Academic attractiveness of countries; a possible benchmark strategy applied to the Netherlands

The number of international students and the number of countries hosting these students are growing. The level of internationalization has also become an indication of the prestige of higher education institutions. Therefore, it is becoming increasingly important for countries – an indeed the European higher education area as a whole – to be academically attractive to international students. To measure the attractiveness, this paper argues that in addition to looking at countries' characteristics (i.e. factual data), subjective data (i.e. perceptions of international students) should also be considered. Hence, proposed is an explorative benchmark model based on a mixed method approach and consisting of factual and perceptual data as an initial attempt to measure the academic attractiveness countries. Outcomes provide insights into the strengths and weakness as benchmarked against other countries and can result in possible implications for policy. Because of data limitations, the model was solely applied to the Netherland

Study success in higher education: male versus female students

Study success is an important topic for countries concerned with the effectiveness of their higher education system. A closer look at study success outcomes suggests there are noticeable differences between male and female students: in terms of enrolment, study choices, drop‐out rates, retention rates and completion rates. On study success indicators female students are outperforming male students. Through a literature review, insights from European experts, and case studies at seven Dutch higher education institutions, this paper looks into the extent of the problem experience, the by the literature suggested explanations, and the policy instruments implemented to bridge the gender gap in study success. The problem experience differs by country, yet most European experts see aspects where female students are performing better. On the institutional level, it are mainly specific study programmes (e.g. primary teacher education) that experience study success differences and where gender‐specific policies have been introduced, such as curricula made more in line with characteristics of male students. However, the effectiveness of the implemented instruments is largely unknown. The same outcome is found in the literature review: policies can address, for example, learning environments, but the effect is unknown. More recent insights into differences in brain development between males and females, suggest that alternative learning environments might be more in line with female non‐ cogitative skill, which they developed earlier. This is seen as a strong reason for further research and continues consideration of possible effects on the gender gap in higher education policy reforms

Academic attractiveness of countries to students : explaining and measuring a countries' academic X factor

Throughout history the epicentre of intellectual culture has always been dynamic. In modern history we see this trend continuing with the move from the scientific hegemony of Germany to the USA. In the contemporary globalised world we see these dynamics also reflected in the mobility patterns of international students around the world. A closer look shows that some countries are attracting more students to their higher education systems than other, which means that some countries are comparatively more academically attractive to students. As not much is known about what it is that makes these countries academically attractive, the aim of this thesis is to explore this topic and by doing so contribute to the understanding of the academic attractiveness of countries on a global level. To find a theoretical explanation for what it is that makes countries academically attractive, first the concept of academic attractiveness is discussed. In this discussion the academic attractiveness of countries is connected to the overarching concept of “civilization attraction”. From this the basic characteristics of academically attractive countries are deducted. It is also argued that countries can have a political, cultural and economical approach to their academic attractiveness. To explain what it is that makes countries academically attractive, two theories that try to explain the globalising world in general, are used. The world-systems theory suggests economical and political factors that make countries academically attractive. In addition to these factors, the world-polity theory suggests sociological factors, which relate to a country’s participation in the (science) world culture, that contribute to the academic attractiveness of a country. Based on the explanations suggested by the two theories, a model has been constructed, operationalised and measured. This model consists of five pillars (economical, political, leading role, world culture and perception) and 13 factors. For these factors, 11 (quantitative) indicators have been selected. The model has been tested on a sample of 22 high income countries (all members of the OECD) by using 10-point scales and statistical tests. For the statistical tests the inbound foreign students have been used as the outcome of academic attractiveness, and thus as dependent variable. The model suggests that the USA is the academically the most attractive country. The statistical tests show that the model as a whole has a high correlation to the number of inbound foreign students. The tests also show that the included factors (and indicators) are not equally correlating to the dependent variable. For this reason it has been concluded that the model needs additional data to be tested to its fullest extent

Excellence in higher education: educational preferences of honours students in the Netherlands

This paper researches excellence in higher education by looking into honours programmes (HPs) in Dutch higher education. HPs are selective and aimed at the brightest students, offering them a more challenging – often extra-curricular – study experience. Based on a survey (n=259) at Dutch universities, our study identifies three types of honours students: task-committed, above-average ability, and creative. We asked each group how their ideal HP looks like. Task-committed students are interested in disciplinary HPs that have a student-centred approach. The above-average ability students demand a highly selective and small-scale HP that admits only the brightest students. Moreover, they prefer a HP that is isolated from regular study programmes. Creative students are interested in a variety of disciplinary subjects, not offered in regular curricula, often requiring substantial amounts of extra time and effort. The differences in preferred configurations of HPs have policy implications for universities interested in introducing excellence educatio