Abundant research has shown the influence of social background on university dropout. However, there is little research that considers the different progression options for analysing the structure of the decisions that students make. This article explores the possible alternative decisions of: (1) continuing the initial degree course chosen; (2)…

School autonomy with accountability (SAWA) reforms have developed in diverse forms in Northern Europe. Following processes of decentralization to the municipal and school levels, quality assurance and inspection became key to the test-based accountability agendas of Denmark and England respectively. With an abductive approach, we explore the…

This article examines organizational change in national ministries responsible for higher education in light of public sector reforms. The article suggests an analytical framework based on authority/autonomy and capacity developments, paying special attention to the creation of agencies. Empirically, this is exemplified by two cases: the Austrian…

This contribution examines recent transformation in the institutionalization of a new mode of governance in the field of Higher Education. We identify three characteristics of the institutional design of public Quality Assurance Agencies (QAAs) that operate at the national level in the field of higher education. In order to do so, we examine three…

The blows of the financial recession of 2007-09 and now the COVID-19 crisis have emboldened populist political leaders across the globe. Their platforms typically involve a mixture of nativist or nationalist tropes, often infused with hostility to refugees and immigrants and built upon foundations of racism and intolerance. The internet provides…

Despite research indicating significant challenges of market-based schooling, charter schools remain a growing trend in the United States. In this article, we examine an emerging market model: a K-12 system of charter schools under one charter board meant to serve as a city's school district. To assess the fit of the market model, we employed a…

The form of internal university governance is often based on the phenomena of institutional isomorphism within examinations of legitimacy. Under the background of the "CPC leadership + unbalanced governance" state governance model, Chinese universities need to break away from the preconceived notions of balanced governance in their…

The purpose of this article is to describe the effects of university governance on campus management based on the examples of the Netherlands and Poland. The study connected theory on campus management with a concept of five dimensions of university governance (autonomy, management, participation, accountability and transparency) into an…

Currently, in many developing countries, there have been intensified efforts by policymakers to push for decentralisation of education as part of a neo-liberal reform agenda to improve school management efficiency and cater to localised needs. In the Malaysian context, the government has attempted further decentralisation of autonomy in selected…

Open and distance education (ODE) has played a key role in contributing to the growth of Chinese higher education (HE) ever since the mid-1950s. This study sets out to examine the key events of ODE in China, focusing on two main strands of ODE development -- the Chinese radio and television/open university system and campus-based universities.…

This descriptive survey study aimed to investigate the professional experiences of music educators teaching at charter schools in the United States. In the spring of 2020, a total of 113 charter school music teachers across six states responded to an online questionnaire soliciting information regarding their licensure status, background and…

Employing an institutional logics framework and critical discourse analysis, this study examines the discourse of participants in a stakeholder-feedback meeting about a proposal by the Denver Public School board to extend collective bargaining rights to teachers in the district's innovation schools. The findings provide insight into the logics…

This article examines the impact of academisation on English Sixth Form Colleges through the lens of the Principals and Governors who lead such organisations -- those who have decided to opt for academisation, and those who have not. A comprehensive survey of the Principals or Chairs of 35 Sixth Form Colleges, representing all regions of England,…

The paper employs a glonacal agency heuristic to explore how certain research-intensive Chinese universities exercise agency in response to global and national impacts in creating the world-class university. Two global forces (international scholarly discussions on the world-class university and global university rankings) and one national force…

This study probes the execution of internal quality assurance "vis-à-vis" learning outcome assessments in Japanese and Taiwanese universities. To this end, it applies Elken and Stensaker's theoretical framework of 'quality work' to ascertain the following: (1) how universities build internal quality assurance; (2) what learning outcome…