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.
Senior Lecturer in Education at Liverpool John Moores University
Craig A. Hammond is Senior Lecturer in Education at Liverpool John Moores University; prior to moving to LJMU, Craig taught across further education and college based higher education (CBHE) for 18 years. From 2015 to 2017 Craig was the Research...
Research Fellow at University of Exeter
Sanja Djerasimovic is a research fellow at the University of Exeter, where she studies the broad but interconnected areas of higher education policy, academic identity and practice, particularly among early career academics, and citizenship. More...
I really enjoyed participating in the BERA Early Career Researcher (ECR) Network’s symposium series, which is a great platform for practitioners and researchers to get together and talk about...
Continue readingIn the most recent issue of Research Intelligence (#145), BERA president Dominic Wyse follows up his presidential address with a declaration that it is essential for education to be regarded as a...
Continue readingEducation and higher education have always been associated with specific ways of working and presenteeism. Teachers or lecturers needed to be in the room to teach or to attend meetings and...
Continue readingDegree-qualified practitioners contribute to the quality of early years education and improve children’s outcomes. However, little is known about the content and structure of early years...
Continue readingDistance learning might seem to offer an ideal opportunity for students with mental health challenges to study for a degree, as it is flexible and can be done from home with the student...
Continue readingIt is an interesting time to be a student. Not a single day passes without newspaper and social media headlines echoing student concerns about the (mis)handling of the Covid-19 crisis on campuses,...
Continue readingI have a certain disquiet about the way we in higher education so often relate success and failure to the attainment or otherwise of goals. This focus on goals is present at all levels of...
Continue readingThe awarding gap is starkest between the likelihood of White (domiciled) students and Black, Asian and minority ethnic (BAME) (domiciled) students being awarded a ‘good’ degree in the United...
Continue reading
