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Introduction: Quality training and mentoring are crucial components of successful career development for early mid career researchers (EMCRs). This paper describes the overarching framework of novel ongoing national Training and Mentoring Programme Melbourne University Sydney Queensland:Impact (MUSQ:Impact) for musculoskeletal researchers, including a description of how it was set up and established, and lessons learned from its implementation. Results: The MUSQ:Impact programme spans four multidisciplinary musculoskeletal research teams across three universities in Australia, comprising 40–60 EMCR members. It was established to provide EMCRs with a unique learning environment and opportunities to gain exposure to, and network with, other national musculoskeletal research teams. Specific goals are to focus on core research competencies (e.g. writing skills, managing grant budgets, public speaking and media engagement, research translation), provide career mentoring, fund development activities (e.g. conference attendance, laboratory visits, skill development courses), and share training resources (e.g. data dictionaries, project summaries). A Steering Committee of 10–12 EMCR members, co‐chaired by a senior researcher and one EMCR, is responsible for overseeing MUSQ:Impact and organising regular activities, including a monthly webinar series, a mentor/mentee scheme, annual group research retreats, annual infographic competition, and funding awards. An evaluation survey found that most participants perceived each activity to be beneficial and of value to their research career and development. Conclusion: This paper presents the structure of national training and mentoring programme that serves as a potential template for other research teams to adapt within their own contexts. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper discusses a two-year study at an Australian university in which 154 undergraduate and 51 postgraduate students reflected on their experiences with flexible and personalised assessment where they could choose assessment tasks, submission dates and weightings of their assignments. Through pre- and post-course surveys and a focus group, feelings of empowerment and attitudes towards flexibility were investigated. Students were positive about all aspects of the flexible approach and felt it was beneficial for their learning. Only the postgraduate group showed significant improvement in feelings of empowerment and grades suggesting that more experienced learners may adapt more easily to this model. We argue that empowering learners is not about better grades but about students gaining more input, voice and control in their learning and assessment. Despite the disadvantages of increased workload for teachers and a decision-making burden on students, the potential benefits for students justify consideration of more personalised and flexible assessment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Global narratives of educational philanthropy tend to emphasise the significant influence donors have in shaping public school policy and practice. In Australia, however, tax laws work to narrow the possibilities for philanthropy to exert influence over public schooling. Indeed, public schools (unlike private schools and Higher Education institutions) are unable to receive 'direct' philanthropic income, yet they can benefit from philanthropically supported programmes and services. Delving into this complex regulatory environment, this paper maps the types of philanthropic actors – including foundations, charities, intermediaries, not-for-profits, churches and Parent and Citizen associations – that are working with/in Australian public schools, and questions their potential to influence school policy and practice. We cautiously argue that edu-philanthropy in the Australian context is not a picture of policy distortion, but one that is responding to the current policy context of economic rationalism and the rollback of the welfare state, to support and enrich public schooling. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper reports on research exploring the academic workload and performance practices of Australian universities. This research has identified a suite of activities associated with teaching, research and service, each with an associated time value (allocation). This led to the development of the academic workload estimation tool (AWET). In 2020, to validate the findings, we contacted academics willing to participate further and conducted interviews. We used the AWET to estimate workload for each individual for the previous year and compared it to the workload allocated according to their institutional workload model. Discrepancies were then discussed to ascertain to what extent the AWET was able to capture their work. In general, the participants thought the AWET provided a more realistic estimate of their actual work and highlighted how much is underestimated or unaccounted for by the workload models used within their institutions. It also showed how academic performance policies, focussed primarily on research output, disadvantaged many individuals because they ignored or minimised many scholarly, teaching and service-related tasks inherent in the academic role. Overall, the findings showed the AWET was a useful tool to discuss academic work and assisted them to better capture the complexity and extent of what they did. We offer the AWET as a validated approach for academics to estimate their workload in a holistic and transparent manner. We suggest its implementation institution-wide, along with an aligned performance policy, will facilitate negotiation of reasonable performance expectations. This will rebuild trust in the processes and improve a university's effectiveness. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Aim/Purpose The goal of this essay is to critically reflect on the emerging trend for PhDs by Prospective Publication (PbPP) in Australian Business Schools and to explore its appropriateness for fledgling academics. Background The PbPP is a relatively new and increasingly popular alternative to traditional PhD by monograph (PbM). It is the idea that a doctorate can be completed by writing a series of papers that are published, or close to being published, as journal articles or book chapters. For students, it offers the chance to get a head-start on their publishing careers and helps them find their first academic jobs. For supervisors working in an academic environment increasingly characterized by 'publish or perish' dynamics, it guarantees meaningful rewards from doctoral supervision. However, despite the attractiveness of publishing during candidature, it is a very different way to complete a doctorate with many challenges for students, supervisors, and institutions. Methodology We adopted critical collaborative autoethnography. Through this method, we reflect on our experience supervising and administrating PbPP students and integrate our reflections with the literature on PbPPs to highlight policy concerns and our position on them. Contribution We argue that the primary goal of the PbPP is to produce students who can conduct research collaboratively after graduation, as opposed to people who can conduct independent research, although the two outcomes are not mutually exclusive. We also argue that assessment of PbPP should be significantly enhanced to determine the nature of the student's contribution to the thesis, their understanding of research design, and their broader understanding of their subject. Finally, we argue that despite the attractiveness of PbPP, it can only be successfully attempted by students with elite levels of intellect, dedication, critical analytical skills, language skills, resilience, and patience and supervisors with expertise in the field of study, experience of publishing different types of paper, familiarity with the working of the journal publication process, and workload capacity. Findings PbPP theses should be examined by viva voce. Viva voce examinations of PbPP theses should determine (1) the nature of the doctoral candidates' contribution to the thesis, (2) whether it is sufficient for the award of a doctorate, (3) the contributions of the papers to advancing the field of research, and (4) the students' understanding of the theory in their field. Viva voce examinations of PbPP theses should seek to discover the student's ability to contribute to collaborative efforts of research teams. PbPP students should also sit an examination of their understanding of research philosophy, design, methodologies, and related topics. It should be externally set, administered, and marked by an independent examination board. PbPP candidates need to demonstrate excellent 'research English' language skills before commencing. Recommendations for Practitioners PbPP candidates need excellent intellectual skills - as a rough guide, probably in the top quartile of doctoral candidates. PbPP candidates need to be resilient and able to cope with failure, criticism, and rejection. PbPP candidates need high levels of patience. PbPP candidates should be encouraged to produce their first manuscript early in their candidature. PbPP supervision requires supervisors with advanced levels of subject knowledge, research skills, and publishing outputs. PbPP supervision requires expertise across various forms of research and types of output. Due to the wide range of skills and experience, PbPP supervision is likely to require a team approach. Recommendations for Researchers As the PbPP grows in popularity, it challenges educational researchers to explore this emerging phenomenon. Does it take a particular type of person to thrive through this process? Does it need supervisors with particular characteristics? How does the experience of PbPP supervisors differ to the experience of PbM supervisors? Do PbPP graduates differ in their abilities to PbM graduates? Impact on Society People graduating with PhDs typically enter influential and important jobs in society. It is vital that they have the knowledge, skills, and abilities that the qualification confers. In Australia, the PbPP challenges this credibility due to issues of co-authorship, selective study, and shallow assessment. These matters need to be understood and rectified to prevent a loss of credibility in Australia's Higher Education institutions and its graduates. Future Research Are there any differences in the knowledge, skills, and abilities of PbPP and PbM graduates? Studies are needed of the characteristics prospective PbPP students need to be successful taking this doctoral route. How does the nature of supervision differ between PbPP and PbM? What is the impact on the skills and abilities supervisors need and the implications for workload? What jobs do PbPP graduates go into and does this differ to PbM graduates? What resistance will the proposals made in this essay meet? [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Australian and New Zealand College of Anaesthetists (ANZCA) recently reviewed and updated the guideline on equipment to manage a difficult airway. An ANZCA-established document development group, which included representatives from the Australasian College for Emergency Medicine and the College of Intensive Care Medicine of Australia and New Zealand, performed the review, which is based on expert consensus, an extensive literature review, and bi-nationwide consultation. The guideline (PG56(A) 2021, https://www.anzca.edu.au/getattachment/02fe1a4c-14f0-4ad1-8337-c281d26bfa17/PS56-Guideline-on-equipment-to-manage-difficult-airways) is accompanied by a detailed background paper (PG56(A)BP 2021, https://www.anzca.edu.au/getattachment/9ef4cd97-2f02-47fe-a63a-9f74fa7c68ac/PG56(A)BP-Guideline-on-equipment-to-manage-difficult-airways-Background-Paper), from which the current recommendations are reproduced on behalf of, and with the permission of, ANZCA. The updated 2021 guideline replaces the 2012 version and aims to provide an updated, objective, informed, transparent, and evidence-based review of equipment to manage difficult airways. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Cultural Studies' 'institutional presence' in higher education is well documented; however, less well understood are nuances between different institutional 'types' and the way that Cultural Studies is variously taught and practiced in these settings. This paper will explore the authors' experiences of teaching with Cultural Studies in Australian regional universities and the opportunities that Cultural Studies presents in these 'peripheral' locations. Arguing that predominant accounts of Cultural Studies' practice derive from institutional settings where a recognised disciplinary presence is evident, this paper will chart what it means to enact Cultural Studies in locations where the disciplinary presence is not so visible. We suggest that enactments of Cultural Studies in these settings demonstrate innovative activations of practice that afford generative possibility for the discipline. The ways that Cultural Studies comes to be done in these contexts provide useful prompts for considering the possibilities that Cultural Studies provokes pedagogically, as a contextually contingent intellectual project. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Research suggests that some speech–language pathologists are uncomfortable treating people who stutter. Accessing quality clinical education experiences in stuttering is difficult given the ongoing rise in students enrolled in speech–language pathology programmes and the limited number of stuttering‐specific placements available. Simulation‐based learning is a viable option for providing speech–language pathology students with practical experience in a safe learning environment. Whilst research has found that simulation‐based learning experiences in stuttering assist in the development of students' clinical skills, students' perceptions of participating in stuttering simulation‐based learning are yet to be explored. Aims: To investigate speech–language pathology students' comfort, anxiety, knowledge and confidence in the management of stuttering at the commencement of an academic stuttering course and before and following participation in a stuttering simulation‐based learning programme. Methods & Procedures: This study used a cross‐sectional survey design. Participants were 105 undergraduate and graduate entry masters speech–language pathology students enrolled at an Australian university. Students engaged in a stuttering simulation‐based learning programme embedded within an existing academic course on the management of stuttering. A purposefully developed survey was administered at three time points: pre‐course (T1), pre‐simulation (T2) and post‐simulation (T3) in order to explore students' comfort and anxiety levels, and perceptions of their knowledge and confidence in stuttering management. Descriptive statistics were used to report the medians and range of students' responses. Changes across all time points and between each of the time points were determined using the Friedman test and the Wilcoxon signed rank test, respectively. Outcomes & Results: Statistically significant differences (p < 0.001) were observed on all matched survey items (n = 96) across all time points. Between each time point, a significant difference in students' perceived knowledge levels was found with small to large effect sizes. However, there was no difference in students' perceived comfort and anxiety levels between the time points of pre‐course and pre‐simulation. Open‐ended responses on the post‐simulation survey revealed that students valued learning about stuttering within a simulation‐based learning environment. Conclusions & Implications: Simulation‐based learning experience in stuttering management was valued by students. When accompanied by theoretical content, participation in a stuttering simulation‐based learning programme supported students to feel more comfortable and less anxious about working with people who stutter. This finding has implications for the development of clinical skills in the assessment and treatment of adults who stutter. WHAT THIS PAPER ADDS: What is already known on this subject: Simulation is a teaching approach used within speech–language pathology to support the development of students' clinical skills. Simulation provides a safe learning environment for students, an opportunity for repeated practice and is valued by students. What this paper adds to existing knowledge: This study explored students' perceptions of their comfort, anxiety, knowledge and confidence in working with people who stutter before and following participation in a simulation‐based learning programme. It describes a stuttering simulation‐based learning programme that can be embedded into speech–language pathology programme curricula. What are the potential or actual clinical implications of this work?: The stuttering simulation‐based learning programme detailed in this study can be applied and embedded in speech–language pathology curricula. It can be used to support the development of students' confidence in the assessment and management of stuttering. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The United Nations' Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) provide a blueprint to address urgent global challenges, with a clear role for social workers. This paper explores a Sustainable Development Goal's focused student placement at the Australian Association of Social Workers, with RMIT University. Students reviewed the AASW's policy actions and their contribution to the SDGs, including recommendations for future work. The review identified advocacy in key areas, and the need for action on several issues, including climate action. Students learned about social work policy, practice, and sustainability. The placement itself provides a model for other organisations to align their actions to the SDGs. IMPLICATIONS There is a need for greater social work engagement with the United Nations' SDGs to address urgent social and environmental challenges. Field education placements can provide an important opportunity for students to learn about sustainability, social work policy practice, and the SDGs. The placement model proposed in the article is suitable for any organisation that seeks to review their actions and better align their work to the SDGs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study investigates, in an Australian university student sample, the score equivalence of the Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale-IV (WAIS-IV) norms for which are based on the US standardization sample versus the Woodcock Johnson III (WJ III) cognitive test battery, normed for the Australian population based on a standardisation sample aged between four and twenty-one. Mean IQ scores in the two instruments were compared in sample scores of all and those restricted to 21 years or younger. Additionally, corresponding broad ability scores were compared. Tests were assigned in blocked random order to 164 (141 aged 21 years or younger) participants (M = 20.38, Mdn = 19, SD = 5.19). Thirty-eight (32 aged 21 years or younger) undertook both tests. Scores from all, and the subset aged 21 years or less were analysed. The mean WAIS-IV FSIQ were significantly higher than mean WJ III GIA in both independent and repeated measures analyses. Effect sizes, measured with population SD of 15, were d = 0.34 and d = 0.53 in the independent and repeated measures study. Considering the potential impact of the observed effect sizes in high-stakes decision for the Australian population, we appeal for further research on local norming. KEY POINTS What is already known on this topic: When used in Australia, the WAIS-IV scores are based on the US standardization data, while the WJ III has been normed for the Australian population. Local and current norming of tests is essential for valid and fair use of a cognitive abilities test. WAIS-IV scores are routinely used to make high-stakes decisions in Australia. What this paper adds: Empirical evidence that the current WAIS-IV scores and WJ III scores in Australia are not equivalent in a sample of university students. If the observed effect sizes were to hold in the critical cut-off regions used for making high-stakes decision, a substantial number of eligible beneficiaries will be affected. Though the samples in this study are restricted, the partial random sampling, consistency, and effect size warrant more comprehensive study. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: This study provides a country-specific and sector-wide study of campus sustainability. Campus sustainability is a key consideration for the higher education (HEI) sector, and campus sustainability officers and managers manage its reporting and planning. Global and country-specific studies to date have focussed on individual organisation narratives, interviews with faculty and management and content analysis of reports and plans. Findings show wide divergence on scope and scale of formalised planning and reporting, few references to sustainability officers and managers' perspectives and limited reference to organisational theory to explain tactics and strategies adopted. As a result, there are a few country-specific and sector-wide studies. The purpose of this paper is to address the scarcity of country-specific and sector-wide studies into campus sustainability practices in HEI by combining qualitative and quantitative analysis. Design/methodology/approach: The authors provide the first sector-wide overview of formal campus sustainability commitments for the Australian public sector HEI (n = 41) in terms of several key indicators – plans, reports and other indicators. Second, the authors use reflexive thematic analysis of interviews (n = 21) with current and former sustainability officers and managers to examine sector organisational reasons for such variation. Third, the authors analyse HEI sector isomorphism and divergence on planning and reporting of campus sustainability from the perspective of institutional theory of organisations. Findings: This study finds some convergence on the need for plans, reporting and other engagement elements, albeit without any sector-wide standards being followed. The authors observe a trend towards carbon-neutral (CN) declarations before 2030 although with nuances on emissions scope and increasing inclusion of renewable energy. Interviews identify a range of strategies and tactics adopted for campus sustainability relative to internal and external organisational pressures. Overall, the sector still exhibits weak institutionalisation of sustainability. Research limitations/implications: This study interviews a specific and limited cohort (n = 21) and presents an overview of sector reporting, planning and target setting although not a detailed content analysis. Other interview cohorts may have different views on the strategic and tactical purposes of reporting practices, and more in-depth analysis of formal plans and reports should be conducted in the future. Practical implications: This study concludes that the Australian HEI sector should consider greater public transparency of its data and reporting actions. Common standards and a benchmarking platform for the sector would improve overall engagement with all internal and external stakeholders. At present, the HEI sector's message to its key internal and external stakeholders is mixed and needs to change towards a more in-depth institutionalisation of sustainability on campus. Originality/value: Particular insights are the value of organisational strategies and tactics as an interpretive framework for HEI campus sustainability and how interviewees attribute sector competitors and self-different motives and tactics. Albeit limited, this is the first mapping of sector approaches to sustainability reporting and planning. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

There has been increasing attention given to the notion that international education consists of non-linear and multi-directional transmissive exchanges between existing institutional academic conditions and international students. Despite the role of international students' agency being paramount, there is a dearth of research on the relationships between these students' agency and their experiences of international education, which are intertwined with habitus and hysteresis. This paper aims to investigate how six Japanese international students at Australian universities experience hysteresis and then respond through agentic practices. The findings reveal that many of the students in this study embark on various stages of despair and fear, namely hysteresis, before they explore opportunities to reconstruct their habitus in light of institutional norms and conventions. The authors advocate that when students' habitus is challenged, it induces a hysteresis effect, which is a process of learning, filled with potentialities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Aims: Across higher education, systems and policies explicitly address the impact of research. This paper contributes to the impact and engagement discussion from a regional, rural and remote perspective. We focus on how impact and engagement fit with regional, rural and remote research and explore strategies that can be employed to enhance impact and engagement in a rural health research context. Context: The impact agenda in Australia is a response to a worldwide call for demonstrable change or potential for change resulting from university research. As funding models evolve to integrate impact, there are increased pressures for universities and academics to plan for, evidence and report on it. The current lack of focus on impact in regional, rural and remote research may further disadvantage regional, rural and remote researchers' prospects for career progression and funding opportunities. Approach: Ignoring or avoiding impact will marginalise rural researchers and research. We discuss the definitions of impact and engagement as they apply to rural research and argue that engagement and impact must be commensurate with employment conditions. To platform regional, rural and remote impact, we provide strategies to assist researchers and administrators in building impact and engagement into their research and academic culture. Conclusion: The message to researchers is that impact is here to stay. The high levels of rural engagement can lead to impact, but we need to be clever at providing clear evidence to make that visible. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper examines the multiple tensions arising in an Australian university and public sector collaboration that aimed to investigate an obesity intervention. A key site of conflict with the external collaborators emerged when we, the researchers, focusing on the experiences of marginalized local people, presented research findings that were at odds with the dominant understanding of obesity that framed the public health intervention. From those with a range of roles in the public sector, we received claims of misrepresentation and requests to change or not publicly release certain research findings. Drawing on the 'policy learning framework' of Dunlop and Radaelli, we examine these epistemic conflicts and point to the Achilles' heels of the 'engagement and impact' agenda. From the perspective of government, the inherent weakness stems from the lack of control in a partnership, and from the perspective of academics, it is the danger of undermining trust in universities and the knowledge academics produce, through the process of engaging with government and being party to research that is designed to shore up a position that government has already decided upon. This case study has implications for academic and government collaborators who may benefit from explicit planning about how to negotiate discord around the processes of learning that occur in and across research, policy, and practice. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

There is increasing expectation that research be communicated broadly to share knowledge across industry, professional, governmental, and public spheres. Scholarly publishers can benefit from the sharing of research beyond academia since the potential for societal impact encourages further support from both industry and governmental funders. This paper draws on qualitative in‐depth interview data from Australian‐ and Japanese‐based early career researchers (ECRs) to investigate how higher education institutions support the development of diverse communication skills needed by ECRs to effectively share their research both in academia and beyond. We found that sharing research for academic and other diverse audiences is often perceived as valued but may not always be supported. Output valuing was communicated in performance management, but there were compelling differences between the two nations, with Japanese‐based ECRs reporting a stronger expectation of research outputs for non‐academic audiences than their Australian counterparts. There were also indications that institutional support for both academic and translational outputs may change in response to nations' shifting research priorities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In an era where higher education institutions appear increasingly committed to what Sara Ahmed calls 'speech acts' whereby declared goodwill, through stated commitments to diversity, equity, and increasing Indigenous student enrolment and completion have been made; it is undeniable that Indigenous academics are in high demand. With fewer than 430 Indigenous academics currently employed here on the continent now commonly referred to as 'Australia', and 69% of that cohort identifying as female, what does it look like to experience this demand as an Indigenous academic woman? Drawing on data collected from a Nation-wide study in 2019 of 17 one-on-one, face-to-face interviews with Indigenous academic women, using Indigenous research methodologies and poetic transcription, this paper explores the experiences and relational aspects of Indigenous academic women's roles in Australian higher education. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]