Digital technologies have been widely used in higher education (HE) for years, and the benefits have been recognised by both students and academics. Although many universities have developed their own digital technology strategies, many do not share either their vision or implementation strategies with staff. This research explores differences and…

At the recent Association of University Administrators (AUA) Annual Conference in Nottingham, UK, the authors presented a session exploring the role that Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Trans* (LGBT*) Staff Networks have to play in higher education institutions and explored the best practice to support their successful launch and longevity. This…

The increasingly diverse nature of the higher education academic community in the United Kingdom is under-researched and under-theorised. This article presents an exploratory study of the lived experiences of newly appointed international academic staff as expressed in their written reflections on their professional practice and interpreted by the…

The results of a survey commissioned by the Higher Education Policy Institute (HEPI) and the Higher Education Academy (HEA) shows students believe they benefit in many ways from studying alongside people from other countries--however, benefits are clearer to international students.

Increasingly, Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender (LGBT) health care is becoming an important quality assurance feature of primary, secondary and tertiary healthcare in Britain. While acknowledging these very positive developments, teaching LGBT curricula content is contingent upon having educators understand the complexity of LGBT lives. The…

There is a significant gap in degree attainment between White and minority ethnic (ME) students in the UK as measured by the percentage awarded a "good" degree. The causes for the gap are highly complex; however outcomes for ME students are lower than for their White peers across the whole of the UK higher education sector. This paper…

Policy-makers in the United Kingdom increasingly emphasise the contribution of innovation and entrepreneurialism to the economy. Drawing on a recent ethnographic study of a university commercial enterprise, this article examines the notion of entrepreneurialism in a higher education institution as understood and practised by its employees. The…

The purpose of this study was to investigate the goals of institutions that are currently developing and delivering Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs) and to assess the current evidence as to whether these goals are being met. A qualitative study was conducted comprising interviews of 83 individuals across 62 institutions including public and…

Research has highlighted the importance of social integration and a sense of belonging for facilitating an effective transition into higher education. This paper reports a case study of entrants to two geography-related undergraduate programmes who were given the opportunity to use bespoke social networking sites in the three weeks before formal…

Assumptions are often made about new lecturers in terms of previous experience, development needs and orientations towards the new role. Postgraduate certificate (PgCert) programmes tend to operate on the assumption that new lecturers are already familiar with the research element of their discipline, in a default transition from PhD to…

This special issue sets out to investigate a number of areas of concern, regarding gender and sexuality, which are identifiable in the current British higher education environment. We argue that current dominant "neoliberal" discourses, which emphasise the commodification of higher education in the U.K., function to set limits upon…

Whilst much of the rhetoric of current educational policy champions creativity and innovation, structural reforms and new management practices in higher education run counter to the known conditions under which creativity flourishes. As a review of recent literature suggests, surveillance, performativity, the end of tenure and rising levels of…

This paper presents a philosophical approach to undergraduate curricula. The approach, informed by research, has been conceptualised as "socially critical vocationalism" (SCV). SCV is neither training nor pure traditional academic provision but an approach to curriculum that is academically defensible, practically relevant and socially…

Using our experience of a work-related learning project, run jointly between Newcastle and Northumbria Universities, in which 600 students annually undertake work placements, this paper focuses on the inherent challenges of using over 30 assessors to assess students. The assessors come from a wide variety of backgrounds and we have had to find…

Realists recognize reorganizations for what they are: opportunities to do things better--to change business as usual to reflect best practices, new tools and technologies, and current challenges in the marketplace. At educational institutions, perhaps no area is as sensitive to those shifts as communications and marketing offices. The advances in…