Articles

Reflections on a Decade of Global Rankings: What We've Learned and Outstanding Issues

Ellen Hazelkorn — Mon, 15 Apr 2013 00:55:36 PDT

Ten years after the first global rankings appeared, it is clear that they have had an extraordinary impact on higher education. While there are fundamental questions about whether rankings measure either quality or what’s meaningful, they have succeeded in exposing higher education to international comparison. Moreso, because of the important role higher education plays as a driver of economic development, rankings have exposed both an information deficit and national competitiveness. Accordingly, both nations and institutions have sought to maximise their position vis-á-vis global rankings with positive and perverse effects. Their legacy is evident in the way rankings have become an implicit – and often explicit – reference point for policymaking and higher education decision-making, and have reinforced an evaluative state’s over-reliance on quantitative indicators to measure quality. They are embedded in popular discourse, and have informed the behaviour of many stakeholders, within and outside the academy. This paper reflects on three inter-related issues; i) considers the way rankings have heightened policy and investment interest in higher education, ii) discusses whether the modifications to rankings have resolved some of the questions about what they measure, and iii) looks at how rankings have influenced stakeholder behaviour. Finally, the paper reflects on what we have learned and some outstanding issues. ______________________________________________________

The Experiences of Social Care Workers in Managing Incidents of Self Injury with Young People in Care

David Williams — Thu, 21 Feb 2013 10:56:00 PST

Understanding and Supporting Young People who Self Injure in Social Care Settings

David C. Williams — Tue, 19 Feb 2013 01:39:24 PST

Abstract: this article provides a brief discussion on the issue of young people who self injure in social care settings. The discussion identifies this issue to be extremely challenging for social care workers caring for clients presenting with self injurious behaviour. The article focuses on providing some key definitions of self injury, identifies some key concepts in helping professionals understand the functions and reasons for self injurious behaviour and finally suggests some practical guidelines for social care workers in responding to young people in their care who harm themselves. The underlying ethos of these guidelines being the importance of using a listening, practical and supportive approach in attempting to understand self injury and care for young people who engage in self injurious behaviour.

Globalization, Internationalization, and Rankings

Ellen Hazelkorn — Thu, 25 Oct 2012 06:40:07 PDT

Topics: Financing and Funding, Globalization and Internationalization, International and Foreign Students, Marketization and Commercialization and Academic Quality, Assessment and Accreditation.

Rankings, Diversity, and Excellence: A European Policy Challenge?

Ellen Hazelkorn — Thu, 25 Oct 2012 05:36:46 PDT

Rankings: Does What Gets Counted Get Done?

Ellen Hazelkorn — Thu, 25 Oct 2012 04:42:10 PDT

Much of the debate around rankings has focused on methodological problems—which indicators and weightings, the credibility of the statistical process, and why (or why not) inconsistencies arise. There are also complaints about the overreliance on research rather than teaching. Yet, there has been little commentary about the increasing use of quantitative methodologies to drive decision making at the national or institutional level—what I call policymaking by numbers. The same issues arise about performance indicators, in general.
Have rankings accelerated this trend? And, because indicators incentivize
behavior, are we measuring what counts or are we doing what gets measured—a classic case of “goal displacement”?

Restructuring the Higher Education Landscape

Ellen Hazelkorn — Wed, 24 Oct 2012 08:43:21 PDT

Over the past 40 years, Ireland has experienced a remarkable transformation in fortunes. Its emergence from a protectionist pre-industrial to a post-industrial high-tech economy came on the coat tails of European Union membership and accelerating internationalisation and deregulation of financial and investment markets. Strategically situated between the United States and Europe, Ireland became a leading importer of foreign direct investment. By 2000, it was the second-largest exporter of computer software in the world after the US, and home to the top-10 pharmaceutical companies. The boom years of the ‘Celtic Tiger’ made it the poster child for globalisation. After the 2008 global financial crisis, Ireland became the symbol of economic collapse, before being rescued by the ‘troika’ of the International Monetary Fund, European Commission and European Central Bank. Today, it is variously described as the great experiment or the success story for austerity.

Learning to Live with League Tables and Ranking: the Experience of Institutional Leaders

Ellen Hazelkorn — Wed, 03 Oct 2012 01:08:54 PDT

This paper draws on the results of an international survey of HE leaders and senior managers which was supported by the OECD Programme on Institutional Management of Higher Education (IMHE) and the International Association of Universities (IAU). It focuses on how HEIs are responding to league tables and rankings (LTRS), and what impact or influence – positive or perverse – they are having on institutional behaviour, decision-making and actions. The growing body of academic research and journalist reportage is referenced to contextualise this international experience. The paper shows that while HE leaders are concerned about the impact of rankings, they are also increasingly responsive and reactive to them. In addition, key stakeholders use rankings to influence their decisions: students use rankings to ‘shortlist’ university choice, and others make decisions about funding, sponsorship and employee recruitment. Rankings are also used as a ‘policy instrument’ to underpin and quicken the pace of HE reform.

Three Key Challenges Facing Higher Education and Policymakers

Ellen Hazelkorn — Thu, 10 May 2012 09:13:03 PDT

Our preoccupation with the relative standing of universities and national education systems—illustrated by the growing popularity and obsession with university rankings—reflects the consensus that higher education is essential for economic growth, global competitiveness and a civil society. Universities and nations are being measured according to indicators of global capacity and potential in which comparative and competitive advantages come into play. The more globalization drives a single market in education, as it does in most goods and services, the more higher education is a beacon for investment and talent—the more this kind of barometer is inevitable.

Who Benefits from Early Childcare Subsidy Design in Ireland?

Bernie O'Donoghue Hynes et al. — Tue, 14 Feb 2012 07:15:52 PST

Best Newcomer Article

The design of policy tools reveals underlying biases that are not easily identified in policy documents. A review of two early childhood education and care subsidies in Ireland aimed at different target populations exposes differential treatment of children, parents and service providers. It also demonstrates how in a split system ‘early education’ is prioritised over ‘childcare’. The designs serve to reinforce stereotypes that enable the powerful and advantaged to accrue benefits while those perceived to be less deserving are burdened through the maldistribution of resources.

Whats Wrong With Higher Education Policy?

Ellen Hazelkorn — Mon, 05 Dec 2011 03:13:08 PST

Criton Tomazos and Underground Art in the 1960s

Stephen Carruthers — Mon, 26 Sep 2011 04:29:36 PDT

This article situates the artistic development of the Greek-Cypriot artist Criton Tomazos (b.1940) as a part of a circle of artists in the 1960s loosely associated around a number of informal groupings, including Arts Together, Writers Forum, Sigma, Group H and Environmental Forum.It examines the context for a number of his key works including The Cage on the basis of a literature review and interviews conducted with Criton Tomazos. The article concludes that Criton Tomazos made a significant contribution to the Undergound art movement in London in the 1960s.

The Quality Movement Discourse in the Higher Education Sector: a General Review

Aidan Kenny — Thu, 15 Sep 2011 05:52:58 PDT

This paper – the first of a series of three – describes some of the macro milestones in the evolution of the Quality Movement in the industrial environment. The emphasis then shifts to reviewing the discourse relating to quality in the higher education sector in the UK. Attention is given to Quality Assessment, Quality Assurance and Quality Enhancement models. The interface or tension lines between quality as a controlling mechanism or as a tool for development are outlined. Predominant concerns and issues as expressed by academics are clustered into macro questions, the answers to which will require further longitudinal research.

Key Skills:Enhancing Employability Within a Lifelong Learning Paradigm

Aidan Kenny et al. — Thu, 15 Sep 2011 05:52:56 PDT

Employability has become an area of interest among the general public and policy makers alike, with an increasing number of reports in the general media regarding the need for workers in certain sectors to up-skill due to the possible threat of job ‘displacement’. In addition, there has been an increase in education and training policy documents emphasising that citizens should pursue Lifelong Learning /Life Wide Learning to address the increased job-related uncertainty attributed to the globalisation process and the concomitant competitive threats. Academics such as Barnett (2005) claim that we are living in an era of ‘super complexity' and rapid change where even trade unions are beginning to come to terms with the notion that in the present employment climate ‘change is a given rather than an exception’. Within this framework of change, of global economics, of mobility of capital and labour, and of social flux, the Irish economy has outperformed many of her fellow European Union (EU) member states in terms of both GDP and GNP (see note 4). However, the pertinent question now posed is how will Ireland maintain this competitive advantage moving forward? While the answer to this question is multi-dimensional and complex, requiring expert input from various academics, professional bodies and other interested parties, there is nonetheless a growing acceptance that education and training are fundamental to the development of a sustainable solution. This working paper presents a conceptual framework and signposts a research process presently being utilised by a research team to explore employability and a social construct. As such, the reader is presented with emergent work and invited to contribute to this early stage of the research process.

Towards a Model of Critical Ethics to Inform the Research Process in Postgraduate Research

Aidan Kenny — Thu, 15 Sep 2011 05:52:54 PDT

The ethics narrative has become embedded in the contemporary research process, as evident in the emergence of Ethical Committees in faculty and both public and private organisations. Ethics have been codified, made visible and accessible as text artefacts in the forms of (both voluntary and regulatory) codes, statements, conventions, guidelines, principles, procedures, practices. In this short paper I explore this codification of ethics from the period post WWII, detailing some of the milestone text artefacts.

The Dynamics of Human Capital and the World of Work: Towards a Common Market in Contemporary Tertiary Education

Aidan Kenny — Thu, 15 Sep 2011 04:20:58 PDT

The drive for the so-called ‘knowledge society’, and the expected competitive advantage envisioned, has led to ‘power elites’ and vested interests applying pressure on nation states to develop and implement policies that push the balance of national education systems towards the economic imperative and away from the social good. This social inquiry will describe items, strategies and objectives relating to the pursuit of the current higher education change policy agendas, as expressed in key Irish policy documents. The inquiry concentrates on the new ‘world of work’ and the dynamic association with ‘human capital’ in particular the relationship between macro change policy narratives, the socio-political intent and implementation strategies. Critical considerations are given to ‘claims, issues, and concerns’ relating to components of the new order change policy as expressed in this modernisation agenda, with particular reference to awards systems. The conceptual approach is located in constructivism, the mode of inquiry utilises critical policy analysis and components of critical ethnography. The methodology is grounded in ‘non-numeric’ research discourse. The method consists of a systematic review, of documents, artefacts, and ‘critical self reflection’ as an actor in the sector. From an initial review of the evidence gathered, it can be argued that the higher education policy strategy is directed towards systems convergence and underpinned by a new common currency award framework, lubricated by a narrative of technocratic speak. In this new higher education strategy knowledge is codified, commodified, quantified, marketable and open to the emerging pressures of the free market.

The Emergence of Quality Assurance in Irish Higher Education: a Review of European and National Policy and description of the Dublin Institute of Technology Practice

Aidan Kenny — Thu, 15 Sep 2011 04:20:57 PDT

This is the second in a series of three papers which explore and describe ‘quality’ as a tool in the Irish Higher Education sector. This paper reviews macro, mesco and micro issues relating to quality assurance within the context of European Union Education Ministers’ communiqués and in Irish national policy. A micro perspective is then undertaken pertaining to the Dublin Institute of Technology describing how quality assurance systems and procedures emerged in the Institute. It also includes the Institute’s response to provisions made in the 1999 Qualifications (Education and Training) Act with reference to the necessity of carrying out quality reviews. The European University Association philosophy as the agency chosen to carry out one such review is outlined. The broad purpose of this paper, and of the previous related paper, is to provide a policy map from macro European to micro institutional level which will aid postgraduate students and those interested in quality assurance in higher education to identify important developments and pursue further research. The inquiry approach utilised is interpretive, descriptions are detailed and meaning is constructed: this is a subjective process firmly located in the broad field of qualitative research. The paper offers a general review of policy documentation together with some critical commentary and personal reflections.

Developing a Participatory Consultation Process for Quality Reviews:the Initial Stage of the European University Associations Quality Review of the Dublin Institute of Technology

Aidan Kenny — Thu, 15 Sep 2011 04:20:57 PDT

This paper describes the evolution of a consultation process utilized by the Dublin Institute of Technology (DIT) as part of a quality review process. An emphasis is placed on outlining: the collaborative nature of the enquiry; the guidelines and code of ethics adopted; the social research methodology utilized both quantitative (online surveys, staff n=1831, student’s n=21094) and qualitative (6 staff focus groups n=45 and 4 stakeholder focus groups n=24 and faculty board submissions 6). Instrument construction, theme sheet design and sampling procedures and response rate are detailed. The author, as consultation facilitator, provides an narrative of events and applies theory to actual practice. He claims that the DIT operationalized the consultation process under the principles of inclusion, openness and transparency, and that the process captured both a valid and reliable account of the attitudes and opinions of the DIT community.

Rising Popularity of Rankings

Ellen Hazelkorn — Wed, 14 Sep 2011 08:33:30 PDT

University rankings are creating a furore wherever or whenever they are published or mentioned. Politicians regularly refer to them as a measure of their nation’s virility or aspirations, universities use them to help set or define targets mapping their performance against the various metrics, while academics use rankings to bolster their own professional reputation and status. Despite their relatively short lifespan and mounting criticism of the methodologies employed, rankings have become a permanent feature of higher education in a growing number of countries around the world. Today, over 33 countries have some form of ranking system, operated by, interalia, government and accreditation agencies, higher education, research and commercial organisations, or the popular media. National rankings are being eclipsed by global rankings – the most prominent of which are the Times QS World University Ranking and the Shanghai Jiao Tong Academic Ranking of World Universities (ARWU). There may be over 17,000 higher education institutions worldwide, but rankings are driving an obsession with the world’s top 100. And Australia is not immune.

Motivating Individuals: Growing Research from a Fragile Base

Ellen Hazelkorn — Wed, 14 Sep 2011 08:33:28 PDT

Faculty around the world are experiencing changes in their academic work. While “traditional” universities are responding to demands for greater accountability and increased and timely outputs from research, faculty within new higher education institutions (HEIs) are undergoing a paradigm shift within three concentric circles of change. Not only do they have to alter their own academic practice, but their HEI is also undergoing a revolution at a time when higher education is itself being transformed. The article documents these changes, challenging the assumption that there is a homogeneous or “single academic profession” with a common experience of academic change, and suggests a more complex picture for faculty in new HEIs. There are three sections: (1) overview of the literature on academic work, (2) how faculty in new HEIs are learning to play the research game, and (3) strategies and policies being introduced to encourage and facilitate research.