Description
Book SynopsisUniversities as Political Institutions explores the contested political spaces where universities reside in the crossroads of social, cultural, and economic pressures. Papers and keynotes from the 2017 Consortium of Higher Education Researchers (CHER) present various theoretical frameworks and methods to study universities as political institutions.
Trade Review"The book questions the role of higher education institutions in a clear way, it emphasises the impact that institutions can have [on policy], but it also shows how some contexts can be restrictive for higher education institutions in what they can or want to do. It is a book that wonders implicitly about the neutrality of institutions and the contextuality of their ambitions, visions and aims. But above all, for me, the following conclusion is significant: Higher education is an important and powerful institution within society. It can initiate change, it can be the starting place for new discourse and it can carry critical movements. At the same time, it can prolong the status quo and smother opposition." - Bruno Broucker, Leuven Economics of Education Research "This volume reprints 13 papers presented at the 2017 Consortium for Higher Educational Research conference, presented here in three parts. In part 1, "Geo-Political Influences," covering the 1970s to the present, the first of four papers treats the global impact of macroeconomic and political developments on universities. The second chapter discusses the rising impact of populist nationalism on international student movement. Chapter 3 examines changes to higher education cooperation between China and Britain, and chapter 4 analyzes the ways in which Brexit reshaped British higher education. Part 2 begins with a keynote piece about advancing the conversation on the politics of higher education, followed by a chapter on the struggle to enact university reforms. Next, a case study examines efforts to protect reforms in a South African university; another does likewise for three Italian universities. Chapter 9 then considers non-university higher education in Japan. Finally, chapters in part 3 discuss inclusion and fairness in higher education, academic positions and gender in Switzerland and Finland, graduate employability, and the complexities facing West Bank universities. Complemented by illustrations and endnotes, though lacking an index, this collection is recommended for specialists only." - D. Steeples in CHOICE 58:6 (2021).
Table of ContentsForeword Jussi Välimaa Acknowledgements List of Figures and Tables Notes on Contributors Introduction Leasa Weimer and Terhi Nokkala PART 1: Geo-Political Influences 1 Powershift: Universities and the Seismic Winds of Change Susan L. Robertson 2 The Rise of Nationalism: The Influence of Populist Discourses on International Student Mobility and Migration in the UK and US Leasa Weimer and Aliandra Barlete 3 Pursuing Ideal Partnerships: The Discourse of Instrumentalism in the Policies and Practices of Sino-Foreign Higher Education Cooperation Heather Cockayne, Jie Gao and Miguel Antonio Lim 4 The Challenges of Brexit: UK Higher Education Governing Councils Responding to Sudden Change Heather Eggins PART 2: Political Analysis, Action and Power 5 Keynote Conversation: Advancing the Conversation on the Politics of Higher Education Brian Pusser and Imanol Ordorika 6 Universitas Reformata Semper Reformanda: A Political Parallelogram of Continual University Reform Susanne Lohmann 7 Student Protests and Higher Education Transformation: A South African Case Study Magda Fourie-Malherbe and Anneke Müller 8 University Third Mission as an Organisational and Political Field: Evidence from Three Case Studies in Italy Giacomo Balduzzi and Massimiliano Vaira 9 Teaching Staff in Non-University Higher Education in Japan: Career Experience, Competencies and Identities Yuki Inenaga and Keiichi Yoshimoto PART 3: Societal Values, National Regimes and Higher Education 10 Inclusion and Fairness in Access to Higher Education: Theoretical Distinctions, Measurement and Patterns of Interaction Pepka Boyadjieva and Petya Ilieva-Trichkova 11 Academic Career, Mobility and the National Gender Regimes in Switzerland and Finland Terhi Nokkala, Pierre Bataille, Taru Siekkinen and Gaële Goastellec 12 The Applicability of Two Graduate Employability Frameworks: How Possession, Position, Integration and Engagement Shape Graduate Employability Martina Gaisch, Victoria Rammer, Silke Preymann, Stefanie Sterrer and Regina Aichinger 13 Universities in the Complex Setting of the West Bank: Entrepreneurial or Engaged? Huub L. M. Mudde
