scholarly journals Higher Education in Crisis? An Institutional Ethnography of an International University in Hungary

10.28945/4490 ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 5 ◽  
pp. 017-034
Author(s):  
Laura J Parson ◽  
Ariel Steele
Keyword(s):  
Higher Education ◽  
Academic Freedom ◽  
Classroom Environment ◽  
Higher Education Policy ◽  
International Perspective ◽  
Institutional Factors ◽  
Future Research ◽  
Institutional Autonomy ◽  
Underrepresented Groups ◽  
Chilly Climate

Aim/Purpose: Our goal is to provide understanding of if and how the institutional factors found to contribute to a chilly climate are experienced in an international setting and provide a broader understanding of the discourses that create challenges for marginalized and underrepresented groups in STEM. Background: In August 2018 the Hungarian government stopped funding gender studies program and took direct control of funding at the Hungarian Academy of Sciences in order to focus “taxpayer money on areas that can generate a payoff for society” (Witte, 2018). Methodology: Data collection and analysis focused on how the interface between students and mathematics education was organized as a matter of the everyday encounters between students and faculty and administration by exploring their experiences inside and outside of the classroom. Contribution: There is little in the scholarly literature on how the recent threats and policy changes by the Hungarian government will impact Hungarian higher education; as such, this research has the potential to be a significant and leading contribution to the field by critically examining how ongoing changes to higher education policy, practices, and procedures in Hungary impacts the educational environment for students seeking a graduate degree in Hungary. Findings: Although students and faculty at IU were aware of the political discourses surrounding higher education in Hungary, they largely felt that their work as mathematicians was not largely impacted by threats to academic freedom and institutional autonomy. Instead, these findings suggest that many of the same discourses that coordinate the work of STEM students in higher education persisted to create similar challenges for IU mathematics students. Recommendations for Practitioners: The first step toward improving the chilly climate in STEM fields requires revising the STEM institution from one that is masculine to one that is inclusive for all students with the goal of creating a STEM education environment that supports, validates, and gives students an equal voice. Recommendation for Researchers: Subsequent inquiries guided by this work can extend to additional institutional environments in Hungary and in other authoritarian countries where academic freedom and institutional autonomy are challenged in order to understand how political reform and institutional factors play a role in creating challenges for students from underrepresented groups. Impact on Society: By providing an international perspective, we can explore trends in institutional factors in order to make recommendations that mitigate or reverse the traditional competitive and intimidating STEM classroom environment. Future Research: Future inquiries can explore discourses that contribute to the chilly climate in STEM with an international perspective, to explore if these discourses are consistent across different types of universities around the world.

In defence of institutional autonomy and academic freedom: contesting state regulation of higher education

2006 ◽  
Vol 19 (6) ◽  
Author(s):  
Y Waghid ◽  
S Berkhout ◽  
D Taylor ◽  
J De Klerk
Keyword(s):  
Higher Education ◽  
Academic Freedom ◽  
State Regulation ◽  
Institutional Autonomy

Architectural Education and Quality Assurance in the European Higher Education Area: Design Research as a Plea for Academic Freedom

2015 ◽  
Vol 40 (2) ◽  
pp. 63-73
Author(s):  
Sigrid Pauwels ◽  
Johan De Walsche ◽  
Dra. Lies Declerck
Keyword(s):  
Higher Education ◽  
Quality Assurance ◽  
Learning Environment ◽  
Academic Freedom ◽  
Higher Education Policy ◽  
Architectural Design ◽  
Design Research ◽  
Architectural Education ◽  
Policy Frameworks

The authors reflect on the academic bachelor and master programs of architecture. From the perspective of higher education policy in Flanders, Belgium, they examine the intrinsic challenges of the academic educational setting, and the way architectural education can fit in and benefit from it, without losing its specific design oriented qualities. Therefore, they unravel the process of architectural design research, as a discipline-authentic way of knowledge production, leading to the identification of a number of implicit features of an academic architectural learning environment. The disquisition is based on educational arguments pointed out by literature and theory. Furthermore, the authors analyze whether this learning environment can comply with general standards of external quality assurance and accreditation systems. Doing so, they reveal the Achilles’ heel of architectural education: the incompatibility of the design jury with formalized assessment frameworks. Finally, the authors conclude with an advocacy for academic freedom. To assure the quality of academic architectural programs, it is necessary that universities maintain a critical attitude towards standardized policy frameworks.

Higher Education Policy in International Perspective: An Overview

1994 ◽  
pp. 1-12 ◽  
Author(s):  
LEO GOEDEGEBUURE ◽  
FRANS KAISER ◽  
PETER MAASSEN ◽  
EGBERT DE WEERT
Keyword(s):  
Higher Education ◽  
Education Policy ◽  
Higher Education Policy ◽  
International Perspective

scholarly journals Academic Freedom in a Changing Academic World

2010 ◽  
Vol 18 (S1) ◽  
pp. S55-S69 ◽  
Author(s):  
Timo Aarrevaara
Keyword(s):  
Higher Education ◽  
Academic Freedom ◽  
Academic Profession ◽  
European Countries ◽  
Institutional Autonomy ◽  
Academic World ◽  
Higher Education Systems ◽  
Research And Teaching ◽  
Increasing Demand ◽  
Definition Of

This article considers the academic profession and academic freedom in light of the results of the Changing Academic Profession (CAP) survey in Finland and four other European countries. Academic freedom is examined as a phenomenon that provides a setting for goal determination by members of the academic profession. It has a bearing on both institutional autonomy and individual academic freedom, i.e. the freedom of research and teaching. Academic freedom can be examined on the basis of material from the CAP survey through the questions about the freedom of teaching, the definition of work, working as a member of a community, the power of influence, funding, and the evaluation of quality. The concept of academic freedom varies slightly between countries, in part because of the growth of higher education systems and because of the increasing demand for ‘relevance’ being imposed on universities.

The Regulation of Standards in Higher Education

Education ◽  
2016 ◽  
Author(s):  
Hamish Coates ◽  
Paula Kelly ◽  
Marian Mahat
Keyword(s):  
Higher Education ◽  
Public Policy ◽  
Quality Assurance ◽  
Higher Education Policy ◽  
Legal Theory ◽  
The United States ◽  
Academic Standards ◽  
Future Research ◽  
Mass Higher Education ◽  
The Individual

The regulation of standards in higher education is a complex area of scholarship that intersects with several established and emergent fields including quality assurance, regulation, and legal theory, public policy, accreditation, audit, academic standards, transnational education, and the scholarship of higher education policy more generally. A dynamic and diverse area of scholarship, the literature focusing on the regulation of standards in higher education often reflects regional specific contexts, changing policy environments, and evolving debates relating to academic standards in the increasingly global, diverse, and mass higher education industry. The complexity of this area of scholarship is reflective of diverse and non-uniform practice across and within nation-states, and of new forms of regulation stimulated by the technologically enabled and global provision of higher education. For example, in some nations academic standards may be wholly the responsibility of internal institutional quality assurance processes, while elsewhere meeting externally imposed academic standards from state, federal, or independent agencies may be a condition of registration or have funding implications. There are a number of key works and authors who have influenced and propelled the scholarship around the regulation of standards in higher education since the 1990s. Primarily these works have origins in nations where the regulation of higher education has been aligned to national or regional public policy reform such as the United Kingdom (King) and the United States (Dill, Ewell), and more recently Australia (Baird). It is not surprising, therefore, that where regulatory frameworks exist for assuring standards in higher education, scholarship surrounding this area has flourished. It is important too, to recognize the emerging scholarship from regions where the regulation of standards in higher education is a relatively new concept including in Asia. This review provides a regional-specific section that captures the individual contexts of higher education regulation and quality assurance frameworks. The inclusion of texts that reflect the considerable challenges surrounding the regulation of standards in higher education signal the contested terrain of this area of scholarship and the implications for future research.

scholarly journals UNIVERSITY AUTONOMY: ANALYSIS OF THE INTERNATIONAL DOCUMENTS

2019 ◽  
pp. 100-105
Author(s):  
Inna Vlasova
Keyword(s):  
Higher Education ◽  
Academic Freedom ◽  
World Bank ◽  
Higher Education Institutions ◽  
Institutional Autonomy ◽  
University Autonomy ◽  
Financing System ◽  
Education Development ◽  
Learning And Teaching ◽  
The World

The article is devoted to the identification of the higher education development trends on the basis of the key analytical documents analysis of the following international organizations in higher education: United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (ОЕCD), World Bank, European University Association. UNESCO documents are focused on the autonomy of higher education institutions and academic freedom. Autonomy means that degree of self-governance necessary for effective decision making by institutions of higher education regarding their academic work, standards, management and related activities consistent with systems of public accountability, especially in respect of funding provided by the state, and respect for academic freedom and human rights. However, the nature of institutional autonomy may differ according to the type of establishment involved. Autonomy is the institutional form of academic freedom and a necessary precondition to guarantee the proper fulfilment of the functions entrusted to higher-education teaching personnel and institutions. The World Bank Analytical reports are emphasized on the financial autonomy as an integral part of the higher education financing system. The OECD reports are devoted to the university autonomy in the context of financing, quality assessment and management of higher education institutions. The tendencies of the development of higher education systems in Europe are defined. They are increasing of the role of higher education in ensuring the competitiveness of countries in the world economic community; increasing of the universities competition in market economy and controlling over the public financial resources effective using; increasing demands for higher education quality; decentralization of higher education institutions management; development of the institutional autonomy and academic freedom; the interconnection of institutional autonomy, accountability and responsibility for the quality of higher education; the educational paradigm changing in terms of learning and teaching recognition as key institutional priorities.

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