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The article addresses the issues surrounding the importance and impact of 'hinterlands' in the construction of European higher education systems and in the formation of sectoral policy. It draws on studies of Germany, Hungary, Ireland, Norway, Portugal and the United Kingdom to illustrate different policy approaches and shows how in some countries 'hinterland' issues have been the major factor in the reconstruction of national higher education systems. It draws a distinction between the past, where policies were essentially based on the growth of student numbers, and the present, where the drivers are much more related to regional social and economic factors and, in some countries, to public good policies on equalising opportunities between deprived and affluent areas. It suggests that 'hinterland' issues are now central to how higher education systems are constructed. As a result, systems will become more complex to manage but that regional and institutional 'bottom up' determination may offer better prospects for innovation and flexibility in the face of societal change. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Black women pursued graduate and professional school, post-degree options, and employment at a time when their economic future and livelihood were unknown. The novel Coronavirus (COVID-19) complicated what many Black women were already experiencing. Guided by critical race feminism, the purpose of our exploratory study was to highlight how and to what extent COVID exacerbated Black women's economic trajectories via their financial obligations, financial support, and financial stability. We offer two implications for practice: disrupting systemic oppression/inequities and developing a critical awareness of Black women's economic precarity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The future of the study of religions is, like any other academic discipline, dependent on political and economic factors. In a country such as Denmark, where universities are primarily financed by the state, the willingness of the state to fund disciplines in the humanities impacts the future of the study of religions. The transition to a competition state has entailed the introduction of austerity measures and reforms that have a considerable impact on the study of religions. Nevertheless, the requirement that teachers in secondary education who teach classes on religion have a relevant university degree will guarantee the survival of the discipline. The article concludes by extrapolating current trends into the future. Tightened budgets will impact the study of religions, with potential consequences such as a greater pressure on researchers to compete for external funding and a need to reduce staff. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Satellite university campuses – whereby established universities decentralise part of their activities, often to areas previously lacking a university – contribute to the diversification of university systems. While satellite campuses, due to their small scale and limited resources, might perform some activities less efficiently than their larger parent universities, we argue that they are uniquely placed to serve the needs of their localities. Based on the case of a satellite campus in North-West Italy, we show that: (i) the campus' main contribution lies in widening access to higher education to residents who would not attend university in the absence of local provision; (ii) the campus contributes to local development also through research and business and community engagement, and by stimulating local demand for knowledge-intensive services; (iii) research and engagement are more effective for local development where local firms possess relevant absorptive capacity and where there is a favourable institutional framework. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article explores how one cohort of first-in-family students narrated their movement into and through university, proposed as a form of boundary crossing. These metaphors emerged from the stories that students told about their persistence, with references ranging from institutional or organisational boundaries through to those imposed by self and others. Applying the sensitizing lens of boundary crossing, an analysis is provided of how learners navigated their transition into university and the types of persistence behaviours adopted. The focus is on those who traversed these boundaries, considering the nature of incursions and the ways these were negotiated within students' everyday lives. This cohort all self-identified as being the first in their family to attend university but also acknowledged a variety of additional social, cultural and economic factors that impacted upon their educational journey. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The economic impact of tertiary education is important for regional development, and whilst participation rates have increased, it is unclear whether this has benefited regions equally. The paper analyses a panel of European regions to determine how the geography of tertiary education has evolved between 2002 and 2012. The results show a mixed picture. Overall, the system is characterized by path dependency, with the past being the best predictor of the future. There are some signs that the most lagging regions in 2002 are catching up, with some benefiting from recently opened institutions. Meanwhile, the very top-performing regions are breaking away from the rest, showing above-average growth, especially in the case capital regions. This work contributes to the ongoing research on the role of higher education in fostering regional economic development, and the emerging inequalities across European regions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The evidence on why students from lower social origin are persistently underrepresented in higher education (HE) suggests social, educational and economic factors all play a role. We concentrate on the influence of monetary costs/benefits and how these are influenced by social origin. In particular, we consider the effect of a class-based wage penalty in the labour market and, using evidence from a large-scale survey of Scottish students, we show how the greater financial constraints facing working-class students affects the incentive to participate in HE. Using a simple model of human capital investment, the low rate of working-class participation in HE is shown to be consistent with rational behaviour, i.e. weighing the monetary costs and benefits, participating in HE is a less attractive investment proposition for some students. We conduct simulations which suggest this could be mitigated by generous income-contingent support. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The study conceptualizes three distinct functions European initiatives have in national policy changes: providing a model (Europeanization), providing a communication platform (policy transfer) or providing a legitimizing label (enabling opportunism of domestic policy entrepreneurs). Building on the example of higher education policy changes in four European countries - Belgium/Flanders, Croatia, the Netherlands and Serbia ‒ the study demonstrates that Europeanization, which is the role that can potentially lead to convergence, is actually not the most prominent one. In most cases, European initiatives primarily serve as legitimizing labels for pre-existing policy preferences, thus leading to convergence of policy rhetoric and ideas, while allowing for significant diversity of policy instruments and outcomes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

While there has been a long history of modelling the economic impact of higher education institutions (HEIs), little research has been undertaken in the context of Ireland. This paper provides, for the first time, a disaggregated input–output table for Ireland's higher education sector. The picture painted overall is a higher education sector that adds considerable gross value to the national economy, whether via state or other income. In 2010–2011, the gross income of Irish HEIs, as a total of €2.6 billion, generated gross output nationwide of €10.6 billion. This study also contributes to the major challenges facing the sector in a post-Bailout environment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Unexpectedly, the duration of first unemployment among first degree holders has quickly increased in Rwanda after considerable loss of the skilled labour during the war and Genocide perpetrated against Tutsi in 1994. The time it takes a higher education graduate to land a first employment is a key indicator for the evaluation of and optimal investment in higher education. A long-term first unemployment has negative psychosocial and economic consequences, and is an interplay of diversified factors. Yet, these factors have not been ascertained in Rwanda, whereas their knowledge is crucial for an efficient planning of higher education and employability of the graduates. This study aimed to fill in this knowledge gap for the period 1998–2009. We fitted a binary logistic regression model to data from the 2010 Employer and Graduate Survey (n = 1007) that was conducted by the National University of Rwanda. The results showed that the duration of first unemployment was significantly associated to the graduate’s age, job search method, acquired skills, further graduate studies, monthly salary and category of employing institution. The results suggest that the higher education sector should identify and fill skills gaps in the existing curricula or its delivery with reference to the labour market requirements. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

This paper considers students’ economic motives to attend university. Drawing on selected results from a tri-national survey involving online questionnaires and interviews with students at English, German and Portuguese universities, it examines and compares this particular extrinsic motivational dimension, alongside the influence of the national economic contexts within which the students are located. The findings suggest a strong consensus across all three settings in relation to high levels of motivation driven by the students’ economic goals – careers, qualifications and future income – irrespective of background variables and fee structures. An exploration of the impact of the broader economic climate, however, reveals a more fragmented picture. The differences revealed between national settings offer tentative evidence that the students’ perceptions of their country’s economic situation does have a differential impact on their decision to take up university studies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article discusses the changing relationship between states and higher education policy based on budget. A description of the golden era of 1945 to 1970 is presented including its building blocks, California Master Plan, and the baby boom generation. Topics discussed include economic factors that caused the change in relationship, the emergence of other funding priorities as Medicaid and criminal sentencing policy, and the current state of higher education.

In this paper, we examine the impact of economic conditions and local attitudes on investors' decisions to opt for a green building certificate. The results indicate that green building certification is not only responsive to economic conditions but also to the attitudes of the local population. Areas with well-educated people and a political preference for the Democratic Party significantly and positively influence the decision to certify buildings. Higher education levels and Democratic partisanship are associated with the environmental orientation of the population. Hence, in these locations, the population's environmental concerns may play a key role. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Despite clear implications for human capital accumulation, there has been little research on the postsecondary educational experiences of students living in public housing. While there is significant and growing research exploring outcomes for public housing tenants, even in the education sphere, little of this work focuses on postsecondary outcomes and what role, if any, public housing plays in human capital accumulation. Our case study, New York City, is home to both the nation's largest urban public university system and the largest public housing authority. In this work, we use matching techniques to identify and describe the residential characteristics of students at the City University of New York. We explore how students who live in public housing developments differ from their peers in terms of characteristics associated with success in college, including demographics, neighborhood poverty, and high school preparation. We use regression techniques to test the relation between public housing residence, neighborhood income, and two indicators of early college performance: successful completion of credits attempted and one-year retention. In a naive model (including only residence and high school characteristics), public housing residence is negatively associated with our outcomes of interest, but less so when we control for other factors, including neighborhood income. Specifically, for students pursuing an associate's degree, we find a negative relation between public housing residence and credit completion and a less pronounced negative relation with retention. We find no significant relation between public housing residence and either baccalaureate outcome. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Demographic decline in Russia affects the regions in different ways, so that the problems created and the policies needed at the local level vary from place to place. There is a mutually significant and interactive link between demographic and economic factors in Russia. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]