International higher education (original) (raw)

Higher education and academic staff in a period of policy and system change

Higher Education, 2001

Recent changes in national legal agreements concerning appointment, promotion and working conditions have affected the work of academics in Swedish higher education. The current structure of the higher education system, descriptive data on working conditions, and institutional governance form the background for discussing academic autonomy and the academic profession in the future.

Modernisation of Higher Education in Europe: Academic Staff--2017. Eurydice Report

2017

Chapter 2: Academics and their Qualifications 2.1. Doctoral degree: a starting point of an academic career? 2.2. Qualification requirements within academic careers Conclusions Chapter 3: The Recruitment of Academic Staff 3.1. Top-level authorities' legislation on recruitment of academic staff 3.2. Recruitment methods 3.3. Recruitment process 3.4. Equal opportunities 3.5. Recruitment management Conclusions Chapter 4: Employment and Working Conditions in Academia 4.1. Employment conditions in academia 4.2. Duties and working time of academic staff 4.3. Remuneration of academic staff 4.4. Continuing professional development (CPD) of academic staff 4.5. Monitoring of employment and working conditions in academia Conclusions Chapter 5: Quality Assurance and Evaluation of Academic Staff 5.1. The European context for quality assurance 5.2. External quality assurance 5.3. Individual evaluation of academic staff Conclusions Chapter 6: Internationalisation and Staff Mobility 6.1. Top-level strategies for the internationalisation of higher education 6.2. Top-level monitoring of staff mobility 6.3. Top-level support for specific actions related to internationalisation Conclusions Modernis ation of Higher Educ ation in Europe: Ac ademic Staff-4 Annexes Annex 1: National diagrams of academic staff categories Sources of statistical data included in national diagrams Annex 2: Examples of large-scale programmes for academic staff mobility References Glossary Acknowledgements This report aims to provide insight into the realities faced by higher education academic staff at a time of fast-moving change and increasing societal demand. Fluctuating student numbers, new funding and steering mechanisms are among the features of today's European higher education landscape, but not enough is known about how academic staff are affected by such changes. As academic staff are vital for the success of higher education, this report places them centre stage. The report is divided into six chapters. An introductory chapter provides contextual information on the higher education environment. Subsequent chapters examine the qualification requirements for academic staff, the recruitment process, employment and working conditions in academia, external quality assurance procedures, and top-level strategies for internationalisation. The report also includes national diagrams showing key characteristics of academic staff categories. The report draws on several data sources. It is based mainly on qualitative data gathered from the Eurydice National Units. This has been complemented by a range of research reports, as well as by reports and databases produced by international organisations. Information has also been collected through surveys to academic staff trade unions and quality assurance agencies. Alongside qualitative information, some chapters also include statistical data from international surveys and databases. These main findings highlight key issues for consideration by policy makers. Academic staff are a heterogeneous group in European higher education  The degree of difference in academic staff categories from one country to another is a striking feature of the European higher education landscape. The national diagrams annexed to this report, while aiming to make national categories comparable, also reveal a wide range of distinctions and national variations (see Annex 1).  Academic staff can be differentiated by a number of features: their main activities (teaching and research; teaching only or research only), the type of institution in which they work (university of other higher education institution), their contractual status (indefinite or fixed-term contracts) as well as their integration or not within a clearly defined career path (see Chapters 1, 2, 3, 4 and Annex 1).  The extent to which top-level authorities monitor employment and working conditions of academics varies from one country to another-some top-level authorities monitoring a wider range of aspects compared to others (see Chapter 4, Section 4.5, Figure 4.8).  There is also a lack of comparable European statistics on academic employment and working conditions, including on staff contracts and on the proportion of staff working in externally-funded positions. Establishing comparable data in these areas would require an investment in the development of commonly shared concepts and definitions (see Chapter 4, Sections 4.1.1 and 4.5). Content of the report The report is structured in six chapters: Chapter 1 provides contextual information that aims to help the reader to understand the environment in which academic staff in Europe operate today. Background statistical indicators set the scene for qualitative investigation in the comparative report. The statistical data focuses on participation of students and staff, and the characteristics of the academic staff body, while qualitative indicators capture issues relating to higher education governance. Chapter 2 examines qualification requirements of academic staff. Following a career development perspective, the chapter starts by looking at the doctoral degree, enquiring about the status of doctoral candidates, the role of the doctorate in an academic career and the content of doctoral training. It then considers career progression in academia, looking, in particular, at procedures through which academics become recognised members of their community. Chapter 3 deals with the recruitment of academic staff. It examines the scope and coverage of legislation on the matter, the main methods used for recruitment, selected aspects of the recruitment process, and the degree of involvement of top-level authorities. (1) Launched in 2011 by the Commission's Communication 'Supporting growth and jobs-An Agenda for the Modernisation of Europe's Higher Education Systems' (European Commission, 2011a). (2) Including in line with the 'European Charter for Researchers and Code of Conduct for their Recruitment'.

Journal of Higher Education Policy and Management

Journal of Higher Education Policy and Management

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 arrive at a consensus. The expert panels were asked to rank ten propositions which support successful student outcomes. After three rounds the faculty based panel had reached only a ‘very weak’ consensus, and the non-faculty panel only a ‘weak’ consensus. The highest ranked proposition for both panels was the first, namely: ‘Institutional behaviours, environments and processes are welcoming and efficient; that is, students’ enquiries are dealt with promptly, knowledgeably and with a friendly manner’. Propositions relating to organisational culture were ranked relatively low indicating that professional staff may underestimate their contribution to these proposit...

50 years of Higher Education: a critical reflection and thoughts on an evolving agenda

Higher Education

This introduction to the 50th anniversary special issue of Higher Education recounts the history of the journal and reflects on the evolution and expansion of the journal and the field. Higher education studies is an object-oriented field that combines academic explanations with practical interventions. The journal takes an agnostic approach to disciplinary frameworks, theories, and methodologies and an eclectic and inclusive approach to topics. It began in 1972 with a preoccupation with the nature and implications of mass higher education systems, including internationally comparative analyses, and with a focus on policy and planning. Most of the earlier themes of research in the field have continued to the present, but as mass higher education systems have spread across the world, so has the journal's author list and editorial group. Higher education studies remain biased to the Anglophone and Euro-American worlds in their topics, theorizations, and author lists. Between 1996 and 2018, the USA and other English-speaking countries accounted for about 70% of authorship in the six journals with the highest impact factor. However, in Higher Education, that proportion was just over 45%, indicating some progress in the journal's efforts to pluralize, partly through the growth of papers from China. The introduction looks forward, anticipating growth in contributions from the global South, and further inquiry into the purposes of higher education and into its relations in social context. Finally, the introduction discusses the 50th anniversary papers that follow, contributed by twelve present and past editors of the journal. Keyword Higher education; Higher education studies; International higher education; Academic publishing; Anglophone bias; Purposes of higher education Higher Education published its first issues in 1972. In 2022, the journal therefore marks its 50th anniversary, which affords an opportunity to reflect upon the past and look to the future. This special issue both celebrates the journal and offers a critical retrospective and forward-looking assessment of the field of higher education studies. Today, the field of higher education is well established globally. But in 1972, it was a nascent multidisciplinary field with a budding interest in a number of countries. The journal (full title: Higher