Background: As universities in many countries engage more directly with industry, the learning emphasis has moved from the student experience to the work-readiness of the graduate. This focus on the student as potential worker is expressed through graduate attributes: particular sets of employability skills developed by institutions and embedded…

Background: Literature draws attention to the relationships between the initial experiences of students as they begin their higher education and how they fare subsequently. In Portugal, the new student's reception is ritualised by tradition, and involves the organisation of an entire integration ceremony (known as "praxe") proposed…

Background: This article considers the impact of pupils studying for entry-level qualifications on their intentions of remaining in education. Such qualifications are intended to re-engage young people who are performing below expected levels and give them the opportunity to learn at a pace that suits them. Purpose: This article specifically…

Background: A "learner identity" can be broadly defined as how an individual feels about himself/herself as a learner and the extent to which he/she describes himself/herself as a "learner." The literature suggests that those from non-traditional backgrounds may struggle to adapt to a university environment with all its related…

Background information: During the late 1970s and the early 1980s, West Germany witnessed a reversal of gender differences in educational attainment, as females began to outperform males. Purpose: The main objective was to analyse which processes were behind the reversal of gender differences in educational attainment after 1945. The theoretical…

Background: the belief that women and science, including mathematics and medicine, are incompatible has had a long and complex history and still often works to exclude women from and/or marginalise them in science. Purpose: this article will seek to explore gender and educational achievement through investigating how such gendered presumptions…

Background: Academic and pastoral support is fundamental to the achievement of a high-quality student learning experience. Aim: This study reports on full-time undergraduate students' views on the effectiveness of academic and pastoral support in one higher education institution. The intent of the study was to explore how academic and…

Background: Cloud computing has recently received interest in information systems research and practice as a new way to organise information with the help of an increasingly ubiquitous computer infrastructure. However, the use of cloud computing in higher education institutions and business schools, as well as its potential to create novel…

Background: This paper is the product of a two year investigation into the contribution of post-16 education to community cohesion. The investigation took place between 2010 and 2012 and was funded by the University Centre at Blackburn College in England. Fieldwork was undertaken in three East Lancashire colleges and focused on students aged…

Background: This paper was prepared to address the issue of whether current levels of public expenditures on education are cost-effective in countries with widely differing average levels of education. Purpose: The paper examines the role of education in economic growth from a theoretical and historic perspective, addresses why education has been…

Background: Measuring the student experience is becoming increasingly important in higher education in the UK. Student experience surveys are used as indicators of quality and form the basis of rankings of higher education institutions. They are also used by them as tools to assist their quality enhancement initiatives. However, these surveys…

Background: This article engages with the tradition of educational transitions research, particularly with its attempt to evaluate the effect of exogenous variables on educational attainment. The study revisits a number of hypotheses that have attempted to explain the changing patterns of such effects throughout students' educational career,…

Background: Hong Kong is currently a Special Administrative Region of the People's Republic of China. It has autonomy over many policy areas, including finance and education. It is a community of seven million people, which has changed its focus and identity significantly over the last 25 years, from predominantly manufacturing to a service and…

Background: Teacher education has been the subject of a seven-year review culminating with the issuing of a consultation document "Teacher education in a climate of change: The way forward" (Department for Employment and Learning and Department for Education 2010). Issues of rationalisation, demographic trends, the over-provision of teachers and…

Background: The paper compares and contrasts the policy context of teacher training for vocational educators (VETT) in Scotland and England and locates this in its European setting. It explores the wider socio-economic context, one that emphasises lifelong learning, competitiveness and social justice. Purpose: In particular, it addresses the UK…