Critical studies in higher education often embrace the ideas of the slowness movement to address time pressure. However, this desirable horizon presents some limitations. On the one hand, by emphasizing solutions at the individual level, boosting slowness may promote tactics incapable of producing changes to the underlying structural dynamics of…

The report "Evolution of Devolution" examines how higher education policy has diverged across the four nations of the United Kingdom--England, Scotland, Wales, and Northern Ireland--since the devolution of powers in 1999. Edited by Rose Stephenson, Director of Policy and Advocacy at the Higher Education Policy Institute, the report…

The unwillingness of the Somali community to finance higher education has largely gone unnoticed within the academic literature and government policy documents. This study explores the role of religion and the influence of Shari'ah scholars on the use of interest-bearing student loans within the Somali community. In the absence of any theoretical…

Based on the classic models developed by Spady and Tinto on the link between social and academic integration and dropout, we propose a refined model to explain dropout intentions--relating to dropout from higher education (HE) and dropout from a specific study programme--that more strongly emphasises individual background characteristics (e.g.…

People have been raising the alarm about a language education crisis in the UK, particularly in England, for twenty years. Yet the crisis continues: the number of young people studying languages at school is low, especially in socioeconomically less-privileged areas. University programmes -- particularly in universities with below average entry…

This article aims to unravel the intellectual lineage of student engagement in higher education (SEHE) from 1999 to 2024 through a comprehensive bibliometric analysis. Recognizing SEHE's multifaceted impact on learning and development, the study addresses the literature's lack of cohesion. The examination of 1,317 articles published in Scopus and…

Over the past 40 years, global tertiary expansion has been driven in part by the rise of the non-university sector. The growth of this sector, which includes vocational colleges, also contributes to increasingly diverse national higher education systems. Prior research has focused on inter-state variation in national systems, while very few…

Neoliberal ideology globally prioritises competition and productivity over staff well-being in higher education, leading to exploitative practices and heightened stress among academic faculty, culminating in what can be termed modern academic slavery. This study investigates the contemporary impact of neoliberalism on South African universities,…

A qualitative empirical study of how higher education actors in Azerbaijan conceptualise excellence in teaching and how they promote it at different levels. The findings provide an original insight into how the concept of excellence is understood in the higher education of Azerbaijan. Intriguingly, there is no definition of teaching excellence nor…

Government spending on higher education is a perennial research theme, but empirical evidence from China is relatively rare. Based on panel data of local higher education institutions in 31 Chinese provinces from 2003 to 2016, this paper investigates the determinants of general appropriations and quantifies their relative contributions in…

Asylum seekers are generally excluded from welfare provisions, social support, and higher education (HE) in their host countries. The depth and impact of these exclusions is barely known, as this population remains invisible and underserved. This article aims to deepen understanding of the challenges asylum seekers face in accessing HE in Western…

Student body diversity is a key goal of Israeli higher education policy. While this goal aims to reduce inequality, a group-based national plan with differential guidelines for Arabs, ultra-Orthodox Jews, and Jews of Ethiopian descent uncovers systemic stratifying mechanisms. This article examines why a policy intent on promoting equality does so…

This paper, using the case of South Korea, empirically examines how university students in EFL countries understand the neoliberal emphasis of English and EMI, and interpret and respond to different language ideologies. The findings demonstrate that many South Korean English language learners are caught up in a nexus of conflicting language…

Sociologists of education have a longstanding interest in studying the relationship between schooling and inequality in society. While we know education matters for who gets ahead, we still know relatively less about the processes and mechanisms behind this relationship. In my dissertation, I focus on higher education as a key site where…

Ensuring equal conditions of access and success for all higher education students is a challenging task for educational systems and institutions. Understanding the students' perspectives and needs regarding educational policies and institutional practices in higher education can be an important contribution to improving the quality of education.…