Internationalisation has long been regarded as a central dimension of higher education development, contributing to research capacity, academic quality and global engagement. In recent years, however, intensifying geopolitical competition, technological rivalry and concerns about research security have begun to reshape the conditions under which international academic collaboration takes place. Drawing on interview evidence from research universities in China and Japan, used illustratively, this commentary offers a conceptually informed reflection on how universities are responding to these changes. Rather than retreating from international engagement, universities are recalibrating their strategies through partnership diversification, strengthened domestic research capacity and institutional risk management. The commentary argues that these developments reflect an emerging pattern of selective internationalisation, understood as an institutional response to geopolitically conditioned internationalisation in which global engagement is maintained through more differentiated, strategically managed forms of collaboration.
Academic careers seldom follow a single path, yet universities remain organised around a binary distinction between administrative and scholarly roles. This paper uses analytic autoethnography to trace my transition from university administrator to scholar-administrator at an African university, examining how personal agency and institutional structures together shaped that journey. Drawing on Bourdieu's (1986) theory of field, habitus and capital and Whitchurch's 'third space', I argue that the scholar-administrator occupies a peripheral space, holding a transitional position characterised by ongoing tension among competing professional identities, cultural expectations and reward systems. The narrative shows how rigid job classifications, gatekeeping mechanisms and misaligned incentives limit the adoption of hybrid roles. These findings highlight a need for universities, especially those in the global South where massification and resource constraints heighten such tensions, to recognise scholar-administrator roles through formal policies, flexible workload arrangements and enhanced mentoring for those following non-traditional academic paths.
Geopolitical shifts are profoundly reshaping global higher education. As some Western countries turn inward, China maintains openness as a long-term national priority, rendering its higher education system a critical site for observing institutional responses amid geopolitical tensions. In this context, a comparative case study of two Chinese Double First-class universities, one science and engineering-oriented and the other comprehensive, was conducted to examine how Chinese universities strategically recalibrate internationalisation amid intensifying geopolitical pressures. Guided by the SAIOS framework, the findings reveal that Chinese universities selectively recalibrate internationalisation by redistributing activities across regions, thematic domains, and partnership formats. The study refines the application of the SAIOS framework by highlighting how asymmetrical multi-scalar relations, where the national scale assumes a particularly influential mediating role, shape institutional responses in strong-state contexts, pointing to the need for greater theoretical sensitivity to political and governance differences when analysing higher education geopolitics.
Across US universities, rising housing costs have intensified debates over affordability, equity, and institutional responsibility. Public-private partnerships have emerged as a dominant mechanism for expanding student housing, celebrated for delivering speed, scale, and fiscal relief. Yet their implications for affordability remain contested. This article draws on interviews with nineteen administrators at the University of California, Davis to examine how definitions of affordability are constructed and constrained within public-private partnership governance. Findings show that while public-private partnerships expanded supply, they also transferred authority to private developers and codified market-based definitions of affordability in contractual terms. Equity-centred understandings voiced by student-facing staff, rooted in students' survival and persistence, lacked contractual recognition. Framed through a critical political economy perspective, the analysis argues that public-private partnerships are not neutral delivery tools but political projects that reproduce or resist inequities depending on how affordability is defined and enforced.
Indigenous Australians bring significant expertise, leadership, and cultural knowledge to the higher education sector, offering contributions that are deeply valuable and transformative. Since 2009, there has been a notable emergence of executive-level Indigenous leadership roles across Australian universities, yet while these developments mark important progress, substantial discrepancies remain across the sector. Some of these are tied to the leadership cultures of individual institutions, while others reflect broader systemic issues that have yet to be addressed through coherent national policy. Using an Indigenist methodological approach and insights from semi-structured interviews with 23 Senior Indigenous Leaders, the study uncovers key challenges faced by these leaders and identifies the structural reforms needed to achieve genuine institutional transformation. The findings underscore the need for sector-wide reform, including transparent remuneration frameworks, clear role delineations, and governance structures that recognise Indigenous sovereignty and knowledge traditions as essential to genuine institutional transformation.
Universities in Hong Kong are Janus-like by both facing-out and facing-in. They must navigate growing socio-political tensions in balancing their local, national, regional and international obligations and ambitions. While Hong Kong has long enjoyed a reputation as an international business and education hub its accelerated integration into the Chinese mainland means that local universities need to adapt to a range of changes and pressures including, national security laws, flag-raising ceremonies, patriotic elements in the curriculum, an increasing proportion of Chinese Mainland students and academics, less diversity in university leadership, the rise of Putonghua as a medium of instruction, book censorship, and an erosion in de facto academic freedom. The imposition of Chinese nationalism in Hong Kong as a systematic policy imperative disrupts the balance of the academic environment and the importance of protecting a scientific ethos of internationalism.
This study explores a group of professional staff conceptualise and experience motivation, integrating theories of meaningful work, intrinsic-, and prosocial motivation. Using an arts-based Draw, Write, Reflect method, 34 drawings were analysed through an integrated visual-thematic approach that combined content analysis of visual elements with interpretive analysis of meaning. Nine follow-up interviews were analysed using reflexive thematic analysis with an abductive orientation, moving iteratively between empirical data and theoretical constructs to triangulate findings from the drawing phase. The analysis identifies four interconnected motivational dimensions, relationships, purpose, greater good, and enjoyment, demonstrating that professional staff derive motivation through a synergistic interplay of intrinsic satisfaction, relational connection, and commitment to contributing to students, colleagues, and society. The paper concludes with practical implications for university leaders seeking to design roles and organisational environments that support meaningful, self-determined motivation among professional staff.
Most government funding for domestic Australian places is paid to universities as a flexible block grant. Using a multiple case study approach, this paper explores internal university decision-making on the government-supported student places funded by this block grant. It analyses who contributes to the decision-making process, the factors they consider, and how final decisions are made. Across all universities studied, a senior executive group is ultimately in charge. Levels of consultation and participation at the faculty level varied. The most participatory institution was also the smallest in our study, perhaps because direct communication is more feasible. Faculties retain most control over minimum academic entry standards. In all cases, compulsory work placements limit enrolments in courses where they are required. Planning offices were critical intermediaries in all institutions, collating internal and external sources of data to inform decision-making.
This research investigates how predictive analytics can support student retention in blended higher education. Using the engagement and assessment data of 523 students from 3 universities, four machine learning models were developed. Of these four models, Multilayer Perceptron achieved the highest accuracy (70.0 per cent) and after handling class imbalance performed better at identifying students that are at risk of failure. Utilising theories of self-regulated learning, behavioural engagement, and academic integration, the study identifies the indicators that are most frequently associated with successful outcomes. Predictions of machine learning models were compared to the early predictions of instructors and revealed different error patterns, suggesting that models and instructors capture different dimensions of student engagement. Most significant predictors were learning management system activity, pacing, assessment behaviours, and attendance. Findings suggest that predictive analytics can support early warning systems as well as guiding institutional strategies and strengthening ethically responsible retention strategies in blended higher education.
Universities are navigating a volatile, uncertain, complex and ambiguous (VUCA) environment, prompting staff to collaborate thematically across traditional boundaries to address wicked problems. Within this context, the 'third space' has emerged, blending academic and professional expertise to connect disparate parts of the academy. As this space expands, future higher education workforces must embrace matrix working, supercomplexity and complex collaboration. This raises questions about how third-space careers are visualised, conceptualised, and sustained. Van der Heijden and De Vos define sustainable careers as sequences of experiences across social spaces, shaped by agency and meaning. De Vos highlights growing scholarly interest in this perspective. This article explores visualisations and conceptualisations of third-space careers, arguing that they exemplify sustainability through the dimensions of time, social space, agency, and meaning.
Like other parts of Africa, Mozambique's higher education system is deeply entwined with the nation's colonial past. Calls for decolonising university rules and processes are heightened due to this impact. Demands for decolonising university procedures are rising worldwide, including in Africa. Although recognised as a university practice, internationalisation is still mostly Eurocentric in African higher education, leaving an opportunity for a decolonial lens to be applied in redefining and rethinking it. This paper critically examines different interpretations of internationalisation at both national and university levels, drawing on policy documents and recent publications on Mozambican higher education, and proposes a sui generis definition tailored to the Mozambican context considering the country's historical complexity, socioeconomic realities, and the necessity of epistemic decolonisation. We believe the new definition will impact many aspects of internationalisation and contribute to the transformation and decolonisation of higher education in Mozambique and potentially other colonised Portuguese-speaking African nations.
The increasing use of generative artificial intelligence (AI) in student assessment has led to institutional reliance on detection tools. Unlike plagiarism detection, AI detection relies on unverifiable probabilistic estimates. In this paper, we argue that generative AI detection should not be used in education due to its methodological imperfections, violation of procedural fairness, and unverifiable outputs. Generative AI detectors cannot be tested in real-world conditions where the true origin of a text is unknown. Attempts to validate results through linguistic markers, multiple tools, or comparisons with past work introduce confirmation bias rather than independent verification. Moreover, categorising text as human- or AI-generated imposes a false dichotomy that ignores work created with, not by, AI. Generative AI detection also raises security concerns. Academic integrity investigations must rely on evidence meeting the balance of probabilities standard, which generative AI detection scores do not satisfy.
There is a pressing concern about the mental health conditions of PhD students and how negative mental health can influence the unfolding of an (un)sustainable career. This study employed the Sustainable Careers Framework and the Conservation of Resources theory to investigate the mechanism of unsustainability among PhD students. We hypothesised that depression might affect career insecurity directly and indirectly via impostor phenomenon, and that this relationship is moderated by supervisor support for professional development. We surveyed 217 PhD students from an Italian university who attended a larger project on academic well-being. The results confirmed the indirect effect, with impostor phenomenon mediating the link between depression and career insecurity. Contrary to our expectations, supervisor support amplified this effect. These findings offer novel insights into career unsustainability in academic environments and suggest interventions to better support PhD students. Implications for future research and policy development are discussed.
This study explored the lived experiences and perceptions of foreign-born academics regarding Florida's legislative changes and their impact on academic freedom. The qualitative phenomenological study utilised semi-structured interviews to investigate how foreign-born academics adapt to these changes and their effects on academic freedom. The narratives of international academics illuminate precautions and self-censorship, brain drain and academic instability, perceived legislative overreach, and the erosion of academic autonomy. The study highlights the significance of these legislative changes to stakeholders, including legislators and educational authorities. It provides recommendations to support foreign-born academics and maintain academic freedom in the increasingly challenging academic landscape.
