COVID-19 Pandemic and Strategizing the Higher Education Policies of Public Universities of Ethiopia

The purpose of the research is to investigate the impact of COVID-19 on higher education policies and their effect on students' academic performance at public universities in Ethiopia. The study adopts a quantitative approach followed by causal analysis by applying structural equation modeling. A sample of 384 has been selected through simple random sampling out of a large population of academic staff spread homogeneously across Ethiopia. The study variables are COVID-19, higher education policies, digital learning, teacher preparedness, and student academic performance. The findings reveal that the hypothesized model becomes a perfect fit. Based on the standardized coefficient, the most influencing path is the effect of higher education policy on digital learning, followed by the impact of COVID-19 on higher education policy, academic performance, and teacher preparedness, respectively. The study has further observed the partial effect of teacher preparedness on the students' academic performance.

The Sustainability of Graphene Research: A Novel Approach in Assessing the Role of Higher Education Policies in Developing Countries—The Case of Indonesia

The development of so-called advanced materials is mainly driven by research devoted to supporting industry and now expands to many issues such as energy demand, climate change, healthy awareness, and many others. However, the process of this material evolution is arguably slow in many developing countries, putting them far behind developed counterparts in terms of technological advancement. One of the advanced materials that absorbed global attention and can be adopted to assess research development is graphene. In this work, graphene-related publications of universities and research institutes were utilized to assess how effective the higher education policies of Indonesia, as a developing country, encourage graphene research development. For this purpose, a multidisciplinary perspective was used to comprehensively analyze the findings, highlighting the emerging gaps, orientation, and promising future research that will benefit many researchers, governments, and industries. A total of 667 filtered publications were investigated. In addition, VOSviewer was utilized as a proper complement to visualize and analyze the publication trend based on keywords and authorship. Many aspects were explored, including publication, distribution, collaboration, and policies. The investigation revealed that supportive governmental policies, especially Law No. 12 of 2012, in classifying the entity of universities, had a remarkable impact on the productivity and geographical distribution of graphene research publications. The most important finding, after analyzing 535 publications, showed that publications of graphene research increased dramatically and is centralized on Java Island. Moreover, it strongly indicates that most universities with the authority to self-budget can contribute significantly to advanced materials research. International collaboration with many countries was also strongly formed. By contributing 114 co-authorships, Malaysia was shown to be a favorite counterpart. Therefore, this study confirms that research activity can be utilized to assess the effectiveness of higher education policies. In a broader context, the advanced materials research publication is emerging as an indicator in revealing Indonesia’s socio-economic development. The trend of graphene research itself demonstrates the raising of developing countries’ awareness of global issues.

How COVID-19 Has Exacerbated Inequality in Higher Education in Brazil

Drawing on educational census data and a review of news articles and higher education policies in Brazil, this article examines the impact of COVID-19 on the access and retention of the low-income Brazilian population in higher education. Guided by the question, “What is the impact of COVID-19 on the most vulnerable population in Brazil in terms of access to, and retention in higher education?”, the paper is structured in two sections: the first offers a short historical overview of Brazilian higher education; the second examines the impact of the pandemic on student retention in higher education, looking at factors such as social isolation, job and income precarity, use of Information and Communication Technologies (ICT), internet access, and technological resources. I argue that distance education offered by private higher education institutions benefits the privileged students and that the effects of the pandemic are detrimental to the socially disadvantaged students since those who are in public universities do not always have access to technology, and those who study in private universities feel the impact of not being able to pay tuition fees, besides the loss of several jobs in different sectors. In conclusion, I recommend policy initiatives to improve access to higher education.

Efficiency Driven Effect of Education in China: The Perspective of Global Competitiveness and Graduate Education

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.

Challenges and possibilities for creating genuinely intercultural higher education learning communities

This article synthesises and analyses the existing research and literature that has discussed the challenges and possibilities of providing intercultural learning environments for diverse students in the context of higher education. A genuinely intercultural learning community provides equitable learning possibilities for all, is characterised by social justice, and allows all participants to feel a strong sense of belonging. Based on this review, the main challenges in creating equitable learning communities in higher education relate to institutional barriers, such as institutional racism and discrimination, monolingual higher education policies, and neoliberal educational agendas that contradict the principles of social justice. Interpersonal challenges (such as lack of intercultural competence) also exist, as do challenges related to acknowledging intercultural perspectives in curricula and pedagogy. The conditions that the existing literature suggests will create genuinely intercultural learning communities include rethinking the strategies, policies, and curricula of higher education institutions; supporting students’ and staff’s intercultural competences; and developing pedagogical approaches for acknowledging social justice and diverse learners. Based on the literature reviewed for this article, it is obvious that there are no easy tricks that can ‘fix’ the situation and create genuinely intercultural learning communities, but intercultural approaches and aspects ......

Collaborative Online International Learning: Language and Cross-Cultural Experiences of University Students

This qualitative study reports on a collaborative online project between the University of Washington at Tacoma (USA) and the Universidad Veracruzana at Veracruz City (México). The project was implemented as part of the internationalization of higher education policies of the participating universities, which include pedagogical practices oriented toward foreign language learning, the internationalization of the curriculum, and virtual exchange. The study documents cross-cultural learning experiences between two groups of students from different linguistic and cultural backgrounds in a Collaborative Online International Learning approach (COIL); and how those experiences related to the development of cross-cultural competence. The language of instruction was English and the students interacted through an online platform and a social network. The methodological design was qualitative-interpretive. Data was generated using interviews, linguistic samples (writing samples), and the interactions of the participants prompted by the use of an online platform and a social media network. Data analysis was realized through a content approach, which led to the formulation of assertions based on themes that emerged. Results indicate that the pedagogical approach implemented (COIL) prompted reflexion on issues related to language learning, cultural understanding, and common life experiences, and that it was conducive to the development of aspects of cross-cultural competence.

The rebirth of the Chinese higher education: analysis of higher education policies from the economic reform to date

PurposeThere have been regular policy enactment and dynamism to ensure progress and sustainability in the development of higher education (HE) in China after the Cultural Revolution. This study was purposed to reveal the processes of the Chinese higher education (CHE) development through series of policy implementations from the epoch of economic reformation and opening-up policy.Design/methodology/approachThe authors employed document analysis, and selected and critically analyzed documents that include published articles and books, the official website of the Chinese Ministry of Education, and historical documentaries of the Chinese Cultural Revolution and their HE aftermath. Again, a semi-structured interview was utilized with a sample size of 20 academics vested in the CHE history. Five academics from four universities in China were interviewed to analyze the historical events of the CHE transformation and current policies about the CHE development.FindingsThe authors established that enrollment in the CHE has increased since the economic reformation; there has been the enhancement of the CHE internationalization in recent decades and the emergence of world-class universities and programs in the CHE as a result of the world class policies and projects. For consistency of the innovative programs toward HE development, the authors have posited some challenges, future goals and the global impacts of the CHE development and its sustainability.Originality/valueThe utilization of document analysis cements the claims by the interviewees, which enriches the value of the results. This study would provide literature guidance to international researchers to critically concoct theoretical assumptions from the findings to critically investigate the developmental policy pattern of HE institutions.

Uzbekistan: New Milestones of Higher Education Internationalization

Modern Uzbekistan undergoes wide-scale social and economic reforms that include the modernization of higher education system. This paper aims at evaluating the actual and potential impact of the reforms in Uzbekistan’s higher education on the Russian universities’ opportunities to export education to Uzbekistan. Accordingly, the paper traces the evolution of the national higher education system under President Islam A. Karimov (from 1991 to 2016), analyzes the new priorities of higher education policies set by his successor Shavkat M. Mirziyoyev, shows their interlinkages with the transition to a new model of national development, and focuses on the objectives and instruments of higher education internationalization. Theoretically and methodologically, the research relies on the concepts of internal and external internationalization of higher education, Clark’s model of higher education system elements, and Trow’s concept of higher education massification levels. The authors show the scale and interconnectedness of higher education challenges that have been developing in Uzbekistan in the course of the 25 years of its independence. The authors argue that higher education internationalization has become a way to achieve a number of objectives, in particular to improve the quality of higher education, orient it to massification, make it more accessible in the country’s regional centers. The paper shows the parameters of internal and external internationalization of higher education in Uzbekistan that has demonstrated the unprecedented dynamics in post-Soviet countries. The paper underlines that the policy of rapprochement with Russia launched by Tashkent in 2016 has created exceptionally beneficial opportunities for Russian universities to work in Uzbekistan and attract Uzbek students. Four mid-term scenarios of higher education internationalization in Uzbekistan are suggested.