The Contribution of Comparative Studies and Cross-Cultural Approach to Understanding Higher Education in the Contemporary World

International audienceThis chapter analyzes aspects of higher education in the contemporary world. It is particularly concerned with aspects of globalization and internationalization. The focus of the chapter highlights various approaches that reveal such aspects in different contexts. The chapter provides an overview of the field of higher education policies and recent reforms in a range of different countries and continents while developing an understanding of the importance of comparative studies in terms of policies and practices related to higher education in a range of different scenarios. Throughout the presentation of the chapters, there is a synthesis of the themes that emerge in the current debates covered in this book

An exploratory interview study of university teacher resilience

Although teacher resilience research has blossomed in the last 5–10 years, the resilience of schoolteachers and principals has been the main focus of research. There is little research exploring the resilience of university teachers. This chapter presents findings from an exploratory study regarding university teacher resilience. Participants were 26 university teachers, 17 from Germany and 9 from Australia. Semi-structured interviews were conducted to explore the challenges, coping strategies and work-related emotions of participants and how they view resilience in the context of their work. Findings revealed challenges such as heavy workload, interpersonal relationships, time management and finding the right balance between teaching and research activities. Strategies include social support, time management and consciously maintaining a healthy work-life balance. The findings are discussed in light of a model of university teacher resilience, which is adapted to take into account specific aspects of university work