Study experiences and the post-study intentions of female international undergraduate students

The number of female international students is increasing exponentially, and whilst international study may engender many benefits and challenges, little is known about their intentions once they complete their studies. This article reviews the literature on female international students with specific focus on exploring post-study intentions. A scoping review of four electronic databases was completed. After applying criteria to determine suitability, 30 publications were included in the final review. Analysis revealed three key foci: (1) the rationale for studying internationally; (2) the study experience; and (3) post-study intentions. The literature illustrates that an international study experience has the potential to be a powerful transformative opportunity if positive experiences outweigh the negatives. The findings also indicate that the post-study intentions of female international students are under-researched. The article contends that attention should be given to supporting the needs of this group, with a view to maximizing post-study opportunities

Women's leadership in the Asian Century: does expansion mean inclusion?

This paper draws on British Council commissioned research in response to concerns about women's absence from senior leadership positions in higher education in South Asia. The study sought existing knowledge from literature, policies, and available statistics and collected original interview data from 30 academics in Afghanistan, Bangladesh, India, Nepal, Pakistan, and Sri Lanka. A central finding was that gender is not a category of analysis in higher education policy, research or statistical data in the region. Our interview data suggest that leadership was frequently not an object of desire for women. Being associated with particular types of masculinities, leadership often carried a heavy affective load for those women who transgressed patriarchal socio-cultural norms and disrupted the symbolic order of women being led by men. Leadership was frequently perceived and experienced by women in terms of navigating a range of ugly feelings and toxicities that depleted aspirations, well-being and opportunities

Möglichkeiten der Steuerung des Beraters durch den Klienten

Der vorliegende Beitrag befasst sich mit den Möglichkeiten der Steuerung von Beratern durch den Klienten. In der Literatur wird dieses Thema bisher aus drei Perspektiven behandelt: die Praktikerperspektive, die kritische Perspektive und die Netzwerkperspektive. Diese Perspektiven werden kurz dargestellt und hinsichtlich ihrer Prämissen erläutert. Jede dieser drei Perspektiven hat unterschiedliche Implikationen für die Steuerung von Beratern; dennoch teilen alle drei Perspektiven dieselbe voluntaristische Grundannahme, dass eine Steuerung der Berater-Klienten-Beziehung grundsätzlich möglich ist. Dieser Beitrag hinterfragt diese Grundannahme. Mit Rekurs auf die neuere Systemtheorie von Niklas Luhmann wird die voluntaristischen Perspektiven mit einer systemtheoretischen Perspektive konfrontiert. Vor diesem Hintergrund wird das Konzept der dezentralen Kontextsteuerung erörtert und seine Implikationen für die Steuerung von Beratern diskutiert. Zum Schluss werden die wesentlichen Ergebnisse dieses Beitrags zusammengefasst und den drei bisherigen Perspektiven gegenübergestellt

Wieso scheitern Beratungsprojekte?: eine kritische Analyse

Der vorliegende Artikel befasst sich mit den Gründen für das Scheitern von Beratungsprojekten. Auf der Basis einer Literaturanalyse werden vier zentrale Gründe für den Misserfolg identifiziert. Vor dem Hintergrund eines systemischen Verständnisses der Berater-Klienten-Beziehung werden diese vier Gründe jedoch in ihrer Bedeutung relativiert. Dies führt weiterhin zu einer grundsätzlichen Infragestellung des traditionellen zugunsten eines systemischen Beratungsansatzes

Voluntaristic vs. systemic perspectives on managing the consultant-client relationship

The aim of this article is to provide a new theoretical perspective on the possibilities for clients to manage their consultants. The existing perspectives on managing consultants share the voluntaristic assumption that in principle it is possible to manage the consultant–client relationship. In this article we introduce a new and opposed systemic perspective. From a systems-theoretical point of view, clients and consultants can be conceptualized as two autopoietic communication systems that operate according to idiosyncratic logics. They are structurally coupled through a third system, the so-called “contact system”, which itself constitutes a separate system. Due to the different logics of the three systems there is a barrier to the transfer of meaning between them. Consequently, the possibilities of any kind of direct and intentional intervention by clients in the consultant system appear limited. Hence, a different, more moderate concept of intervention is needed. For that we draw on Helmut Willke’s concept of “contextual guidance”: instead of any direct interventions in the consultant system, the systemic perspective (1) points to the necessity for self-guidance on behalf of the client and (2) directs interventions to the context of the contact system

Systemic concepts of intervention

Over the last two decades a new approach to consulting has been established that is referred to as “systemic consulting”. This approach to consulting seems to exist almost exclusively within the German-speaking consulting. Systemic consulting is a clearly differentiated approach that has long occupied a rather insignificant niche in the consulting market. In contrast to traditional approaches, systemic consultants emphasize the self-referential logic of the client, acknowledging the limits of any attempts at direct intervention. In line with this position, consultants believe that their role is not to support clients to find solutions to their problems, but rather to cause perturbations in the clients’ internal processes in order to break up their pathological structures. While this approach has received a lot of attention in the German-speaking countries, particularly among academics, it is almost unknown elsewhere. The chapter examines this systemic approach, drawing out its strengths and limitations. For this purpose, its two central theoretical roots are highlighted: the family therapy of the so-called “Milan school” and the theory of social systems developed by the German sociologist Niklas Luhmann. The chapter is structured in four sections. The first two sections present the two central pillars of the systemic approach. The third section examines the systemic consulting approach and the last section of the chapter discusses its strengths and limitations

Employability for music graduates: Malaysian educational reform and the focus on generic skills

In Malaysia, the demand for employable higher education graduates has resulted in a national strategy that outlines desirable graduate attributes including “hard,” discipline-specific skills and “soft,” generic skills. As a result, music programs are under pressure to become more relevant to the conditions and characteristics of the industry. This article presents an overview of the whole-of-education trends in Malaysia and then reports empirical data from eight Malaysian music professionals, all higher education music graduates, who described their pre-sage, transitional and career experiences. Participants emphasized that hard and soft skills are equally important dimensions of graduate employability, which supports the heightened national focus on generic skills. However, participants’ focus was not on the skills per se; rather, they stressed the need for students to apply and reflect upon their development of skills during their studies. The article aligns this thinking with the Malaysian strategy and a commonly used employability framework to illustrate the soft skills that might be required of music graduates