There are many important and interesting academic competitions that attract an increasing number of students. However, traditional student team building methods usually have strong randomness or involve only some first-class students. To choose more suitable students to compose a team and improve students' abilities overall, a competition-oriented…

Universities are specific local entities, and as such are in competition with one another for resources and prestige. The general tone of the literature--which sees universities mainly as specific organizations--is quite negative, with competition leading to destructive market and political forces. The tone is surprising, given the extraordinary…

In this paper, we engage with the Research Excellence Framework (REF) -- the UK government's national policy tool for competitive allocation of scarce research funding. Success on the terms of the REF provides guaranteed income for UK Universities for a 6- or 7-year period -- and as a result, we suggest that the REF operates as an asset-like…

A critical debate has blossomed within the field of research policy, science and technology studies, and philosophy of science regarding the possible benefits and limitations of allocating extramural grants using a lottery system. The most common view among those supporting the lottery idea is that some form of modified lottery is acceptable, if…

With the advent of online gaming becoming such an inherent part of popular culture, the issue of toxicity, particularly in online competitive games, has never been more relevant. In the /all chat, however, where communication between players of opposing teams is expected to be hostile, there have been debates in community forums about whether that…

The terminology of "Chinese characteristics" (zhongguo tese) is ubiquitous in China's political language, but its precise definition remains elusive. This study focuses specifically on the mobilising of the idea of Chinese characteristics of China's science evaluation programme: the China Discipline Evaluation (CDE). Implemented as an…

Philosophical anthropologies (PAs) -- ontological assumptions about human species-nature -- have long faced Foucauldian post-structural rejection of their value and legitimacy in explaining sociological problematics. In this article I endorse Bourdieu's resistance to a post-PA momentum, arguing that PAs need assuming in sociological research. In…

This paper explores how Hannah Arendt's view of education as love (1958) can contribute to refreshed perspectives of democratic education. In recent decades, the task of contemporary early childhood education has gradually moved towards an enhanced focus on individual learning and freedom of choice, closely intertwined with an image of the child…

In this article, we explore the transformational power of holistic studio culture in dance education, drawing from our personal experiences growing up in dance studios that engaged in community events and dance competitions. Unlike traditional studios bound by a single technique, our formative environments embraced a rich tapestry of dance…

Leveraging technology to break the iron triangle of access, cost, and quality is a legacy of open universities (OUs), becoming a source of inspiration for higher education in general. Today, OUs face increasing competition from conventional universities, no longer enjoying the first-mover advantages as they did in the earlier years. Can artificial…

Grade inflation is causing student's hard work to be undervalued. As high grades get easier and easier to achieve, the highest grades can only go up so far. The difference between excellent and decent is compressed. Everybody wins is a system that guides and shapes the mindset of most American students--except a small number of kids who lose out…

For two centuries, academics and their universities have competed for prominence and vied to demonstrate that their institutions are at the center of the scholarly world. Scientific advances in particular fields, reciprocal academic visits and conferences, impressive physical architecture, and publishing in shared venues and a "lingua…

The 1988 Education Reform Act (ERA) changed the direction of statutory education in England by introducing a culture of competition between schools. A market in education was created that placed school against school in neighbouring communities with the aim of the 'fittest' ones surviving while the weaker ones failed and closed. By the end of the…

Since 2019, the national competition rate of the elementary school teacher examination has begun to decrease dramatically, falling to 3.2 applicants for every position in 2018, 2.8 in 2019, and 2.3 in 2023. In 19 out of 47 prefectures, the competition rate was less than two. In 2023, about half of all prefectures could not fill the desired number…

This is the technical appendix for the report "From Insights to Impact: Fostering Innovation through Texas" which examines the current national landscape of higher education research and development to help gauge Texas' current position and identify opportunities to drive further innovations into the future. This appendix includes the…