This article critically re-evaluates the evolution of African higher education by tracing its development across three key epochs: precolonial, colonial, and postcolonial. Drawing on over 120 secondary sources--including legal ordinances, policy documents, archival records, and peer-reviewed literature--the article adopts a historical-analytical…

Higher education seems to be in a perpetual state of 'crisis'. The many hundreds of books and papers containing this specific, or other relevantly similar expressions, convey a sense of fear and angst. Yet, what are these various crises about, and which values and beliefs are seen as threatened or 'under attack'? This paper will provide an…

Across higher education, educational developers and their supporting campus communities are being called upon to scale up evidence-informed practices, to enhance student experiences, and to document the changes. This article builds on the work of scholars who have taken up this evaluative challenge, by examining varied aspects of the evidencing…

The transformation of China's education reform from extensive to connotative development involved a shift from characteristically exogenous and late development to endogenous and spontaneous development. The mechanism behind the shift from rationalism to universalism has resulted in tension between extension and intension in the process of…

This qualitative case study explores changes Mexican higher education institutions face due to recent legislation and new regulations. Constitutional amendments, a new higher education Act, legislative mandates, and updated standards to evaluate institutional effectiveness are starting to be implemented. The study examines a contemporary…

This study deals with the academisation or "academic drift" of teacher education in the aesthetic subjects in Sweden from the 1970s to the millennium shift. After long preparations that already began after the Second World War, TE, along with other vocational education, was integrated into the Swedish university system as part of the…

Purpose: The challenges facing 21st-century society are becoming increasingly complex, requiring the development of new citizen competencies. This study aims to validate an educational model focused on developing complex thinking in higher education students. Current educational models lack future-ready competencies, necessitating the emergence of…

This case study uses the theory of academic capitalism (TAC) to explore how a public university known primarily for undergraduate education is incorporating market-oriented practices and structures, and how those changes could impact its curriculum and enrollment profile. Through initiatives to establish an engineering college, expand graduate…

Digital transformation (DT) is a global trend in higher education. This study set out to examine the way DT is conceptualized in the 14th five-year development plans (2021-2025) of 56 top Chinese universities. Findings from the study show that Chinese universities have embarked on the DT journey with goals mostly similar to those pursued by their…

The neo-institutional theory indicates the impact of the institutional environment on organizations. This leads to the creation of homogeneous institutional structures, due to the existence of dominant institutional logic. University reforms, embedded in ideas of New Public Management, mean that evolution of the institutional logic associated with…

This brief piece has two purposes: to reflect on the argument in "What's the Problem Now?" (Bass, 2020) in light of the events of the past two years and to give that essay's core argument--that the problem of learning in higher education is a wicked problem--a more practical grounding for how it can shape the work of educational…

This book examines the establishment (in 1880) and dissolution (in 1903) of the Victoria University as a federal institution for the North of England. It was a 'disruptor', an experiment intended to meet growing demand for high level study in the industrial cities of the North and to provide a regional organisation for higher education. The…

This book contributes to critical university studies by examining the corporatization of higher education at the University of Alberta, placing this experience in a broad comparative context, and drawing attention to aspects of the politics of knowledge that have often been overlooked in this genre. The chapters in this collection provide a…

This article examines how European regionalization influences Ukrainian public universities by exploring the Ukrainian education strategy and institutional internationalization and marketing policies. The study outlines specific historical and geopolitical conditions that have determined the development of the higher education system in Ukraine.…

This paper investigates the impact of institution-wide curriculum reform on a multi-disciplinary group of teaching-focused academics. Using the participatory action research method of co-operative inquiry, the study contributes several insights for supporting academic development during curriculum change. It highlights that teaching-focused…