Special Interest Group
The transition from elite to mass higher education systems is a significant global development that forms the broader context for educational research that seeks to understand the experiences of Higher Education students, academics, teaching teams, change agents, leaders, departments, subject disciplines, professional fields, and institutions. There is a need for perspectives and analyses that not only critique but also challenge current policy frameworks and evolving practices within and across Higher Education. Within the universalising tendencies of the neoliberal regime, contradictions exist within – and between – the increasing dominance of managerialist principles, the standardisation of learning and practice (under the banner of ‘quality assurance’), consumer-based practices and expectations. The aim of the Higher Education special interest group is to contribute towards and enhance critical debates and perspectives on higher education policy, pedagogy and practice. This is a broad remit that embraces interdisciplinary research with critical research methodologies, theories and philosophies.
Recent research papers and symposia presented by SIG members have included the following themes:
The SIG aims to create a supportive network of educational researchers through building symposia for the main conference, through smaller scale activity during the year, by supporting new and early career researchers, and by building links with other higher education research networks.
Research Fellow at Birmingham City University
Dr Julia Everitt is a Post-Doctoral Researcher at Birmingham City University (BCU) and has worked in higher education as a researcher since 2014. Julia was awarded her doctorate in 2018 and as a researcher has been involved in over 30 research...
Senior Teaching Fellow at University of Warwick
Dr Kate Mawson is Associate Professor at Warwick University; prior to moving to Warwick in 2014, Kate taught in secondary education for 14 years. Kate teaches on Warwick's postgraduate ITE programme, being module lead for Professional Enquiry as...
Welcome to the BERA Annual Conference 2023 Abstract submission now open! It is a great pleasure to extend a warm welcome to a BERA Annual Conference 2023. Many of you will have watched the...
Would you be willing to act as a reviewer for abstracts submitted to the BERA Annual Conference 2023? To be involved, you will need to: be a BERA Member be available to referee abstracts...
The background The Covid-19 pandemic has accelerated digital transformation of business processes across different sectors. This is because when businesses were forced to operate predominately...
Continue readingThe alignment of education with actions to prevent radicalisation of young people is a global phenomenon and is reflected in the plethora of initiatives emerging from trans-European networks such...
Continue readingThe BERA Career Development Fellowship is a flexible package of benefits intended to support early career researchers (ECRs) in the first three years following the completion of their doctoral...
Continue readingSupported by BERA's Small Grants Fund, this study considered race, racism and racial equality within UK higher education institutions (HEIs). Although there has been significant progress in...
The challenges of writing a scientific article are widely discussed and acknowledged in research literature, including novice authors’ challenges (see for example Hyland, 2016; Lin & Morrison,...
Continue readingIntroduction In this piece, two early career researchers (ECRs), Muna and Nour, reflect on their experience of conducting qualitative research. The blog post is a continuation of the vibrant...
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