Understanding outreach: the potential of qualitative longitudinal research to enrich the evidence base

2020 ◽  
Vol 22 (3) ◽  
pp. 187-196
Author(s):  
Neil Raven
Keyword(s):  
Higher Education ◽  
Focus Groups ◽  
Longitudinal Research ◽  
Evidence Base ◽  
Education Sector ◽  
Regulatory Body ◽  
Time Limits ◽  
University Access ◽  
Longitudinal Approach ◽  
Views And Perceptions

Recent calls from the Office for Students, the regulatory body for the English higher education sector, have challenged those engaged in widening university access to ‘strengthen’ the outreach evidence base. Whilst focus groups have proved capable of revealing much about the learner experience and the effectiveness of outreach interventions, the established way in which they have been applied – in capturing views and perceptions at one particular point in time – limits what can be discovered. Adopting a longitudinal approach in the application of this research instrument – by returning to the same group of participants at regular intervals over a number of months – affords a chance to monitor changes in ideas and intentions, and distinguish the important from the fleeting. As the findings from three recent studies that have deployed this approach show, it can also generate richer, more detailed insights than would otherwise be possible.

Embedding employability within higher education for the profession of policing

2019 ◽  
Vol 9 (3) ◽  
pp. 319-328
Author(s):  
Ian Pepper ◽  
Ruth McGrath
Keyword(s):  
Higher Education ◽  
Design Methodology ◽  
Research Study ◽  
Longitudinal Research ◽  
Evidence Base ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Educational Provision ◽  
Professional Body ◽  
The Impact ◽  
Practical Implications

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to evaluate the impact of an employability module, the College of Policing Certificate in Knowledge of Policing (CKP), on students’ career aspirations, their confidence and wish to join the police along with the appropriateness of the module. This will inform the implementation of employability as part of the College of Policing-managed Police Education Qualifications Framework (PEQF). Design/methodology/approach A three-year longitudinal research study used mixed methods across four points in time to evaluate the impact on students studying the employability module. Findings The research suggests that the employability-focussed CKP was useful as an introduction to policing, it developed interest in the police and enhanced the confidence of learners applying to join. Lessons learnt from the CKP should be considered during the implementation of the PEQF. Research limitations/implications The ability to generalise findings across different groups is limited as other influences may impact on a learner’s confidence and employability. However, the implications for the PEQF curriculum are worthy of consideration. Practical implications As the police service moves towards standardised higher educational provision and evolution of policing as a profession, lessons can be learnt from the CKP with regards to the future employability of graduates. Originality/value Enhancing the employability evidence base, focussing on policing, the research identified aspects which may impact on graduates completing a degree mapped to the PEQF. The research is therefore of value to higher education and the professional body for policing.

scholarly journals Has the Expansion of Higher Education Led to Greater Economic Growth?

2013 ◽  
Vol 224 ◽  
pp. R29-R47 ◽  
Author(s):  
Craig Holmes
Keyword(s):  
Higher Education ◽  
Economic Growth ◽  
International Education ◽  
Strong Predictor ◽  
Compulsory Education ◽  
Technical Skills ◽  
Evidence Base ◽  
Education Sector ◽  
Growth Equation ◽  
Tertiary Sector

There is an enduring belief by UK policymakers that a large higher education sector is an important driver of long-run economic growth, which has been part of the narrative since the Robbins Report. Back then, there was plenty of conjecture and assumption, but strikingly little concrete evidence to support such a belief. This paper asks whether the evidence base has strengthened in the 50 years since it was published. It looks at a number of different growth equation specifications and, using international education data, attempts to draw out the contribution of both the number of, and the growth in, graduates since the 1960s. There are three main findings. Firstly, many growth relationships, including those estimated elsewhere in the literature, are quite sensitive to the countries included – which often depends on the variables used – and time period of analysis. I argue that, given these issues, growth equations should always be treated with caution. Secondly, and remembering this caveat, neither the increase nor the initial level of higher education is found to have a statistically significant relationship with growth rates both in the OECD and worldwide. This result is robust to numerous different specifications. Thirdly, there is some evidence, consistent with the existing literature, that levels of technical skills at the end of compulsory education matter. The employment of higher level technical skills (proxied by the number of employed researchers in an economy) is also a strong predictor of growth. This gives a possible mechanism linking the output of (some) of the higher education sector with economic growth. However, it does not imply that mass higher education necessarily leads to higher growth. This depends on the skills produced by an expanding tertiary sector and their utilisation (or underutilisation) in the jobs available to increasing numbers of graduates.

scholarly journals Employability: aligning the message, the medium and academic values

2010 ◽  
Vol 1 (1) ◽  
pp. 2-12 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mantz Yorke
Keyword(s):  
Higher Education ◽  
Economic Activity ◽  
Evidence Base ◽  
Convincing Evidence ◽  
Education Sector ◽  
Educational Systems ◽  
Academic Values ◽  
Graduate Attributes ◽  
Long Time ◽  
The Uk

For a long time, links have been made between higher education and economic activity. The relatively recent emphases on employability (in the UK) and graduate attributes (largely in Australia) can be construed as contemporary variations. This article describes some of the developmental work that has taken place in the UK but which has obvious relevance to other higher educational systems. Reticence to embrace employability in curricula may in part be due to the failure to present a convincing evidence-base: two initiatives in England have attempted with some success to rectify the weakness. The article concludes by outlining some of the challenges that face both institutions and the higher education sector if employability is to be taken seriously.

Problems of Science and Its Effectiveness

2011 ◽  
pp. 151-157 ◽  
Author(s):  
A. Varshavsky
Keyword(s):  
Higher Education ◽  
Public Management ◽  
External Factors ◽  
Education Sector ◽  
Russian Science ◽  
Russian Academy Of Sciences ◽  
Scientific Results ◽  
Academy Of Sciences ◽  
Academic Sector

The article considers current problems of Russia´s science. Special attention is paid to external factors that negatively influence its effectiveness including considerable lag in public management sector. The issues of opposing higher education sector to the Russian Academy of Sciences (RAS) are also discussed. A number of indicators of the Russian science and its academic sector effectiveness are presented. The expediency of comparing scientific results with R&D expenditures is shown. The problems connected with using bibliometric methods are discussed. Special attention is paid to the necessity of preserving and further developing Russian science including RAS.

VECTORS OF HIGHER EDUCATION SECTOR TRANSFORMATION IN CONDITIONS OF THE INFORMATION ECONOMY FORMATION

2017 ◽  
Vol 1 (4(12)) ◽  
pp. 44-49 ◽  
Author(s):  
Nataliia Valeriivna Tkalenko ◽  
◽  
Natalia Ivanivna Kholіavko ◽  
Kateryna Volodymyrivna Hnedina ◽  
◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Higher Education ◽  
Education Sector ◽  
Information Economy

E-LEARNING IN HIGHER EDUCATION: FOCUS GROUPS AND SURVEY AMONG STUDENTS IN CENTRAL EUROPE

2016 ◽  
Vol 13 (2) ◽  
pp. 11
Author(s):  
TUŠEVLJAK MARKO ◽  
MAJCEN LUCIJA ◽  
MERVAR LARA ◽  
STEPANKINA TAISIYA ◽  
CATER BARBARA ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Higher Education ◽  
Focus Groups ◽  
Central Europe ◽  
E Learning

scholarly journals Perspectives of organizational identity in a health higher education institution: a mixed-method analysis

2021 ◽  
Vol 21 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Ubirajara José Picanço de Miranda Junior ◽  
Maria Rita Carvalho Garbi Novaes ◽  
Henrique Batista Araújo Santos ◽  
João Fellipe Santos Tatsch ◽  
Rafael Sanches Ferreira ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Higher Education ◽  
Focus Groups ◽  
Organizational Identity ◽  
Mixed Method ◽  
Teaching And Learning ◽  
Education Institution ◽  
Early Years ◽  
Common Interest ◽  
Public Higher Education ◽  
Higher Education Institution

Abstract Background Among the processes to be experienced by any organization during its establishment is the formation of an organizational identity. This process can be understood as the activity and event through which an organization becomes unique in the mind of its members. An organizational identity leads to an identification and both are directly associated with the success of an institution. This study is about a public higher education institution in health in its early years, with distinctive characteristics in the country where it is situated. In spite of having been successful in the graduation of its students it has fragile institutional bases, lack of autonomy and internal problems common to other institutions of this type. Thus, this study was conducted to understand how this institution defined itself among its own members, the elements of its identity and what justified its relative success despite its weaknesses. Methods A mixed-method approach was used to evaluate how a representative portion of this organization identifies with it. For the qualitative study two focus groups were conducted with transcripts submitted to content analysis proposed by Bardin, culminating in results from which a Likert scale-based questionnaire was elaborated and applied to 297 subjects. Results There were six central elements of the organizational identity made evident by the focus groups: political / ideological conflict; active teaching and learning methodologies; location / separation of campuses; time of existence; teaching career; political-administrative transformations. The quantitative analysis revealed in more detail the general impressions raised in the focus groups. Most results were able to demonstrate distinct identifications of the same identity with its exposed weaknesses. Conclusions Lack of autonomy, administrative and structural shortcomings and ideological or political conflicts presented themselves as problems capable of destabilizing the identity of a public higher education institution. On the other hand, one way to combat such problems is through the development of the institution itself, particularly by becoming more active and useful to the community and seeking in a common interest to the higher administration agencies.

From the Guest Editors: Canadian Perspectives on and Applications of Applied Sociology

2021 ◽  
pp. 193672442110021
Author(s):  
Emily Milne ◽  
Sara J. Cumming
Keyword(s):  
Higher Education ◽  
Teaching Practice ◽  
Education Sector ◽  
Public Confidence ◽  
Applied Sociology ◽  
Application Research ◽  
Special Issue ◽  
The Future ◽  
Sociological Approaches

Public confidence and trust in higher education has declined (Johnson and Peifer 2017) and the future of the higher education sector has been questioned (AGB 2020). More specifically, the discipline of sociology is considered to be in “crisis” and applied sociological approaches are offered as a solution (Graizbord 2019; Weinstein 1997). The purpose of this introduction article as well as the broader special issue is to explore the nature and state of applied sociology in Canada. With a collection of seven articles authored by Canadian sociologists on topics including application research, reflections on process, and teaching practice, this special issue provides a platform to discuss and showcase the distinct nature and contributions of applied sociology in Canada as well as highlight the work of Canadian applied sociologists.

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