Farshid Shams | York University (original) (raw)
Papers by Farshid Shams
This article investigates how the identities of frontline professionals are (re)constructed in th... more This article investigates how the identities of frontline professionals are (re)constructed in their talk about their everyday work activities. Based on a study of a mental health and addiction counselling service organization in Ontario, we illustrate that when talking about acting in accordance with their organizational policies, the social workers' identities are disciplined by and appropriated from addressing the practices of documentation and regular meetings with their supervisors that constitute the routine processes of organizing. However, when discussing instances where they override the organizationally sanctioned rules, their identities are disciplined by the aspiration of fabricating a client-centred caregiver identity adopted from the dominant discourse in their profession. We, therefore, counterbalance the understanding that professionals' identity work related to their deliberate micro-emancipation acts are merely an expression of agency and argue that their preferred resistant identities pertaining to their self-declared apparent deviation from the organizational order are also made within frameworks of disciplinary power. By delineating that both discursive conformity and resistance cut across the boundaries between acting in alignment with and against organizational guidelines, we unveil an underexplored complexity of conducting professional identity work associated with the interrelationships between practices of talk and action that has largely been overlooked in prior scholarship. We, therefore, offer an action-related analysis of discursive identity work that extends beyond the context of this study and informs future research.
Academy of Management Proceedings, 2018
This paper empirically examines causal relationships between the degree of identification of indi... more This paper empirically examines causal relationships between the degree of identification of individual organisational members with competing institutional logics, and the type of response that the...
This research is at the intersection of strategic management, international business and internat... more This research is at the intersection of strategic management, international business and internationalisation of higher education institutions (HEIs). It focuses on the managerial aspects of higher education institutions with offshore branch campuses. In the past couple of decades the number of offshore branch campuses established by HEIs - mainly universities - has increased dramatically, but most research carried out to date in this field has been anecdotal and the number of theoretical studies in this area is very limited. Thus, the aim of this research is to breach this gap by developing a theoretical framework that is capable of explaining the managerial aspects of foreign branch campus operations. The key research question in this study is how transnational higher education institutions (TNHEIs) strategically manage their offshore branch campuses. In order to address this question, the literature on TNHEIs with regard to managerial complexities is reviewed. By assimilating and...
Journal of Higher Education Policy and Management, 2019
Research shows that the ascendency of managerialism in the higher education sector and its fundam... more Research shows that the ascendency of managerialism in the higher education sector and its fundamental contradictions with the professional values has placed misaligning identity claims upon academics. However, the identity tension that arises from the misfit between the professional ethos and the organisations' market-driven requirements, and the ways in which academics cope with it has received insufficient attention. In this article, grounded on a conception of identity that describes it as in-progress narratives available to people, I analyse the routine work of academics in a Canadian public university. The results reveal that they reflexively and situationally construct different versions of their professional selves to minimise the tensions between the co-existing yet contradictory identity claims. In so doing, I found that the academics undertake two discursive strategies of embracing and distancing. I explain how these 'identity work' mechanisms help to strike a balance between the two contradictory discourses and suggest some directions for future research.
International Perspectives on Higher Education Research, 2014
Academy of Management Proceedings
Public Administration
This article analyses how non-managerial professionals in public service organisations experience... more This article analyses how non-managerial professionals in public service organisations experience the tension between managerial and professional institutional logics and manage to minimise it through identity work. By studying how academics in ten Canadian public universities talk about their routine work activities, it is found that they interpret the institutional contradictions between these logics as threats to their identities and mitigate them by undertaking discursive strategies to author legitimate selves. Three mitigation strategies of delegitimisation, selective identification and appropriation of realised publicness are identified. These findings are synthesised in a process model of construal and response that illustrates a set of micro-practices of professionals by which the institutional hybridity is maintained. By moving beyond professionals' resistance and hybridisation (integrating the two logics) and identifying a recursive relational positioning mechanism as a way of coping with institutional complexity, this study complements previous findings in the growing literature on organising professionalism.
Journal of Strategic Marketing, 2017
Abstract In order to satisfy the Muslim market segment, many restaurant and fast food companies i... more Abstract In order to satisfy the Muslim market segment, many restaurant and fast food companies in Western countries have standardised their products by switching to halal. The purpose of this research is to discover the extent to which non-Muslim consumers in non-Muslim countries experience cognitive dissonance when they think about restaurants and fast food outlets having likely served them halal-produced food, and the extent to which these consumers intend to repurchase halal food. Data came from a total sample of 1097 non-Muslim consumers in Canada, Spain and the United Kingdom. The full model, with religious identity, ethnic identification and interest in animal welfare as antecedents of cognitive dissonance, explained 35% of the variance in consumers’ repurchase intentions. Our findings suggest that many non-Muslims do not have a particular issue with consuming halal food, but they may react negatively if they unintentionally consume halal food and perceive that they have been deprived of information, or worse still, deliberately deceived. The research makes a number of contributions to marketing knowledge with regard to the negative spillover effects that can result from faith-based product standardisation, and the influences of consumer interest in animal welfare and deprivation of product information on consumer behaviour.
Journal of Islamic Marketing, 2019
Purpose International restaurant and fast food chains such as KFC, McDonald’s and Subway currentl... more Purpose International restaurant and fast food chains such as KFC, McDonald’s and Subway currently serve halal food in some non-Muslim countries, with mixed results. The purpose of this paper is to identify the factors that most influence the product judgements of halal food amongst non-Muslim consumers in non-Muslim countries and to assess the extent to which these judgements are related to willingness to consume halal food. Design/methodology/approach A quantitative survey method was adopted, using a total sample of 1,100 consumers in Canada, Spain and the UK. The proposed model was tested using structural equation modelling. Findings The results suggest that it may be possible for firms to satisfy specific niche market segments with standardised mass market products. Consumer cosmopolitanism and non-Muslim religious identity were found to be positively related to halal product judgement, and consumer ethnocentrism and national identification were negatively related to halal produ...
The SAGE Handbook of International Higher Education
Studies in Higher Education, 2014
ABSTRACT Past research revealed that International Branch Campuses (IBCs) are simultaneously unde... more ABSTRACT Past research revealed that International Branch Campuses (IBCs) are simultaneously under two types of isomorphic pressures. On the one hand, they are obliged to conform to the institutions of their host countries, which lead them towards homogenising with the local Higher Education Institutions (HEIs), hence deviate from their parent unit’s model. On the other hand, they are required to maintain their parent unit’s identity across borders. By adapting to the local context, IBCs gain legitimacy in their local milieus and thus reduce tensions with local stakeholders. By maintaining similarity with their parents, they differentiate from the local competitors and therefore better compete in the market place. This paper addresses the duality (between adherence to the parent’s and local expectations) by studying six important Australian and British IBCs in two major higher education (HE) hubs in South East Asia. We identify the determinants of the IBCs’ strategic choices and their responses to institutional pressures. The analysis suggests that IBCs have maintained a high level of similarity with their parent units in terms of curriculum, but not so much in terms of staffing. We argue that staffing will continue to be the biggest strategic challenge faced by IBCs.
Journal of Studies in International Education, 2011
The aim of this article is to develop a framework that encapsulates the key managerial complexiti... more The aim of this article is to develop a framework that encapsulates the key managerial complexities of running offshore branch campuses. In the transnational higher education (TNHE) literature, several managerial ramifications and impediments have been addressed by scholars and practitioners. However, the strands of the literature are highly scattered and not addressing the issues coherently and consistently. Therefore, in the first section of this article, we review the literature and highlight this fragmentation. In the second section, we borrow and explore a paradigm from the strategic management literature, known as the dichotomy of global integration (I) versus local responsiveness (R). This paradigm leads us to construct a multidimensional framework that proposes a perceptive insight into the field by reframing, reconceptualizing, and synthesizing the managerial complexities from a strategic perspective. It also highlights the hazards of taking polarized strategic stances (glo...
Public Administration, 2020
This article analyses how non-managerial professionals in public service organisations experience... more This article analyses how non-managerial professionals in public service organisations experience the tension between managerial and professional institutional logics and manage to minimise it through identity work. By studying how academics in ten Canadian public universities talk about their routine work activities, it is found that they interpret the institutional contradictions between these logics as threats to their identities and mitigate them by undertaking discursive strategies to author legitimate selves. Three mitigation strategies of delegitimisation, selective identification and appropriation of realised publicness are identified. These findings are synthesised in a process model of construal and response that illustrates a set of micro-practices of professionals by which the institutional hybridity is maintained. By moving beyond professionals' resistance and hybridisation (integrating the two logics) and identifying a recursive relational positioning mechanism as a way of coping with institutional complexity, this study complements previous findings in the growing literature on organising professionalism.
Journal of Strategic Marketing, 2019
In order to satisfy the Muslim market segment, many restaurant and fast food companies in Western... more In order to satisfy the Muslim market segment, many restaurant and fast food companies in Western countries have standardised their products by switching to halal. The purpose of this research is to discover the extent to which non-Muslim consumers in non-Muslim countries experience cognitive dissonance when they think about restaurants and fast food outlets having likely served them halal-produced food, and the extent to which these consumers intend to repurchase halal food. A quantitative survey method using structural equation modelling was adopted. Data came from a total sample of 1,097 non-Muslim consumers in Canada, Spain and the United Kingdom. Consumer religious identity and interest in animal welfare were found to significantly predict the consumer cognitive dissonance associated with unintended consumption of halal food. The full model, with religious identity, ethnic identification and interest in animal welfare as antecedents of cognitive dissonance, explained 35% of the variance in consumers’ repurchase intentions. Our findings suggest that many non-Muslims do not have a particular issue with consuming halal food, but they may react negatively if they unintentionally consume halal food and perceive that they have been deprived of information, or worse still, deliberately deceived. The research makes a number of contributions to marketing knowledge with regard to the negative spillover effects that can result from faith-based product standardisation, and the influences of consumer interest in animal welfare and deprivation of product information on consumer behaviour.
Journal of Higher Education Policy and Management, 2019
Research shows that the ascendency of managerialism in the higher education sector and its fundam... more Research shows that the ascendency of managerialism in the higher education sector and its fundamental contradictions with the professional values has placed misaligning identity claims upon academics. However, the identity tension that arises from the misfit between the professional ethos and the organisations' market-driven requirements, and the ways in which academics cope with it has received insufficient attention. In this article, grounded on a conception of identity that describes it as in-progress narratives available to people, I analyse the routine work of academics in a Canadian public university. The results reveal that they reflexively and situationally construct different versions of their professional selves to minimise the tensions between the co-existing yet contradictory identity claims. In so doing, I found that the academics undertake two discursive strategies of embracing and distancing. I explain how these 'identity work' mechanisms help to strike a balance between the two contradictory discourses and suggest some directions for future research.
In order to satisfy the Muslim market segment, many restaurant and fast food companies in Western... more In order to satisfy the Muslim market segment, many restaurant and fast food companies in Western countries have standardised their products by switching to halal. The purpose of this research is to discover the extent to which non-Muslim consumers in non-Muslim countries experience cognitive dissonance when they think about restaurants and fast food outlets having likely served them halal-produced food, and the extent to which these consumers intend to repurchase halal food. Data came from a total sample of 1097 non-Muslim consumers in Canada, Spain and the United Kingdom. The full model, with religious identity, ethnic identification and interest in animal welfare as antecedents of cognitive dissonance, explained 35% of the variance in consumers’ repurchase intentions. Our findings suggest that many non-Muslims do not have a particular issue with consuming halal food, but they may react negatively if they unintentionally consume halal food and perceive that they have been deprived of information, or worse still, deliberately deceived. The research makes a number of contributions to marketing knowledge with regard to the negative spillover effects that can result from faith-based product standardisation, and the influences of consumer interest in animal welfare and deprivation of product information on consumer behaviour.
This chapter describes the developments in the Bologna process that started in 1999. The attempt ... more This chapter describes the developments in the Bologna process that started in 1999. The attempt to create the European Higher Education Area (EHEA) is arguably one of the largest reform projects ever in higher education and such reform initiatives warrant a critical assessment of the achievements. And the reform has impacted or will impact the specific context in which many internationalisation practitioners, not only in Europe but also beyond, will have to carry out their professional activities. There are intended consequences that make international cooperation and related activities easier, but -as with many reformsthere are unintended or side effects that complicate matters of international cooperation and exchange. The chapter will focus on achievements in terms of policies being realised and progress being made in the member states of the EHEA, but also look in some depth at the spin-off of the Bologna process: has the process triggered similar reform processes in other regions? And if so, how and what are the impacts? And what does this all imply for practitioners in the area of international higher education?
Recent changes in the English tuition fee policies have spurred a debate on the impacts on studen... more Recent changes in the English tuition fee policies have spurred a debate on the impacts on student choices for higher education. Expectations range from a sharp decrease of participation in higher education to relatively little change in student demand. We surveyed 1,549 year 12 sixth form students from four institutions spread geographically across England. We have broadened the approach to the study of student choice by not only considering the impact of going to higher education or not, but have included in our choice scenarios the consideration of looking for cheaper higher education alternatives and of looking for higher education abroad. This brings our study from a focus on widening participation and access into the realm of the dynamics of increasing choice in a globalised world. The data suggest that financial issues are key influencers. We conclude that the English higher education system may be confronted with significant changes in student choice patterns, given the study’s finding that students show high levels of anxiety and consequently consider a much broader range of study options: within or outside higher education; in publicly-funded or for-profit institutions; and in the UK or elsewhere.
This article investigates how the identities of frontline professionals are (re)constructed in th... more This article investigates how the identities of frontline professionals are (re)constructed in their talk about their everyday work activities. Based on a study of a mental health and addiction counselling service organization in Ontario, we illustrate that when talking about acting in accordance with their organizational policies, the social workers' identities are disciplined by and appropriated from addressing the practices of documentation and regular meetings with their supervisors that constitute the routine processes of organizing. However, when discussing instances where they override the organizationally sanctioned rules, their identities are disciplined by the aspiration of fabricating a client-centred caregiver identity adopted from the dominant discourse in their profession. We, therefore, counterbalance the understanding that professionals' identity work related to their deliberate micro-emancipation acts are merely an expression of agency and argue that their preferred resistant identities pertaining to their self-declared apparent deviation from the organizational order are also made within frameworks of disciplinary power. By delineating that both discursive conformity and resistance cut across the boundaries between acting in alignment with and against organizational guidelines, we unveil an underexplored complexity of conducting professional identity work associated with the interrelationships between practices of talk and action that has largely been overlooked in prior scholarship. We, therefore, offer an action-related analysis of discursive identity work that extends beyond the context of this study and informs future research.
Academy of Management Proceedings, 2018
This paper empirically examines causal relationships between the degree of identification of indi... more This paper empirically examines causal relationships between the degree of identification of individual organisational members with competing institutional logics, and the type of response that the...
This research is at the intersection of strategic management, international business and internat... more This research is at the intersection of strategic management, international business and internationalisation of higher education institutions (HEIs). It focuses on the managerial aspects of higher education institutions with offshore branch campuses. In the past couple of decades the number of offshore branch campuses established by HEIs - mainly universities - has increased dramatically, but most research carried out to date in this field has been anecdotal and the number of theoretical studies in this area is very limited. Thus, the aim of this research is to breach this gap by developing a theoretical framework that is capable of explaining the managerial aspects of foreign branch campus operations. The key research question in this study is how transnational higher education institutions (TNHEIs) strategically manage their offshore branch campuses. In order to address this question, the literature on TNHEIs with regard to managerial complexities is reviewed. By assimilating and...
Journal of Higher Education Policy and Management, 2019
Research shows that the ascendency of managerialism in the higher education sector and its fundam... more Research shows that the ascendency of managerialism in the higher education sector and its fundamental contradictions with the professional values has placed misaligning identity claims upon academics. However, the identity tension that arises from the misfit between the professional ethos and the organisations' market-driven requirements, and the ways in which academics cope with it has received insufficient attention. In this article, grounded on a conception of identity that describes it as in-progress narratives available to people, I analyse the routine work of academics in a Canadian public university. The results reveal that they reflexively and situationally construct different versions of their professional selves to minimise the tensions between the co-existing yet contradictory identity claims. In so doing, I found that the academics undertake two discursive strategies of embracing and distancing. I explain how these 'identity work' mechanisms help to strike a balance between the two contradictory discourses and suggest some directions for future research.
International Perspectives on Higher Education Research, 2014
Academy of Management Proceedings
Public Administration
This article analyses how non-managerial professionals in public service organisations experience... more This article analyses how non-managerial professionals in public service organisations experience the tension between managerial and professional institutional logics and manage to minimise it through identity work. By studying how academics in ten Canadian public universities talk about their routine work activities, it is found that they interpret the institutional contradictions between these logics as threats to their identities and mitigate them by undertaking discursive strategies to author legitimate selves. Three mitigation strategies of delegitimisation, selective identification and appropriation of realised publicness are identified. These findings are synthesised in a process model of construal and response that illustrates a set of micro-practices of professionals by which the institutional hybridity is maintained. By moving beyond professionals' resistance and hybridisation (integrating the two logics) and identifying a recursive relational positioning mechanism as a way of coping with institutional complexity, this study complements previous findings in the growing literature on organising professionalism.
Journal of Strategic Marketing, 2017
Abstract In order to satisfy the Muslim market segment, many restaurant and fast food companies i... more Abstract In order to satisfy the Muslim market segment, many restaurant and fast food companies in Western countries have standardised their products by switching to halal. The purpose of this research is to discover the extent to which non-Muslim consumers in non-Muslim countries experience cognitive dissonance when they think about restaurants and fast food outlets having likely served them halal-produced food, and the extent to which these consumers intend to repurchase halal food. Data came from a total sample of 1097 non-Muslim consumers in Canada, Spain and the United Kingdom. The full model, with religious identity, ethnic identification and interest in animal welfare as antecedents of cognitive dissonance, explained 35% of the variance in consumers’ repurchase intentions. Our findings suggest that many non-Muslims do not have a particular issue with consuming halal food, but they may react negatively if they unintentionally consume halal food and perceive that they have been deprived of information, or worse still, deliberately deceived. The research makes a number of contributions to marketing knowledge with regard to the negative spillover effects that can result from faith-based product standardisation, and the influences of consumer interest in animal welfare and deprivation of product information on consumer behaviour.
Journal of Islamic Marketing, 2019
Purpose International restaurant and fast food chains such as KFC, McDonald’s and Subway currentl... more Purpose International restaurant and fast food chains such as KFC, McDonald’s and Subway currently serve halal food in some non-Muslim countries, with mixed results. The purpose of this paper is to identify the factors that most influence the product judgements of halal food amongst non-Muslim consumers in non-Muslim countries and to assess the extent to which these judgements are related to willingness to consume halal food. Design/methodology/approach A quantitative survey method was adopted, using a total sample of 1,100 consumers in Canada, Spain and the UK. The proposed model was tested using structural equation modelling. Findings The results suggest that it may be possible for firms to satisfy specific niche market segments with standardised mass market products. Consumer cosmopolitanism and non-Muslim religious identity were found to be positively related to halal product judgement, and consumer ethnocentrism and national identification were negatively related to halal produ...
The SAGE Handbook of International Higher Education
Studies in Higher Education, 2014
ABSTRACT Past research revealed that International Branch Campuses (IBCs) are simultaneously unde... more ABSTRACT Past research revealed that International Branch Campuses (IBCs) are simultaneously under two types of isomorphic pressures. On the one hand, they are obliged to conform to the institutions of their host countries, which lead them towards homogenising with the local Higher Education Institutions (HEIs), hence deviate from their parent unit’s model. On the other hand, they are required to maintain their parent unit’s identity across borders. By adapting to the local context, IBCs gain legitimacy in their local milieus and thus reduce tensions with local stakeholders. By maintaining similarity with their parents, they differentiate from the local competitors and therefore better compete in the market place. This paper addresses the duality (between adherence to the parent’s and local expectations) by studying six important Australian and British IBCs in two major higher education (HE) hubs in South East Asia. We identify the determinants of the IBCs’ strategic choices and their responses to institutional pressures. The analysis suggests that IBCs have maintained a high level of similarity with their parent units in terms of curriculum, but not so much in terms of staffing. We argue that staffing will continue to be the biggest strategic challenge faced by IBCs.
Journal of Studies in International Education, 2011
The aim of this article is to develop a framework that encapsulates the key managerial complexiti... more The aim of this article is to develop a framework that encapsulates the key managerial complexities of running offshore branch campuses. In the transnational higher education (TNHE) literature, several managerial ramifications and impediments have been addressed by scholars and practitioners. However, the strands of the literature are highly scattered and not addressing the issues coherently and consistently. Therefore, in the first section of this article, we review the literature and highlight this fragmentation. In the second section, we borrow and explore a paradigm from the strategic management literature, known as the dichotomy of global integration (I) versus local responsiveness (R). This paradigm leads us to construct a multidimensional framework that proposes a perceptive insight into the field by reframing, reconceptualizing, and synthesizing the managerial complexities from a strategic perspective. It also highlights the hazards of taking polarized strategic stances (glo...
Public Administration, 2020
This article analyses how non-managerial professionals in public service organisations experience... more This article analyses how non-managerial professionals in public service organisations experience the tension between managerial and professional institutional logics and manage to minimise it through identity work. By studying how academics in ten Canadian public universities talk about their routine work activities, it is found that they interpret the institutional contradictions between these logics as threats to their identities and mitigate them by undertaking discursive strategies to author legitimate selves. Three mitigation strategies of delegitimisation, selective identification and appropriation of realised publicness are identified. These findings are synthesised in a process model of construal and response that illustrates a set of micro-practices of professionals by which the institutional hybridity is maintained. By moving beyond professionals' resistance and hybridisation (integrating the two logics) and identifying a recursive relational positioning mechanism as a way of coping with institutional complexity, this study complements previous findings in the growing literature on organising professionalism.
Journal of Strategic Marketing, 2019
In order to satisfy the Muslim market segment, many restaurant and fast food companies in Western... more In order to satisfy the Muslim market segment, many restaurant and fast food companies in Western countries have standardised their products by switching to halal. The purpose of this research is to discover the extent to which non-Muslim consumers in non-Muslim countries experience cognitive dissonance when they think about restaurants and fast food outlets having likely served them halal-produced food, and the extent to which these consumers intend to repurchase halal food. A quantitative survey method using structural equation modelling was adopted. Data came from a total sample of 1,097 non-Muslim consumers in Canada, Spain and the United Kingdom. Consumer religious identity and interest in animal welfare were found to significantly predict the consumer cognitive dissonance associated with unintended consumption of halal food. The full model, with religious identity, ethnic identification and interest in animal welfare as antecedents of cognitive dissonance, explained 35% of the variance in consumers’ repurchase intentions. Our findings suggest that many non-Muslims do not have a particular issue with consuming halal food, but they may react negatively if they unintentionally consume halal food and perceive that they have been deprived of information, or worse still, deliberately deceived. The research makes a number of contributions to marketing knowledge with regard to the negative spillover effects that can result from faith-based product standardisation, and the influences of consumer interest in animal welfare and deprivation of product information on consumer behaviour.
Journal of Higher Education Policy and Management, 2019
Research shows that the ascendency of managerialism in the higher education sector and its fundam... more Research shows that the ascendency of managerialism in the higher education sector and its fundamental contradictions with the professional values has placed misaligning identity claims upon academics. However, the identity tension that arises from the misfit between the professional ethos and the organisations' market-driven requirements, and the ways in which academics cope with it has received insufficient attention. In this article, grounded on a conception of identity that describes it as in-progress narratives available to people, I analyse the routine work of academics in a Canadian public university. The results reveal that they reflexively and situationally construct different versions of their professional selves to minimise the tensions between the co-existing yet contradictory identity claims. In so doing, I found that the academics undertake two discursive strategies of embracing and distancing. I explain how these 'identity work' mechanisms help to strike a balance between the two contradictory discourses and suggest some directions for future research.
In order to satisfy the Muslim market segment, many restaurant and fast food companies in Western... more In order to satisfy the Muslim market segment, many restaurant and fast food companies in Western countries have standardised their products by switching to halal. The purpose of this research is to discover the extent to which non-Muslim consumers in non-Muslim countries experience cognitive dissonance when they think about restaurants and fast food outlets having likely served them halal-produced food, and the extent to which these consumers intend to repurchase halal food. Data came from a total sample of 1097 non-Muslim consumers in Canada, Spain and the United Kingdom. The full model, with religious identity, ethnic identification and interest in animal welfare as antecedents of cognitive dissonance, explained 35% of the variance in consumers’ repurchase intentions. Our findings suggest that many non-Muslims do not have a particular issue with consuming halal food, but they may react negatively if they unintentionally consume halal food and perceive that they have been deprived of information, or worse still, deliberately deceived. The research makes a number of contributions to marketing knowledge with regard to the negative spillover effects that can result from faith-based product standardisation, and the influences of consumer interest in animal welfare and deprivation of product information on consumer behaviour.
This chapter describes the developments in the Bologna process that started in 1999. The attempt ... more This chapter describes the developments in the Bologna process that started in 1999. The attempt to create the European Higher Education Area (EHEA) is arguably one of the largest reform projects ever in higher education and such reform initiatives warrant a critical assessment of the achievements. And the reform has impacted or will impact the specific context in which many internationalisation practitioners, not only in Europe but also beyond, will have to carry out their professional activities. There are intended consequences that make international cooperation and related activities easier, but -as with many reformsthere are unintended or side effects that complicate matters of international cooperation and exchange. The chapter will focus on achievements in terms of policies being realised and progress being made in the member states of the EHEA, but also look in some depth at the spin-off of the Bologna process: has the process triggered similar reform processes in other regions? And if so, how and what are the impacts? And what does this all imply for practitioners in the area of international higher education?
Recent changes in the English tuition fee policies have spurred a debate on the impacts on studen... more Recent changes in the English tuition fee policies have spurred a debate on the impacts on student choices for higher education. Expectations range from a sharp decrease of participation in higher education to relatively little change in student demand. We surveyed 1,549 year 12 sixth form students from four institutions spread geographically across England. We have broadened the approach to the study of student choice by not only considering the impact of going to higher education or not, but have included in our choice scenarios the consideration of looking for cheaper higher education alternatives and of looking for higher education abroad. This brings our study from a focus on widening participation and access into the realm of the dynamics of increasing choice in a globalised world. The data suggest that financial issues are key influencers. We conclude that the English higher education system may be confronted with significant changes in student choice patterns, given the study’s finding that students show high levels of anxiety and consequently consider a much broader range of study options: within or outside higher education; in publicly-funded or for-profit institutions; and in the UK or elsewhere.