Failure to thrive: mid-career women in higher education

Gender underrepresentation in higher education (HE) is a persistent global phenomenon. The purpose of this research was to re-examine it through symbolic interactionism (SI). Eight women aspiring to leadership were invited to participate in semi structured interviews after attending a leadership programme specifically designed to enhance their prospects. Analysis indicated ambiguities and contradictions surround notions of leadership, as well as opportunities for leadership. This was evidenced by their appraisal of the existing leadership, speculations regarding their leadership capacity, how the participants position themselves and are positioned in their workplace. Actively “paying it forward” was seen as facilitating promotion, and line managers’ familiarity with the work undertaken by aspirants. Formal leadership training was advocated rather than experiential processes. 

Enriching interdisciplinary connections : student engagement in theory and practice in higher education programs in Australia and the UK

This paper provides insight into how postgraduate students in two pre-service disciplines, namely medicine and education, identify and make meaning of their circumstances in the globalised era of tertiary education.
Drawing on elements of Giddens’ theory of structuration, we discuss some of the tensions students have reported encountering in an era which is characterised by greater internationalisation of the student body and more globalised curricula.

Higher education mediating institutions and habit

The aim of this paper is to focus discussion on some philosophical issues that informs discussion of the stabilising dimension of higher education as a mediating institution. Backgrounded habits provide the deep context for developing moral practice and other regarding sentiment in higher education. Understanding higher educational institutions as mediating institutions, as forms of associational life which inculcate habit and the development of mores is an important corrective to the discourse of marketization and neo-liberal reform which otherwise crowds out consideration of the role higher educational institutions play in cultural stabilization and social cohesion. This argument we intend to make in this paper is that the stabilizing and associational function of higher educational institutions is critically important to developing habits and mores which are the key support for a society that can still retain a sense of concern and regard for others. 

Brand orientation and service quality in online and offline environments: empirical examination in higher education

This study examines the relationship between perceived brand orientation (PBO) and service quality (SERVQUAL) in both online and offline education environment. A total of 476 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 PBO and service quality (SERVQUAL). The “interaction” dimension of PBO is significantly related to all elements of SERVQUAL in both groups. The “affect” dimension is only significantly related to the “tangibles” dimension in the online groups and is not significantly related to all SERVQUAL dimension in the offline groups

Higher education in Ethiopia : widening access and persisting inequalities

 This Chapter has argued that, even though socially and historically disadvantaged
groups (e.g., geo-politically peripheral ethnic groups and women) have been given a
nominal advantage at the entry point (by slightly lowering admission cut-off points)
and despite the fact that participation has considerably widened, social equity is far
from being a reality in Ethiopian HE. The persisting inequality in the form of high
attrition rates and low graduation rates among females and ethnic minorities, low
female participation in the fields of science and technology, prejudicial views and
hostilities against women and, overall, the subordinate position of women in HE
clearly shows that framing the problem of inequality as a mere lack of access and a
human capital disadvantage is misleading and counterproductive.