Responses from 315 University of Nairobi faculty (31.5%) indicated overwhelming support for merit over equity in admissions decisions. Women, ethnic minorities, younger faculty, and social sciences faculty tended to support equity. Humanities faculty showed lower support for merit than those in natural sciences. (Contains 37 references.) (SK)

Case studies of two British outreach initiatives to encourage higher education participation (a school-university partnership and an employer-college partnership) identified issues related to widening access: (1) importance of partnerships and integrated approaches; (2) conflicting definitions of access; and (3) potential for emphasizing…

Surveys of 408 British students at the beginning and 425 at the end of university studies explored tensions between "graduateness" (effect of college degrees on knowledge, skills, and attitudes) and employability. Evidence suggests economic motivations are more important than pursuit of knowledge and employability is an increasing expectation of…

Six women aged 20-30 taking an access to allied health professions course were interviewed. Self-efficacy, self-observation, and key life events were significant enrollment influences. Informal guidance during and after compulsory education was also a factor. Few made systematic educational and vocational plans. Most were unaware of available…

Business marketing principles do not meet the needs of higher education. An alternative, humanistic marketing philosophy, includes a reconceptualization of the marketing mix as temporality (learning as a temporal activity), existential trust, and learner self-confidence. (Contains 60 references.) (SK)

Analysis of 11 further education staff development officers' conceptions of learners, learning, and teaching practice suggests a gap between a professed focus on learners and an actual emphasis on performance management and continuous improvement. Emphasis on individualizing learners and learning marginalizes the social context of teaching and…

A survey of 98 British adolescents intending to continue postcompulsory education and 30 not continuing revealed similar levels of television, newspaper, and radio use. Internet users included 87% of group one, 42% of group two; the latter are less likely to have access. Among Internet users, only 40.8% use it for information on…

Cultural change in British further education colleges has been influenced by political pressures to reduce costs and widen participation. Resulting polarization of values between administrators and faculty is more complex than it appears, involving competing agendas of management, faculty, support staff, and students. (Contains 41 references.) (SK)

Comparison of management in further education colleges in Britain, Regionale Opleidingen Centra in the Netherlands, and lycees professionnels in France found they operate in different administrative and cultural contexts but are affected by similar pressures and issues, particularly in three areas: managers' role in education, management of…

From interviews with 85 administrators in 25 British further education colleges, 3 mental models with which managers formulate strategy to adapt to and manage change were identified: optimizing stability, optimizing markets, and optimizing resources. (Contains 49 references.) (SK)

Interviews with staff, focus groups with middle managers, and a survey of management teams in British further education colleges identified aspects of middle managers' role. The role is largely intuitive and has transactional, transformational, supervisory, and representative aspects. Facilitators include clarity of college systems, support of…

The British government's widening participation agenda is influencing policy and culture in further education colleges. Evidence from five colleges suggests that the principle is established as a strategic imperative, although the impetus is more financial than moral/humanistic. Responsiveness tends to be project based: where resources are most…

A review of research on effectiveness and improvement in schools and colleges found the improvement literature comparable in methods and findings; effectiveness research differs. Each sector could usefully adapt approaches from the other. College research needs more synthesis and wider dissemination. (Contains 90 references.) (SK)

Government inspection of initial teacher training (ITT) courses in England is frequent, relentless and high-stakes. How confident should providers be about the consistency of judgements made through inspection? This paper researches outcomes of the 1999?2002 round of inspections of secondary Postgraduate Certificate in Education (PGCE) courses. It…

Several writers have appealed to the literature on communities of practice as a way of thinking about the nature of educational research. In this paper, I look at the benefits and dangers of doing this. There seem to be two main sorts of lesson that have been drawn from this literature, one about research as an activity in its own right, the other…