College governing boards are widely held to be the keystone of institutional strategy and the prime locus of support, challenge and accountability in respect of the actions of the senior Executive. Whilst there are many normative prescriptions about the conditions and arrangements required for effective college governance, relatively little is…

Significant conversations provide a private and safe space for teachers to develop their thinking about teaching and learning. These conversations are important to academic development but may be limited by their privacy, although Roxå & Mårtensson noted that it was possible to create a culture which led to extended networks. This study…

Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to examine the way "moderation" is defined and operationalised at UK universities. It is hoped that this investigation provides pointers for modifications in university documentation and practices, as well as indicates possible areas for future research. Design/methodology/approach: This paper begins…

The members of the governing boards of schools, colleges which provide vocational education and training, and universities in the UK have traditionally been volunteers. In some contexts, however, for example, colleges in Northern Ireland, governors are now paid. Whether volunteer governors in other or all settings should be remunerated is the…

Over recent years, the professional development review process has risen in importance in universities with such exercises being shown to have a positive effect on student learning, staff motivation, recruitment and retention. However, they may also be perceived as a controlling mechanism and part of a culture of 'performativity', which implies a…

The research literature emphasises the emergence -- in the English context particularly -- of performative accountabilities associated with metrics-based evaluation. Recent studies observe uneven effects of such evaluations at organisational level. This UK-based study examines academics' perceptions of the fairness of organisational…

Universities, and business schools specifically, are experiencing a transformation of their societal mission. Similar to the STEM fields, business schools are nested in global competitive environments facing multiple competing pressures, one being the need to demonstrate their social impact (SI). While business schools signal their commitment to…

The global pandemic prompted universities to rethink how assessment might be reconfigured to better support student learning across different modes of delivery resulting in unprecedented, large-scale, and rapid institutional change. Significantly, there has been a dearth of empirical studies examining the nuances of staff experiences of how they…

This paper presents the findings of a systematic scoping review spanning 30 years (1990-2020) that sought to understand the structures and processes influencing education research activities in UK higher education (HE). Review work of this scale has not previously been undertaken on the topic. The purpose of the review was to 'take stock' of…

On the back of Research Excellence Framework (REF) 2021, this collection brings together a wide range of authors to consider what has worked well in evaluation of UK research, what could have worked better and where the UK's higher education system should go from here. Chapters in the volume include: (1) The REF: A hydra-headed beast or an…

Cheating behaviors have been construed as a continuing and somewhat vexing issue for academic institutions as they increasingly conduct educational processes online and impose metrics on instructional evaluation. Research, development, and implementation initiatives on cheating detection have gained new dimensions in the advent of artificial…

In education systems across the world, teachers are under increasing quality assurance scrutiny in relation to the provision of feedback comments to students. This is particularly pertinent in higher education, where accountability arising from student dissatisfaction with feedback causes concern for institutions. Through semi-structured…

Reviewing institutional governance arrangements through a European lens has the benefit of broadening the argument away from differences between pre-1992 and post-1992 constitutions or between research-intensive and teaching-led university perspectives. In the last two decades in Europe is a massive increase in student numbers and institutional…

Despite previous research claiming surveillance emerges from student evaluations of teaching (SET), there is an absence of research using surveillance theory to determine whether it emerges, the nature of the surveillance should it emerge, and how academics resist its effects. Through an analysis of four university business schools, a top-down…

Accreditation can serve as an accountability mechanism for higher education, ensuring institutions meet specific standards, which can be impacted by various factors including the regulatory environment of each country or local jurisdiction as well as an institution's mission, enrollment, and student success trends. In addition, higher education…