This paper highlights some of the challenges being faced by Australian higher education which are likely to have an impact over the next ten years and beyond and opportunities to deal with them. In doing so, the policy settings from the Dawkins reforms in the late 1980s to the present which have shaped the higher education landscape are described,…

"International Perspectives in Higher Education" offers a balanced perspective on how different countries approach key policies and what the United States can learn from those programs. Jason D. Delisle and Alex Usher have gathered a diverse group of experts to examine systems across the globe with a focus on the trade-offs between…

The recent period can only be seen as one of rapid and substantial churn as UK governments have attempted to widen participation, strengthen the national system of innovation and control the direct public costs of higher education. Very similar issues have dominated the debate in Australia. This paper compares the current position of two higher…

Australia's higher education policy settings have signalled a shift towards marketisation. As a consequence, Australian universities have become increasingly competitive, and as they seek to compete for students in higher education markets, they begin to resemble commercial organisations. This article examines the challenges confronting the…

The literature examining graduate attributes remains unclear regarding their value to work within and outside of the university context. The current article sought clarity through a quantitative analysis of the relationship between self-perceptions of PhD-related graduate attribute acquisition and both objective (e.g. productivity) and subjective…

The growing interest in the higher education sector in publishing pedagogical research has led to a focus on professional development for staff who wish to engage in this endeavour. This paper describes and evaluates a specific programme designed to help university staff to prepare and submit a high-quality paper to a peer-reviewed journal.…

Continuous and rapid developments in global higher education today more than ever before present new questions, greater challenges, and vast new opportunities for institutions, policy makers, scholars and students alike. This book is a collection of studies and essays by many of the leading experts in international higher education who share their…

In recent years, the level of participation and attainment by Indigenous Australians in education and training has improved, yet substantial gaps still exist between Indigenous Australians and non-Indigenous Australians. Education has to be a key focus if the gap between Indigenous and non-Indigenous employment rates is to be closed. This report…

This article reports on a research project that investigated the aspirations of primary and secondary school students about access to, and participation in higher education. The research was undertaken at schools in low socio-economic status regional and rural areas of north-eastern New South Wales. The paper discusses the background to the…

This research attempts to explore the key social characteristics and demographics of Australian chancellors to determine who they are and where they come from. The chancellor of an Australian university wields an enormous amount of power, from overseeing the appointment of the Vice-Chancellor (VC) to fulfilling various statutory requirements.…

In this article, we look at the state of Modern Greek in Australian universities, focusing on quantitative analysis of its rise and fall in the relatively short period of 35 years since it was first taught as a university subject in Australia. We consider the possible reasons behind this trajectory, in particular correlations with changing…

Reports the findings of a survey of work-related attitudes and demographic characteristics of academic staff in nine institutions of higher education in Australia and New Zealand. (Author/WD)

A survey of registrars in 44 Australian higher education institutions gathered information on their demographic characteristics, qualifications, work experience, titles, current responsibilities, salaries, reporting relationships, and administrative perspectives. Results are reported, and their implications for administration in the new unified…

Criticizes the accuracy of the methodology currently used by the Australian Department of Education, Training and Youth Affairs for identifying socioeconomic status of higher education students. Proposes new individually based measures related to the occupation and education of parents when the student was in high school. (Author/DB)

Administered Palmore's Facts on Aging Quiz to Australian undergraduates (N=188). Provided documentation based on available Australian statistics. Results showed a high degree of similarity in factual knowledge, misconceptions, and direction of bias of Australian students compared to those tested in the United States. (Author)