The paper outlines the history of the different uses of 'quality' in higher education. Emphasis is given to the United Kingdom, but consideration is also given to a range of international contexts. Three different uses of 'academic quality' are identified (the state-driven, sector-derived, and the traditional academic uses) and their relationship…

I reflect on the significance of trust in Academic Development (AD) and outline strategies for cultivating it with other academics. Within many higher education institutions, the inherent uncertainty of the AD role necessitates intentional trust-building efforts. In this regard, conversations have been encouraged as trust-building tools. However,…

In this article, we explore the question of how membership, hierarchy, rules, monitoring, and sanctions are used at German professorships to organize research. Using these five criteria of an organization from Ahrne and Brunsson (Organization, 18(1):83-104, 2011) as a theoretical pattern, we shed light on the meso-level of universities in the…

This book explores Learning Analytics (LA) programmes and practices in Malaysia as well as looking at the underlying forces, dilemmas and policy challenges for quality assurance in higher education institutions (HEIs). This chapters provide a comprehensive discussion of trends in academic quality assurance in higher education. It articulates a…

This article critically examines the suitability of Social Realist perspectives within North American higher music education, with a particular focus on its relationship with jazz musical knowledges. Social Realist scholarship continues to emerge within the field of education sociology, driven by claims to contribute to student access and…

This article explores the increased concern with students' well-being in higher education as a mode of governance that goes hand in hand with new mechanisms of exclusion. Focussing on a new student survey in Denmark that measures students' well-being, we show how the well-being agenda is entangled with a new 'taxonomy of attitudes and emotions'…

This paper examines the shifting landscape of higher education in Turkey, highlighting a disconcerting trend of politically motivated appointments, coined as "parasailing." Departing from traditional merit-based norms, this practice of appointing professors without necessary approvals disrupts the academic environment, prompting concerns…

The Russian invasion of Ukraine, on 24th February 2022, was met with widespread condemnation across Europe, with many universities and higher education-focussed national and regional organisations issuing their own public statements about the invasion and subsequent conflict and, in some cases, taking specific action in relation to one or both of…

Purpose: This article aims to address the response from the higher education (HE) sector in the United Kingdom (UK) to the full-scale war in Ukraine which started in 2022. Design/methodology/approach: Relying on theoretical ideas of neoliberalism and the collection and thematic analysis of relevant official communications from six UK universities,…

Newly elected Prime Minister Keir Starmer did not hold back at the launch of Skills England -- a new government agency -- in July 2024. The Labour Party's 2024 election manifesto had stated that Skills England would 'bring together business, training providers and unions with national and local government to ensure we have the highly trained…

Higher education systems exhibit varying degrees of heterogeneity in approaches to undergraduate degree classification -- specifically for this Point of Departure: the wide variety of 'Degree Classification Algorithms' (DCAs) used to calculate students' final awards. To date, the impact of DCA variation remains an under-researched 'black box', and…

This paper aims to explore the philosophy that is embedded in the Philippine higher education system, and to locate the country's philosophy of education within the global context. The Philippine higher education is marked by complexity in terms of governance and organization. More importantly, its origin and development are deeply implicated in…

In 2011, the Australian national curriculum called for the inclusion of Indigenous histories, cultures and perspectives/knowledges, prompting Health and Physical Education (HPE) teachers in schools and academics within higher education have experimented with and reported upon different purposes and ways of teaching Indigenous Games. However,…

Beginning in the mid-1980s, European governments have increasingly implemented performance-based funding systems for higher education. While a focus on the transnational pressures that contributed to the widespread adoption of performance-based funding in Europe accounts for the impetus for performance-based funding policies, it fails to address…

The growing literature on access, participation, and success of refugees entering higher education has illustrated the myriad challenges that this cohort faces. Much of this research has rightly focused on the student perspective, exploring the barriers and challenges that impede entry, engagement, and achievement. Relatedly, there is growing…