This paper offers a historical perspective on government policies for the rationalisation of higher education (HE) in Ireland through a critical re-appraisal of the initiative for "merger" of Trinity College and University College Dublin. The initiative launched by Donogh O'Malley in 1967 was the first significant attempt by an…

Thirty years after the publication of "Investment in Education," Patrick Clancy wrote that the report represented "the" foundation document of education' in the era since the introduction of economic planning in the late 1950s. This paper considers the importance of the report in disseminating theories of human capital…

Irish public policy strongly promotes greater flexibility in higher education. This review paper examines Irish policy conceptualisations of flexible learning. The review finds that the promotion of flexible learning is positioned within strongly economistic discourses of lifelong learning, and primarily in human capital terms of meeting the…

Although numerous studies have explored international students' experiences, there is a dearth of research exploring the perspectives of professionals who have contact with international students. The present study addresses this gap in the literature by providing an analysis of higher educational professionals' ("n"=11)…

The importance of education in developing morally sensitive individuals who use principled moral reasoning when facing dilemmas has been widely acknowledged. In the context of the criticism levelled at the Irish higher education system for failing to fulfil the role of intellectual leader and moral critic within the public domain, this paper…

This paper examines the emergence of new accountabilities in teaching and teacher education in Ireland in the 15 years period 1997-2012. Framing accountability in terms of the three main approaches to it globally in education systems, that is, compliance with regulations, adherence to professional norms and attainment of results/outcomes, we…

In China, debates about higher education finance led to the introduction of a cost-sharing model, whereby students were required to pay tuition fees, over a decade ago. However, there is still significant resistance towards such a system within the broader society. In order to share insights into the development of the cost-sharing policy in China…

This article identifies those aspects of the academic environment that are associated with graduates' overall satisfaction with their higher education (HE) course. We use REFLEX data, which allow comparison among 14 European countries, based on a pooled sample and individual country regressions. Overall, the degree of satisfaction with HE studies…

The upgrading of higher technical education which began in the 1960s marked the most influential intervention by the Irish government in the third-level sector since the establishment of the independent Irish state. A series of reforming initiatives extended educational opportunity and transformed the status of technical education at higher level.…

The article looks at two important documents in the context of education policy in Ireland: the Higher Education Authority's "Strategic Plan 2008-2010" and the Government's report, "Building Ireland's Smart Economy." It demonstrates how the entrepreneurial student is fabricated out of particular truths told about the present and the obligations…

In the course of educational expansion, gender differences in access to higher education have decreased substantially in many European countries. In Germany women are currently over-represented in upper secondary education and more frequently attain a general qualification for university entrance. Despite those advantages, women still enrol in…

In this article, we use data from the Canadian Youth in Transition Survey (YITS). This survey has followed longitudinally the Canadian Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) students originally surveyed in 2000. The aim of this article is to look to what extent social factors (e.g. gender, parental education and socio-economic…

This article focuses on differences in higher education (HE) enrolment and choice of study according to students' background, specifically amongst first- or second-generation immigrants to Norway. A special emphasis is placed on the choice of prestigious study programmes. The results indicate that students with an immigrant background tend to make…

As economic circumstances in Ireland, as elsewhere, remain difficult and applications for higher education entry reach record numbers, there has been renewed focus on higher education access. This article draws on the findings of a major Irish study which focuses on a group that has not shared in the general trend towards increased higher…

This paper examines the concept, pervasive policy and practice of learning outcomes, as increasingly adopted and officially supported in third-level educational institutions. It begins by outlining the context and development of learning outcomes from European and Irish educational policy perspectives. We go on to explore how learning outcomes…