Since 2011 the School of Media and Communication at RMIT University has been actively supporting an ethos of belonging throughout their learning and teaching. In 2017 'belonging' became a formal university priority, embedded in the institution's strategy and dispersed across Colleges and Schools through a range of activities and interventions.…

Higher education institutions are increasingly experiencing pressure regarding their expected role in addressing immediate and long-term sustainable development challenges. Decisions about what should be taught are heavily influenced by socio-political needs and aspirations. The push towards entrepreneurship education is, perhaps, one example…

The flight of human capital is a phenomenon that has been of concern to academics and development practitioners for decades. Unfortunately, there is no systematic record of the number of skilled professionals that many African countries have continued to lose to the developed world. Termed the "brain drain", it represents the loss of…

We investigate the nature of protests by students (age 18 and older) in Algeria, Jordan, Morocco, and Yemen by using subsamples of students from nationally representative and acclaimed public opinion data (the 2006-07 "Arab Barometer"). We find between 22.1% (Jordan) and 54.7% (Yemen) participated in either the signing of petitions, or…

In a context of intensified globalization, the importance of international governmental organizations and non-governmental organizations as influencers and shapers of the global environment is becoming prominent. Participation in international organizations leads to active incorporation of nation-states with worldwide connotations. In higher…

This article describes briefly the education system of Cyprus and elaborates on the recent changes in its large-scale assessment (LSA) programme. Until 2005, two independent LSA programmes existed: one for school-graduation purposes and one for gaining entrance to higher education. The introduction of a dual-purpose LSA program in 2006, due to…

Despite the popularity of performance funding among policymakers and policy advocates, only half of all states have ever created a performance funding system for higher education. State performance funding systems have also been surprisingly unstable. Nearly half of those states that established performance funding systems for higher education…

In 2003 the Danish government reformed universities to "set them free" from the state. Yet ministers are actively trying to shape universities and even set research agendas. How does the government's notion of "freedom" reconcile independence with control? We identify three discourses of freedom: freedom to use academic…

A poststructuralist approach to teaching social and behavioral sciences in nursing education shifts focus to an examination of subject positions, discourse, conflict, and action. It provides a useful foundation for examining the politics of health care. (SK)

Discusses the changing economic and political forces that are affecting higher education in the United States and offers recommendations for alleviating the continuing financial crisis in higher education and for increasing public respect for and commitment to higher educational institutions. (JG)

In 1987, major reform of New Zealand education at all levels was initiated. Several major reports have analyzed the need for change suggesting more dramatic changes are inevitable but are more likely to come from future economic and social changes than from government initiative. (MSE)

An interview with Arthur Levine, the president of Teachers College, Columbia University (New York), discusses diversity, school vouchers, recruiting new teachers, affirmative action, student attitudes about race, the need for advocacy groups to counter the conservative National Association of Scholars, and his latest book, "Diversity on…

Describes a multiyear effort to restructure one teacher education program, highlighting constraints, barriers, and limitations such as turf protection, fear of risk taking, conflicting ideologies, and struggles for power and influence that emerged during the restructuring process. A prototypical model of how the psychological, social, and…

The nature of the legislative environment is discussed and observations are made about how institutional researchers can influence lawmaking outcomes. (Author/SF)

Discussion of higher education reform in Central and Eastern Europe since 1989 draws on writings in previous issues of this journal and extends the discussion to develop a conceptual framework for examining the reform process and identify key forces that either initiated and facilitated reform or hindered it. Attention is given to the unusual…