Yasmine Dominguez-Whitehead and Felix Maringe
This paper provides a cross-national analysis of PhD supervision models, milestones and examination procedures in order to compare PhD programs and their practices.
Abstract
Purpose
This paper provides a cross-national analysis of PhD supervision models, milestones and examination procedures in order to compare PhD programs and their practices.
Design/methodology/approach
A comparative approach is employed, which systematically interrogates PhD supervision models, milestones and examination procedures in the United Kingdom, South Africa and the United States via a comprehensive review of the practices and literature.
Findings
The findings indicate the ramifications of the different approaches and highlight the benefits and drawbacks associated with the different models.
Originality/value
By making explicit the dominant supervision models, milestones and examination procedures that exist in the United Kingdom, South Africa and the United States, the authors shed light on the somewhat obscure path to earning a PhD degree.
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The chapter explores the growth of marketing in education with a specific focus on schools. It argues that developing a marketing orientation has become a key integral objective…
Abstract
The chapter explores the growth of marketing in education with a specific focus on schools. It argues that developing a marketing orientation has become a key integral objective of schools and examines the leadership requirements needed to nurture this ambition. Central to this development is the need to focus on the curriculum, a key part of the mission of schools, as an organizing idea for successful and relevant school marketing. Based on the CORD model of educational marketing (Maringe, 2005), the chapter argues that school leaders need to develop a set of marketing competences in four specific areas: market contextualization competences; marketing organizational competences; marketing research competences; and marketing development competences.
Higher education (HE) marketing the world over is in a state of crisis that manifests itself on three fronts. First, there continues to be sizeable resistance towards the…
Abstract
Purpose
Higher education (HE) marketing the world over is in a state of crisis that manifests itself on three fronts. First, there continues to be sizeable resistance towards the marketing idea in the academy of many universities across the world. Second, HE itself has failed to identify its core business without which the sector can not have a firm marketing foundation. Third, HE marketing has not adequately domesticated itself and continues to rely on imported wisdom from the business sector. The purpose of this paper is to explore these problems using evidence from international research and propose a curriculum focused marketing model which should help refocus HE marketing, domesticate it appropriately and reduce the internal resistance with which it is frequently associated.
Design/methodology/approach
The paper begins by examining the imperatives for marketisation in HE. It then reviews the extent of the three obstacles using evidence from research in different parts of the world. It concludes by offering a curriculum focused marketing model (CORD) which could serve the basis for future HE marketisation.
Findings
Based on wide ranging data from the developed and less developed countries, obtained through national and regional surveys and a review of secondary findings, the paper suggests that a way out of this crisis is for universities to identify their core business as the development of their curricula and to base their marketing on a proposed curriculum centred marketing model.
Originality/value
The CORD model represents an attempt at addressing the crisis that HE marketing faces today.
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Reviews the latest management developments across the globe and pinpoints practical implications from cutting‐edge research and case studies.
Abstract
Purpose
Reviews the latest management developments across the globe and pinpoints practical implications from cutting‐edge research and case studies.
Design/methodology/approach
This briefing is prepared by an independent writer who adds their own impartial comments and places the articles in context.
Findings
Higher education in the UK has changed considerably in the ten years since Tony Blair's government removed free tuition. The need for students to pay their way through college or university has resulted in a subtle shift in the primary role that higher‐education (HE) institutions play, from a more academic to a more utilitarian function. Sixth‐form pupils must increasingly weigh up the practical value of their further education, in terms of potential employment and functional skill‐sets for a competitive job‐market.
Practical implications
Provides strategic insights and practical thinking that have influenced some of the world's leading organizations.
Originality/value
The briefing saves busy executives and researchers hours of reading time by selecting only the very best, most pertinent information and presenting it in a condensed and easy‐to‐digest format.
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Although internationalisation has become a key strategic element of universities across the world, there is little empirical evidence suggesting the nature and extent of…
Abstract
Purpose
Although internationalisation has become a key strategic element of universities across the world, there is little empirical evidence suggesting the nature and extent of integration of internationalisation into the strategic mission of individual institutions. Little is also known about challenges faced by institutions in their quest to integrate internationalisation into their broad strategic choices. This paper aims to address these issues.
Design/methodology/approach
An exploratory study is conducted in six universities in the UK selected from the Russell pre‐1992 group, the post‐1994 group and former colleges of higher education (HE). The study has three distinct but interrelated aims: how internationalisation is conceptualised in the study institutions; the available evidence for its structural integration into the university services and understanding the perceived challenges institutions face in the quest to integrate the idea as a broad strategic element of those institutions.
Findings
There exist a range of distinct barriers working against the full integration of the concept into the institutional cultures. These include: conceptual and structural deficiencies in the organisation of institutional internationalisation; over emphasis on human exchange initiatives over cultural integration efforts and increasing undercurrents of feelings among staff and students of local neglect at the expense of global attention.
Originality/value
The paper creates a sound basis for a more broad‐based study across the HE sector. Specifically, the paper suggests that the increasing cultural diversity in UK HE brought about in part by internationalisation and also by general human migration occasions new thinking and practices in organisational and management terms to address the needs of the “mosaic or cultural melting pot” phenomena characterising the increasingly multicultural HE learning environments.
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The purpose of the paper is to explore the quality of leadership decision making at various leadership levels in the further education (FE) sector. Using Hoffberg and Korver's…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of the paper is to explore the quality of leadership decision making at various leadership levels in the further education (FE) sector. Using Hoffberg and Korver's model for integrated decision making, the paper aims to examine how staff in five UK FE colleges perceive the quality of their involvement in decision‐making teams and groups and the extent to which decision‐making processes meet Tatum et al.'s criteria for fair and just organisational decision making
Design/methodology/approach
The paper utilises data from the Integrating Diversity in Leadership Project sponsored by the Centre for Excellence in Leadership. It draws on responses made by 67 staff in five FE colleges in the UK to a series of qualitative questions in individual interviews. The paper also draws on observations of the level and quality of interaction and contribution made by 147 staff in 15 leadership decision‐making groups. The paper only draws on those responses that have relevance to the questions of leadership decision making, the quality of decision making and the perceptions of staff regarding their involvement in decision making at various levels.
Findings
The data suggest that inclusiveness in decision making decreases with the hierarchy of decision‐making groups, with the most senior groups being seen as the most exclusive, least transformed, closely guarded and offering restricted entry. Similarly, decision‐making teams at different levels are associated with different levels of justice and fairness related to the balance made between competing dilemmas of people versus process.
Originality/value
There is limited research conducted in this area. The study brings together aspects of social justice and inclusive decision making to bear on the structures and processes of leadership decision making in educational settings and uncovers a range of barriers that stand in the way of inclusive and fair decision making. These findings could indeed be a seedbed for an emerging theory of leadership decision making in educational establishments.
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Higher education environments have become increasingly competitive and institutions have to compete for students in the recruitment markets. With the introduction of student fees…
Abstract
Purpose
Higher education environments have become increasingly competitive and institutions have to compete for students in the recruitment markets. With the introduction of student fees, it is hypothesised that potential applicants to HE will increasingly become consumerist. The research upon which this paper was based was aimed at finding out the factors students consider important in their decision making related to choice of university and courses of study.
Design/methodology/approach
Five sixth form schools and colleges in the Southampton University Partnership Scheme participated in the study. Three hundred and eighty seven students (186 male and 201 female) voluntarily participated. The study involved a survey questionnaire based on a 10 point Likert scale and included 35 university choice factors which students were to rank accordingly. It also included 10 items similarly ranked to identify factors influencing university subject or course choice. Simple descriptive statistics were used to identify the factors students consider most important in their choice and decision making.
Findings
Two key signals have been identified. First is that, students seem to be adopting a consumerist approach to their HE decision making. The importance attached to labour market motives in terms of employment and career prospects significantly outweigh those related to pursuing HE on the basis of subject interest and a love for the subject. Second is that as a result of this, students consider programme and price related issues as more important than other elements of universities marketing mix.
Research limitations/implications
There are no claims for generalisability of findings from this research on account of the small sample of participants and the use of convenience sampling employed in the study. However, the findings generally support what is already known about factors influencing university choice and go beyond to show signals of change within the undergraduate recruitment market.
Practical implications
The findings have implications for university positioning in a diversifying recruitment market, and for a reconsideration of marketing and recruitment strategy at institutional levels.
Originality/value
The paper identifies signals of a changing undergraduate recruitment market and notes the implication this has on recruitment and marketing activities for institutions intending to position or reposition themselves in the highly competitive markets.
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Felix Maringe and Jennifer Jenkins
This paper examines the experiences of engaging with academic writing of international doctoral students in the schools of humanities and education at a UK university. The purpose…
Abstract
Purpose
This paper examines the experiences of engaging with academic writing of international doctoral students in the schools of humanities and education at a UK university. The purpose of this paper is to uncover the real accounts of international students whose cultural and language backgrounds are often marginalised and considered, not as facilitators, but as barriers to academic writing in the western context of universities.
Design/methodology/approach
Developed broadly within an interpretive post-positivistic paradigm, the study utilised Harré and van Lagenhove, 1999 Positioning theory and Goffman’s theory of Stigma to interrogate accounts of 12 students from the two schools in a year-long project involving three focus group discussions, questionnaire responses and personal reflective summaries by the students.
Findings
The paper highlights the notions of stigma associated with their foreign writing conventions and how students experience tensions and apprehensions about their ability as they painfully negotiate the new academic writing conventions of the institution. International students position themselves as vulnerable outsiders working within an ill-defined but highly valued language environment.
Research limitations/implications
The research is limited to the extent that it utilises a very small number of students as its key source of evidence. However, the study was not aimed at providing generalisation as much as it sought to explore issues associated with the use of language by international studying in UK universities.
Practical implications
The study has practical implications for the professionals in HE to develop clear guidelines about what constitutes good English and to provide greater support to international students who see themselves as vulnerable outsiders in an environment which marginalises their linguistic and cultural identities.
Social implications
The study has implications for the social, cultural, and academic integration of international students in HE institutions.
Originality/value
The paper signals a need for diverse writing frameworks which seek to promote rather than silence and marginalise potentially rich sources of knowledge and understanding in an increasingly globalising world.
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Felix Maringe and Steve Carter
International students' HE decision making is a high stakes process. There is an insufficient evidence base that would aid university level strategic planning in areas of…
Abstract
Purpose
International students' HE decision making is a high stakes process. There is an insufficient evidence base that would aid university level strategic planning in areas of recruitment from the African continent and in supporting its students to maximise the benefits from a UK HE experience. This paper aims to explore the decision making and experience of African students in UK HE and provides hypothesis for re‐conceptualising these processes.
Design/methodology/approach
The research was exploratory and part of a bigger project on international students' experience of UK HE. It employed focus group interviews with 28 students studying in two universities in the South of England together with semi structured discussion with staff in those institutions with a specific remit for recruiting from Africa.
Findings
A six element model of decision making was developed from the data which identifies a range of push and pull factors operating within constraints of fears and anxieties about studying in UK HE. The data suggest that African students come to study in England on the promise of getting a truly international HE experience. Questions are however raised about whether this promise is delivered in full.
Research limitations/implications
The sample size and use of focus groups as a single data gathering strategy does not allow broad generalisation of findings. However, the evidence obtained enabled the generation of useful hypothesis to stimulate further research in this area. The research identifies implications for strategic decisions for recruitment, student support and curriculum and for future research in this area.
Originality/value
This is an area with patchy research and the research reported here provides a good basis for developing a broader research agenda in Africa to support decision making on a wider scale.
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Simeon Spiteri and Felix Maringe
This study addresses the issue of teaching in entrepreneurship courses in selected European universities in Malta and the UK. The paper aims to explore the views of students in…
Abstract
Purpose
This study addresses the issue of teaching in entrepreneurship courses in selected European universities in Malta and the UK. The paper aims to explore the views of students in different educational institutions about their understanding of entrepreneurship and the pedagogical aspects of teaching it.
Design/methodology/approach
Qualitative case study data were collected through one-to-one interviews with 31 students engaged in entrepreneurship course in four educational institutions in Malta and the UK.
Findings
Students identified four essential components that reflect the nature of entrepreneurial education. These consist of pedagogy, content, assessment and role model lecturer. Pedagogy of entrepreneurial courses was broadly seen as a mixture of traditional teaching and entrepreneurial learning. Students showed a preference for content aimed at developing creativity in practice-based situations. Preferred assessment strategies included individual assignments perceived as useful to deepen the concepts learned and stimulate individual thinking. Role model lecturers are inspiring to students. They should be individuals that are creative, have experience in entrepreneurial roles and hold academic knowledge that is useful to teach about entrepreneurship. There were variations in the views expressed by different groups of students interviewed in this study.
Research limitations/implications
Due to the relatively small sample sizes, this study has limited generalisability implying the need for similar research more broadly across other universities in Europe.
Practical implications
The study proposes a model for enhancing the teaching of entrepreneurial courses in universities in Europe. The model comprises teaching pedagogies responsive to the student learning needs; application of features present in the KTP model and proposes a structure for determining worthwhile knowledge that should be delivered in adherence to students learning needs.
Originality/value
This study expands the understanding of the learning process of students and provides a methodological framework that can be used to research entrepreneurial education.