Dangerous Curves

1995 ◽  
Vol 9 (4) ◽  
pp. 198-204
Author(s):  
F.A. van Vught

In this article, detailed data are presented to indicate the growing participation rates in higher education in seven countries – France, Germany, Japan, The Netherlands, Sweden, the UK and the USA. The author argues that participation rates in higher education will continue to increase and that, while such growth will not be unconstrained and indefinite, it will continue for the forseeable future and therefore must be reckoned with in the development of higher education policies. The notion that higher education can increasingly be funded from private sources is challenged on the basis that private funding is very largely geared to research and service activities, which generate the funds, rather than to teaching. The trend curves that are presented here, showing increasing participation and an increase in private funding, are therefore ‘dangerous’, in that the ‘education’ component of higher education is threatened with erosion.

Author(s):  
Paul Clark

The period since the election in May 2010 has seen a number of very far-reaching reforms enacted in the higher education system in the UK, and especially England. These have been driven in large measure by the economic situation, but also by the aim to introduce a more market-based approach into the sector. At the same time, the higher education system faces a number of long-term challenges, particularly in terms of how it can best contribute to much-needed regional and national economic growth. This article first summarises the reforms which have been put in place and some of the factors driving them; next goes on to set out the long-term challenges which the sector will need to address; and finally assesses whether the policy platform established through the government's reforms is likely to help or hinder the achievement of the sector's (and the country's) strategic aims.


2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (3) ◽  
pp. 132
Author(s):  
Anna McNamara

The impact of Covid-19 placed Higher Education leadership in a state of crisis management, where decision making had to be swift and impactful. This research draws on ethea of mindfulness, actor training techniques, referencing high-reliability organisations (HRO). Interviews conducted by the author with three leaders of actor training conservatoires in Higher Education institutions in Australia, the UK and the USA reflect on crisis management actions taken in response to the impact of Covid-19 on their sector, from which high-frequency words are identified and grouped thematically. Reflecting on these high-frequency words and the thematic grouping, a model of mindful leadership is proposed as a positive tool that may enable those in leadership to recognise and respond efficiently to wider structural frailties within Higher Education, with reference to the capacity of leaders to operate with increased mindfulness, enabling a more resilient organisation that unlocks the locus of control.


2021 ◽  
pp. 000283122110030
Author(s):  
Lauren Schudde ◽  
Huriya Jabbar ◽  
Eliza Epstein ◽  
Elif Yucel

More than a third of students enter higher education at a community college; most aim to earn a baccalaureate. Drawing on sense-making theory and longitudinal qualitative data, we examined how community college students interpret state transfer policies and how their interpretations influence subsequent behavior. Data from 3 years of interviews revealed how students adjudicate between multiple intersecting policies. The higher education context, where institutions provided competing signals about policies, left students to navigate complex messages to achieve their transfer goals. Students’ approaches to understanding transfer policies primarily followed one of two patterns: adopting policy signals as step-by-step procedures or adapting and combining policy signals to create a customized transfer pathway. Both approaches had important implications for students’ transfer outcomes.


2021 ◽  
Vol 1 (1) ◽  
pp. 36-43
Author(s):  
Jia Liu ◽  
Lun Li

Capital, natural resources, technology and education are often considered to be the most important factors in improving the level of economic development. China is in the "efficiency-driven" stage of economic development. There are objective laws in the development of education level and economic growth, but they interact with each other. Economic growth provides the foundation and necessary conditions for the development of education. At the same time, the role of education in promoting economic growth is also very obvious. Based on the perspective of postgraduate training, this paper studies the role of education in economic efficiency-driven, through the study of theory, data collection and empirical analysis, combined with the development characteristics of China's higher education, and compares China's and US higher education policies to guide China's higher education. The development of education, and then promote the transformation of China into the "innovation-driven" stage, has certain theoretical and practical significance.


Author(s):  
Oliver Tafadzwa Gore ◽  

Although policies to widen participation have been implemented in South African higher education since 1994, inequality of achievements persists in universities. The failure of the higher education policy to clearly define ‘disadvantage’ in various interventions seems to have contributed to the continuing inequalities. This study theorises disadvantage using the capabilities approach pioneered by Amartya Sen and Martha Nussbaum and argues for a more nuanced definition of disadvantage by exploring the opportunities, agency and achievements available to students in universities. The theorisation is based on findings from a qualitative case study of 26 semi-structured interviews conducted with students from one South African university. Using empirical findings, the theorisation in this study shows how the conversion factors intersect, resulting in some students achieving fewer functionings, which put them at a disadvantage. While gender equality seemingly has been achieved through enrolment figures that show parity levels, some female students are still disadvantaged through subtle forms of discrimination and sexual harassment in universities. This study therefore recommends that higher education policies should consider an expansive definition of disadvantage that encompasses the various dimensions of student wellbeing for all students to have flourishing lives.


2006 ◽  
Vol 20 (2) ◽  
pp. 329-347 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jan Dirk Vlasblom ◽  
Joop Schippers

There is a strong effect of childbirth on female labour supply.This effect, however, is changing over time.This article uses panel data on the last two decades on three European countries (the Netherlands, Germany, the UK) to study changes in female labour force behaviour around childbirth and tries to find an explanation for these changes by looking at differences between the three countries.We conclude that there are substantial differences in participation patterns between the three countries in our study and that policy measures and institutions such as childcare that make the costs of combining work and family lower relative to being a full-time mother seem to increase female participation rates.


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