Determinants of Trust in Higher Education

The article addresses the factors that influence students’ trust in the teachers, faculty administration and university administration. Establishing trusting relationships at the university leads to a number of positive effects: for example, it facilitates cooperation between members of educational organization, making them more united, open to communication and motivated; it is a prerequisite for academic excellence, high-quality higher education and loyalty. This is the reason of the researchers’ interest to this topic. However, the factors influencing students’ trust in teachers and university management have yet to be defined. This paper examines the individual, socio-economic and institutional characteristics of student trust. The emphasis is placed on subjective factors – the perception and assessment by young people of what happens with them in the learning process. It is shown that students’ trust in the teachers and university management is positively correlated with their justified expectations (satisfaction), regarding higher education, and negatively correlated with the course of study. The influence of gender is significant when students trust in the administration of the faculty, while the influence of family income is significant when they trust in the administration of the university. Moreover, the last two factors are regionally specific: their effects are significant only for the trust of students studying at Moscow and St. Petersburg universities.

Between the traditional, the neo-liberal and the open university Early career investigators caught in the triple bind of academic career requirements

Literature shows that, facing the neo-liberal definition of academic excellence, early career investigators (ECIs) in the social sciences and the humanities (SSH) have developed particular professional identities and behaviours towards the requirements of the academic career. Specificities of the SSH make the compliance to the assessment procedures of the “neo-liberal university” particularly challenging. Furthermore ECIs in the SSH are caught in an unprecedented “triple bind”. While pursuing their post-doctoral career in the context of the neo-liberal university, they are still academically trained in the disciplinary and collegial values of the “traditional university”. Although most career rewards and evaluation criteria are bound to the neo-liberal university, researchers now in the early stages of their career also constitute the first generation of academics to be exposed to the new requirements of the “open university”, through the Open Science policies and the Impact Agenda. In such context of uncertainty and conflicting rationalities, more efficient “early career building information ecosystems” should be put in place within academia. We also recommend to better integrate ECIs in the design and implementation of research evaluation principles and processes.

Peer review declaration

All papers published in this volume of IOP Conference Series: Materials Science and Engineering have been peer reviewed through processes administered by the Editors. Reviews were conducted by expert referees to the professional and scientific standards expected of a proceedings journal published by IOP Publishing. • Type of peer review: Single-blind • Conference submission management system: Microsoft CMT - https://cmt3.research.microsoft.com/ • Number of submissions received: 28 • Number of submissions sent for review: 28 • Number of submissions accepted: 17 • Acceptance Rate (Number of Submissions Accepted / Number of Submissions Received X 100): 60.71% • Average number of reviews per paper: 2 • Total number of reviewers involved: 31 • Any additional info on review process: All manuscripts submitted to the CIEES’2021 conference were single-blind peer-reviewed and are carried out to meet the scientific criteria of novelty and academic excellence. The review process was conducted according to the review policy of IOP conference series - each paper was reviewed by at least two reviewers involving both national and international reviewers. During the discussion phase, International Scientific Committee members and the Programme Committee members discussed the reviews in detail. The rebuttals from the authors were also seriously considered. The final decision to accept a paper was entirely based on quality and not its length. • Contact person for queries: Assoc. Prof. Teodor Iliev, PhD, Department of Telecommunications, University of Ruse, Bulgaria, E-mail: [email protected]

Hats Off to the CIM Reviewers of 2021

For over 40 years the journal of Clinical and Investigative Medicine (CIM) has published articles of interest to clinician investigators in Canada and elsewhere. We strive for the highest standards and to remain relevant to our readers, but we cannot achieve this goal without the help of our reviewers, all of whom play a vital role in maintaining the integrity of the scientific process. Without their efforts, academic excellence would falter.

Cultural capital and student engagement in extracurricular activities at a Malaysian University

<p>How students perceive education influences their extracurricular engagement at university. In this study, I investigate how Malaysian students perceive the importance of a university education and how this influences their choices about extracurricular voluntary activities. Participants included 21 university students (aged 17-25 years old) studying at a university in East Malaysia. Data collection methods included questionnaires, visual data, semi-structured individual and focus group interviews. The findings reveal that while cultural capital plays a significant role in influencing student perceptions of educational success, other forms of capital are also highly valued in the education system. Academic excellence is emphasized, with families often investing in private tuition and other skills to achieve distinction thus giving students a perceived edge over their competitors. The results also show that social capital has a significant influence on students’ involvement in extracurricular activities while at university. The social capital embedded in friendships functioned as an investment strategy and participants relied on this capital to sustain their interest in community service projects or club activities. They also relied heavily on social capital resources embedded in kinship and religious institutions to obtain information and make decisions regarding future career plans and goals.</p>

Cultural capital and student engagement in extracurricular activities at a Malaysian University

<p>How students perceive education influences their extracurricular engagement at university. In this study, I investigate how Malaysian students perceive the importance of a university education and how this influences their choices about extracurricular voluntary activities. Participants included 21 university students (aged 17-25 years old) studying at a university in East Malaysia. Data collection methods included questionnaires, visual data, semi-structured individual and focus group interviews. The findings reveal that while cultural capital plays a significant role in influencing student perceptions of educational success, other forms of capital are also highly valued in the education system. Academic excellence is emphasized, with families often investing in private tuition and other skills to achieve distinction thus giving students a perceived edge over their competitors. The results also show that social capital has a significant influence on students’ involvement in extracurricular activities while at university. The social capital embedded in friendships functioned as an investment strategy and participants relied on this capital to sustain their interest in community service projects or club activities. They also relied heavily on social capital resources embedded in kinship and religious institutions to obtain information and make decisions regarding future career plans and goals.</p>

INCULCATION OF SOFT SKILLS THROUGH CREDITED CO-CURRICULAR ACTIVITIES AMONG STUDENTS

Education in Malaysia is an ongoing effort towards further developing the potential of individuals in a holistic and integrated manner to produce individuals who are intellectually, spiritually, emotionally, and physically balanced and harmonious, based on a firm belief in and devotion to God. This aspiration will not be successful if the emphasis is only given to academic excellence alone. Therefore, the co-curricular activities should also be embedded towards Higher Education Institutions (HEI) students in cultivating soft skill. Various co-curricular activities have been implemented at the university to offer valuable soft skills to students. But it is still a question how these soft skills are implemented, and how are the students' acceptance and understanding of the soft skills applied. Therefore, this study has been conducted to identify the effectiveness of students' soft skills after completing co-curricular activities. A questionnaire involving a total of 669 students was analysed. The result indicated the effectiveness of soft skills embedded within the co-curricular activities is high, with an average value of 5 (Likert Scale 1-7). However, some improvements are required to increase the effectiveness of soft skills to students. Co-curricular instructors/trainers need to have proper training on integrating soft skill in their courses. Providing good guidelines is vital to help the instructors/trainers develop suitable co-curricular activities for teaching delivery and evaluation. The instructors/trainers need to explain to students what soft skills they can obtain for each activity implemented. Additionally, to ensure students acquire the soft skill, they need to reflect on what they have learned and practices during co-curricular activities.

Moving Towards Greater Inclusion in Singapore’s Preschools: The Enablers, Possibilities and Barriers

Inclusive education is the next item on the agenda of policy makers in Singapore, in its striving to provide quality education for all children. The move to introducing more inclusive practices in preschools has not been easy. There are many structural obstacles in Singapore’s current preschool context. This review of existing literature on this topic reveals how policymakers, schools, teachers, and parents need to work together to create a successful inclusive education system. There is much that Singapore must work on to develop a successful inclusive preschool education model. The paper aims to provide an understanding of how inclusion in preschools can be more effectively practiced in Singapore by considering the current dual education system in Singapore and the recent measures introduced to improve inclusive preschool education. It examines how effective these measures and recommendations in existing literature will be when placed in Singapore’s current education system which prioritizes academic excellence. In doing so, this paper hopes to highlight the critical issues that policymakers and key stakeholders should consider when planning for inclusive practices in Singapore’s preschools.

I’m Helping My Son Get Into College; He Is My First Priority

Black male college graduation gaps pose critical questions for parents, teachers, policymakers, and the Black community. Black males face systemic challenges that derail them from higher education. This research, drawing on a larger study, investigated Black parental expectations, strategies, and activities used to cultivate academic success and foster the development of college aspiration in high schoolaged sons. The findings revealed a central theme of parenting with intent, that Black parents: (1) reinforced the importance of school and learning in a family-school nexus; (2) fostered a strong value of attending and completing college to attain success; (3) held high expectations that “set the bar” for academic excellence; (4) instilled class consciousness to develop an awareness of the utility of college; (5) aided in the development of responsibility, agency, and self-efficacy; and (6) evidenced a commitment to their sons as their “first priority” by helping them navigate the college admissions process.