To aspire: a systematic reflection on understanding aspirations in higher education

Aspirations for higher education by people from low socioeconomic status backgrounds are now a focus of government policy in many OECD nations. This is part of a global trend emphasizing the perceived benefits of ‘raising’ aspirations among under-represented groups as a social inclusion strategy to widen university participation, but also ultimately as a strategy to increase national competitiveness in the global knowledge economy. Yet despite its importance, aspiration tends to carry simplistic meanings in much higher education policy and practice. This paper attempts to craft a more nuanced account of the term, informed by four concept-clusters derived from sociological and philosophical literatures and research, and with a more mutual relation of public and private interests. It complements this ‘intellectual craftsmanship’ or ‘systematic reflection’ (Mills in The sociological imagination, 1959) with data drawn from a future-focused survey of secondary school students from low and low-mid socioeconomic status backgrounds in regional Australia. Results from the survey provide illustrations that help expand understandings of student aspirations for higher education, from a group presumed to be deficit in aspirations.

Parallel TAFE and higher education studies in construction management : from collaboration to dual qualifications.

Collaboration between TAFE (vocational colleges) and universities in Australia in construction management has been problematic, with exchanges between the two sectors limited to linear articulation and prescribed credit transfer. Articulation pathways have traditionally been viewed as the poor relation of university entry. In 2005, the first pilot project in dual sector construction education was conducted at RMIT University in Melbourne. Higher education students completed electives in practical units within the TAFE sector. Due to the overwhelming success of the project, practical electives were firmly embedded in the construction management programme in 2007 and this paper reports on the third, final phase of the project in 2009 which has seen construction management students graduate with a dual qualification – both a TAFE qualification and a Higher Education degree. The case studies of this final phase reveal that students and industry want the benefits of a practical qualification. The data raises critical questions about education pathways and suggests long-term implications for construction and dual sector education in Australia.

Rethinking higher education : implications of the Australian Government’s expansion and equity agenda

In this paper I outline three broad challenges to higher education, implied in the Australian Government’s 20/40 targets and their attendant requirements for universities. In identifying these challenges I draw on publically available statistics on Australian schooling, vocational education and training (VET) and the higher education sector, as well as on recent research on outreach programs by universities in schools.

‘Knowledge aid’ as instrument of regulation: World Bank’s non-lending higher education support for Ethiopia

In the context of low-income countries, the role of donors in public policymaking is of great importance. Donors use a combination of lending and non-lending instruments as pathways of influence to shape policy directions in aid-recipient countries. This paper reports some findings from a doctoral study on the role of the World Bank in the recent higher education (HE) policy reform process in Ethiopia. It focuses on the nature and impact of non-lending assistance by the Bank to the Ethiopian HE subsystem. Based on an interpretive policy analysis of sector reviews and advisory activities of the Bank, and selected national HE policy documents, the following findings are highlighted. First, as a ‘knowledge institution’, the World Bank produces, systematises and disseminates knowledge through policy advice, policy reports, analytical sector reviews, and thematic conferences and workshops. Second, knowledge aid from the Bank not only has a profound discursive effect on shaping Ethiopian HE policy reform priorities in accordance with its neoliberal educational agenda but also undermines the knowledge production capacity of the nation. The paper also argues that, for an effective education policy support, the Bank needs to shift its modality of engagement from knowledge aid to research capacity building. 

It ain't just what you do and the way that you do it: why discourse matters in higher education communities of practice

A number of Australian universities have established and sponsored interdisciplinary communities of practice (CoPs) to develop teaching and learning. CoPs are popularly defined as groups of people who share a passion for something and, together, learn how to do it better. Without further specification, this definition is of limited use in understanding intentionally established CoPs in higher education settings. The term CoP is used and applied in a range of ways in higher education and has been accompanied by some scholarly debate about the meaning and relevance of CoPs to academe. The prevalent response to such debate has been to propose typologies. While typology can be useful, epistemology and discourse are also significant in understanding and developing higher education CoPs. In this paper I focus on discourse surrounding CoPs as a conceptual and developmental factor which has been insufficiently considered in the literature on higher education CoPs. I draw on findings from interviews with 33 CoP members and facilitators in three Australian universities. My findings indicate that discourse surrounding CoPs is significant in shaping notions of participatory value. Connecting with the literature, my findings also reveal a ‘big D’ Discourse of collegiality whereby CoPs offer social support and knowledge sharing to build capacity, as well as spaces in which a collegial academic identity can thrive. This coincides in complex and unpredictable ways with a Discourse of managerialism. I conclude that discourse should supplement typology and epistemology in adaptively shaping understandings of contemporary higher education CoPs and their future development.

Valuing creativity in the higher education sector : what price the creative knowledge economy?

Contemporary economic and social contexts including the creative knowledge economy provide competing perspectives on ‘the future’ of higher education and the role of the academic within these contexts. Increasingly educators and educationa leaders are expected to act in ‘futures’ oriented ways whilst remaining true to the professional standards of their present environments. Working in the creative industries or as part of the creative knowledge economy increasingly contributes to Australia’s strategic directions for the future but also has an influence on what is valued in the higher education sector.
This paper explores the impact of the creative knowledge economy on the higher education sector and its response to the changing educational landscapes. An exploration is undertaken of the shift towards creative industries where the value of creativity and the arts is linked to economic value. It is argued that this shift requires researchers to alter their identities from that of having ‘academic’ value to engaging with the commodification of knowledge. The paper concludes with a suggested way forward for both the creative industries and the higher education sector using Giri’s (2002) model for transdisciplinarity.

Student equity in higher education : what to do when the queue is not long or diverse enough

In this paper I outline three broad propositions about or challenges to access and participation in Australian higher education, resulting from the Australian Government’s 20/40 targets for the sector and their attendant requirements for universities, such as the performance indicators for teaching and learning. While some of my analysis could be seen as speculative, in the sense that it represents our best guesses about the future, in aking these arguments I draw on publically available statistics on Australian schooling, vocational education and training (VET) and the higher education sector, as well as on recent research on outreach programs by universities in schools.

Creating spaces in higher education for marginalised Australians : principles for socially inclusive pedagogies

The Bradley Review of Australian Higher Education provided a timely reminder of the dismal performance of the nation and its higher education system in terms of the proportional representation of certain groups of Australians within the university student population. While the Australian Government has taken on the challenge of creating more university places for people from low socioeconomic status backgrounds, this article makes the case for creating spaces in higher education for marginalised Australians. Specifically, we argue that the most strategic place to begin this is with the pedagogic work of higher education, because of its positioning as a central message system in education. And it is from the centre that the greatest pedagogic authority is derived. In this paper we conceive of the pedagogic work involved in terms of belief, design and action. From these constitutive elements are derived three principles on which to build a socially inclusive pedagogy and to open up spaces for currently marginalised groups.  

The role of brand orientation in the higher education sector: a student-perceived paradigm

Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to examine the relationship between perceived brand orientation (PBO), satisfaction, loyalty, and post-enrolment communication behaviour in the Australian higher education sector.

Design/methodology/approach
Two hundred and fifty-eight questionnaires were completed by undergraduate students of a particular university in Australia. Structural equation modeling was employed in this study to examine the associations between the constructs.

Findings
This study provides empirical evidence that PBO has a positive and significant relationship with all dependent variables. The research reveals that students' perception of a university's brand orientation is significantly related to satisfaction, loyalty, and post-enrolment communication behaviour.

Research limitations/implications
The findings may guide the key decision makers in higher education institutions to understand the importance of brand orientation in their corporate strategy to enhance satisfaction, loyalty, and positive WOM, which can be used to differentiate themselves from other institutions in the highly competitive education market.

Originality/value
Past researchers have not looked into the dynamic relationships between PBO, satisfaction, loyalty, and post-enrolment communication behaviour, and hence research is to be called for in this area. The paper is the first to examine brand orientation from the perspective of the students and provide higher education institutions with recommendations to improve service quality through brand orientation.

Lifting the cloak of conceptual confusion: Exploring the meaning of the human right to higher education

The right to education, and specifically higher education, is clearly set out in international law. Higher education is, however, in a state of change as a result of pressures from the increased demand for higher education, globalisation and the impact of new technology (Barber, Donnelly and Rizvi 2013, 1–2). This article asserts that before significant changes to higher education are made, we should reflect on the content of the human rights obligations contained in the international documentation. It seeks to outline the content and scope of the right to higher education in an effort to assist this consideration.

What does VET bring to higher education that is distinctive?

Australian higher education is in a state of flux. One sign of this flux is the entry of new providers, including those with a track record in VET. Are these providers offering similar qualifications to universities or do they bring something new and distinctive? This paper draws on Pierre Bourdieu’s theory of distinction to argue that the entry of qualifications by new providers trouble some of the boundaries between the VET and higher education fields. VET provider degrees emerge as a new point of distinction in the higher education field, offering benefits that resonate with changes in the market for degrees. VET provider degrees potentially alter the structure of the higher education field, disturbing the established order and changing the rules of the game. Basil Bernstein’s concept of ‘message systems’ is drawn on to nuance the theory of distinction in the context of the Australian tertiary landscape. Attention is thus drawn to messages associated with teaching, curriculum and assessment in VET providers that help us to examine the action of these providers in reconfiguring distinction. The analysis presented here hints at a redefinition of what makes a degree distinctive.

Higher education and the labour market in Oman

This study aimed to investigate whether there is a mismatch between higher education and the labour market in Oman, the types of this mismatch that exist, and the reasons for this mismatch as they appeared from statistics and interviewees' responses ( the higher education providers, principals from the public sector, and employers from the private sector)

Playing a critical role: experiential learning resources and analytical media studies in higher education

This article compares two Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs) used in the Faculty of Arts, Deakin University Australia, and investigates the relationships between technology, pedagogy and key issues in the teaching and practice of public relations, in a media studies context. The online role-play ‘Save Wallaby Forest’ and the e-simulation ‘PRessure Point! Getting Framed (GF), in their different ways, afford learning  environments with capabilities that present public relations and media students with opportunities to discover a critical consciousness, break out of naturalised world-views, and explore alternative approaches to organisational communication. Furthermore, they present students with complex ethical issues to investigate based around the idea that media industries are powerful discursive producers and reproducers of social norms, values and beliefs which in turn shape notions of identity and influence the formation of public opinion in society (Fairclough 1999; Habermas 1995). This article explores the intersections and differences between these distinct ICTs in their relationships to a constructivist learning approach and ethical questions about how public relations both produces and reproduces world views through practice. This interacting nexus – between technology, pedagogy and theme – is significant because “what happens in the learning process” relates to the learning outcome and therefore has the potential to develop holistic reflexivity in studies of public relations (Laurillard 2003, p.42).

Facing off : facebook and higher education

A social and cultural expectation that Information Communication Technologies (ICT) should be ubiquitous within peoples' daily lives is apparent. Connecting generational groups with a specific set of technological attributes also assumes the ways that particular groups of students should be able/do “naturally” use emergent mobile and social technologies. Moreover, the use of social networking technologies is evident in a number of ways within higher education (HE) pedagogies. As part of the suite of possibilities in Web 2.0, Facebook is used in a number of ways to support communications within and between institutions and their students as well as a mechanism for teaching and learning within specific units of study.

The chapter commences with a broad discussion about social sharing software of Web 2.0, specifically Facebook, as a potential teaching and learning tool in HE contexts. We traverse recent exemplars and discourses surrounding the use of social technologies for the purposes of HE. It is clear from the literature that while there is much excitement at the possibilities that such technologies offer, there are increasing anxieties across institutional and individual practitioners, in regard to possible consequences of their use.

Through autoethnographic methodology, this chapter showcases potentials and challenges of Facebook in HE. Through the use of constructed scenarios, the authors describe occurrences that necessitate increasing professional development and vigilance online. Some of the issues highlighted within this chapter include blurring of professional and personal life world boundaries, issues of identity theft and vandalism, cyberstalking and bullying, working in the public domain, and questions of virtual integrity.