Liberal and vocational education: the Gordian encounter

2020 ◽  
Vol 62 (9) ◽  
pp. 1087-1099
Author(s):  
Caroline J. Burns ◽  
Samuel M. Natale
Keyword(s):  
Higher Education ◽  
Vocational Education ◽  
Liberal Education ◽  
Design Methodology ◽  
Semantic Field ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Curriculum Differentiation ◽  
Vocational Higher Education ◽  
Two Sides

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to discuss how liberal higher education can strengthen vocational higher education.Design/methodology/approachThe paper uses Shay's (2013) framework of curriculum differentiation to articulate how the strengths and shortcomings of liberal education differ from those of vocational education and to allow the differences highlighted to inform a resolution to each other's shortcomings.FindingsThere is nothing new in the findings that liberal education differs from vocational education and that both have shortcomings. What the paper presents is a viewpoint that the differences are not confirmation that these two approaches to education are in opposition but rather that they complement each other. The strength of one is the weakness of the other.Originality/valueThe perspective taken in this paper is developed using the language of semantic density (SD) and semantic gravity (SG). Using Shay's semantic field of recontextualized knowledge, this paper suggests that liberal and vocational education inhabit two sides of contexts and concepts continua. The paper further proposes that both are alike in a meaningful way because both have unsuccessfully managed the role of context in their curricula.

The reflective practitioner: the role of a public liberal-arts university in saving liberal education

2014 ◽  
Vol 22 (1) ◽  
pp. 72-74 ◽  
Author(s):  
Troy D. Paino
Keyword(s):  
Higher Education ◽  
Liberal Education ◽  
Liberal Arts ◽  
Design Methodology ◽  
Reflective Practitioner ◽  
State Support ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Liberal Arts University ◽  
Freedom Of Thought

Purpose – This paper seeks to discuss the role of a public liberal-arts university in education. Design/methodology/approach – The author first defines the principles and definitions of liberal education, then analyses these ideas in relation to public liberal-arts universities. Findings – Liberal education holds enduring value in a world where state support for higher education is steadily decreasing and the author concludes that society needs public liberal-arts universities in order to maintain freedom of thought and democracies. Originality/value – This piece presents a view of public liberal-arts universities in the wider context of liberal education, recession and worldwide threats to democracy and personal freedoms.

Men grow old

2014 ◽  
Vol 22 (1) ◽  
pp. 75-79
Author(s):  
Stephen Pollard
Keyword(s):  
Higher Education ◽  
Liberal Education ◽  
Design Methodology ◽  
Educational Leaders ◽  
Learning Objectives ◽  
Negative Consequences ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Opinion Piece

Purpose – This sermon argues that artistry and understanding are the offspring of whole people: thoughtful, resolute, and passionate. It then considers some illiberal fashions in higher education that stifle passion. Design/methodology/approach – This is an opinion piece. Findings – Current threats to liberal education include metaphors demeaning to professors, incomprehensible or inconsequential learning objectives, and schemes that increase “intentionality” by limiting students' opportunities for exploration and discovery. Originality/value – This sermon makes vivid to educational leaders and would-be reformers some of the negative consequences of their actions and proposals.

Employability of higher education graduates in Europe

2014 ◽  
Vol 35 (4) ◽  
pp. 418-424 ◽  
Author(s):  
Samo Pavlin ◽  
Ivan Svetlik
Keyword(s):  
Higher Education ◽  
Labour Market ◽  
Design Methodology ◽  
Global Changes ◽  
Special Issue ◽  
Strategic Development ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Scientific Approach ◽  
Selection Of

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to introduce the special issue on “Employability of higher education graduates in europe” from the perspective of global changes. Design/methodology/approach – The empirically based papers of the special issue address six main areas related to the transition of graduates from education to the labour market: employment and employability, job (mis)match, development of particular areas of competency, new certificates of higher education, along with the disciplinarity and status of the self-perceived role of academics in supporting graduates’ careers. Findings – This issue provides empirical findings relevant to various stakeholders of higher education systems which are essential for strategic development in the area. Originality/value – The selection of papers proposes an interdisciplinary scientific approach in the areas of bridging (higher) education with the labour market.

Teleworkers in Italy: who are they? Do they make more?

2019 ◽  
Vol 40 (2) ◽  
pp. 265-285 ◽  
Author(s):  
Claudia Pigini ◽  
Stefano Staffolani
Keyword(s):  
Higher Education ◽  
Propensity Score ◽  
Design Methodology ◽  
Wage Premium ◽  
Switching Regression ◽  
Earnings Differentials ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Specific Effects ◽  
Standard Linear

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to investigate the determinants of the probability of being a teleworker and the extent of earnings differentials between teleworkers and traditional employees. Design/methodology/approach The analysis is grounded on a theoretical framework depicting endogenous telework assignment and wage variations based on individual bargaining. The empirical strategy allows for non-random telework assignment, generating from individual- and job-specific observed as well as unobserved factors. Findings Results are based on the Italian labor force survey and uncover a key role of gender, higher education and family composition as determinants of the probability of teleworking. Furthermore, teleworkers enjoy a wage premium ranging between 2.7 and 8 percent. Originality/value Accounting for observed individual and job-specific effects, by both standard linear regression and propensity score matching, largely reduces the extent of wage premium emerging from unconditional descriptives; the results of an endogenous switching regression model however suggest that failing to properly care for unobserved factors leads to the underestimation of returns to telework.

Financing universities through waqf, pious endowment: is it possible?

Humanomics ◽  
2015 ◽  
Vol 31 (4) ◽  
pp. 430-453 ◽  
Author(s):  
Siti Mashitoh Mahamood ◽  
Asmak Ab Rahman
Keyword(s):  
Higher Education ◽  
Design Methodology ◽  
Educational Institution ◽  
Board Of Trustees ◽  
Academic Quality ◽  
Content Type ◽  
The Uk ◽  
Financing Higher Education ◽  
Depth Interviews

Purpose – The purpose of this article is to highlight the importance of waqf in financing higher education. Nowadays, higher education is costly and this has prevented students, especially those who are self-financed, from accessing such learning environments. This paper offer an alternative solution to relieve such a situation, namely, through the application of an endowment-based or waqf educational institution. The study suggests a way to establish an endowment university by concentrating the discussion on the concept and principles of its establishment, as well as sharing the experiences of the Malaysian waqf universities and the Turkish Foundation Universities/Vakif Üniversitesi in financing their universities using waqf, i.e. a pious endowment instrument. Design/methodology/approach – The empirical data were mainly collected using in-depth interviews with the universities’ higher management authorities and some of the members of the board of trustees. Findings – The findings show that the role of waqf or pious endowment is significant in providing financial assistance to their communities as well as strengthening their academic quality. In addition, tawhidic epistemology together with morality and ethics have influenced waqf donors or founders to donate their wealth and property to enrich and sustain universities and higher education. Originality/value – This article provides the experiences of the Malaysian Waqf Universities and the Turkish Foundation Universities/Vakif Üniversitesi in financing their universities using waqf. It also contains some good examples from the experience of several earlier Islamic civilizations, in particular those of the Ottoman Empire and the Mamluk Sultanate of Egypt. In addition, examples of the implementation of waqf and endowment-based universities in the UK and USA as well as the Al-Azhar University of Egypt is also included.

scholarly journals Feminine men and masculine women: in/exclusion in the academy

2016 ◽  
Vol 58 (3) ◽  
pp. 252-262 ◽  
Author(s):  
Liz Atkins ◽  
Mark Vicars
Keyword(s):  
Higher Education ◽  
Gender Identity ◽  
Design Methodology ◽  
Higher Education Institutions ◽  
Western Hemisphere ◽  
Professional Competency ◽  
Female Masculinity ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Masculinity And Femininity

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to draw on concepts of “female masculinity” to interrogate how hegemonic gendering discourses, forms and performances are inscribed in neoliberal narratives of competency in higher education in the Western Hemisphere. Design/methodology/approach – Drawing on individual examples, the authors consider how these narratives are omnipresent in the sector, and systematically act to exclude those who do not conform. In doing so, the authors draw extensively on bodies of literature exploring gender/identity, and neo-liberalism. In particular, the paper draws on the work of Halberstam (1998, 2011), and of Drake (2015). Findings – There are comparatively few women in senior positions in Higher Education and the authors argue that as gendering institutions they reproduce hegemonic gendering discourses. The authors find that hegemonic gendering discourses are instrumental in maintaining and privileging specific forms and perceptions of masculinity and femininity as inscribed within and reproduced by perceptions of professional competency. Originality/value – This paper examines neo-liberal practices from a more nuanced perspective than some traditional polarised critiques which regard gender as a binary. In doing so, it contributes to debates on masculinity, but more importantly, opens discussions about the implications of gendering discourses for the role of the few women in senior positions in higher education institutions globally.

Apple was sweeter when Steve Jobs held sway

2014 ◽  
Vol 22 (4) ◽  
pp. 25-28
Author(s):  
Maniam Kaliannan ◽  
Vanitha Ponnusamy
Keyword(s):  
Organizational Change ◽  
Design Methodology ◽  
Business Environment ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Steve Jobs ◽  
Apple Products ◽  
The Right ◽  
Two Sides ◽  
Practical Implications

Purpose – This paper observes that Apple illustrates the right and wrong ways to bring about organizational change, and emphasizes the key role of personalities in the process. Design/methodology/approach – Compares and contrasts the performance of Apple under the leadership of Steve Jobs and John Sculley. Findings – Advances the view that Steve Jobs was more successful because he focused on innovation, while John Sculley paid more attention to current products and profitability. Practical implications – Describes how the Steve Jobs era saw the introduction of such iconic Apple products as the iPod, iPhone and iPad, which helped the company to gain pre-eminence in its field. Social implications – Argues that, in today’s globalized business environment, organizational change is a must. Demonstrates how to achieve this successfully. Originality/value – Describes two sides of the Apple story and draws the lessons for other businesses involved in organizational change.

The development of Malaysian higher education

2018 ◽  
Vol 7 (2) ◽  
pp. 144-156 ◽  
Author(s):  
Chang-Da Wan ◽  
Morshidi Sirat
Keyword(s):  
Higher Education ◽  
Design Methodology ◽  
Public Universities ◽  
Nation Building ◽  
Medium Of Instruction ◽  
Content Type

Purpose Universities in Malaysia, particular public universities, have been tasked not only with the traditional focus on the pursuit of knowledge, but also the important role of nation-building. The purpose of this paper is to explore the nation-building agenda in the development of Malaysian higher education in the globalisation era. Design/methodology/approach Grounded within the literature of nation-building and globalisation and neoliberalism, the approach of this paper examines the development of higher education in Malaysia across time. Findings Two particular aspects in the Malaysian higher education that have seen tension and changes emerging from the interaction between globalisation and nation-building are: the medium of instruction and hybridisation in universities. Originality/value The paper illustrates the ways in which universities have adapted in terms of the medium of instruction between the Malay language and English, as well as hybridisation that has taken place as a result of globalisation on the local vision, structure and characteristics of Malaysian universities.

The role of higher education institutions as employers of apprentices

2020 ◽  
Vol 10 (4) ◽  
pp. 651-657
Author(s):  
Caleb Wright
Keyword(s):  
Higher Education ◽  
Design Methodology ◽  
Higher Education Institutions ◽  
Future Directions ◽  
Content Type ◽  
The University

PurposeA discussion piece of how apprenticeships can be used by HEIs as employers.Design/methodology/approachThe paper explores the current apprenticeship landscape; what HEIs are already doing with apprenticeships; the arguments for using apprenticeships in the sector. There is then a case study on how the University of Birmingham uses apprenticeships before a discussion about future directions.FindingsThe paper reports that although there are a range of advantages for using apprenticeships, HEIs could still use apprenticeships more.Originality/valueThis paper uses a range of sources as detailed in the reference.

Internal marketing in a higher education context – towards an enriched framework

2019 ◽  
Vol 33 (1) ◽  
pp. 5-27 ◽  
Author(s):  
Prakash Vel ◽  
Aakash Shah ◽  
Sunita Mathur ◽  
Vijay Pereira
Keyword(s):  
Higher Education ◽  
United Arab Emirates ◽  
Design Methodology ◽  
Internal Marketing ◽  
Global Marketplace ◽  
Content Type ◽  
The Past ◽  
Emerging Country ◽  
Do So

PurposeThe concept of “internal marketing” (IM) has gained the attention of researchers over the past three decades. Though a lot of research has been carried out on this topic, it remains a concept yet to be completely understood and captured, with ambiguity in terms of its definition and scope. The purpose of this paper is to utilise the higher education (HE) context in an emerging country, United Arab Emirates (UAE), to argue that the term “IM” needs more unbundling and hence the authors propose an enriched framework with a renewed and relevant identity, which the authors term as “corporate fusion” (CF).Design/methodology/approachThe authors do so with a renewed framework and philosophy that tries to capture new constructs and dimensions of IM in line with the emerging corporate milieu and has been applied to the HE sector of the UAE in this paper.FindingsThe proposed new conceptual framework identifies a CF philosophy building on the existing literature and captures the essence of IM orientation, albeit with its new constructs, dimensions and justifications. Furthermore, the authors argue that this new model is relevant to the contemporary environmental trends surrounding present day HE organisations, more so ever in emerging markets such as the UAE, given their growth needs in a competitive global marketplace.Originality/valueIn this paper, the authors take a close introspection at the contemporary role of IM in the HE landscape available in the UAE using a renewed framework titled “Corporate Fusion”.

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