The expansion of doctoral education and the changing nature and purpose of the doctorate

Doctorate level attainment has increased significantly in developed economies. In 2019, the average share of 25–64-year-olds with a doctorate across the OECD was around 1%. However, if current trends continue, 2.3% of today’s young adults will enter doctoral studies at some point in their life. This essay starts by describing the expansion of doctoral education. It then reflects on the causes of this growth and the consequences for the nature and purpose of the doctorate. This reflection is mostly based on published research in Higher Education in the last 50 years and the author’s work on policy analysis for the OECD on this topic. The paper finishes with a research agenda on doctoral education and the career of doctorate holders.The author would like to acknowledge the support given by the Portuguese National Funding Agency for Science, Research and Technology (FCT), within the Centre for Research in Higher Education Policies (CIPES), project UIDB/00757/2020.The author was involved in the OECD Global Science Forum’s projects Reducing the Precarity of Academic Research Careers and Career Options for Doctoral and Postdoctoral Scientists referenced in the text. However, the opinions expressed in this chapter are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of the OECD or its members. The author would like to thank the editors-in-chief and a coordinating editor of Higher Education for useful constructive feedback on a previous version of this article

Benchmarking Higher-Education System Performance : A Look at Learning and Teaching

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Higher education system rankings and benchmarking

The authors were involved in the Benchmarking Higher Education System Performance project of the OECD referred in the text. However, the opinions expressed in this chapter are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the views of the OECD and of its members.The purpose of this chapter is to discuss the emergence of higher education system rankings and other frameworks that attempt to make sense of the performance of higher education systems. It starts with a review of higher education system rankings and how they attempt to overcome the failings of institutional rankings. It then covers alternative approaches for monitoring higher education beyond traditional rankings. It introduces the approach of benchmarking higher education system performance rooted in the literature on performance, the performance of public services, and the performance of higher education. It offers a view of what is possible to do with an ontological approach to the performance of higher education systems instead of exercises driven by data availability and discusses the challenges of moving forward with such an approach. It concludes by discussing the likely coexistence of the discourses on world-class university with the world-class systems, and the challenge for countries to balance them. © Ellen Hazelkorn and Georgiana Mihut 2021.(undefined

Avaliação e gestão do desempenho de escolas em Portugal : O juízo, o juiz, o modelo do juiz e o julgado

O propósito deste capítulo é a descrição e análise da avaliação e gestão do desempenho de escolas em Portugal nos últimos anos. Começa-se pela preocupação em fazer juízos de valor acerca do desempenho das escolas, e pela discussão dos juízes que fazem essa avaliação, mormente os tão mediatizados rankings, ou os menos conhecidos avaliadores externos. Reconhecendo-se falhas aos juízes, mais óbvias e conhecidas no caso dos rankings, e menos estudadas mas ainda assim conhecidas no caso dos avaliadores externos, discutem-se as vantagens de complementar a avaliação qualitativa dos avaliadores externos com modelos quantitativos de análise. Estes são modelos do juiz, i.e. traduzem de forma sistemática o que os avaliadores externos pretendem avaliar, mas que devido à complexidade da análise não conseguem fazer sem o auxílio destes modelos quantitativos. Por fim, discute-se como os julgados – as escolas – utilizam (ou não) a avaliação para melhor gerir o seu desempenho.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Satisfação dos estudantes e implicações para a gestão das instituições de ensino superior

Uma das funções primordiais de uma instituição de ensino superior, para além da investigação, é o ensino. Como tal, é importante analisar a gestão do fornecimento deste serviço aos seus destinatários, os estudantes. Envolve compreender as suas necessidades, gerir os processos de ensino-aprendizagem e concomitantes processos de apoio, assegurar que os objetivos da instituição de ensino superior são atingidos, nomeadamente em termos da capacidade de atrair estudantes com o perfil desejado, da qualidade dos seus graduados, das taxas de progressão, conclusão e empregabilidade e da sustentabilidade financeira dos seus cursos, entre outros. Para além disso, há que prestar atenção à melhoria contínua dos serviços prestados. Como tal, a gestão da função ensino-aprendizagem é de importância crítica para as instituições de ensino superior. A instituição de ensino superior é uma organização extremamente complexa. Emprega um número elevado de pessoas, desde funcionários que mantêm as instalações em regular funcionamento, pessoal administrativo, até docentes altamente qualificados. Lida com milhares de estudantes todos os dias, numa variedade de departamentos e faculdades, fornecendo cursos diversos, desde pós-secundários, de 1º, 2º e 3º ciclo, cursos não conferentes de grau, prestando serviços à comunidade, e fazendo investigação. Gerir esta complexidade é um desafio constante. A complexidade resulta do volume de estudantes e funcionários, da diversidade dos serviços prestados, mas sobretudo da necessidade de coordenar diferentes processos que, interligados, asseguram a função ensino-aprendizagem aos seus estudantes.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Past performance does not guarantee future results: lessons from the evaluation of research units in Portugal

Research units in Portugal undergo a formal evaluation process based on peer review which is the basis for distributing funding from the national research council. This article analyzes the evaluation results and asks how good they are at predicting future research performance. Better research evaluations mean the institution receives more funding, so the key question is to what extent research evaluations are able to predict future performance as measured by bibliometric indicators. We use data from the peer evaluation of units in 2007–08, and analyze how well it is able to predict the results of a bibliometric study of the units’ Web of Science publications in the period 2007–10. We found that, in general, units that had better peer ratings, and thus more funding, as well as an increased capacity to attract extra funding, were not necessarily those that ended up producing more excellent research. The results provide an empirical contribution to the discussion regarding whether science can be measured and how, and reinforce the importance of evaluations where the use of quantitative data is defined and the differences between areas are accounted for. This analysis provides a snapshot of Portugal's recent scientific performance. Chemistry and physics are among the subfields with higher output and impact, which agrees with a traditional preferential funding of these areas. Institutions also excel in areas that may be assuming an increased relevance (Plant Sciences, Food Science and Technology, Neurosciences and other health-related subfields), which should be taken into account when implementing future science policies.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Supply chain quality management in education

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to introduce and discuss the concept of supply chain quality management (SCQM) in education. It then analyses a particular country case study in light of the concept, presenting empirical evidence of the challenges and good practices relating to it. Design/methodology/approach The empirical work is based on a country case study which includes data on four higher education institutions and nine secondary schools. Data are obtained from national and institutional documents, as well as from individual and panel interviews. The authors have used content analysis for both data and interview transcripts. Findings The authors find that whereas we can think of education systems as supply chains, there are important challenges to SCQM in education, namely, regarding information sharing, trust, integration and leadership. Conversely, the authors have found some ad hoc good practice which could be developed into more systematic SCQM practice. Research limitations/implications The study covers only a single case study, and a part of the education supply chain. Practical implications The work could inform policy makers as well as institutional leaders on practices that would improve the performance of the education supply chain. Social implications Education is a very important activity sector with a strong impact on the well-being of societies. Gains in education performance resulting from better SCQM in education would thus impact us all. Originality/value The paper offers a novel way of looking at the education system through the lenses of SCQM; if implemented it could significantly improve the performance of education systems.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Academic staff quality in higher education : an empirical analysis of Portuguese public administration education

Higher education accreditation frameworks typically consider academic staff quality a key element. This article embarks on an empirical study of what academic staff quality means, how it is measured, and how different aspects of staff quality relate to each other. It draws on the relatively nascent Portuguese experience with study programme accreditation. The study provides an analysis of staff quality in public administration education, an area of massive expansion in recent years. Several dimensions of quality are assessed (staff qualifications, research intensity, disciplinary orientation, diversity, international orientation, professional orientation, and inbreeding) along with the interactions that occur between them. A statistical analysis is made of the indicators for all 21 study programmes in the area of public administration, involving 236 academics in 6 public universities. We find that, in general, the quality of academic staff complies with standards, but there are issues regarding qualifications and research intensity that need to be addressed. The findings emphasize the need to uphold academic staff quality standards but calls for policies to curtail possible gaming resulting from it. The article illustrates the relevance of analysing staff quality from an empirical point of view and its contribution to our understanding of how different quality accreditation processes function and their implications for how quality is achieved in higher education.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Changes in governance : do they help overcome barriers to the implementation of the european standards and guidelines for quality assurance in higher education?

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The impact of quality assessment in universities : Portuguese students’ perceptions

Despite being one of the major reasons for the development of quality assessment, students seem relatively unaware of its potential impact. Since one of the main purposes of assessment is to provide students with information on the quality of universities, this lack of awareness brings in to question the effectiveness of assessment as a device for promoting institutional accountability. Aiming to contribute to increase knowledge in this field, the paper addresses Portuguese students’ perceptions of the impact of quality assessment. Resorting to the findings of a qualitative study on this subject, it is argued that students seem to assume a rather ambiguous position vis-à-vis this impact. While seeing assessment as having only a limited capacity to produce changes, students seem reluctant about the possibility of measures being adopted to increase it.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio