Bullying is a negative phenomenon that occurs everywhere among human beings, even in higher education institutions. People tend to react to bullying differently, and therefore, overcoming a bullying situation can take many forms. In this research, we analyze higher education (HE) students’ experiences of coping through their narrated stories. The research questions of the study were: (1) How do former victims describe overcoming bullying they experienced as an HE student? and (2) What similarities and differences appear in the outcomes of their narratives? The data was collected between late 2021 and early 2022 and consisted of fourteen questionnaire answers and five interviews (15 women, 2 men, 2 did not want to disclose their gender, aged 20-52). All the participants were studying at a university and represented various fields and years of study. The analysis of narratives focused on the students’ coping strategies, while the narrative analysis produced meta-narratives depicting the paths taken to overcome bullying. The research provides important viewpoints on how bullying occurs in HE institutions and how important it is to acknowledge the phenomenon and to engage the whole community in tackling it.
This study investigates student teachers’ interaction with generative artificial intelligence (genAI) while working on their final thesis projects. The aim of this study is to contribute knowledge on what happens when genAI becomes integrated into academic writing. Previous research indicates that AI tools are deemed acceptable for early stages of writing, such as brainstorming or outlining. However, there is still a lack of knowledge about how students use genAI while working on an actual assignment. Applying a sociomaterialistic approach, student teachers’ self-reported use of genAI has been analysed qualitatively. In total, 92 students participated in the study, generating 46 reports. The results indicate that AI on a general level is used to transform information between different languages, for example, from everyday to academic language. The Compensatory model is proposed to describe when genAI becomes integrated into academic writing. The skills students need but do not have can be compensated with an appropriate use of genAI, so that content is co-created and valued by the students.
In an increasingly complex environment characterized by technological innovation, financial constraints, accountability mandates, political pressures, and changing student demographics, it is imperative that we return to the fundamental purpose of the university—the student.
This article focuses on how higher education, in four degree programmes, engages in collaboration: teacher education, special educational needs counselling, social work, and health-care counselling, within a context where current welfare and education assume interprofessional collaboration. The aim is to analyse how collaboration is conceptualised, enacted, and becomes embedded in the programmes, and how interprofessional learning (IPL) is oriented in relation to higher education’s role in sustaining a democratic and sustainable society. The empirical material consists of semi-structured interviews with program coordinators. The ‘communities of practice’ (CoP) and democracy perspectives conceptualise collaboration and IPL as social practices and democratic processes. The analysis shows that collaboration in higher education is divergently conceptualised, indicating the absence of a shared conceptual basis, enacted in different ways, and serves distinct professional functions. The opportunities for IPL vary considerably: some programmes integrate structured collaborative activities, while others rely on traditional teaching or postpone collaboration until professional practice. The embedding of collaboration in programmes signals democratic potential, yet requires alignment with programme visions, professional identities, and institutional structures that enable communication, autonomy, and shared responsibility for a sustainable democratic welfare society.
While student leadership is often celebrated as a developmental opportunity, there can be an emotional toll on the leaders and commodification of their efforts. Further, relying on student leaders to address gaps or barriers is unsustainable given the short duration students spend in higher education. Using thematic analysis of micro-case studies from award-winning student leaders across Canada and applying Smyth's critical reflection framework to a student leader’s lived experience, this paper critiques how institutions showcase student success while turning a blind eye to the structural problems that necessitate student intervention. Theoretical frameworks—including Sanford’s theory of challenge and support, institutional betrayal, and the student-customer model— paired with a critical theory lens reveal the misalignment between institutional recognition and meaningful support. While acknowledging the socio-historical contexts of higher educational systems, this paper suggests that without institutional accountability and sustainable collaboration, student leaders are unfairly burdened with responsibilities they are not equipped or positioned to carry long-term. The paper argues for a shift in responsibility from students to institutions to ensure systemic change, authentic recognition, and removing of saviourism.
Managing higher education institutions involves a constant struggle between safeguarding the agency and autonomy of the staff and the stewardship of financial resources for stability, regulatory compliance and job security. Previous research has identified the increased reliance on managerialist academic work allocation models, while also acknowledging the innate de-professionalization these models may infer. We report a longitudinal case study of the implementation of a new approach to academic work allocation in higher education in a Swedish university. This new approach utilized slack resources to enhance the autonomy and performance of the staff in a strive for excellence. We show how the approach resulted in a substantial increase in both the quality of operations as well as working environment, while simultaneously introducing new challenges to management. Based on our findings, we offer recommendations to managers that strive to build and maintain higher education excellence and call for new research.
Educating graduate students about praxis represents a challenge and an opportunity. This essay explores an experience of learning praxis along with Transformative Phenomenology, the combination of which indicates a promising means for scaffolding graduate students to deeper self-reflection and changed thinking. The emergence of changed thinking is reasoned as a shift from subconscious thought processes to conscious ones. Contemplative practices drive the shift but require structured practice or engagement to achieve. The objective of such practice is internal clarity that manifests in mindful action that generates new understanding. The lived experience and examples outlined in this essay demonstrate how Transformative Phenomenology suits consciousness-raising and fosters more intentional praxis. Several techniques from phenomenology contribute to consciousness and warrant a brief discussion, including phenomenological reduction or bracketing, recognizing vantage points, and identifying motives and intentions. Additionally, we outline a process for exploring experiences intentionally through protocol writing. Teaching praxis along with Transformative Phenomenology contributes to the cultivation of aware social science graduate students who are self-reflective, conscious, and effective in their actions.
Since the journal’s launch in 2018, the Editorial in each issue has been an important space for our team to voice ideas, concerns, and interests, as well as to introduce the new issue. We have used the Editorial to articulate our mission and nurture a shared sense of collective identity. I believe we take genuine pleasure in writing these pieces - their varied images and reflections - and the team shares the responsibility for creating them.
There is considerable debate about the fairness of university admissions processes, particularly in national contexts with substantial prestige differences between providers. However, there does tend to be agreement that admissions processes should be transparent. This study investigates the extent to which undergraduate university admissions in the UK are transparent, particularly with regard to the use of an admissions essay called the UCAS personal statement. Our methods are twofold: 1) we assess whether university staff use the personal statement in ways that align with information on student-facing websites, and 2) we perform an in-depth transparency analysis of fifteen university course websites to assess the extent to which universities helped applicants to understand what a high-quality personal statement looked like. We find considerable evidence of issues related to transparency, with some examples of good practice. The paper concludes with several recommendations for providers to enhance their transparency. The 2025-26 reforms to the UCAS personal statement offer an opportunity for all universities to update their public-facing websites and guidance, so this paper represents a timely intervention.
Learning environments in higher education have received considerable political attention and have been approached through various perspectives in educational research. Yet, students are often positioned as participants or beneficiaries of learning environments rather than active creators. Building on a growing field of student engagement through active participation and co-creation of higher education, we aim to explore how students engage in shaping their learning environments, as well as navigate and alter the boundary conditions. We draw on and empirically explore two different cases of learning environments in which students play a crucial role: 1) student-initiated, teacher-supported elective courses and 2) an extracurricular student innovation centre. Data were gathered using focus group and individual interviews with university teachers and students. The thematic analysis provides insights into student engagement at three levels: 1) though participation in the activities happening in learning environments; 2) in shaping the material elements of the learning environments and 3) in shaping the immaterial elements of the learning environments. Grounded in the empirical findings, we discuss the boundary conditions of these learning environments and how they are negotiated. Through these processes, we see that the opportunity space for how higher education learning environments can look like is expanded.
The mental health of academic staff is under increasing pressure due to the multiple layers of contemporary stressors. Casual or temporary academic staff are a unique group within higher education that experience additional stress inherent to precarious work. This paper applies an autoethnographic research approach to explore the barriers and facilitators of mental health experienced by a casual academic in Australian higher education contexts. Using a psychosocial risk lens, the nuances of stress-mediated challenges are analysed. Future interventions that move away from individually-focused approaches towards leadership and organisational level strategies to promote mental health among casual academic staff are then critically discussed.
In higher education worldwide, the terms ‘teaching excellence’ and ‘educational merit systems’ are frequently used in institutional policy documents. Following international assessment trends, Nordic universities and colleges have for decades encouraged educators to apply for the Excellent Teaching Practitioner (ETP) award. However, little is known about rejected applicants’ experiences with such assessment processes, and how such knowledge could contribute to further quality improvement. This thematic analysis of an ETP process at a large Nordic higher education institution shows that social–psychological effects of such processes ought to be investigated more closely. This study indicates that applicants were shocked and distressed by the discursive opaqueness and a lack of alignment in the assessment design. Administrative maneuvers to standardize the assessment design came into conflict with academically established evaluation principles such as transparency, authenticity, validity, reliability, and fairness.
The purpose of this study is to deepen the understanding of literacy perspectives in teacher education by analysing how four primary teacher educators from different disciplines talk about their practice. In dialogic interviews, focal points included what types of activities regarding language and texts the participants mention using in their respective disciplines. The results reveal three main perspectives on literacy: general academic literacy, disciplinary literacy, and professional literacy. A visualization of the results in the form of a model renders visible the three main perspectives as well as overlapping combinations that relate to disciplinary literacy teaching. Thereby, this study contributes a metalanguage that can be used across disciplines by teacher educators to support pre-service teachers’ disciplinary socialisation drawing on the different literacy practices. The complexity of the literacy perspectives merits further research in order to explore different discourses within and between each perspective.
In higher education worldwide, the terms ‘teaching excellence’ and ‘educational merit systems’ are frequently used in institutional policy documents. Following international assessment trends, Nordic universities and colleges have for decades encouraged educators to apply for the Excellent Teaching Practitioner (ETP) award. However, little is known about rejected applicants’ experiences with such assessment processes, and how such knowledge could contribute to further quality improvement. This thematic analysis of an ETP process at a large Nordic higher education institution shows that social–psychological effects of such processes ought to be investigated more closely. This study indicates that applicants were shocked and distressed by the discursive opaqueness and a lack of alignment in the assessment design. Administrative maneuvers to standardize the assessment design came into conflict with academically established evaluation principles such as transparency, authenticity, validity, reliability, and fairness.
This study explores the institutional-level implementation of the integrated cumulative grade point average (iCGPA) initiative at University A, focusing on its intentions, challenges, and responses during the early stages. Introduced by the Malaysian Ministry of Higher Education to produce holistic and balanced graduates, iCGPA seeks to complement a decade-long effort under outcome-based education (OBE). However, achieving these objectives remains elusive. Using a qualitative approach, interviews with Academic Standards Quality staff and Heads of Departments revealed key issues, including the absence of collaboration between researchers and policymakers, and the reliance on a top-down policy approach. The study highlights the role of isomorphic pressures—coercive, mimetic, and normative—in shaping policy adoption and highlights the need for evidence-based policymaking to balance standardisation with adaptability. These findings provide valuable insights for policymakers and higher education institutions to refine strategies for future policy implementation.
A growing body of research conceptualises students’ transitions into higher education as non-linear and multi-faceted, extending beyond the first months of university. Nevertheless, focusing on first-year students’ experiences can provide important insights. We adopt Schlossberg’s (1981) theory of transitions in our study involving first-year arts and humanities undergraduate students at a Scottish university, who traced their experiences of adjusting to university life in the academic year 2020-21. We were interested in understanding this move from one educational stage to another amidst the potential added barrier of the COVID-19 pandemic. Collecting data during the pandemic captured students’ reflections on their educational experience in the rapid shift to online learning, and the impact of the lack of face-to-face contact with staff and peers. While perhaps expected that COVID-19 drastically impacted the specifics of the transitional experience, we were surprised to find in our data (written diary entries and interviews (n=5), supplemented with interviews with students not involved in reflective writing (n=8)) that there were more universals of the process than there were factors relating to the time of crisis, particularly with relation to the self. Furthermore, an argument is made for the wider impact of dialogic practice to ease the transitional process.
This paper reimagines the four tenants of critical grief pedagogy (CGP) through entwined narratives of and teachings on grief by introducing a fifth, essential tenant for engaging with CGP: the deep need for rest. Storied around their 2022 delivery of a digital Death Café for graduate students in a master’s-level disability justice course, Collins and Jones reframe CGP in the classroom through lenses of disability justice and methodologies of collective narrative. In collaboration with four student participants from the Death Café, this article responds to our interdependent grief experiences of the COVID-19 pandemic, climate change, madness, anticipatory grief, and the relationalities of these modes of grief. This paper is a gathering of those conversations and our collective writing. Through these narrative experiences, we engage in a mode of collaborative exploration, composition, and de-composition. We explore what it means to take teaching and learning as a ‘grief-facing’ praxis that changes how we engage with embodiment in higher education. In what follows, our entwined responses to the Death Café remind us that grief is ubiquitous and expansive in academic spaces, and that rest is essential and political.
Academic supervision involves several key actors in addition to supervisors and students, who share the same general objectives. Our aim here is to investigate and discuss collective dimensions of degree project supervision practice by examining how supervisors use the acknowledgment of such key actors within the degree project context, in their interaction with supervised students. In what ways do supervisors in their supervision practice acknowledge various actors within the degree project context? What functions may this have in the supervision interaction? The empirical material consists of recorded supervision sessions with students within teacher education at two Swedish universities. The results show how supervisors used attribution and active voicing to acknowledge the various actors in the degree project context, and how this could be part of the scaffolding means giving instructions and modelling. Based on the analysis of our material, we argue that this can be seen as contributing to the scaffolding intention cognitive structuring, by a) helping students understand the different roles and responsibilities of the different actors, by b) helping them to assess the importance and relevance of the advice given by these actors, and by c) emphasising the students' own role as active participants in the process.
