The focus of this small-scale self-evaluation is the implementation of a new middle-management role in a post-92 UK university. A realist appreciative inquiry was undertaken with five women who had been promoted to a middle-management role 18 months prior to the inquiry. This evaluation for knowledge offered an opportunity to reflect on…

Higher education reform efforts in Ecuador during the last decade have been described as a process that has radically shaped local institutions. With the government at the forefront of mandating this reform, we examined the perspectives of stakeholders in the country who have been charged with enacting policies seeking to improve higher education.…

There is a dissonance between the formal role of head of academic department represented in institutional discourses and the reality of heads' working practices. This paper provides insight, from the perspective of heads, about how the role is experienced and enacted in one institution. Data are derived from 20 semi-structured interviews with…

Purpose: This study aims to provide an example of how higher education institutions (HEIs) can use a successful campus infrastructure project to fund a student- and faculty-led, community-success platform that advances the sustainable development goals (SDGs). Design/methodology/approach: The authors applied conceptual models for systems thinking…

E-learning has become a viable mean to both Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs), and Small Private Open Courses (SPOCs). Research has shown that the quality and effectiveness of these types of courses depend largely on the contextual factors that may impact the design and development of online courses. This study highlights a design framework for…

This paper uses the 1908 "Oxford Report," a founding document for the Workers' Educational Association, as a window onto the internal contradictions of the university adult education movement, an issue that has been neglected by historians of education. Examining the early history of the WEA shows that while the movement was inspired by…

China's expansion in higher education has also given rise to developing university towns in sub-cities to deal with increasing enrollments and contribute to broader socio-economic development. Taking Xiasha University Town in Hangzhou as a case study, this paper adopts a tripartite framework of teaching, research, and service to investigate the…

'Inclusive pedagogies' have been recommended as an approach for addressing increased student diversity in the university classroom. However, to date, no research has sought to map the field of inclusive pedagogies in higher education (HE) to establish how researchers have conceptualised and investigated this phenomenon. In this systematic scoping…

While an increased number of industries with business operations have been shaping their use of data analytics, the use of such tools and methods within the higher education research domain, specifically research administration, is still in its infancy. This mixed-methods study collected data to identify best practices in how universities and…

Creative ways of delivering informal science events in community settings are viewed as key to engaging new audiences and participants whom scientists find hard to reach, however, the impact of 'formal' setting events is often overlooked. Here, through a mixed-methods approach, we analyse a large-scale family-focused public engagement event hosted…

In this essay, we apply Garrison et al.'s (2000, 2003) framework for critical inquiry in online learning to a review of a cohort-based online EdD at a large public research-intensive university. We examine the technological, pedagogical, and organizational successes and challenges we have experienced and encounter in building and sustaining…

Background: While many settler allies are eager to help towards the goal of disrupting racism, a clearer understanding of how best to harness this eagerness is required within the field of Indigenous health, a field currently comprised mainly non-Indigenous scholars, researchers and educators. Purpose: Responding to this challenge, this article…

Public and private research funding to academic institutions is increasingly conditional on demonstrating societal impact. Research is expected to produce new knowledge that is both relevant in academia and of direct practical use in society. Universities are well placed to serve as links between global academic communities and local problem…

Purpose: The purpose of this study is to compare and contrast Internet marketing communication tools used to accomplish key marketing goals between European Union higher education institutions (HEIs) and non-EU HEIs, such as in the case of Poland and Ukraine. Design/methodology/approach: In the article, the authors used the literature review…

Public-private partnership (PPP) between Technical Universities (TUs) and industry is important for development. Although the typologies, benefits and the challenges in such partnerships have been studied in the past, the problem of lack of clarity of leadership roles along with the effects of leadership qualities necessary for sustaining PPPs…