Legitimation, professionalisation and accountability in higher education studies:an intergenerational story

The core themes of research into higher education studies (HES) have previously been identified through quantitative approaches focused on publication patterns, but there is a lack of fine-grained, qualitative analysis about the development of the field. This paper provides an intergenerational analysis of the emergence of HES in the UK since the 1960s drawing on autobiographical accounts. It reveals that many who conduct HES research retain a strong sense of disciplinary affiliation and regard its continuing epistemological health as closely linked to maintaining open borders with other disciplines. The professionalisation of the field is regarded as a mixed blessing bringing with it challenges with respect to maintaining an accessible approach to scholarship and communication with public and policy audiences. HES provides a case example of how a new academic subfield has undergone generational challenges in, respectively, seeking legitimacy, being professionalised and most recently responding to greater demands for accountability

The Relationship of Maternal Prepregnancy Body Mass Index and Pregnancy Weight Gain to Neurocognitive Function at Age 10 Years among Children Born Extremely Preterm

OBJECTIVE: To assess the association between maternal prepregnancy body mass index and adequacy of pregnancy weight gain in relation to neurocognitive function in school-aged children born extremely preterm. STUDY DESIGN: Study participants were 535 ten-year-old children enrolled previously in the prospective multicenter Extremely Low Gestational Age Newborns cohort study who were products of singleton pregnancies. Soon after delivery, mothers provided information about prepregnancy weight. Prepregnancy body mass index and adequacy of weight gain were characterized based on this information. Children underwent a neurocognitive evaluation at 10 years of age. RESULTS: Maternal prepregnancy obesity was associated with increased odds of a lower score for Differential Ability Scales-II Verbal IQ, for Developmental Neuropsychological Assessment-II measures of processing speed and visual fine motor control, and for Wechsler Individual Achievement Test-III Spelling. Children born to mothers who gained an excessive amount of weight were at increased odds of a low score on the Oral and Written Language Scales Oral Expression assessment. Conversely, children whose mother did not gain an adequate amount of weight were at increased odds of a lower score on the Oral and Written Language Scales Oral Expression and Wechsler Individual Achievement Test-III Word Reading assessments. CONCLUSION: In this cohort of infants born extremely preterm, maternal obesity was associated with poorer performance on some assessments of neurocognitive function. Our findings are consistent with the observational and experimental literature and suggest that opportunities may exist to mitigate risk through education and behavioral intervention before pregnancy

International university partnerships: a cost-benefit analysis

This study’s purpose is to examine academic partnerships between universities in the United Kingdom and Korea. It aims to examine both partnership fundamentals and what leads to a mutually successful partnership. The fundamentals are the why, who and where. It aims to examine partnership formation and the relationships between partners, and the impacts of the partnership on the university.This study uses qualitative interviews mixed with a cost-benefit analysis. The interviews serve two main purposes. The first is to gain a fine-grained analysis of why universities create partnerships and how they go about it. The second is to understand the partnership factors that impact universities. These impact factors are then used to create cost-benefit analyses of three different UK-Korea university partnerships, differentiated by intensity of partnerships, to illustrate the partnerships’ impacts on the individual universities.Through thematic analysis, the qualitative results show that different types of partnerships are created in different parts of the university. The central offices create development co-operation and exchange partnerships, whereas the academic units create more exchange and commercial trade partnerships. However, in each of these partnerships, funding and international rankings are key motivations. The cost-benefit analysis shows that partnerships are beneficial to universities with commercial trade partnerships the most beneficial. The implications are that the academic units should work to create academic partnerships, with the central office helping in terms of standardisation and with the pastoral aspects of student services

Women professors and the academic housework trap

Women constitute just over one fifth of full professors in UK higher education and whilst work has emerged in recent years on professors as leaders, there has been comparatively little research about how this under-represented cadre define and practise their role as intellectual leaders. This paper seeks to analyse how women see their role as full professors through autobiographical accounts of their intellectual and career histories via interviews with women professors, and a small comparison group of male professors. A range of freedoms and responsibilities connected with the professorial role are identified along with personal qualities considered central to success. Both female and male professors understand their role principally in terms of research leadership, but women are more likely to emphasise the importance of academic citizenship, especially mentoring, compared to their male counterparts, an obligation that weighs especially heavily on women working in science, technology, engineering and mathematics areas. While these findings are indicative of the continuing effect of so-called ‘academic housework’ in holding back the academic careers of women, they are also a positive indicator of a commitment to an all-round role as an intellectual leader.</p

Graduating in uncertain times: The impact of COVID ‐19 on recent graduate career prospects, trajectories and outcomes

This article examines the impacts of the COVID‐19 pandemic on recent UK graduates' initial employment outcomes and how they experience the transition into a challenging labour market context. We draw on longitudinal survey and interview data, collected from recent graduates who had mainly graduated during the onset of the COVID‐19 pandemic in summer 2020 that examines graduate perception of the labour market, impacts on labour market entry impacts and early career progression and effects of periods of unemployment or under‐employment. The article shows some of the main impacts of the recent pandemic‐affected labour market, including: widespread concerns about job opportunities and employer support, the perceived employment impacts of the pandemic and early signs of scarring and labour market disorientation amongst those who were struggling to find employment of their choice. Such experiences are clearly intensified during the specific COVID‐19 context, but the policy implications they raise have wider relevance for supporting graduates during future periods of labour market volatility

Graduating in uncertain times: the impact of Covid-19 on recent graduate career prospects, trajectories and outcomes

This article examines the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic on recent UK graduates' initial employment outcomes and how they experience the transition into a challenging labour market context. We draw on longitudinal survey and interview data, collected from recent graduates who had mainly graduated during the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic in summer 2020 that examines graduate perception of the labour market, impacts on labour market entry impacts and early career progression and effects of periods of unemployment or under-employment. The article shows some of the main impacts of the recent pandemic-affected labour market, including: widespread concerns about job opportunities and employer support, the perceived employment impacts of the pandemic and early signs of scarring and labour market disorientation amongst those who were struggling to find employment of their choice. Such experiences are clearly intensified during the specific COVID-19 context, but the policy implications they raise have wider relevance for supporting graduates during future periods of labour market volatility.</p