to the under-representation in higher education of people from low SES backgrounds. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Much of the existing literature on student engagement focuses on what happens within the higher education environment or what the institution has direct control over, restricting understanding of how issues outside of the institution affect engagement. This paper argues that efforts to improve student engagement should be broadened to incorporate issues relating to the family. It employed a case study design in order to develop a broad and more in-depth understanding of how family influences the amount of time and effort students invest in their learning in a large public university in Ghana. It was established that engagement is influenced by family expectation, financial and social support, as well as monitoring of students’ academic performance. The unique contribution of the study is that it broadens current understandings of engagement because it adds an aspect that has not been highlighted in current work on engagement, making a case for institutions to work more with families to get a broader understanding of challenges students face in order to provide comprehensive support. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

The concept of 'academic citizenship' reflects different interpretations of the civic purposes of the university. However, activities associated with this concept are largely under-conceptualised and poorly rewarded in academic life. Based on research with an international group of academics, this paper defines the meanings of 'service' and 'academic citizenship', and outlines the implications for academics serving five overlapping communities: students, colleagues, institutions, disciplines or professions, and the wider public. It goes on to consider how academic citizenship may be recognised through university promotions criteria in the context of an increasingly 'performative' academic culture. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

China's educational reform from the late 1990s, has substantially increased university capacity. This has been most evident in undergraduate enrolments. As an increasingly large cohort of university graduates enters the job market yearly, the demand for university graduates has not caught up with supply. Some university students plan to pursue postgraduate studies in order to delay their entry into the competition for jobs and to improve their educational credentials. This paper reports on findings from a survey of university students in Xi'an, China, identifying the types of students who aspire to postgraduate education. The findings confirm the importance of three sets of factors: (1) parents' education and financial capacity; (2) university attended; and (3) academic performance. The paper argues that educational policy change in China has resulted in students having to pay tuition fees and having responsibility for finding jobs, thus creating conditions conducive to students with better family and financial resources, and better academic standing, to aspire to postgraduate education. Further policy implications of these findings regarding the expansion, financing and affordability of graduate education in China are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A major problem with on-line education in contemporary universities is securing cooperation of academics. This paper argues that even if the benefits of on-line learning are widely recognised, several incentive problems inhibit academic staff participation. These incentive problems include unverifiability of expertise in on-line learning, the firm-specific nature of investments in on-line learning and the team nature of on-line learning. Suggestions are made for remedying each of these problems by correcting the distorted incentives faced by academics and administrators. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The role and impact of diversity in higher education has permeated conversations about student access and achievement for many years. Language articulated by various courts suggests that higher education policies should reflect a broad conceptualisation of diversity beyond that of the magnitude and proportion of race and ethnicity, yet institutions struggle to measure diversity in a manner that effectively supports the management of diversity goals and meets the legal requirements for targeted strategies. Building on methodologies from biology and political science, this paper proposes a new way of conceptualising and measuring diversity that addresses the limitations of traditional diversity metrics and accounts for race and race-neutral attributes within a single model. Using data from over 1500 colleges and universities, the development of a composite diversity index is demonstrated as a strategy for meeting organisational need to account for and measure multiple diversity attributes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper reports on the selected findings of a recent research project centred on one new university in England (Charles et al., 2007). The project aimed to explore the experiences of 44 disabled students who fell into one of two distinct groups: those in local further education eligible to apply to higher education (HE), and those who were already in the HE system. A number of themes emerged from the group interview data, but here the focus is on personal identity and how the institution has an impact upon individuals' sense of self through its management of disability. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Global university rankings have arrived, and though still in a process of rapid evolution, they are likely to substantially influence the long-term development of higher education across the world. The inclusions, definitions, methods, implications and effects are of great importance. This paper analyses and critiques the two principal rankings systems prepared so far, the research rankings prepared by Shanghai Jiao Tong University and the composite rankings from the Times Higher Education Supplement. It goes on to discuss the divergence between them in the performance of Australian universities, draws attention to the policy implications of rankings, and canvasses the methodological difficulties and problems. It concludes by advocating the system of university comparisons developed by the Centre for Higher Educational Development (CHE) in Germany. This evades most of the problems and perverse effects of the other rankings systems, particularly reputational and whole-of-institution rankings. It provides data more directly useful to and controlled by prospective students, and more relevant to teaching and learning. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Australian universities, like their counterparts in most Western countries, have suffered a dramatic reduction in the level of public funding in recent years. One issue on the horizon that is of relevance to students and universities is the latter's exposure to National Competition Policy and, more specifically, the Trade Practices Act. Recent changes to universities, the student experience and the law present new legal options for student redress and new liabilities for universities and individual staff. In this paper, I ask whether appealing to the Trade Practices Act is an appropriate strategy for responding to "deregulation" of universities, funding cuts and the associated decline in the capacity of universities to deliver quality education. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Striking a balance between being a parent and being a student can place heavy demands on time and energy. Many students who are parents have employment obligations and financial concerns which create additional barriers to success. Despite these difficulties, institutional support for students who are parents is often limited. Common challenges include accessing adequate on-campus childcare and parenting rooms, and scheduling study around care commitments. A distinct recognition of student parents has been largely missing from the Australian student equity space. To address this gap, we captured the first-hand accounts of 578 student parents through a national survey of their motivations, challenges, and strengths. Findings are analysed within the four stages of the Critical Interventions Framework – pre-access, access, participation, and attainment/transition out. Our article recommends new avenues of intervention to foster the success of student parents. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Higher education participation has increased worldwide given policies devoted to widening participation for under-represented groups, including the use of alternative entry pathways to university. It is, however, unknown if students admitted via alternative pathways perform well academically. This study uses data for 81,874 students from 16 Australian universities to examine academic performance by entry pathway. Students admitted via alternative pathways generally have poorer academic scores in their first year and over their course than peers coming from secondary school, particularly those entering via vocational education. However, students from enabling programs perform better academically than secondary school entrants. Further, students from under-represented groups are outperformed academically by their more privileged counterparts, particularly Indigenous students and those from low SES and non-English speaking backgrounds. These findings reflect the need to review academic support for students from certain entry pathways and equity groups to enhance their academic success in higher education. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Around the world, governments and the higher education sector are being asked to become more accountable for the money they spend on research funding. Research quality measurement exercises, such as the Excellence in Research for Australia initiative, use a number of agreed indicators to measure, analyse and report on various institution and discipline-based research outputs. This emphasis on the outputs of research as opposed to its longer term outcomes is having an effect on internal university policy and processes which can often operate negatively on individual staff career development and promotion. This article reports on a project aimed at more clearly articulating and defining the idea of research impact for academics by preparing a promotion application. Phase one of the project was an extensive international literature review and this article sets out the findings from this review, considers the difficulties for articulating and evidences impact at the individual level and makes some suggestions for how academic staff and units might begin to deal with the idea of research impact. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Enrolment in higher education has risen dramatically in Latin America, especially in Chile. Yet graduation and persistence rates remain low. One way to improve graduation and persistence is to use data and analytics to identify students at risk of dropout, target interventions, and evaluate interventions' effectiveness at improving student success. We illustrate the potential of this approach using data from eight Chilean universities. Results show that data available at matriculation are only weakly predictive of persistence, while prediction improves dramatically once data on university grades become available. Some predictors of persistence are under policy control. Financial aid predicts higher persistence, and being denied a first-choice major predicts lower persistence. Student success programmes are ineffective at some universities; they are more effective at others, but when effective they often fail to target the highest risk students. Universities should use data regularly and systematically to identify high-risk students, target them with interventions, and evaluate those interventions' effectiveness. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

There has been increasing access to higher education enrolment for disadvantaged individuals following the Bradley Review of Australian higher education. While progress has been made, students from equity groups are still found to lag behind their privileged counterparts in completing higher education. This study examines higher education academic outcomes for equity groups in Australia, specifically, students considering dropout, actual dropout, and marks. The influence of student satisfaction on those academic outcomes are also examined. Students from equity groups tend to have poorer academic marks and are more likely to consider dropout, with health and financial reasons found to be important determinants. These findings support the need for multi-faceted initiatives to support higher education students from equity backgrounds. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Student attrition is an area of constant concern for higher education managers and policymakers alike, yet little is known of the outcomes of those who depart higher education prematurely. We examine the educational and financial outcomes of students who start, but do not complete, a Bachelor-level course using data from the Australian Bureau of Statistics. We find that the number of non-completers is remarkably high, but also that the majority of Bachelor non-completers have completed some other form of tertiary-level qualification. Consistent with other research, we also find that Bachelor non-completers report higher incomes than those who have not attempted a Bachelor degree. The results suggest that the current sectoral focus on preventing student attrition is limited. Further strategies are required to re-engage students who have withdrawn from higher education and to understand the trajectories of partial completers and the impacts of partial completion. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article uses resource-dependence theory to analyse how academic mid-level leaders in Finnish universities respond to their changing post-reform management environments. The 2010 university reform and subsequent university-specific management reforms have created new positions and roles for academic leaders. By identifying critical resources, academic leaders recognise essential uncertainties and dependencies and design actions to ensure the continuity of their units' academic functions. Mid-level academic leaders perceive internal and external uncertainties requiring different actions, reflecting their dual status and role. They use their new powers and respect academic values, while promoting their new management roles and competitive behaviour in academic functions. Academic leaders are intra-organisationally influential resource-dependent players. From the viewpoint of university reform implementation, therefore, it is important to know what they emphasise in their leadership role. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the various world university ranking schemes, theOverallis a sum of the weighted indicator scores. As the indicators are of a different nature from each other,Overallconceals important differences. Factor analysis of the data from three prominent ranking schemes reveals that there are two factors in each of the ranking systems. For Academic Rankings of World University, the two factors are both academic in nature with a time element and arenegativelycorrelated. For the QS World University Ranking (QSWUR) and Times Higher Education World University Rankings (THEWUR), there are two factors each, one for academic excellence and one for managerial excellence. The two factors in QSWUR have a low negative correlation, but the two factors in THEWUR are not correlated. These findings do not support the assumption that the indicators are mutually supporting and additive as conceptualised by the ranking providers. To avoid misinterpretation of theOverall, it is suggested that world university ranking needs be re-conceptualised to have a higher-orderinstitutionalexcellence, comprising two lower-order measures based onacademicexcellence and managerialexcellence. Possible future development is discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

This study examined the perceptions of professional staff on their contribution to student outcomes. An online Delphi survey method was used to collect data from two expert panels: professional staff based in faculties and professional staff based in central university departments. The aim of this method is for the panels to reach consensus. The expert panels were asked to rank 10 propositions which support successful student outcomes. After three rounds the faculty-based panel had reached only a ‘very weak’ consensus, and the non-faculty-based panel only a ‘weak’ consensus. The highest-ranked proposition for both panels related to the ways in which institutions behave towards students: being welcoming and ensuring efficiency. Propositions relating to organisational culture were ranked relatively low indicating that professional staff may underestimate their contribution to these propositions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article considers the Australian entry score system, the Australian Tertiary Admissions Rank (ATAR), and its usage as a selection mechanism for undergraduate places in Australian higher education institutions and asks whether its role as the main selection criterion will continue with the introduction of demand driven funding in 2012. Admission strategies for undergraduate places in Australian universities have remained unchanged for many years. The author concludes that the current entry scheme, the ATAR, will continue as a dominant selection criterion particularly for courses where demand exceeds supply, but ATAR-based selection will be insufficient to meet the participation targets set by the federal government. There is now an opportunity for universities to differentiate themselves by their admission strategies and to improve participation of equity groups through the normalisation of alternative entry mechanisms. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Secondary education in Fiji ends with the Form 7 examination. Predictive validity for academic success of Form 7 scores which form the basis for admission into the Bachelor of Medicine Bachelor of Surgery programme of the Fiji School of Medicine was examined via a cohort of 129 students. Success rates for year 1 in 2008, 2009, and 2010 were 90.7 per cent, 86.5 per cent, and 83.5 per cent, respectively. Year 1 scores were positively correlated with Form 7 scores with correlation coefficients (r) of 0.7535 in 2008 (P < 0.0001), 0.4866 in 2009 (P = 0.0023), and 0.4986 in 2010 (P = 0.0003). Similar correlations occurred between Form 7 scores and years 2 and 3 results in 2008, but no correlation was found with year 2 results in 2009. These findings show that Form 7 scores strongly predicted academic success in the School, providing support for its continued use. However, supplementary assessments may be required. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The purpose of this study is to examine at-risk students and the reasons they give to explain their poor academic performance, with a view to developing a typology of at-risk students. A case study methodology was used to investigate the total population of at-risk students for Semester 2, 2008 studying at the Singapore campus of an Australian-based university. Poor academic performance means that students are placed ‘at-risk’ of exclusion from the University if their grades do not significantly improve in subsequent semesters. The majority of students cite employment pressures (primarily work commitments interfering with study) and personal relationship difficulties (including divorce and family commitments) as the main causes of their at-risk status. Our findings may help universities implementing at-risk programmes reduce student attrition and better aid students in completing their degrees. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]