Higher Education Research: Global Themes and Local Settings

2017

Philosophy for Comparative and Int'l Higher Education This is the official journal of the Comparative and International Education Society's (CIES) Higher Education Special Interest Group (HESIG), which was created in 2008. HESIG serves as a networking hub for promoting scholarship opportunities, critical dialogue, and linking professionals and academics to the international aspects of higher education. Accordingly, HESIG will serve as a professional forum supporting development, analysis, and dissemination of theory-, policy-, and practice-related issues that influence higher education. Submission and Review The Editorial Board invites contributions, normally of around 1,500 words or less, dealing with the complementary fields of comparative, international, and development education and that relate to one of the focus areas listed in the Newsletter Philosophy section above. Electronic submissions should be sent to [email protected]. Manuscripts are evaluated by the editorial board-with full confidentiality on both sides-and then accepted, returned for further revisions, or rejected.

Comparative Education Review, 2002

Higher education praises itself as being one of the most universal sectors of society. Yet, its structures, its development, its curricula and educational thrusts, its governance and organisation vary greatly and tend to be deeply rooted in national, cultural and policy contexts. This is even more true when it comes to research on higher education. There are countries where only a few basic statistics are available, where overviews of higher education are general and where the basis of experts' reports is not always sound. But there are some countries where institutions and agencies involved in higher education have established units which are responsible for systematic information gathering and research on higher education, where research on higher education is a stable feature of crossdiscipline research in the humanities and social sciences and where teaching higher education as a field of study and research on higher education are intertwined according to common modes of linkage. Sharing experience in the institutional basis of higher education research and discussing improvements can therefore be seen as a rather futile task, because the conditions seem too heterogeneous to promise any fruitful insight on the basis of international comparison. However, higher education tends to be considered in all countries as a field that requires reflection and systematic knowledge. Even if research on higher education is not always accepted as a possible basis for innovation, a comparison of its institutional setting may be useful.

1. Introduction: the paper The paper begins with issues common to research on higher education in many nations, though the Australian experience has shaped the theorisations and reflections, and the paper draws selectively on Australian examples to illustrate some points. It identifies the factors that shape research on higher education and discusses four of them in some detail: the field of study construction of research in higher education, and historical changes in the roles of the disciplines; the impact of neo-liberal policy including the relationship between education policy and economic policy; the questions of autonomy of research and of critical research; and the relationship between research on higher education and public debate. The next two sections focus explicitly on Australia, outlining the forms of research conducted and their institutional bases, especially the relationship between research and government; the main contents of the work; the federal government web si...

The Institutional Basis of Higher Education Research, 2002

Higher education praises itself as being one of the most universal sectors of society. Yet, its structures, its development, its curricula and educational thrusts, its governance and organisation vary greatly and tend to be deeply rooted in national, cultural and policy contexts. This is even more true when it comes to research on higher education. There are countries where only a few basic statistics are available, where overviews of higher education are general and where the basis of experts' reports is not always sound. But there are some countries where institutions and agencies involved in higher education have established units which are responsible for systematic information gathering and research on higher education, where research on higher education is a stable feature of crossdiscipline research in the humanities and social sciences and where teaching higher education as a field of study and research on higher education are intertwined according to common modes of linkage. Sharing experience in the institutional basis of higher education research and discussing improvements can therefore be seen as a rather futile task, because the conditions seem too heterogeneous to promise any fruitful insight on the basis of international comparison. However, higher education tends to be considered in all countries as a field that requires reflection and systematic knowledge. Even if research on higher education is not always accepted as a possible basis for innovation, a comparison of its institutional setting may be useful.

2019

Kluwer Academic Publishers eBooks, 2000

Various attempts have been made to summarize the state of higher education research in a comparative perspective. Most of them focused on the substance of research, but they often also referred to its institutional basis. According to earlier analyses, research on higher education was still rare only a few decades ago. For example, a book on the state of higher education research in Germany published in 1984 referred in the introduction to the widespread saying that professors conduct research about everything except the university. In the last three decades, however, this field has developed and obtained remarkable results. Yet, observers often express concern rather than satisfaction. How can research on higher education cover more successfully the broad thematic range and bring together the various areas of expertise? How can research on higher education make sure that the range of heterogeneous disciplines it refers to does not remain segmented, thus leading to simplified observations? What kind of problems does higher education research encounter as a consequence of the lack of systematic training of higher education researchers and experts, and are there means of improvement? Are the highly sophisticated practitioners in higher education a detriment for research because they believe that their reflection is a sufficient basis of knowledge and information, or does a dialogue with them offer new insights? Does the diverse institutional basis of higher education research match heterogeneous values, paradigms and needs of those interested in the findings, or is there a need for communication and co-operation? Do the barriers of communication between higher education research and higher education policy and practice protect academically demanding research, or would higher education research gain from better communication? Issues such as these are raised in many countries. As already stated, however, we note striking differences. First, higher education research is an important entity in some countries, for example in the US, Australia, and China, whereas it is more or less negligible in many others. Second, the major institutional bases of higher education research vary. Four are found very frequently: In some countries, many institutions have established offices that are responsible for staff development or improving teaching and learning; their staff are often involved in research as well as with students, teaching, and learning.

Glocal Education in Practice: Teaching, Researching, and Citizenship, 2019

The field of higher education studies has expanded dramatically in recent years. Notably, research centers/institutes and academic programs devoted to the field of higher education (tertiary education) has increased worldwide to now include peer-reviewed journals, books, reports and publications. Utilizing secondary data from 277 higher education programs, 217 research centers/institutes, and 280 journals and publications from Higher Education: A Worldwide Inventory of Research Centers, Academic Programs, and Journals and Publications (2014), this paper examines the policy actors and scholars engaged in higher education studies across 48 countries. The finding of this study suggests that people living the world's wealthiest countries occupies a position of significant privilege and power with regards to access to higher education research, analysis, and trained human capital. As higher education research centers, programs, and journals around the world expand their understanding of their place in a wider global network of similar entities, supporting one another and particularly under-resourced colleagues around the world deserves increasing attention. Suggested citation: Chan, R. Y. (2019). Higher education as a field of study: An analysis of 495 academic programs, research centers, and institutes across 48 countries worldwide. In N. Popov, C. Wolhuter, L. Beer, G. Hilton, J. Ogunleye, E. Achinewhu-Nworgu, & E. Niemczyk (Eds.), Glocal Education in Practice: Teaching, Researching, and Citizenship (pp. 124-131). Sofia, Bulgaria: Bulgarian Comparative Education Society (BCES).

2015

Review of Research in Education, 2010