Whilst arguing from a social realist perspective that knowledge matters in academic development (AD) curricula, this paper addresses the question of what knowledge types and practices are necessary for enabling epistemological access. It presents a single, in-depth, qualitative case study in which the curriculum of a science AD course is…

This article explores the changing dynamics between gender, cultural capital and the state in the context of higher education expansion in contemporary China. With a particular focus on the one-child generation and women's opportunities and aspirations, I draw upon empirical evidence from a first-hand survey study and in-depth semi-structured…

This qualitative study reports findings from a comparative analysis of the methodological socialization of doctoral students in the social sciences at two universities: one in China and one in the USA. Relying primarily on theories of organizational socialization, the study focuses on formal and informal processes students report as part of…

While study success and completion rates are important issues in educational policy, research highlights the particular relevance of the first year in higher education (HE) for students' future academic performance and achievement. In Germany, the recent reform of degree programmes appears to have created new challenges related to students'…

Inspired by Bourdieu's ("Homo Academicus, Polity," Cambridge, 1988; "The Logic of Practice, Polity," Cambridge, 1990) ideas of knowledge reproduction, the article presents an empirical mapping of knowledge geographies, as manifest in the curricular practices found within a single international MA programme in Denmark. Following…

As a result of various reforms carried out in the last decade, the academic sphere has undergone perceptible change, with redevelopment and reshaping at different institutional levels. These reforms have had an effect on gender relations, especially within the past several years, with an increasing proportion of female academics now in leading…

Walking has long been associated with thinking. Anecdotal evidence from philosophers, writers, researchers, artists, business leaders and so forth testify to the powers of walking-for-thinking. This study explores walking-for-thinking among nine academics in Norway, four university professors, two research and development professionals, two…

Branding in higher education has become increasingly used as a mechanism of differentiation among competitors to attract prospective students. Although branding in higher education is a common phenomenon, little work has been done assessing the college selection process using a brand choice framework. This paper aims to fill the gap by…

Drawing upon Bourdieu's theories of social and cultural capital, a number of studies of the higher education environment have indicated that students who are first-in-family to come to university may lack the necessary capitals to enact success. To address this issue, university transition strategies often have the primary objective of…

There has been a shift in modern tertiary education theory that has moved away from a traditional, didactic model of education, towards a more student-led, constructivist approach. Nowhere is this more the case than in science and mathematical education, where the concept of research-led education is gaining more and more traction. The focus of…

In recent years, there have been numerous attempts to improve the quality of higher education in Africa, but there is limited knowledge about the impact of these initiatives on student learning. The results of a study published in 2015 offered some initial data in this regard by identifying a lack of improvement in the critical thinking ability of…

Team teaching is becoming more common in undergraduate programmes of study although the relative merits to the more traditional individually taught courses have not been determined for best practice. For this study, 15 final-year undergraduate computer science students were interviewed to gain insight into their learning experiences. A thematic…

This study examines the mutuality issue in international partnership programs between Cambodian universities and universities in France, the USA, Japan and South Korea. It adopts Galtung's and Held's four aspects of mutuality as its conceptual framework and follows a qualitative case study research design. The study finds that most partnership…

Over the past decades, more and more institutions of higher learning have developed programs destined to educate students for global citizenship. Such efforts pose considerable challenges: conceptually, pedagogically and from the perspective of impact assessment. Conceptually, it is of utmost importance to pay attention to both structural…

The purpose of this paper was to examine the motives, the educational experiences, and the plan after graduation of a particular group of mainland Chinese students pursuing teacher education in Hong Kong by using a modified two-way push-and-pull model as our analytical framework. The study employed both quantitative and qualitative methods.…