Editorial

Citation

Roberts, B. (2010), "Editorial", International Journal of Educational Management, Vol. 24 No. 1. https://doi.org/10.1108/ijem.2010.06024aaa.001

Editorial

Article Type: Editorial From: International Journal of Educational Management, Volume 24, Issue 1

Dear subscribers/readers, welcome to the first issue of 2010. Authors and publishers have been very busy realigning the journal through a new online submission process, which in time will have the effect of streamlining paperwork and forms. Of course, the short-term involves changes and extra work to ensure this happens. So, thank you Andrea, Kate and Sam for helping me to get up and running! Many thanks too to authors who had already submitted papers to me in hard copy, only to have to resubmit; there were quite a few because of the long list of approved papers waiting to be published into 2010. Finally, on this section, the referees are having to help me by their availability to evaluate via the web site. So, again a big thank you to you.

Papers for this issue are from Norway, Australia, the USA, Saudi Arabia and Portugal. Future issues include authors from an even wider range of countries. There are authors from many countries sending work in for publication which does not make it to the final stages, but they should not be too discouraged as there are many good papers that cannot be included because of the current high level of competition (this also means that good papers not meeting the mission statement are rejected).

In this first issue, Nicoline Frølich, Evanthia Kalpazidou Schmidt and Maria J. Rosa have contributed a paper on higher education funding systems. The paper discusses how funding systems influence higher education institutions and their strategies and core tasks. Taking the results of a comparative study between Denmark, Norway and Portugal as a point of reference, it identifies and analyses the main features of these state funding systems, their strengths and weaknesses, and their impact on academia. The system level analysis offers an illustration of a trend across Europe. The paper shows that mixed funding models have been implemented in all three countries but with different strengths and weaknesses. The impacts of the two main funding systems – input and output-based systems are presented and discussed in the paper.

The next paper, by Jill Sperandio and Alice Merab Kagoda, is on school leadership by women, but here it is specifically related to those in secondary education in Uganda. The under representation of women in secondary leadership roles in Uganda is seen as a problem, in common with other developing countries. It has its roots in societal misconceptions and expectations. A survey of 62 female secondary school teachers from six co-educational schools in different areas of Uganda was used to establish leadership aspirations and teacher perceptions and teacher perceptions of the factors helping or hindering them in realising these aspirations. The paper revealed that the majority of female teachers surveyed aspired to school leadership but few had positioned themselves to do well in the competitive application process. Many thought the process corrupt and did not expect to get support from their current administrative leader. The results of the paper in Uganda support other research that suggests leadership training for women should be gender specific, so that women can be helped to visualise a career path to leadership that builds confidence in school management skills and builds on personal leadership skills.

In the third paper, Ann Brewer and Jingsong Zhao of the University of Sydney collaborate on a study that attempts to explore the effect that a pathway college affiliated to a large comprehensive university in Sydney, Australia, may have on a university's reputation. In particular, the association of reputation with brand awareness, preference for a pathway college and the opinion of college brand were all examined. The survey was based upon 501 responses to a questionnaire and generally the community reacted positively to a prospective college by agreeing that its merit was in providing a second chance for disadvantaged students which added to the diversity profile of the university. Reputation was a key factor in predicting brand awareness and preference for the college. The teaching quality of the college was found to be the most important factor in enhancing the university's reputation as well as brand. There are useful implications for higher education practice from this paper.

John C. Niser is a research scholar in the USA, although he is primarily based in the UK. His pilot study is about the study abroad programme in the context of an increasing number of students, demands and expectations. The paper was carried through by utilising publicly available information on all of the accredited institutions of higher education within the six states of New England, USA. The findings confirm that the majority of institutions offer study abroad programmes but the survey also revealed the important role providers are playing in offering generic programmes to students from multiple institutions. The findings suggest further investigation into institutional strategies concerning the choice of programmes and other limitations are outlined. Further research is suggested to seek information on the employability advantage the programmes offer to students entering the job market.

Ronald H. Heck of the University of Hawaii and Rochelle Mahoe of the Hawaii Department of Education have jointly written on the outcome effects of students' course taking and teacher quality. In this paper, there is an examination of the relationship between high school students' curricular positions, perceptions of the quality of their teachers and school process variables on students' growth and end achievement in mathematics and science. The disparity in academic outcomes for some groups is the centre of the debate in high schools. The results suggest that within schools both curricular positions and perceptions of teacher quality affect student growth and achievement. Steps are suggested that educators may take to reduce the effects of structures that diminish students' academic success.

In the last paper, Helena Alves and Mária Raposo of the University of Beira Interior, Portugal, produce work on the influence of university image on student behaviour. Several studies have shown that, in general, corporate image is important to attract and retain customers. In total, 2,687 students were used to test the hypotheses in the paper with the investigation shedding light on the “higher education student satisfaction formation process, showing that image can influence student satisfaction and loyalty”. The authors do acknowledge however that the study did not show a significant enough reliability level, which indicates the need for further studies.

Brian Roberts