Transnational academic mobility is of growing importance in higher education. Yet, the acculturation for individual academics is challenging. Taking a phenomenological approach, we interviewed twenty foreign-born academics, who had been living and working in the UK for at least one year, and analysed their emotional experiences of acculturation by…

By placing a strong emphasis on one's national, cultural, and ethnic identity, neonationalism, as a contemporary political and cultural movement, prioritizes 'sameness' over diversity. This phenomenological case study focused on Turkish universities which have been under increasingly oppressive neo-nationalist policies within the past 10 years. It…

This paper investigates the phenomenological experiences of academic acculturation of selected non-British post-doctoral academics with a retrospective focus on their experiences as PhD students. The participants came from different disciplines and countries of origin to pursue several years of postgraduate research in different British higher…

This research examines the intellectual leadership behaviours of senior academics at professoriate level, and the influences of institutional support practices, climate and communication in universities as main organizational features on these behaviours. To explore relations among research variables, qualitative data were collected by interviews…

Professional development for academics has seen a trend towards social engagement through communities and groups, as reflected by a number of increasingly popular concepts: communities of practice, faculty learning communities, and learning and teaching networks. Despite the potential benefits of such engagement, there is a paucity of research on…

Central to this study is an exploration of the degree to which higher education is perceived as an individual and/or a collective value. Seminal literature supports the notion that colleges and universities are Western institutions. Throughout the Asia Pacific, higher education is expanding in a hybrid form in collectivist societies. This…

The current study developed when new faculty members spontaneously reported discrete emotions during focus groups exploring the factors affecting their success. Qualitative analysis using the framework of Pekrun's control-value theory of emotions revealed 18 different emotions with varying frequencies. A follow-up survey of 79 new faculty members…

There is growing concern regarding the lack of women in senior positions in science and technology (ST) in United Kingdom (UK) universities. Previous research has enhanced our understanding of the challenges women in academia face to progress their careers. In contrast, relatively little is known as to why so few women reach leadership positions…

Learning through peer observation in higher education is most frequently investigated from the perspective of the teacher who is observed. What is under-examined is "how" learning arises for the observer by watching a peer in practice. This paper provides insight into this question through an interpretive-phenomenological analysis of a…

The research underpinning this article explores the impacts that parenting and primary caring responsibilities have upon academic careers. It takes an innovative approach by exploring three under-researched aspects of this issue: the longitudinal impacts that extend past the years immediately following the birth or adoption of a child; the…

Based on a phenomenological exploration of Chinese students at a UK university business school, this article supports a growing body of research questioning the assumptions underpinning the putative Socratic/Confucian dichotomy of academic cultures. Beginning with a review of research literature on the experiences of Chinese students on Active…

The aim of this research was to investigate how undergraduate students conceptualise feedback, and compare this with research into conceptions of teaching and learning related phenomena in higher education. Using a phenomenographic approach, 28 physiotherapy students in New Zealand were interviewed about their experiences. Data analysis resulted…

The National Committee of Inquiry into Higher Education (1996) chaired by Lord Dearing envisioned a university sector central to the UK's knowledge-based economy. With successive government support the university-business partnership ideology has been put into practice. Widening participation has increased in emphasis over recent years, providing…

Little longitudinal research has examined change in university teachers' elearning beliefs and practices after their initial experience with elearning. This study addresses this gap by focusing on six teachers who developed and implemented an elearning resource, and the changes they made to the resource and its implementation over two years. A…

The purpose of this mixed methods study was to investigate and test the factors contributing to new faculty members' success. In the first phase, qualitative analysis of focus groups revealed four prominent themes affecting new faculty members: expectations, collegiality, balance, and location. In the second phase, new faculty members completed an…