This study seeks to explain why and how international graduate students from East Asia choose to come to Canada to pursue advanced education. A synthesis model is developed to explain their decision-making "process," while a push-pull model is used to understand the strengths of and relationships among various "factors" that influence the choice…

Although rectors of Mexican public universities play an important role in their institutions, we know very little about them. This article first describes the different election processes in Mexican public universities for selecting a rector. These varied processes reveal the ambiguity of the concept of "autonomy" as applied to rectors, focusing…

The number of university students participating in exchange programs has risen sharply over the last decade. A survey of Swiss university graduates (classes of 1999 and 2001) shows that participation in student exchange programs depends significantly on the socio-economic background of students. We further analyze whether the participants benefit…

The paper presents the findings of a study of the decision-making process which precedes the choice of a university in Greece. Specifically, the degree of rationality exhibited by prospective students is assessed in an attempt to provide a test for the economic approach to the explanation of human behaviour. Information search is used as an…

Faculty experiences of innovative approaches to learning and the changes to their knowledge emerging from such experiences constitute an important area of inquiry that has to date largely been ignored or has been approached with research methods ill-suited to examining such experiences. This paper adopts interpretative meta-ethnography as its…

The paper examines whether college application behavior assists members of privileged social groups to preserve their advantages in diversified higher education systems. The study is based on a survey conducted in Israel in 1999 on a sample of 4,061 freshmen in the research universities and the academic colleges, which are often perceived as the…

The increasing pace and scope of global structural change has left Japanese flagship universities at a crossroads. Reflecting upon historical trends, current policy changes and respective institutional strategies for global marketing among Japanese top research universities, the author discusses possible future directions for these institutions…

This paper draws on a four-year longitudinal ESRC funded project examining learning experiences of disabled students in higher education in four universities. The focus here is on institutional responses to the demands of audit culture and legislation in relation to making reasonable adjustments for students with impairments. The data comes from…

This study explores connections between the organisational culture and values of academic units in Australian universities and their efforts to adapt to external environmental pressures. It integrates empirical findings from case studies with theories of organisational culture and values and adaptation. It identifies seven dimensions of academic…

Remediation in postsecondary education continues to be an issue that is hotly debated by institutional leaders and state policymakers. The National Center for Education Statistics [The National Center for Education Statistics. (2003). "Remedial education at higher education institutions in fall 2000. PEQIS". Washington, D.C.: U.S. Department of…

This article reports the results of an investigation to identify the disciplinary strengths and the international standing of the higher education institutions in South Africa. Even though comparative assessments provide valuable information for research administrations, researchers and students such information is not available in South Africa…

Changed funding arrangements and views of education have resulted in a re-prioritization of activities and practices in Australian universities. While considerable research attention has been given to the consequences of these changes for university policies and the activities of academic staff, less attention has been given to how students…

In China, the central government has released a series of key policy initiatives over the last twenty years to foster decentralisation of control over higher education, giving prominence to discourses of increased autonomy for both universities and academics. This article reports findings of an empirical study of changing autonomy in Chinese…

The future of Western universities as public institutions is the subject of extensive continuing debate, underpinned by the issue of what constitutes "valid knowledge". Where in the past only propositional knowledge codified by academics was considered valid, in the new economy enabled by information and communications technology, the procedural…

The purpose of this research is to examine the impact that Student and Exchange Visitor Information System (SEVIS) is having on the professional worklives of international student and scholar advisors (ISSAs) on U.S. college and university campuses. ISSAs are clearly satisfied with their work and hold their institutions in high regard. However,…