scholarly journals Counter-narratives in the First Person: Whiteness and the Limits of Diversity

Journal ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 10 (1) ◽  
pp. 45-52
Author(s):  
Sara Bafo ◽  
Ethiraj Gabriel Dattatreyan
Keyword(s):  
Higher Education ◽  
Public Space ◽  
First Person ◽  
Short Article ◽  
Post Secondary ◽  
Counter Narratives ◽  
Diversity In Higher Education ◽  
Post Secondary Institution ◽  
The Uk ◽  
The University

This short article focuses on Sara’s experience as the first-ever student BAME department representative at a large post-secondary institution in the UK. Written as a first-person testimonial but grounded in a dialogic method of ethnographic recovery and remembrance, we argue that diversity initiatives that seek to create inclusion and representation, without a careful engagement with power, end up reproducing the university as a white public space that centres white fragility. The article highlights two key experiences during Sara’s tenure as BAME student representative in a department of anthropology that show how the limits of diversity in higher education are found in the refusal to engage with whiteness.   

Web Accessibility of the Top Research-Intensive Universities in the UK

SAGE Open ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (4) ◽  
pp. 215824402110566
Author(s):  
Sophia Alim
Keyword(s):  
Higher Education ◽  
Web Accessibility ◽  
The Body ◽  
Web Pages ◽  
Wcag 2.0 ◽  
Body Of Knowledge ◽  
Text Content ◽  
The Uk ◽  
Future Technologies ◽  
The University

Although the web accessibility of universities around the world is well documented, much remains unknown about this aspect of higher education institutions in the UK. Using three automated web accessibility tools (TAW, WAVE and EIII Page Checker), this study explores the accessibility of the homepages of 66 research-intensive universities with respect to the WCAG 2.0 checkpoints. The results show that the most common checkpoint violations involve the provision of text alternatives for non-text content, contrast errors and the need to increase the computability of webpages with future technologies and tools. The results show that there are variations between UK universities, and there is some evidence of consistent compliance amongst the university homepages. However, when evaluated against results from similar studies of web accessibility in other countries, these web pages perform well. Overall, this study adds to the body of knowledge on web accessibility in higher education in the UK.

Enabling New Market Exploitation by SMEs

1996 ◽  
Vol 10 (2) ◽  
pp. 125-127 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ceris Burns
Keyword(s):  
Higher Education ◽  
International Collaboration ◽  
Market Research ◽  
Practical Case ◽  
Medical Electronics ◽  
Small Companies ◽  
The Uk ◽  
The University ◽  
The Way

This article provides a practical case example of the way in which international collaboration between government, higher education and business can lead to new commercial opportunities for small companies which would otherwise lack the necessary resources for the extensive market research required, and also to enhanced knowledge and understanding for all participants. The author summarizes the results of her market research in France, undertaken as part of a TCS programme of the University of Stirling and Albyn Medical, a small Scottish-based company in the medical electronics business. The six-week visit to France was the result of a TCS scholarship supported by institutions in both France and the UK.

scholarly journals Unwaged Posts in UK Universities: Controversies and Campaigns

2015 ◽  
Vol 13 (2) ◽  
pp. 533-553 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kirsten Forkert ◽  
Ana Lopes
Keyword(s):  
Higher Education ◽  
Social Media ◽  
Trade Unions ◽  
Creative Industries ◽  
Early Career ◽  
Higher Education System ◽  
Use Of Social Media ◽  
The Uk ◽  
The University ◽  
Uk Higher Education

This article examines unwaged posts at UK universities, using recent examples of advertised job posts. While unpaid work is common in the UK higher education system, unwaged posts are not. The posts under scrutiny in this article differ from traditional honorary titles as they target early career academics, who are unlikely to have a paid position elsewhere, rather than established scholars. The article contextualizes the appearance of these posts in a climate of increasing marketization of higher education, entrenching managerialism in higher education institutions, and the casualization of academic work. We also discuss resistance to the posts, arguing that the controversy surrounding unpaid internships in the creative industries created a receptive environment for resisting unwaged posts in academia. We analyze the campaigns that were fought against the advertisement of the posts, mostly through social media and the University and College Union. We explore the tactics used and discuss the advantages and limitations of the use of social media, as well as the role of trade unions in the campaigns against these posts, and we reflect on what future campaigns can learn from these experiences.

scholarly journals Academic Drift in Canadian Institutions of Higher Education: Research Mandates, Strategy, and Culture

2019 ◽  
Vol 48 (2) ◽  
pp. 92-108
Author(s):  
Lane D. Trotter ◽  
Amy Mitchell
Keyword(s):  
Higher Education ◽  
Degree Completion ◽  
Institutions Of Higher Education ◽  
Institutional Governance ◽  
Post Secondary ◽  
Academic Drift ◽  
Secondary Systems ◽  
Community Pressure ◽  
The University ◽  
Market Pressures

As with higher-education institutions around the world, British Columbia (BC) and Ontario are increasingly faced with demographic and market pressures that erode the traditional difference between the university and non-university sectors (i.e., colleges and institutes). Key components that ensure these provinces’ institutions preserve their unique roles and differentiations in a changing context, partially driven by their governments, include research mandates, transparency in institutional governance, and strategic documents that resist the academic drift created by institutional isomorphism. Both governments are actively reshaping their post-secondary systems to align with national or regional economic needs, increasing access, streamlining degree completion, and responding to community pressure to have a university or a degree-granting institution. An analysis of the enabling legislation, government policy directives, and institutional documents of both provinces shows that there is a blurring in the distinction between colleges and universities, and the costs associated with this.

Marjorie Ethel Reeves 1905–2003

2007 ◽  
Author(s):  
GILLIAN LEWIS
Keyword(s):  
Higher Education ◽  
Common Good ◽  
Advisory Council ◽  
Ministry Of Education ◽  
East Anglia ◽  
Diversity In Higher Education ◽  
Students First ◽  
Small Band ◽  
Post War ◽  
The University

Marjorie Reeves turned her attention to politics and to the education of the young in the 1930s. In 1938 she returned to Oxford as Tutor in History to the Society of Oxford Home Students. Reeves was one of the small band of scholars who kept alive the Oxford Faculty of Modern History during the Second World War, and at the same time she was actively involved in the transformation of the Society of Home Students, first into a permanent Private Hall of the University, and eventually into full collegiate status as St Anne's College. She made a valuable contribution to public policy-making in the post-war years (1947–65). Reeves was an early a member of the Schools' Broadcasting Council, and from 1947 to 1961 of the Central Advisory Council of the Ministry of Education. She sat on the 1961–4 Robbins Committee on Higher Education, which resulted in the establishment of the first post-war wave of new universities including York, Lancaster, Sussex, Essex, Warwick, East Anglia, and Kent. In 1965, Reeves published Eighteen Plus: Unity and Diversity in Higher Education, and in 1988 The Crisis in Higher Education: Competence, Delight and the Common Good.

scholarly journals Using Technology to Enhance the Student Experience in Large Cohort Settings: Evidence from a Journey of Innovation at the University of Manchester

2015 ◽  
Vol 3 (2) ◽  
Author(s):  
Paul Middleditch ◽  
William Moindrot
Keyword(s):  
Higher Education ◽  
Social Media ◽  
Student Satisfaction ◽  
Classroom Interaction ◽  
Large Cohort ◽  
Peer Instruction ◽  
Learning Tools ◽  
The Uk ◽  
The University ◽  
University Of Manchester

The use of large cohorts in higher education poses significant challenges to institutions and lecturers required to convene in this setting. These challenges have been compounded by recent changes to higher education in the UK that have presented themselves in the form of a new fees structure, a push for student satisfaction and a technological tidal wave. This paper presents innovative approaches, from two large cohort economics courses running over three years at the University of Manchester, using methods of classroom interaction, peer instruction and social media to further engagement. We discuss data collected during this period of time through surveys and observations of how the students used these new learning tools. We have found that a move away from clickers toward utilisation of students’ own mobile devices, and in time the use of social media, meant that we were more able to adapt and evolve our teaching methods at a pace with the needs and interests of our students. We use this evidence to consider the implications and to provide advice to others teaching on large cohort courses whose ambition, like ours, is to make the large cohort class a more positive experience.

scholarly journals The Impact Of Integration, Affirmative Action, And Diversity On Minority Student Recruitment At The University Of Alabama: A Longitudinal Perspective

2006 ◽  
Vol 1 (2) ◽  
pp. 25-34
Author(s):  
John L. Festervand ◽  
Troy A. Festervand
Keyword(s):  
Higher Education ◽  
Affirmative Action ◽  
Minority Student ◽  
Minority Faculty ◽  
University Of Alabama ◽  
Minority Representation ◽  
The Past ◽  
Diversity In Higher Education ◽  
The University ◽  
The Impact

This paper explores the University of Alabama's positions, actions, policies, and accomplishments over the past forty years with respect to minority representation among its students and faculty. The impact and progression of these initiatives by the University of Alabama demonstrates strides have been made. The paper also examines the University's recruiting efforts to attract more minority faculty and students. The transition from integration to affirmative action to diversity in higher education also are examined.

scholarly journals Reflections on the impact of COVID-19 on teaching and learning in the Faculty of Arts at the University of Nottingham

2021 ◽  
pp. 47-55
Author(s):  
Cecilia Goria
Keyword(s):  
Higher Education ◽  
Teaching And Learning ◽  
Academic Staff ◽  
Pedagogical Approach ◽  
State Of Emergency ◽  
The Uk ◽  
The University ◽  
The Impact ◽  
Emergency Measures

It is widely believed that digitally-driven changes are not welcomed amongst academic staff in higher education. However, when in March 2020, the University of Nottingham went online in response to the UK government’s COVID-19 lockdown, a different picture started to emerge. This contribution reflects on the initial steps taken to respond to the COVID-19 emergency measures, including the support required to implement these steps and ensuing staff feedback. It also reflects on the process of moving forward from a state of emergency to a more thought-through digital pedagogical approach. In this scenario, the ultimate goal of this reflection is to argue that, as a consequence of the educational turbulence caused by COVID-19, the portrait of academics prone to resisting digitally-driven changes needs to be replaced by one that emphasises the significance of making the pedagogical values of these changes meaningful to the staff who eventually implement them.

scholarly journals Adapting to a Dynamic Higher Education Environment – How the University of Glasgow Library Is Taking Up the Challenge

2016 ◽  
Vol 1 (1) ◽  
pp. 55
Author(s):  
Susan Ashworth
Keyword(s):  
Higher Education ◽  
Open Access ◽  
Ethnographic Study ◽  
Research Assessment ◽  
Institutional Repository ◽  
The United Kingdom ◽  
Education Environment ◽  
Scholarly Communications ◽  
The Uk ◽  
The University

The University of Glasgow Library is continuously developing space and services to meet the need of students and researchers in an evolving higher education landscape. We are an evidence-based organisation and have used tools such as ethnography, surveys and focus groups to understand how users interact with the physical and virtual library. We have also introduced new roles and created new partnerships across the University, particularly in the context of the United Kingdom Government’s policy on open access and funder requirements for the management of research data. This paper will focus on how the University of Glasgow Library is adapting to both the dynamic scholarly communications environment and the demands of our national research exercise and evidence from users and changing student needs. Every six years in the UK, there is a national research assessment exercise called the Research Excellence Framework (REF) and measurement of the performance of research outputs is a key part of that exercise. From 1st April 2016, in order to be eligible for the next REF, the accepted final version of journal articles and conference proceedings must have been deposited into an institutional repository within three months of the date of acceptance and made open access. Many research funders, such as the Wellcome Trust, also have policies on open access. The Library, in close partnership with the University’s Research Office, has taken the lead in publicising these policies to ensure that researchers are aware of their responsibilities. It has also developed new functionality in Enlighten, our institutional repository service to support compliance. In 2015, the Library commissioned an in-depth ethnographic study to help us more readily understand the changing needs of students and how they use library space. An overview of the results of this work and our next steps will demonstrate how we are “enabling progress”.

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