The Trouble with Higher Education

The Trouble with Higher Education
Author: Trevor Hussey
Publisher: Routledge
Total Pages: 258
Release: 2012-04-04
Genre: Education
ISBN: 1135237522

The Trouble with Higher Education is a powerful and topical critique of the Higher Education system in the UK, with relevance to countries with similar systems. Based on the authors’ experiences that span over 30+ years of fieldwork, the issues discussed focus on the problems facing the principle responsibilities of universities: teaching, learning and research. The first half of the book identifies a number of problems that have followed the growth of mass education. It examines their causes and explains their damaging effects. The second half of the book offers a broad vision and makes a number of practical suggestions for ameliorating the problems and improving higher education. Supported by research, the suggestions include: ways of managing universities; proper inspection; better ways of organising students’ learning; improving teaching and learning; better approaches to assessment, and the proper use of ideas such as learning outcomes. Topics discussed include: Chronic under-funding, the replacement of student grants with loans and the introduction of tuition fees. The growth of managerialism. The emphasis on accountability and decline of trust. The growth of a competitive, market ethos. Modular degrees, knowledge treated as a commodity and students seen as customers. The drift towards a two-tiered system, with teaching colleges and research universities. Casualisation of the academic profession. The Trouble with Higher Education is aimed primarily at a professional audience of academics, educationalists, managers, administrators and policy makers, but would interest anyone concerned about higher education. It is suited to professional development courses, and Master’s and doctoral level studies.

American Higher Education

American Higher Education
Author: John R. Thelin
Publisher: Taylor & Francis
Total Pages: 535
Release: 2022-12-13
Genre: Education
ISBN: 1000787621

The latest book in the Core Concepts in Higher Education series brings to life issues of governance, organization, teaching and learning, student life, faculty, finances, college sports, public policy, fundraising and innovations in higher education today. Written by renowned author John R. Thelin, each chapter bridges research, theory and practice and discusses a range of institutions – including the often overlooked for-profits, community colleges and minority serving institutions. In the book’s second edition, Thelin analyzes growing trends in American higher education over the last five years, shedding light on the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic. He covers reconsideration of the rights of student-athletes, provides fresh analysis of the brick-and-mortar campus, and includes a new chapter exploring school admissions, recruitment and retention. Rich end-of-chapter "Additional Readings" and "Questions for Discussion" help engage students in critical thinking. A blend of stories and analysis, this book challenges present and future higher education practitioners to be informed and active participants, capable of improving their institutions.

College Disrupted

College Disrupted
Author: Ryan Craig
Publisher: Macmillan
Total Pages: 254
Release: 2015-03-10
Genre: Education
ISBN: 1137279699

There is a revolution happening in higher education—and this is how it's unfolding

The Real World of College

The Real World of College
Author: Wendy Fischman
Publisher: MIT Press
Total Pages: 406
Release: 2022-03-22
Genre: Education
ISBN: 0262046539

Why higher education in the United States has lost its way, and how universities and colleges can focus sharply on their core mission. For The Real World of College, Wendy Fischman and Howard Gardner analyzed in-depth interviews with more than 2,000 students, alumni, faculty, administrators, parents, trustees, and others, which were conducted at ten institutions ranging from highly selective liberal arts colleges to less-selective state schools. What they found challenged characterizations in the media: students are not preoccupied by political correctness, free speech, or even the cost of college. They are most concerned about their GPA and their resumes; they see jobs and earning potential as more important than learning. Many say they face mental health challenges, fear that they don’t belong, and feel a deep sense of alienation. Given this daily reality for students, has higher education lost its way? Fischman and Gardner contend that US universities and colleges must focus sharply on their core educational mission. Fischman and Gardner, both recognized authorities on education and learning, argue that higher education in the United States has lost sight of its principal reason for existing: not vocational training, not the provision of campus amenities, but to increase what Fischman and Gardner call “higher education capital”—to help students think well and broadly, express themselves clearly, explore new areas, and be open to possible transformations. Fischman and Gardner offer cogent recommendations for how every college can become a community of learners who are open to change as thinkers, citizens, and human beings.

Contemporary Issues in Higher Education

Contemporary Issues in Higher Education
Author: Marybeth Gasman
Publisher: Routledge
Total Pages: 340
Release: 2018-12-12
Genre: Education
ISBN: 0429796099

The latest text in the Core Concepts in Higher Education series, this volume speaks to the complex dimensions that higher education scholars and educators need to understand about the shifting role of postsecondary education in the United States. Chapter authors clarify current issues affecting the field, and offer fresh perspectives articulating how policy, demographic, and institutional changes influence the everyday practices of those who work in higher education. This book explores macro perspectives affecting institutional decision-making and processes as well as students’ perspectives on campus—from colleges’ credentialing procedures to the current demographic changes in students’ enrollments, to students’ social identities. Guiding questions at the end of each chapter offer readers an opportunity to frame discussions in which they can engage and invite readers to consider avenues for future research and exploration. This is a valuable resource for graduate students, administrators, and researchers who seek to understand and improve the policies and contexts of higher education today.

Understanding Contemporary Issues in Higher Education

Understanding Contemporary Issues in Higher Education
Author: Brendan Bartram
Publisher: Routledge
Total Pages: 162
Release: 2020-10-29
Genre: Education
ISBN: 1000212777

This insightful book offers a wide-ranging collection of lively discussions on contemporary issues, policies and practices in higher education. Bartram integrates contributions from experienced academics, teachers and students in a unique approach and structure, designed to enable students with both specific and wide-ranging interests in higher education to extend their understanding. Including discussion points, research tasks and suggestions on further reading in each chapter, Understanding Contemporary Issues in Higher Education discusses a range of topics, such as: universities and the mental health ‘crisis’; knowledge, the state and the market; the role of technology in teaching and academic celebrification; disability, diversity and inclusive placement learning. Written specifically for Education Studies students, this book constitutes a timely addition to student-focused themed studies looking at aspects of higher education.

Ethical Problems in Higher Education

Ethical Problems in Higher Education
Author: George M. Robinson
Publisher: iUniverse
Total Pages: 125
Release: 2005
Genre: Education
ISBN: 0595365922

The Ivory Tower Myth suggests that the world of higher education has no moral problems. Unlike ethical conflicts in business, politics and medicine, ethical problems in higher education receive little publicity. But devotion to the pursuit of knowledge does not ensure ethical behavior. Power, competition, pressure and lust for recognition create moral conflicts. Some are unique to higher education but many are common to the world off-campus. This book uses ethical theories as a tool to analyze real examples from our colleges and universities. Topics include: academic freedom, plagiarism, cheating, research fraud, equal opportunity, evaluation, tenure, student-faculty relationships.

The Rising Costs of Higher Education

The Rising Costs of Higher Education
Author: John R. Thelin
Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing USA
Total Pages: 327
Release: 2013-03-21
Genre: Education
ISBN:

Providing a clear, logical guide to an illogical topic, this book provides an easy-to-understand guide for anyone who wants to successfully navigate the labyrinth of going to college—and paying for the experience. 100 years ago, college tuition at prestigious Ivy League colleges such as Harvard and Brown was about $130 per year. Even when adjusted for inflation, today's cost of higher education has increased dramatically—to the point where a college education is shifting further out of reach for many Americans. This book explains the essential concepts in the debate regarding the staggering costs of higher education, supplying ten original essays by higher education policy experts, a lively historical narrative that provides context to current issues, and systematic guides to finding additional sources of information on the subject. Written from a historian's point of view, The Rising Costs of Higher Education: A Reference Handbook explains the economics of higher education in a manner that encourages readers to participate in the discussion on how to control ever-increasing tuition costs. Both college-bound students and parents will come to appreciate how complicated the problem of paying for college is, and grasp the crucial differences between "cost" and "price" in the specific economics of colleges and universities.

The Aims of Higher Education

The Aims of Higher Education
Author: Harry Brighouse
Publisher: University of Chicago Press
Total Pages: 181
Release: 2015-05-04
Genre: Education
ISBN: 022625948X

This book features a group of top-notch philosophers tackling some of the biggest questions in higher education: What role should the liberal arts have in a college education? Should colleges orient themselves to the educational demands of the business sector? What is the role of highly selective colleges in the public sphere? To what extent should they be subsidized directly, or indirectly, by the public? Should they simply teach students skills and academic knowledge, or should they play a role in shaping character, and if so to what end? Should highly selective colleges admissions practices give an edge to racial minorities, or legacies, or poor students? How much should the public purse subsidize disadvantaged students attending such institutions? These questions are fundamentally about moral and political valuesquestions of distributive justice and of what constitutes valuable education. Philosophers are trained to identify value considerations in great detailindeed, often with more precision than is ever needed for practical purposes!but most disagreements about policy and practice proceed with minimal attention to the values assumed on either side, and all sides can benefit from more clarity about exactly what moral values are at play. The philosophers here, then, address some of the fundamental questions underlying debates about higher educationand in ways that are interesting and accessible to others."

Lobbying for Higher Education

Lobbying for Higher Education
Author: Constance Ewing Cook
Publisher: Vanderbilt University Press
Total Pages: 282
Release: 1998
Genre: Education
ISBN: 9780826513175

Historically, many faculty and administrators in higher education have regarded themselves as above the fray--part of the national interest, not a special interest--and considered lobbying a dirty business unworthy of their lofty enterprise. Now that academia no longer enjoys all the respect and good will that federal policy makers once afforded it, that attitude has changed. The Republican sweep of the 1994 Congressional elections served as a wake-up call for the higher education community. In response, it made a spirited effort to gain attention for its own policy preferences. Lobbying for Higher Education is about how the major higher education associations and the constituent American colleges and universities try to influence federal policy, especially congressional policy. In clear prose Cook explains how the higher education community organizes itself in Washington, how it lobbies, and how its major interest groups are perceived both by their own members and by public officials. The book focuses on the crucial development in 1995-1996 of a new lobbying paradigm, which included the greater use of campus-based resources and ad hoc coalitions. The most engrossing part of its story is higher education's creative response to the policy turmoil and disruption of the status quo that resulted from the shift in congressional party control. The author, Constance Cook, uses sources unique to this project: over 1,500 survey responses from college and university presidents (a 62% return rate) and nearly 150 interviews with institutional and association leaders. Fortuitously, the 1994 electoral upheaval provided her with an opportunity to capture, analyze, and interpret the responses of her subjects in a period of unusually sweeping change. Lobbying for Higher Education is a timely book with an interesting and important story at its core.