Conference Agenda

The oil and gas industry is expanding and evolving due to climate, societal, and governmental changes (e.g. Doni et al., 2022; Megura and Gunderson, 2022; García-Amate et al., 2023). How do these changes affect the competences and skills needed in the industry? A Norwegian government-funded research project, Defining Future Subsurface Education Needs in Collaboration with the Energy Industry (SUBSET), attempts to answer this question while creating a framework for course co-creation in collaboration with the energy sector in Norway. The methods and findings of SUBSET might be applicable to education and training in the energy sector internationally as well. The University of Stavanger’s staff worked with five industry partners, two labor organizations, and one governmental advisory board to establish relevance with industry and better understand their current and future needs and expectations. By mapping the competences reported by stakeholders in the workforce now and those needed in the future, the project aims to identify which topics and skills should be offered as continuing or life-long education and which should be included in or excluded from formal degree programs. University courses on subsurface science and technology need to be adapted to accommodate the future needs of the energy industry (Arlett et al., 2010). Our research initiative showcases efforts to bridge the gap between academia and industry and aims to contribute valuable insights for the ongoing transformation of the energy sector. Furthermore, it might serve as a model for fostering contextualized, purposeful, and relevant collaboration between higher education and the dynamic demands of the evolving industry.

This paper discusses whether the introduction of Degree Apprenticeships (DAs) offered by English higher education providers (at Level 6) is enhancing social mobility by widening access to underrepresented groups, as the UK Government claims (DfE 2021; Halfon 2023) and is based on two pieces of research being carried out by researchers at Sheffield Hallam and the Edge Foundation.

Degree Apprenticeships (DAs) were introduced in England from 2015 for roles including digital, automotive engineering, banking, and construction (Hubble and Bolton 2019) and have quickly expanded to include many more occupational areas from retail management to health and social care. The number of DA starts (at level 6) trebled from 6,400 in 2017/18 to 25,000 in 2022/23 (DfE 2023). DAs provide “an innovative new model bringing together the best of higher and vocational education” (DBIS 2015). The incorporation of a full degree within the degree apprenticeship is “crucial to its ‘brand’” (Reeve and Gallacher 2022, p160). Reflecting that conclusion, Universities UK (2019, p15) noted that “degree apprenticeships are seen as having parity of esteem with traditional degrees, thus helping to raise the appeal of vocational education opportunities more broadly.” Even if parity of esteem is not entirely achieved, the introduction of DA contributes to the improved reputation of vocational and technical education and training.

Only few European countries offer apprenticeships at degree level and Scotland is one that introduced Graduate Apprenticeships. Other countries, such as Germany and Austria have hybrid studies. Consequently, this presentation will generate interest from those countries where policies target the inclusion of students from disadvantaged backgrounds in HE, where diversification of vocational students is of interest.

DAs are integral to the UK government’s strategy of improving economic productivity through enhancing the skills of the workforce whilst also addressing social inequality (see DfE 2021). DAs are, therefore, part of a coherent and comprehensive shift in education policy and funding in relation to the perceived needs of the UK economy.

In terms of the make-up of current apprentices on DAs, research finds that there are two main groups of students that are attracted to them. The first group of students is young (18 years old), going into a new job role as a degree apprentice rather than university as an undergraduate, either as part of a cohort in a large organisation or an individual joining a smaller organisation (see also Cavaglia et al., 2022). Such DA students, however, do not match the underrepresentation profile of what are considered ‘widening participation’ cohorts in the UK, in terms of social class background, gender and ethnicity (Cavaglia et al., 2022; McCaig, Rainford and Squire 2022). The second group of degree apprentices are existing staff already in employment and DAs are often offered to them as part of ongoing staff development within organisations; hence they are people that have not attended higher education, and to that extent DAs are ‘widening participation’ to some disadvantaged groups (e.g. mature students) albeit as a secondary consideration.

The UK Government has argued that DAs are a suitable replacement for undergraduate degree programmes, mainly on the basis that degree apprentices don’t accrue student loan debt (Cavaglia et al., 2022) (degrees in England and Wales average around £9,00 per year), so represent a better offer for students from low-income backgrounds. 27% of apprentices on L6 and L7 programme came from the most advantaged areas (CSJ, 2020) and only 13 % lived in the most disadvantaged areas of England. Nevertheless, the extent to which DAs offered by HE providers fit their widening access remits is politically contested given that institutional efforts to improve access is regulated by the Office for Students.

The COVID-19 pandemic challenged higher education (HE), university teachers, and students around the globe in 2020. Overnight, COVID-19 brought sudden changes and unexpected shifts to remote teaching and learning, putting teachers and students in an extraordinary situation. Although much research (e.g., Badiozaman et al., 2023; Bajaj et al., 2021; Baker et al., 2022; Leal Filho et al., 2023) has been conducted across different sectors, universities, countries, and continents involving different actors since COVID-19, there are indications that much more research is needed (Baker et al., 2022; Imran et al., 2023).

Our study departs from and complements the existing literature in multiple ways. Firstly, due to the cultural context, the research tries to determine the pandemic’s implications in the post-COVID era in Latvian HE. Secondly, the research considers the perspectives of both students and teachers using the case of the University of Latvia (UL). Thirdly, although quite a few studies have been conducted about HE during the COVID-19 period in Latvia, none have yet been published about Latvian HE in the post-COVID-19 period. Finally, although the challenges that every university faces are different, the results will be useful for all HE institutions in Latvia and other post-Soviet European countries.

The research questions to be answered are as follows:

RQ1 Since COVID-19, have students and teachers perceived any changes in HE (teaching and learning, e-environment, use of technologies, study modes and design)?

RQ2 Since COVID-19, have students and teachers perceived any positive benefits in the study process?

RQ3 Has the post-COVID-19 era promoted socialization among students?

RQ4 Are there any differences between the two groups of respondents

Previous research indicates that COVID-19 brought both challenges and new advantages to HE (Kalniņa et al., 2023).

The pandemic reshaped the priorities of HE and HE found ways to overcome the COVID-19 crisis through digital transformation technology (Leal Filho et al., 2023). There was hope that this digital transformation would continue in the post-COVID-19 era (Rubene et al., 2021). Furthermore, there was an assumption that HE would be better prepared after COVID-19 to accept and include technology as an essential component of the learning process to make face-to-face learning more flexible and engaging (Benito et al., 2021), thus promoting sustainable development.

Nevertheless, the shift to so-called emergency remote teaching during COVID-19 showed that both teachers and students could adapt to new ways of learning (Baker et al., 2022) and promoted a general sense of flexibility in HE. First of all, this flexibility involved moving into asynchronous modes of pre-recorded lectures, flexible schedules, different paces and engagement with course materials, and hybrid/dual modes (online and in-person delivery of lectures and seminars) (Baker et al., 2022; Siow et al., 2021), simulations, virtual reality, and augmented reality (Chans et al., 2023). Secondly, assessment and assessment policies were modified in order to take barriers affecting students’ learning during COVID-19 into account (Baker et al., 2022; Siow et al., 2021). Thirdly, different engaging activities were provided due to the difficulties of students keeping attention (Kalniņa et al., 2023). Fourthly, students and teachers were supported psychologically and in the study process by providing teachers with support and resources, helping to raise the competencies of educators in online teaching (Siow et al., 2021), and students with additional materials online (Kalniņa et al., 2023).

Introduction and Topic:
In the current global climate of heightened job competition, students are grappling with palpable tension between future aspirations and prevailing uncertainties, and this prompts an increasingly initiation into career planning (Jackson & Tomlinson, 2020). Europe, with its well-established career guidance systems, has historically excelled in this domain. The Erasmus+ programme introduced the 'Toward the European Career Development Programme: initiatives, cases, and practices in universities', underscoring the imperative for university students to focus on 'Integration with the world of work'. Asian countries, including China, have begun to advance university career guidance education through policy initiatives in face of a substantial youth labor force and intense employment competition. Internships, a crucial part of career planning, affords students the opportunity to adapt, learn, and accrue experience in a real work environment (Ganibo & Olayta, 2020), thus beneficial in fine-tuning employment decisions and enhancing chances of acceptance.

The formation of students' perceptions to their future development is influenced by both individual (Brown, Cober, Kane, Levy, & Shalhoop, 2006) and environmental factors (McNall & Michel, 2011; Renn, Steinbauer, Taylor, & Detwiler, 2014). Existing studies have proved the positive impact of career guidance education on career planning and job search intentions, (Renn et al., 2014) but finer-grained understanding is still required. The specific effects of students' career planning skills and the school support on their perceptions of internships have not been comprehensively explored. Furthermore, while the significant role of internship providers and higher education institutions in shaping the perceptions during the internships, most research focused on those already in internships (Daugherty, Baldwin, & Rowley, 1998; Zehr & Korte, 2020) and neglected the perceptions before internships and how they come about.

Research Question
This study aims to delineate the influence of career planning competence and school support on undergraduates' internship perceptions, offering various countries insights for a more thorough understanding of how personal ability and school factors affect students' career planning and perceptions in uncertain environment.

1) Does career planning competence significantly influence the internship perceptions of students with and without internship experience?

2) Does school support significantly impact the internship perceptions of students with and without internship experience?

3) What is the relationship between school support and career planning competence?

Conceptual Framework:

Career planning competency refers to students' perceptiveness of their environment and their ability to formulate and adjust plans on their career (Taylor & Betz, 1983). School support encompasses the internship-related courses, platforms, resources, networks, and counselling provided by educational institutions. The perceptions of internships are students' recognition of the importance of internships, their attitudes towards them, and their sense of self-efficacy when making internship-related decisions.

Higher education students in Finland and all over the world working a paid job alongside their studies. The reason for working is mostly financial but also gaining work experience (e.g. Holmes, 2008). Students understand the importance of gaining work experience and creating networks already during studies (Tuononen & Hyytinen, 2022), and thus they work alongside studies. Previous research has shown that any type of work experience can increase students’ employability and reduce the risk of unemployment (Passaretta & Triventi, 2015). In addition to work experience, transition to working life requires active career engagement already during university studies (Haase et al., 2012; Tuononen & Hyytinen, 2022). Career engagement includes, for example, career planning, identifying one’s own interests and recognising future job possibilities (Hirschi et al., 2014).

Working a paid job alongside studies means that students need to combine studying and working. This requires metacognitive awareness that refers to an ability to be aware of and specify one’s thinking about learning and an ability to plan and set learning goals, and to monitor their thoughts and actions to attain the goals (Schraw & Dennison, 1994; Kallio et al., 2018). Metacognitive awareness is commonly divided into two interrelated dimensions, knowledge about cognition and regulation of cognition (Kallio et al., 2018; Schraw & Dennison, 1994; Tuononen et al., 2022). Knowledge about cognition enables students to be more aware of what they know, and what they are able to do, and how and when to use the knowledge and skills in different learning situations (Kallio et al., 2018). Regulation of cognition is about planning, monitoring and evaluating one's thoughts, feelings and actions to attain one’s goals (Usher & Schunk, 2018). Therefore, metacognitive awareness is important for students to be able to monitor their studies and work alongside studies, as well as to see the relevance of work experience and to apply their learning to practice in work context.

Perceived relevance of work is subjective and can vary among students depending on their work and academic studies and career goals (Drewery et al., 2016; Nevison et al., 2017). For example, students have perceived greater relevance of work if the work offers appropriate challenges and if they work in a field in which they are aiming to work in the future (Drewery & Pretti, 2021). In addition, many studies of perceived relevance of work have been conducted in Australia, Canada, and the USA (e.g. Drewery, & Pretti, 2021; Stringer & Kerpelman, 2010). Furthermore, these studies explored the relevance of work in internships or work-integrated learning (WIL) contexts. Therefore, there is a need for research exploring perceived relevance of paid jobs in Scandinavia. In addition, it is important to explore humanities students' perceptions of the relevance of work experience and how it is related to their career engagement and metacognitive awareness.

The present study aims to explore how humanities Master’s students’ work experience of paid jobs is related to career engagement and metacognitive awareness. Research questions are: 1) How is students’ employment status related to their career engagement and metacognitive awareness?, 2) How are the amount and nature of work related to career engagement and metacognitive awareness?, 3) How is the experienced relevance of work related to the nature of work, career engagement and metacognitive awareness? With this information, higher education institutions can support students to take better advantage of their work experience and develop their career engagement and metacognitive awareness which in turn help them later in their transition to working life.

The complexity of innovation under uncertainty and undergoing the digital transformation of society requires an ultimate ability to embrace the unknown, transform the contexts and solutions, make sense, and deliver value with societal and environmental impact from those who engage in an innovation journey in the 21st century. However, the competence development models, and even so practices, rely on models that have been developed a few decades ago and lack an in-depth integration of skills that would allow the innovator to navigate the uncertainty with greater creativity and confidence. Both the academic and the business environments must reinvent themselves and adopt a more responsible and desirable approach to innovation (Owen, Bessant, et al., 2013), embracing sustainability, inclusion, and societal risks, but also frugal and circular innovation while embracing the challenge of digital transformation inducing the new logic of work, and a societal organization at large. To progressively develop a collective commitment of care for the future and to identify innovation targets in a more ethical, inclusive, and equitable manner, innovation managers need to see “the big picture” and develop new skills and competencies such as creativity, critical thinking, curiosity but also mindfulness, empathy, emotional engagement, and a greater awareness and sensibility towards environment and all stakeholders of their ecosystem. The potential success considering the context of the digital transformation era lies in the mix of these skills, abilities, and orientations (Dabrowska and Podmetina, 2017; Ritala et al., 2021) consequently the combination of skills needs to be reconsidered, adapted or even reinvented.

In the innovation management literature, the attention is rarely focused on skills (Chiarello et al., 2021; Kim and Lee, 2022; Membrillo-Hernández et al., 2021), although the rapid technological (and in particular the AI development) and sustainable changes highlight the alarming necessity for innovators and creative thinkers to develop a more holistic and interdisciplinary approach to innovation and entrepreneurship (Dobson and Walmsley, 2021). Unfortunately, education practices struggle to equip the students with the set of skills to act under the unknown, deal with extreme complexity, ambiguity (Schleicher, 2018) and wicked problem solving (Von Thienen et al., 2014). Integrating Art - and all artistic experimentations from visual arts, to theater, dance, music, photography, design…- could help to focus on new, different, unconventional and creative skills that are lacking in the current approach of innovation and education (Berthinier-Poncet et al., 2022). The integration of Arts in the industrial environment could also fill the need of organizations to engage in new, more spontaneous, sustainable and novel ways of managing and innovating (Carlucci and Schiuma, 2018). The artistic process allows for a different kind of understanding regarding approach to creativity, one that emphasizes self-generation, metacognition, and thematic coherence.

The relatively recent STEAM education approach - Science Technology Engineering Arts and Math’s - offers a major step in the development of these expected new skills as it emphasizes experiential and transversal learning, transdisciplinary and project-based work stimulating autonomy, creativity and self-control in students (Chien and Chu, 2018; Conde-González et al., 2021). This development is part of the recent trend towards transformative learning (Clark and Wilson, 1991; Watkins et al., 2012) that represents a profound shift in an individual's perspective, beliefs, and assumptions, leading to a more inclusive and critically reflective worldview (Mezirow, 1997). The significant emphasis is placed on skills and competencies derived from Arts.

In this paper we study (RQ) what new skill sets are essential for future innovators and entrepreneurs’ competence development from industry and academia perspective and propose an Arts-driven competence model for future innovators and entrepreneurs.

The rising popularity of higher education has consequently incentivized undergraduates to pursue advanced degrees. From the perspective of Homo economicus, which considers the decisions of undergraduates to be rational and calculative to maximize personal utility, research indicate that students pursue advanced degrees to mitigate the growing uncertainty associated with employment amidst the expansion of higher education (Wright & Horta, 2018). On the contrary, however, the labor market indicates that students have a hazy perception of the degree's direct, immediate, or transferable value concerning employment (Tomlinson, 2008). Therefore, aside from economically modeling the decision of students to pursue degrees, it is critical to investigate students' subjective perspectives on the matter.

The proliferation of bachelor’s degrees has made it more difficult for Chinese students to meet the quota for admission to master's programs. In line with trends observed in other educational systems, Chinese students associate the pursuit of graduate degrees with not only the anticipation of favorable labor market prospects, but also with positive self- and social assessments (e.g., parental approbation). The multifaceted motivates that drive Chinese students to pursue advanced degrees manifest in a variety of feelings and conduct throughout their undergraduate studies. Particularly for those undergraduates already attending elite universities who exert effort to remain competitive with the elites, the pursuit of a master’s degree becomes a more or less obligatory choice, which induces anxiety, perplexity and involution (Zhu, 2021).

The purpose of this research is to investigate the relationship between the motives of undergraduates and their learning attitudes. Specifically, this study aims to: (1) identify the types of motives that drive Chinese undergraduates to pursue a graduate degree through the use of a person-centered approach; (2) detect how members of different motive types vary in terms of involution involvement, peace of mind, and academic burnout; and (3) compare the findings of this study with those of other countries regarding motives for academic pursuits and analyze the impact of different cultures on motivation.

The underlying theoretical framework employed in this study is Self-Determination Theory (SDT). Motives are conceptualized as a multidimensional construct within SDT, in which various motive types are categorized along a continuum according to the extent to which they are internalized, namely, internal motives, identified motives, introjected motives, and external motives (Deci and Ryan, 2000). Both introjected and external motives are considered controlled motives since they both motivate behavior through the imposition of demands or pressures. Additionally, identified and internal motives are regarded as autonomous motivations. In theory, being motivated by control would end in undesirable consequences, whereas being motivated by autonomy is expected to produce favorable outcomes. Senko et al. (2023) have recently broadened the classification of SDT to encompass nine distinct motives, namely: enjoyment, personal development, other’s development, personal pride, personal shame, others’ pride, others’ shame, social reward, and social punishment. A model of the nine motives can more accurately characterize the motives of undergraduates who are pursuing a graduate degree.

Studies of student satisfaction, dropout, failure, and disappointment with grading and examination events are plentiful. There are fewer corresponding studies of faculty, except for PhD students' experiences (McAlpine, Skakni, & Pyhältö, 2022). Higher education is characterized as an instrumental selection process designed to complete a meritocratic project of separating the wheat from the chaff, the talented from the untalented, and the promising from those who cannot expect an academic future. This process is a reflection of the competition that exists for a position or promotion in the academic world. If you succeed with your education and also qualify for an entry-level qualification for employment, there are still many who do not succeed in the competition for that one position at the institution where the applicant wants to build a career. Whether applying for a position in competition with others or for promotion based on merit criteria, there is excitement, anticipation, and, in some cases, desperation, shame, and disgust when applicants are rejected, and experience negative judgments and downward thumbs down. Students' assessment of teaching can be disheartening, and colleagues' unwillingness to understand or comply with decisions or agreed principles, just as a decree of rejection or crushing peer reviews can undermine employees' faith, hopes and dreams. For the person concerned, the experience of such crises is a process of depletion of ardour and enthusiasm, self-confidence and ambition - or it is part of a resilience-building experience base. When life in higher education institutions is portrayed in university self-presentations, it is almost without exception positive news, about careers flourishing, projects being won, and results being achieved. To some extent, critical journalism leads to pointing out injustices, crises, poor working environments, and intolerable conditions for individual academics. Stories about sexual harassment, unreasonable favouritism, unequal distribution and unfair conditions are the critical approach of trade union journals. Similarly, there is a large research literature on the experiences of students and staff during COVID-19.

To get through disappointments, rejections, and inhospitable mechanisms in higher education, resilience research shows that people who can be flexible and adaptable more easily take disappointments as part of the ordinary register of experience and remain resilient. They can dismantle challenges into manageable sub-tasks and continue undaunted (Robertson, Cooper, Sarkar, & Curran, 2015). They show the ability to develop emotional intelligence, which involves an ability to regulate their reactions to emotional fluctuations within themselves and from others, show coolness when crises occur, find support from significant others, and develop good relationships with others. Resilience is also linked to an ability to maintain oneself, both physically and mentally, balance work and private life and regulate one's feelings of stress, dimensions that are largely trainable. People with resilient traits are also diligent in maintaining supportive networks and anyone who can provide positive support through challenging times. The research literature shows that people who are characterized as resilient and satisfied in their profession are less likely to experience the challenges as exhausting (Castro, Labra, Bergheul, Ependa, & Bedoya Mejia, 2022).

Our research question is how employees in higher education develop this balance of well-being and ambition in light of the distinctive experiences each individual has with adversity and success, rejection and acceptance, and how support and perseverance are shaped through networks and as a result of individual characteristics. In our study, we want to shed light on the experience of being part of the academy's meritocratic theatrical game and what this can do to the individual in their encounter with themselves and others as a professional.

In this essay, we offer a temporal lens to open new ways of conceptualizing decarbonizing academic work. While there has been a growing literature on climate justice and higher education (HE), remaining undertheorized is the temporal aspects of decarbonizing academic work. While some have critically examined the role of HE in climate change, through interrogating its purpose, curricular reform, and the role of students and faculty in the current climate crisis (Grady-Benson & Sarathy, 2016; McCowan, 2023; Rae et al., 2022; Reyes-Garcia et al., 2022; Stein et al., 2023; Williams & Love, 2022), others have interrogated the climate change consequences of internationalization of HE (McCowan, 2023; Shields, 2019; Shields & Lu, 2023). Most of these discussions have taken place in the context of Global North, and rarely apply a temporal lens. We draw on our experiences and research on Bangladeshi academia, as an entry point to explore intersecting questions of climate politics, academic work, and a global South context for climate justice.

We argue that a temporal lens helps us illuminate the temporal politics underlying the possibilities and challenges of contemporary decarbonizing academic work globally. By temporal politics, we mean the inherent social-power relations, assumptions, and/or biases of social action (i.e., advocacy, decision-making), related to the way we make sense of, connect to, and experience time, that goes beyond, but also includes clock time. As such, we offer a temporal political reading of the common solutions offered in decarbonizing academic work, namely reconsidering a) aeromobility, b) digitization, and c) futurity.

We believe a temporal lens is pertinent in the debates about HE’s role in climate justice for several reasons. First, we echo Facer’s (2023) suggestion that we need to ask temporal questions in the climate crisis debates, such as: “Who is telling the time in this situation and how?... What are the histories and habits that shape my own temporal assumptions, where do these come from, and what sustains them?” (p. 64). As such, we can raise tough questions about how the problems and solutions towards climate change are embedded in dominant paradigms of knowledge (Stein et al., 2023), including time. Second, climate change is an unfolding temporal phenomenon, and not a singular event, which interconnects larger macros processes with the everyday, including academic life. Finally, incorporating a temporal lens further helps nuance the role of HE in the climate crisis by illuminating the ontological variance in framing the climate crisis, the inequities in Global North/South academic mobility, and the role of clock-time in academic work.

In 2022, the Swedish government funded a national academic development enhancement project. It was administered by the Swedish Council for Higher Education (UHR), who commissioned the Network for Academic Development Leaders (HPCF) to provide a comprehensive practice-oriented mapping of leadership of education in Swedish academia. The network brings together all 28 appointed leaders of Swedish academic development units, acting as a national node and strategic partner for educational development in higher education. HPCF appointed researchers from three of Sweden’s largest universities to lead the project, as well as a reference group with experts in the field of academic leadership from the Nordic countries.

It is a truism that research is valued higher than education within the sector, and HPCF concluded that discussions of leadership of education in Swedish academia are much too rare. Indeed, the fact that the mapping was to be carried out as part of an initiative to enhance academic development set the direction for the project, in line with its declared purpose to strengthen the strategic educational leadership of universities.

We, the researchers in the project, have extensive experience of leading academic development work, and take every opportunity of trying to contribute to positive change in education and quality. Mapping leadership of education in academia is an urgent and important task and when planning for the mapping project, we saw an opportunity to use our situated knowledge (Haraway 1988) of leadership and development to cultivate change at the same time as we conducted our study. So, how does one design a study that both generates knowledge and cultivates change in the institutions one studies while studying them?

We consider qualitative research on higher education, where researchers meet colleagues and students, also as a pedagogical process. As researchers in this context, we have a responsibility to be responsive – learn, reflect and develop our methods and approaches – both before and while conducting the research. Our understanding of our role during the research process is based on Donna Haraway’s (1988) concept of situated knowledge, which emphasizes the context-dependence of knowledge and challenges the idea of universal objectivity. When we meet our informants, we adopt a situated objectivity, in Haraway’s sense, where our perspective is grounded in the context while striving for a responsible investigative approach in relation to the people we meet.

In this paper, we present and analyze how different parts of the research process have been designed, providing opportunities for cultivating change, in addition to the potential development that may come from the knowledge collected for the mapping project itself. It is, therefore, primarily a methodological contribution, which we hope can create awareness and reflection among other researchers studying colleagues and practices within higher education.

Dropout poses a significant challenge in higher education, straining institutions and incurring costs for society while potentially resulting in unnecessary setbacks for individual students. Research on dropout has been integral to higher education studies, with Vincent Tinto's seminal work on student retention forming a cornerstone upon which much of the current dropout research is built (Tinto, 1975, 1993).

Tinto's theory, rooted in the concept of "integration," suggest that successful student retention is closely tied to the extent to which students integrate into the academic and social domains of their institution. The theory underscores the importance of academic and social support systems, as well as the role of faculty and peers in fostering a sense of belonging and commitment among students (Tinto, 1993, 2017).

However, recent empirical research within professional education highlights a blind spot in Tinto's model. Academic and social integration alone cannot fully explain dropout in professional education; rather, students' integration into their chosen profession also plays a crucial role. Thus, the British researcher Deborah Roberts (2012) demonstrates the significance of professional integration for teacher students’ considerations of dropping out, while Glavind & Hansen's (2023) research on study groups shows that group work can have professional-integrative effects in addition to the academic and social integrative effects. In other words, studies of retention must also focus on students' sense of professional belonging. Students must be able to envision themselves in the profession they are training for. Otherwise, there is a risk that they will opt out of the program, even if they are performing well academically and socially.

This paper aims to theoretically develop the concept of professional integration and integrate it with Tinto's model. Specifically, the paper addresses the research question: How can Tinto’s model be revised to include student integration in the professional domain?

Biographical learning "places confidence in the competence of individual learners to handle biographical disruptions caused by late modernity "(Hallqvist, 2014). This type of learning was closely related to biographical research methods from the very start but is also connected to a particular educational practice of autobiographical storytelling. The broadest definition claims biographical learning deals with the relationships between biography and learning, biography as a way of learning and the influence of biography on learning (Tedder & Biesta, 2007). This definition opens up the theoretical view into biographical learning but does not help operationalise it to capture it precisely in the empirical data. Therefore, the research gap in biographical learning knowledge is a lack of clear understanding of the internal processes that occur when an individual engages in biographical learning. Alheit, the author of the biographical learning concept, also pointed out the lack of a systematic theory of biographical learning (Alheit & Dausien, 2002). According to Alheit, biographical learning is about understanding changes in personal and social identity, as well as bodily identity, as a potential for growth and ownership of one's life story and biographicity (Alheit et al. 1995). The paper aims to present biographical learning as a theoretical and empirical perspective on learning. The leading question for the theoretical analysis of this study was what the role of biography, narrative, and identity is within biographical learning. The empirical analysis of biographical learning was a concrete analysis of non-traditional students' narratives about their biographical experiences to understand their biographical learning in relation to what they learned and how they learned it.

The European agenda for widening participation in Higher Education (HE) aims for a reflection of the diversity of the European population in the student body as well as equity of opportunity in education (European Commission/EACEA/Eurydice, 2015, 2020). This has led to an increase in so-called non-traditional students (NTS) entering universities throughout Europe (ibid.). The term “non-traditional student” includes but is not limited to students who, e.g., are first-generation students, are engaged in regular paid employment, belong to an ethnic or migrant minority or have care responsibilities (Gillen-O’Neel, 2021; Nairz-Wirth & Feldmann, 2018). NTS, however, are overrepresented among HE dropouts (Thaler & Unger, 2014; Tieben, 2020; Wolter et al., 2017), which contradicts the European Union’s above stated goals. This may be due to HE-institutions' predominant orientation toward “traditional” full-time students with tertiary-educated parents etc., which may cause NTS to experience additional difficulties in HE (Nairz-Wirth & Feldmann, 2018). The majority of HE dropouts happen during the transition to university (Aina et al., 2022), which can therefore be described as a particularly challenging time for students.

To deal with challenges, students need resilience, the ability to adapt to and grow during challenging times. As NTS may face additional difficulties in HE (see above), they would especially benefit from a high level of resilience. Previous empirical research established that resilient students are significantly less likely to drop out of HE than less resilient students (see e.g., Ayala & Manzano, 2018). An important dimension of resilience is the perceived self-efficacy (Jardim et al., 2021, p. 6). Bandura’s (1994) conception of self-efficacy is employed to define a university student’s study-related perceived self-efficacy: The study-related perceived self-efficacy therefore describes the belief/expectation of a student to achieve certain levels of performance in their studies through their own abilities and actions, e.g., during an exam, which in turn affect the student’s progress, e.g., through the result of this exam. Low-threshold access to study-related information capital strengthens the expectation of self-efficacy (Crozier & Reay, 2011), especially during the transition to university. Because students can make decisions on which skills to acquire and which actions to take to positively influence their study progress only based on appropriate information. Notably, access to informal high-quality information capital, so-called hot knowledge (Strecker & Feixa, 2020), e.g., information exchanged through informal chat with other students, is critical for a student’s perceived self-efficacy. Cold knowledge, e.g., the information displayed on the homepage of a study program, in contrast, embodies formal information capital, which often does not match the quality of hot knowledge (Strecker & Feixa, 2020). NTS, especially first-generation students, may be at a disadvantage in accessing hot knowledge, as they cannot access it through their families (Strecker & Feixa, 2020).

This contribution aims to identify study conditions, which facilitate student’s access to hot knowledge and are therefore, as conceptualized above, suitable for enhancing student’s resilience. For this purpose, Bourdieu’s relational theoretical framework with the concepts habitus, field and capital (Bourdieu, 1977, 1983) is applied and expanded by information capital as a combination of social and cultural capital (Lessky et al., 2021). As different fields of study vary greatly regarding the accessibility of hot knowledge due to differing field structures and conditions, three vastly different study programs are investigated with each being viewed as a specific social field. This leads to the central research questions of this contribution:

1. Which study conditions are suitable for facilitating student’s access to hot knowledge during the transition to university?

2. How do three different study programs compare regarding the student’s access to hot knowledge?

Research on school engagement has a long tradition in understanding students' feelings of connection with their academic surroundings, values surrounding educational goals (Orthner, Jones-Sanpei, Akos & Rose, 2013), and participation in academic success (Orthner et al., 2013). High engagement with school can be linked to students' overall success and is of fundamental importance for understanding positive youth development (Li & Lerner, 2011). Engagement with school is characterized by several components, including students' sense of belonging, identification with school, and a sense of relatedness, whereas academic engagement refers to time on task, earned credits, and homework completion (Salmela-Aro & Upadyaya, 2013). The affective or emotional component refers to students' enjoyment and interest in school-related challenges, positive and negative reactions to teachers and classmates, and willingness to do one's schoolwork. The cognitive component, in turn, refers to students’ investment in schoolwork, as well as their thoughtfulness and willingness to learn and exert the necessary effort while studying. Finally, the behavioral component is described in terms of involvement, being present at school, and complying with school discipline rules (Salmela-Aro & Upadyaya, 2013). The concepts of three school engagement dimensions also describe students’ participation, commitment, positive and negative emotions, investment, and willingness to exert effort in one’s schoolwork, all of which refer to patterns rather than causes behind one’s actions. Thus, school engagement can be described as a multidimensional, developing, and malleable construct, including students’ (Carter, Reschly, Lovelace, Appleton & Thompson, 2012).

Normally, girls often exhibit higher levels of behavioral, emotional, and overall school engagement than boys (Li, Lynch, Kalvin, Lin & Lerner, 2011; Salmela-Aro & Upadyaya, 2012; Wang & Eccles, 2012), which may be related to girls’ tendency to perform better at school. Students from lower-income families are more likely than girls and higher socioeconomic status students to experience rapid decreases and follow unstable school engagement trajectories, often leading to school dropouts (Li & Lerner, 2011).

Experiences of belonging, positive relationships, autonomy, and competence are essential to psychological well-being; they provide the psychological “nutriments” or “resources” that sustain and enhance autonomous motivation and the engagement, persistence, and effort that flow from it. Moreover, if one or more of these nutriments is thwarted or denied, we quickly experience negative impacts on well-being, performance, and motivation (Dotterer & Lowe, 2012). Student mental well-being will be supported when teaching and learning practices actively engage students' intrinsic interests and communicate the importance and value of the knowledge and skills being developed. In this sense, students that are engaged in their classes and their universities express more good feelings, good relationships, and accomplishment, and these elements are essential for improving well-being.

In this study, we sought to explore the relationship between the involvement of 1st-year students in the university according to age and gender. Since we have students attending both day and night classes, we decided to establish age categories between 19-23 and more than 23. The research hypotheses to be evaluated are the following: Q1: students’ school engagement in the 1st year varies according to age. Q2: students’ school engagement in the 1st year varies according to gender (male/female). One hundred university students attending the 1st year participated in this study. Participants have a mean age between 19 and 57 years old and a mean of 23.9 (SD: 6.6).

It is in universities’ interest to have high numbers of thriving and successful PhD candidates. PhD students are an essential part of the research system, as Larivière (2012) showed that one-third of the research output at universities was produced by PhD students. Moreover, the unsuccessful completion of a PhD trajectory goes hand in hand with major financial, societal and psychological costs (Allan and Dory 2001; Golde 2005).

Aggregated across Europe, about 34% of all PhD students do not obtain their PhD degree within six years (Hasgall, Saenen, and Borrell-Damian 2019). In Australian, British, Canadian, and American universities, average dropout rates range between 30% and 50%, depending on the discipline (Bowen and Rudenstine 2014; Lovitts 2002; Golde 2005; Council of Graduate Schools 2008).

the PhD track is very different from other phases of education and brings along its specific challenges. A substantial group of PhD students works alone on their project under the supervision of one or more supervisors. Working collaboratively with peers is not always part of the PhD trajectory, which can sometimes make it a lonely process and renders the role of the supervisor all the more important (Cantor 2020). Additionally, the academic environment in which PhD students work is characterized by ever-increasing job demands and competition, due to among other things a growing number of undergraduate students who increasingly fall under the responsibility of PhD students, an increasing pressure to get research funding and publish, and a growing demand to be involved in other activities next to research (Gill 2014). Both the high dependency on the supervisor and the demanding academic environment might incentivise PhD students to quit.

Indeed, research found that factors related to supervision, the project itself and psychosocial factors are associated with the intention to quit the PhD (van Rooij, Fokkens-Bruinsma, and Jansen 2021). However, turnover intention does not always reliably predict actual turnover, nor are the variables explaining turnover intention necessarily the same as those explaining actual turnover (Cohen, Blake, and Goodman 2016). Therefore, we add to this line of work by studying how the received support of the supervisor, the experienced time pressure during the project, and the amount of passion one has for research can predict actual dropout. Contrary to previous studies – that tend to focus solely on administrative data or survey data – we combine administrative data on actual dropout with survey data on the experiences of the doctoral trajectory (n=589).

In this study, special attention is paid to the heterogeneity within the group of PhD students. Previous research does suggest that dropout rates between disciplines differ (Golde 1994; Wright and Cochrane 2000), yet deeper knowledge on the mechanisms behind this is lacking. The aim of this study, then, is to investigate whether certain characteristics of PhD students and certain experiences of the PhD trajectory are associated with dropout, and how the importance of these variables varies between scientific disciplines. These insights will enable university policymakers to develop targeted measures to reduce dropout. Specifically, the two research questions for this article are: “to what extent do support, time pressure and passion for research predict dropout?” and “does their potential predictive power vary across scientific disciplines?”.

There has been increasing interest in understanding the higher education experiences of students who spent time ‘in care’ (e.g. with foster carers) as children, usually due to maltreatment or neglect within the birth family. Members of this group tend to have to overcome strong barriers to educational success, including social disruption, trauma, societal stigma and low expectations from professionals (Stein, 2012). Individuals who spent time in care are often referred to as ‘care-experienced’ and it is increasingly understood that their average educational outcomes are significantly lower than the general population (Berridge et al., 2020; Sebba et al., 2015).

Nevertheless, many care-experienced people thrive within the education system and achieve highly. Official figures for England (Department for Education, 2022) show that 13% of those in care at 16 enter higher education by 19; numbers appear to be growing, while care-experienced people often choose to study later (Harrison, 2020). Furthermore, Harrison et al. (2022) have estimated that around one-quarter of care-experienced graduates progress immediately into postgraduate study. However, almost nothing is currently known about those approaching the top of the academic ladder (Baker, 2022).

This paper therefore explores the experiences of care-experienced people who are now pursuing an academic career (i.e. as professors, lecturers, research fellows and similar), addressing the following research questions:

• RQ1: What insights do the lived lives of the participants offer into successful pathways into and through higher education for people with experience of children’s social care?
• RQ2: Why did the participants choose a career in academia, what challenges have they had to address to establish their careers and how have they overcome these?
• RQ3: What mechanisms, if any, exist within universities to support the professional development of care-experienced academics (e.g. mentoring or funding streams)?
• RQ4: How have the participants navigated issues of identity formation/renegotiation and communities of practice in academia?

We use Archer’s concept of reflexivity (2007, 2012) to explore the balance between individual agency and societal structures, with a focus on the ‘internal conversations’ that we have with ourselves. These help to guide our decisions and actions in relation to the enablements and constraints posed by the prevailing social structures. We also draw on the concept of ‘identity work’ (Brown, 2015) to explore the decisions that academics make about their professional lives. This is predicated on the idea that we can concurrently hold and project multiple identities that can be complementary, overlapping or even contradictory. Identity work captures the mental, emotional, social and physical labour that is invested in creating, maintaining and reconciling the identities that we deploy in professional settings.

While our study is focused exclusively on the United Kingdom, it has a wider relevance across European settings. There has been an increasing focus on care-experienced students in higher education, for example, in Ireland (e.g. Brady et al., 2019) and other European nations (e.g. Jackson and Cameron, 2014). We believe, however, that this is the first study to specifically address the lives of care-experienced academics.

As we are facing new technologies, AI in our changing communities and societies, we are challenged to develop skills to adapt and respond to the developments emerging at global and local contexts[STB1] . These changes have affected the labor market, where employees are required to solve complex problems at a fast pace. (Karaca-Atik et al. 2023).

The goal of doctoral programs is to develop graduate students as researchers to advance knowledge, ideas, and develop creative solutions. Yet, many follow a very narrow path with little experience outside of academia removing them from the realities and problems faced by new demands. To address this, researchers and employer have identified a set of 21st century skills (P21, 2019) to navigate the current developments and solve the problems of our generation. Over the years, these skills have been known as soft skills (Succi & Canovi, 2019), generic skills (Frenk et al., 2010), or skills for employability (Kearns, 2001). In this study we use the term transferable skills to denote the applicability of these in various contexts (Barnett & Ceci, 2002).

Where do our graduate students acquire these transferable skills in a university environment? Few would be inclined to first look in teaching professional development and pedagogical trainings. Researchers have explored existing literature identifying skills commonly seen as valuable to employers. In this quest, it has become apparent that preparing graduate students to teach provides competencies that go beyond the classroom or laboratory settings. Whereas skills acquired from teaching preparation programs and classroom experiences are often overlooked, research has shown that teaching skills can be transferred to a variety of careers.

This research study was conducted at a large research-intensive public university in the U.S.A. granting Bachelor, Master’s, and Ph.D. to over 50,000 students from all around the world. Annually, approximately 1300 of the 10 000 Graduate students hold instructional roles as part of their graduate assistantship and funding package, and provide 10 % of all classroom instruction at the institution. Their instructional roles include teaching a section or a lab, grading, and leading small discussion groups. These students participate in an intensive Graduate Teaching Assistant (GTA) Preparation program over multiple days to prepare them for effective instruction. The program focuses on facilitation, assessment and evidence-based pedagogical practices that will foster student learning. Feedback on whether graduate students met learning goals, and if they thought what they learned equipped them to be effective is collected immediately following the program. An initial review of the feedback revealed the utility of the skills and their congruency with transferable skills identified in the literature, among those effective communication skills, socio-emotional skills, leadership skills, and collaborative skills, to name a few (Karaca-Atik, et al., 2013). These skills can be used to mitigate some of the current challenges and positively advance our communities and our society. For example, communication skills to address contentious topics and situations, socio-emotional learning to compassionately listen to the stories of students in crisis can also be applied to working with those affected by humanitarian crises. Using technology to build connections and solve complex problems can translate into creating more equitable and humanizing experiences that challenge our world. In our attempt to intentionally design programs to prepare graduate students for working with diverse student populations, the classroom serves as a microcosm for the uncertainty experienced in our world, and prepares them to become change agents who instill hope to solve the problems faced by local and global communities.

Higher Education finds itself at a pivotal moment in time where disruption and innovation converge, creating a dynamic landscape of possibilities. Accompanied by the traditional concerns of increasing accountability, decreasing budgets and diverse student populations educators are responding to unprecedented competition with rapidly evolving generative AI technologies with demonstratable capacity for both learning adaptively. Collectively these challenge us to consider what constitutes good learning and teaching and more importantly cause us to question how do we know?

Three important imperatives compel those in higher education to address these two important intersecting questions. First, a thriving, dynamic economy is essentially a ‘knowledge economy’ with a robust pipeline of lifelong learners who can easily engage and re-engage with formal studies at any point in their personal or career pathways. (OECD 2023; Cheng et al. 2022; Morales et al. 2020). Beyond this transactional view of education, the provision of excellent learning environments builds nations and communities of people who can be better equipped to critique and interrogate ideas with a compassionate and ethical disposition, so vital in our information saturated world where the reliability of sources is questionable. Specifically, we want learners who have experienced transformative learning which empowers them with competencies inclusive of knowledge, skills, attitudes, and values that enable them to have agency over their own futures (OECD, 2019; Evans et al. 2015; Evans et al. 2010). Most significantly, if we want an equitable and just world, we have a responsibility to ensure all students, irrespective of their cultural backgrounds, gender or levels poverty or age are given the best opportunities to engage with learning in higher education and then to retain them until course completion. Both international figures and Australian data support the view that participation in higher education is strongly correlated with positive outcomes later in life (OECD 2020; ABS 2023; Tomlison, 2017).

This demands that we investigate practices that work and set students up for success. The American Council of Education (ACUE) make the powerful claim that, “The techniques of effective college instruction are known” (2016 p. 6). This view is not universally maintained (Morales et al. 2022). It must be acknowledged that there are multiple and ever-increasing demands on academics’ time including publishing, research commitments, compliance training, regulatory obligations and often large class sizes and teaching loads. Furthermore, as a profession intentional, systematic professional development with a focus on pedagogy has not been a high priority but is often provided as an ‘add on’. This is further muddied with promotion of a myriad of ‘effective’ pedagogical practices including: Case-based Learning through to Research-based learning, Service learning, Public Scholarship, Technology-enhanced learning, learning by making and doing to mention a few. (Mintz, 2020). Beyond these typically better documented approaches, a new wave of scholars and thought leaders are proposing less well investigated approaches such as, ‘pedagogies using AI tools, metaverse for education, pedagogy of care in digitally mediated settings, entrepreneurial education, and relational pedagogies’ (Kuklska-Hulme et al., 2003). Although it is heartening to see continuint exploration in this space, it also demonstrates the confusion and lack of clarity about what methodologies are critical to attend to and which have a valid research basis.

The literature review explored in this presentation synthesises key themes which have emerged from a small but well-respected research base of effective pedagogical practices in higher education and outlines implications of this for educators and policy makers. The conclusions aim to support academics in making sense of the complexity of learning and teaching and equip them not with simplistic formulas, but a menu of ‘high reliability’ options proven to improve the student learning experiences.

Based on case study research in the Irish Technological University sector, Moran (2023) identified two factors within the control of a Higher Education Institute that contribute to student persistence. They are the provision of an enabling learning environment and appropriate programme design.The student should be at the centre of programme design decisions, which ultimately influence the student experience in the classroom (Tinto, 1975, 1993, 2012, 2017,2018). This paper seeks to investigate the manner in which appropriate programme design and an enabling learning environment are achieved in practice, by exploring the perceptions and experiences of lecturers and academic support staff in achieving these objectives.

Academic lecturing staff represent a significant collective body of knowledge, both formal (or explicit) and tacit, which is a key resource in programme design decisions. Among other factors such as HEI history and development, lecturer social and cultural capital (Bourdieu, 1988; Bourdieu & Passeron, 1990) influences and informs the type of programmes that are created and provided in Higher Education. Marginson (2008, p. 303) describes HE as a ‘relational environment that is simultaneously global, national and local. Programmes are therefore required to align with HEI Institute policy, the European Standards and Guidellines (ESG), the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and a myriad of national HE policies and objectives. This means that the creation of a curriculum that is student-centred, while meeting national and international HE objectives, can be challenging.

The provision of centralised Teaching and Learning Centres in HEIs supports the the process of programme design, as well as informing academic staff about best practice, and embedding the broader requirements that programmes should meet.

This research studies the interface between academic lecturing staff and Teaching and Learning staff who create and disseminate teaching, learning and assessment resources in line with international, national and Institute policies. It investigates the extent to which academic lecturing staff use the programme design supports and resources that are provided by their HEI, seeking to gain an insight into the factors that enable or inhibit their use.

The research questions are:

How do academic staff use their cultural and social capital in the programme design process, and by extension, the provision of an enabling learning environment?

To what extent are the formal resources of the HEI (Policy, Data, Teaching and Learning Centre, programme development software) used to inform programme design and re-design; what are the enablers and barriers to their use?

The paper uses the theoretical perspective of Bourdieu (Bourdieu, 1984, 1988; Grenfell, 2014; Grenfell and James, 1998) to study the role of lecturer cultural and social capital in the context of HE habitus and field. For Bourdieu, field describes a social space in which interactions and events take place, and the context in which previous knowledge about the field was generated, must be taken into consideration.Habitus describes a way of being and the relationships that exist between agents in a field (Maton, 2005); this interaction produces (and can reproduce) the social world and underpins the culture and practice that develops within the field. Bourdieu’s concept of field (Bourdieu and Wacquant, 1992) provides a framework for considering how existing knowledge about the field of HE is used and enhanced in the HEI, and informs programme design and classroom practices.

Recent technological advancements have significantly impacted higher education, expanded access, and created new learning opportunities. This transformation is reflected in the changing demographics of university students, as seen in the consistently rising enrolment numbers and the emergence of more diverse student groups (EUROSTUDENT, 2018; Ólafsdóttir & Jónasson, 2017).
As a result, the task of designing courses that effectively meet the needs of all students has become more challenging. Recognizing the crucial role of engagement and motivation in student success, it has become evident that designing courses to address the expectations and needs of a diverse student body at the university level is a complex process. In this context, actively involving students in the course design process has been identified as a key factor in enhancing their interest and promoting success in learning (Bovill & Woolmer, 2019; Cook-Sather et al., 2014; Jones, 2009; 2018; 2019).
Curriculum serves as the foundational structure for educational experiences, encompassing the entire educational planning spectrum, from design to implementation and program evaluation. The intended curriculum sets educational goals and content, acting as a guide for student learning. The translation from intended to attained curriculum is influenced by instructional methods, interactions, and the learning environment, with student participation crucial in bridging this gap (Bovill & Woolmer, 2019; Thijs & van den Akker, 2009). 
Cook-Sather et al., (2014) have developed a ladder of active student participation in curriculum design, which delineates levels of student involvement, ranging from passive reception to active collaboration. They argue that empowering students along this ladder fosters motivation, a sense of ownership, and enhances the likelihood of achieving the intended curriculum (Cook-Sather et al., 2014). The implemented curriculum reflects the dynamic interplay between educators, students, and the learning context, where active student participation contributes to co-creating knowledge and enriching the educational experience (Cook-Sather et al., 2014). 

In conjunction with the Ladder, the MUSIC model of motivation identifies five key elements—eMpowerment, Usefulness, Success, Interest, and Caring—that collectively contribute to a motivational learning experience. Thus, by incorporating these elements into course design and teaching practices, educators can enhance student motivation (Jones, 2009; 2018; 2019). 

Addressing these aspects of curriculum design and implementation calls for teachers’ continuous development of academic knowledge and teaching skills. The Scholarship of Teaching and Learning (SoTL) ideology integrates teaching and research, providing a framework to cultivate these competencies (Gurung and Swartz, 2013). Thus, SoTL assists higher education teachers in meeting the increasing demands of teaching quality for diverse student groups (Ólafsdóttir & Geirsdóttir, 2022).  SoTL encompasses concepts, research, and knowledge defining professional teaching, involving theoretical framework development, reflective practices, and dialogues with colleagues and students about teaching and learning (Boyer, 1990; Groccia, 2023; Potter & Kustra, 2011). 
The study presented here focused on student participation in curriculum development in higher education and used the MUSIC model of motivation as a conceptual framework when analyzing the data collected from the students participating in the study. Its primary aim was to explore students' experiences of being actively involved as curriculum co-creators in three courses on the digitalization of education, part of a teacher education study program in a public university in Iceland. The central question guiding the research was: How do students perceive being actively included as co-creators of the curriculum, and how does this perception relate to the foundational principles of the MUSIC model of motivation? 

The study aligns with international trends in research on learning and teaching development in higher education, emphasizing the active involvement of students in the curriculum design process. It contributes to the understanding of how collaboration between students and teachers positively impacts the quality of education. 

Higher education institutions are increasingly developing professional development (PD) programs for university academics as part of an increased international focus on teaching and learning (Hundey et al., 2020). In this regard, research has called for approaches addressing theories of social learning, experiential learning and collaborative learning for professional growth (Laksov, 2022). In the same manner Mentorship in PD is equally gaining attention (Ince, 2017, Cree-Green et al., 2020). Despite recognition of its benefits, the literature has not conclusively defined the theoretical foundations, duration, or approaches and outcomes of optimal mentorship in PD (Hallman et al., 2020). While several studies have discussed mentorship for early career academics (ECAs), few have been embedded in a context of institutionalized approaches focusing on pedagogical development, and most studies are based on small sample sizes or conducted with no subsequent empirical analysis (Hundey et al., 2020; Pleschova & McAlpine, 2015). Recent literature has thus called for further research to explore mentorship using diverse methodologies, larger samples, and longer-term studies (Pleschova & McAlpine, 2015).

In the higher education literature, several terms such as mentoring, coaching, tutoring, facilitating, and supervising refer to a similar goal of supporting inexperienced educators. Rather than trying to distinguish between these concepts, we find that they all share a common set of imbedded beliefs and practices. Thus, this study adopts the operationalized definition of mentoring used in Pleschova and McAlpine (2015), which emphasises long-term cooperation between teachers and colleagues with more teaching experience and expertise with the aim of educational development and the enhancement of teachers’ pedagogic practice.

The study took place at a Danish University, that provides an institutionalized long-term (12 month) PD program for ECAs. The program is multi-tiered, based on social constructivist theories of adult learning, and follows principles of problem and project-based learning. It comprises participant-centred workshops, collaborative teamwork, individual project work, and mentorship. Uniquely, it employs a collaborative approach to mentorship through a two-mentor setup: a subject mentor from the mentees’ close environment, and a pedagogical mentor from the Centre for Teaching and Learning. While the pedagogical mentor supports the ECA by providing generic pedagogical knowledge, the subject mentor provides support regarding discipline-related teaching and interaction within the immediate work environment (the study program or department). Considering the unique structure of mentorship, this study explores how both mentors perceive their roles by drawing on their experiences, guided by the research question:

What are the views of mentors—both subject-focused and pedagogy-focused—on their role of supporting ECAs in a long-term academic development program?

Conceptual framework

Recent literature calls for a systems-thinking approach to supporting academics’ professional learning (Arnesson & Albinsson, 2017; Hundey et al., 2020; Hallman et al., 2020; Ince, 2017). On this basis, this study conceptualizes the mentor’s role as a situated, contextualized, erratic, enacted, and practiced along three interrelated dimensions: the mentor’s individual characteristics, dynamic relations through collaboration, and contextual interaction.

The individual characteristics dimension describes the congruence between values and practices (Ince 2017).

The relational dimension focus on how mentors engage with relationship dynamics in groups. Relationship-oriented mentoring is increasingly being reported as an effective PD approach, underlining mutual respect and reciprocal learning (Arnesson & Albinsson, 2017).

The contextual dimension involves mentors’ constant interactions with their environment. Mentorship is recognized as a sustainable resource for ECAs with mentors coordinating organizational activities and supporting community building, facilitating a common language, and building cultures of trust (Laksov 2022).

The proposed framework serves as a conceptual foundation driving the research design and the process of exploring mentors’ subjective views.

Introduction

Global competence is essential for equipping future citizens to effectively participate in sustainable development activities and contribute to achieving the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) (OECD, 2019). Recognizing the importance of fostering responsible action towards sustainable development, modern higher education institutions are increasingly incorporating it into their educational agendas(Auld & Morris, 2019). Traditionally, higher institutions have focused on providing specialized,professionally-oriented majors meet the professional skill demands of students (Huang & Chen, 2013). However, developing courses oriented towards fostering students’ global competence, which demand interdisciplinary approaches and embrace diversity, poses a significant challenge (Mossman, 2018). While there is extensive literature on developing global competence among university students, most of it is based on Western contexts, with limited research and practice reflecting an oriental perspective. This gap highlights the need for a more inclusive and diverse exploration that incorporates Eastern educational contexts and practices, offering a broader, more balanced insights into how to foster undergraduates’ global competence effectively.

Research objective

This paper introduced an exploratory action research study focused on identifying university-level course design strategies that could substantially elevate the global competence of students from diverse cultural backgrounds. The objective of this research is to explore the pedagogical ways in which the student learning goal of developing global competence can be diffused effectively into the SDG-focused courses. By doing this, this study hopes to offer both theoretical and practical insights into the understanding on the instructional design of university courses, which with a specific focus on addressing undergraduates’ learning needs on global competence.

Theoretical framework:

Global competence emerged as a concept in the context of globalization to address the needs of international cooperation. At the end of the 20th century, the concept of global competence was first introduced from the perspective of enhancing international understanding (CIEE, 2014). Since then, academic discourse on global competence has intensified, with scholars proposing theoretical frameworks to elucidate it. For instance,Olson and Kroeger (Olson & Kroeger, 2001) divided global competence into three dimensions: knowledge, attitudes, and skills.Subsequently, Asia Society suggested adding a dimension of behavioral capability to these three dimensions. Later, the OECD proposed a framework for assessing students’ global competence in its 2018 Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA).It defines global competence as a multidimensional lifelong learning goal, encompassing an individual’s capacity to examine local, global, and intercultural issues; to understand and appreciate different perspectives and worldviews; to respect others and interact effectively; and to take responsible action for collective well-being.

The 'Integrated Course Design' model, is a globally recognized framework in the field of instructional design, and widely adopted by educators (Fink, 2005; Branch & Dousay, 2015). This model encompasses three key design elements: (1) Learning Goals, which are the expected student learning outcomes; (2) Teaching and Learning Activities; and (3) Feedback/Assessment. The latter involves both students and teachers using appropriate evaluation methods to ascertain whether the anticipated learning objectives have been met. This includes teachers gathering feedback on student learning outcomes, as well as students receiving feedback based on the teacher's feedback. These elements create a closed loop and establish a mutually supportive relationship.

This study references the conceptualization of global competence as proposed by the OECD and employed the 'Integrated Course Design' model as a focused theoretical framework to guide the instructional design in this study. global competence is adopted as one of the learning objectives, integrated with subject-specific goals within the framework of course designs. The design of teaching activities is meticulously structured around the the four dimensions of global competence. Throughout the instructional process, formative assessments are utilized as the evidences for evaluating the course design.

From a perspective of social responsibility, Higher Education Institutions (HEIs) cannot remain on the sidelines of the profound changes which are taking place on the planet, such as poverty, inequality, climate change and environmental degradation, among others. Consequently, HEIs have a pivotal role in promoting The United Nation’s 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and Social Transformation (UN, 2019) with its 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) as universities have the ethical duty to train committed citizens, with social awareness and capacity for critical analysis to make appropriate decisions and clearly provide pathways to achieve a better future (Rodríguez-Izquierdo and Lorenzo Moledo, 2023).

In this sense, Service Learning (SL) is anchored in the strategic projects of many universities internationally, committed to enhance students’ academic learning, social responsibility, and citizenship skills, while developing community capacity through service (Rodríguez-Izquierdo, 2021). It is specifically this experiential learning and its ethic and civic dimensions that render SL as a suitable approach to work in the same direction as the SDGs (Rodríguez-Izquierdo, 2023; Ruiz-Corbella and García-Gutiérrez, 2023; Sotelino-Losada et al. 2023). It is worth noting that the SL approach seems to go against the present neoliberal, performative, market driven culture of HE based on other types of indicators such as the labour market and the ranking systems.

This paper seeks to identify and examine the scientific literature (2015–2023) on the interconnectedness between SL and the SDGs in HEIs, to provide knowledge of the state of the art and the advances that have been made in this field. The specific questions that guided the study were defined as follows: How interest in this topic has evolved? What is being researched about SL and SDGs? How do researchers approach the topic? What are the contributions of SL towards the development of SDGs in HEIs? Further, the study will expand the existing literature in sustainability education and provide insights into the impact on the expansion of SDGs through the implementation of SL courses in HE.

Academic Programs and Department Heads

The position of a Program or Department Head is among the most crucial and challenging roles in the higher education systems (Buller, 2012; Tietjen-Smith et al., 2020). However, it is also often characterized by its lack of clear definition and ambiguity (Aitken & O’Carroll, 2020; Maddock, 2023). These heads act as key middle managers, essential for the smooth operation of academic institutions. Despite their importance, there has been relatively little research conducted on the wide range of their duties and their effectiveness (Gmelch et al., 2017; Reznik & Sazykina, 2017; Wald & Golding 2022).

Department heads guide their academic units, overseeing daily operations, setting strategic objectives, and ensuring efficiency. They manage budgets, allocate resources, and make key program decisions (Machovcova et al., 2023; Maddok, 2023).

Heads are pivotal in shaping and updating the curriculum, designing new courses, revising existing ones, and aligning them with institutional goals and diverse student needs (Bobe & Kober, 2015).

They are involved in recruiting, hiring, and evaluating faculty, promoting their professional growth, and participating in tenure and promotion decisions (Buller, 2012; Wald & Golding, 2020).

They collaborate with internal and external stakeholders to enhance interdisciplinary studies and research partnerships (Aitken & O’Carroll, 2020; Freeman et al., 2020).

Heads advise students on academic planning and course selection, address related concerns, and innovate to meet student needs. They are responsible for maintaining academic standards, and they ensure programs comply with accreditation and reflect current educational practices (Erkkilä & Piironen, 2020; Maddock, 2023).

They represent their departments, and they secure resources and funding within their limited authority (Kruse, 2022).

The Heads’ academic outputs

Heads of academic departments play a pivotal role in shaping the efficiency and effectiveness of educational institutions (Maddock, 2023; Lizier, 2023). Their expected outputs, influenced by their institutions` mission, encompass various aspects. In leadership and administration, they manage operations, strategic planning, and resource allocation, as Kekäle (1999) noted. They're instrumental in curriculum development, aligning it with institutional goals and student needs (Bobe & Kober, 2015).

Their management role extends to staff recruitment, hiring, and evaluation, ensuring academic quality and standards (Buller,2012; Wald & Goldring, 2020; Saunders & Sin, 2015). Heads also advise and support students, and engage in vital collaboration and networking, as described by Erkkilä & Piironen (2020). Despite limited institutional authority (Kruse, 2022), they handle conflict resolution (Lizier, 2023; Taggart, 2015) and balance administrative duties with research (Wald & Goldring, 2022; Machovcova et al., 2023).

Research success relies on institutional support and personal motivation, and a conducive research environment (Hoang & Dang, 2022). They navigate institutional policies and are influenced by institutional prestige (Way et al., 2016). Balancing research and administrative tasks (Reznik & Sazykina, 2017) is crucial, especially in challenging times.

In many academic settings, department heads often serve temporarily in managerial roles, usually returning to their primary roles as researchers and lecturers after a set period. Their main career focus is consistently publishing research while handling administrative duties, as research is a key part of their professional identity. These leaders are expected to keep producing and publishing research to progress in their academic careers. Their research output often measures their performance (Reznik & Sazykina, 2017). Even on regular days, middle-level academic leaders face the challenge of balancing their scholarly work with their leadership roles, often finding little time for research (Aitken & O’Carroll, 2020; Machovcova et al, 2023). Understanding how they manage their research activities, especially during prolonged crises, is vital and discussed in this research.

Research question: how do academic program and department leaders manage their research during an extended crisis?

In an age of increased mobility, there are increasing numbers of university teaching and research staff working in countries other than their birthplace, i.e., International Academics (IAs). These academics have been identified as one of the main players in the internationalisation of HE (Tekeen, 2006; Trahar and Hyland, 2011). Yet, the specific experiences and roles in Higher Education Institutions (HEIs) has only recently started to receive focused attention in internationalisation research. Current research suggests a potential gap between the idealised role of IAs in HE and their actual experiences. The mobility of IAs from the Global South to the Global North raises the issues of inequities and inclusion (Morley et al., 2018), for instance. In the context of the UK, the role of IAs is particularly significant. Universities UK’s argument for the importance of internationalisation is supported by data showing a considerable presence of non-UK academics, with 74,070 international staff recorded in the academic year 2021-2022 (Universities UK, 2023). Despite this significant number, research exploring how IAs contribute to internationalisation within UK higher education institutions, beyond what is apparent, is limited (Minocha et al., 2018).

This paper explores how IAs position themselves in their personal narratives focusing on their storylines at a Russell group University in the UK. The study aims to answer two main research questions: (1) What are the narrativised experiences of IAs at a UK Russell Group University? and (2) How do IAs position themselves in their narrations? The One specific institutional context was selected aligning to the understanding that internationalisation processes of HEIs vary widely, influencing the contexts in which IAs operate (Lomer et al., 2023). The study explores the construction of narrated international academic identities through the interplay of self-positioning and external positioning by others. In doing so, the study aims to voice individual experiences, reflecting the diverse personal and social reality of IAs, rather than generalisation of findings to all IAs.

The modern world is in a state of acceleration; continuous development and rapid transformation, as noted by Hartmut Rosa (1). This is also true for the Danish welfare state. Technological innovations, and economic, social, and climate-related challenges, are causing shifts that impose new demands on the welfare professions and their field of practice. Additionally, this also affects the professional education programs at Higher Education Institutions (HEI’s). They must continually adjust and adapt their curricula and formats to incorporate latest research and insights into how the demands of today unfolds in practice, whether for primary school teachers, nurses, or other welfare professionals. Often, research knowledge involves a lengthy journey from production at universities to publication in journals, followed by the integration and transfer of new knowledge into education programs and professional practice. This process entails a relatively long lead time and cross-institutional shifts that can challenge or even hinder the exchange of knowledge between universities, universities of applied sciences, and practical settings.

The (missing) link between research, education, and practice has been discussed across Europe and worldwide for many years (2,3). The fact that this discussion is still going on might reflect the level of complexity on this matter. This paper brings the pathways of knowledge exchange between academia and professional practice into question and discusses the potential of action research as an approach to support the link between research, education, and practice.

Research question: How can action research in Higher Education contribute to and strengthen the link between educational research, professional education programs, and professional practice?

The point of departure for this paper are two ongoing Danish action research projects within the welfare professions. The first project explores pre-professional identity formation in a young professional education, the bachelor’s Degree Programme of Nutrition and Health. The participants in the project are students, educators, and researchers, and later, professional practitioners will also partake. The project runs over the course of three and a half years (the length of the education program). The second project explores how teaching of Natural Sciences and Technology in primary schools can be strengthened through innovative learning labs, and professional identity work. Participants in this project are pre- and in-school teachers, University College consultants, and researchers. The duration of this project is one and a half years.

Action research implies an understanding of research as “a participatory process concerned with developing practical knowing” (4) – not on someone but together with. This understanding means that all participants are seen as equal co-thinkers, and co-creators, all contributing to the research process with different, yet equally important knowledge and expertise. This approach allows researchers to closely engage with and accompany practices undergoing rapid and continuous change. In contrast to other research methods, there is no time lag between data collection and the dissemination and application of new knowledge. Action research is action-oriented and offers the potential to gain concrete insights into what is at stake in practice and why (5). At the same time this is also challenging because this processual approach entails that the research process can be both messy and magic (6). This requires openness among researchers, participants, stakeholders, and society.

The empirical data in this paper is composed of audio-recordings, transcribed text, and field notes (7) from the two action research processes, and analysed using reflexive thematic analysis (8). It is too early to draw conclusions from the projects, but the preliminary analysis suggests that action research has potential in facilitating a meaningful exchange of knowledge between different arenas, roles, and positions in the field of HEIs. This is also in accordance with international findings (9).

Relevant pedagogical studies have previously highlighted the need for and importance of providing training and support for new Graduate Teaching Assistants (Sharpe, 2000; Young and Bippus, 2008; Korinek et al, 1999; Park, 2004). GTAs are usually PhD students who take on some teaching responsibilities while completing their doctoral studies. This is a widespread practice in the UK and the US Higher Education contexts, as well as in many European and Australian Universities. Research has shown that even full-time postgraduates aiming to complete their PhD in 3-4 years, regularly teach for 4 or more hours per week (Sharpe, 2000). In the UK, the National Postgraduate Committee of the National Union of Students put forward guidelines as early as in 1991 and 1993 on the use of postgraduates for teaching that include a requirement for proper professional training.

Regardless of this recognition by various national and international bodies that PhD students who teach are making a considerable contribution, both to the student learning experience and the smooth operation of Universities, the training provided for teaching assistants often appears to be insufficient or consisting of limited ‘training on the job’ for many. Indeed, the literature has emphasised the many challenges that part time GTAs face and the significant role training and mentoring can have for their future career development. For example, unlike established academic staff, GTAs are seen as both teachers and students (Winstone and Moore, 2017) which can sometimes compromise their authority in the classroom. GTA training and support varies in different Universities and different countries from minimal instruction to more subject-specific preparation and guidance (Young and Bippus, 2008).

Given this context, there is a great need to consider training programme frameworks for the development of Graduate Teaching Assistants in a similar way that junior members of staff are often offered professional development and training in the beginning of their academic careers. Furthermore, discipline specific teaching training is of paramount importance for enhancing both the professional development of GTAs and the learning experience of undergraduate students.

Given this background, the aim of this paper is to explore preliminary findings of the impact of a pilot GTA training scheme. The ‘Sociology GTA Academy’ was launched in the Department of Sociology at Surrey University in Spring 2022 with the aim to provide extended subject-specific training throughout the semester. In its first pilot run, this included three 3-hour long training sessions covering, among other things: engaging students in seminars; creating interactive activities; marking and feedforward; dealing with sensitive topics and managing disruptive behaviours. This new initiative was supported by Faculty funding and it has been further extended in the last two years, following extensive feedback from the GTAs who undertake the training.

A second phase of the project is currently under way and we are gathering information on the Affordances of Discipline specific teaching training for PhD students who teach during their doctoral studies. Based on narrative analysis of the GTAs’ feedback, the paper will consider the learning experience of the GTAs that took part in the training and will highlight recommendations for further subject-specific training and its potential impact for both GTAs as well the UG students who are taught by GTAs.

Introduction

Teacher agency is a concept that underscores the pivotal role teachers play in the educational landscape, emphasizing the importance of granting them autonomy and authority in shaping their teaching practices (Aspbury-Miyanishi, 2022). While most research has traditionally focused on primary and secondary education (Cong-Lem, 2021), recent studies have recognized the significant impact of teacher agency on university teaching (Kusters et al., 2023; Vähäsantanen et al., 2020). This study takes a closer look at teacher agency in the university setting, exploring how lecturers manifest agency and make informed decisions within the framework of an ecological approach.

Theoretical Framework

Teacher agency, according to Aspbury-Miyanishi (2022), is the ability to perceive and capitalize on different possibilities within specific situations. It involves the capacity to determine the most suitable option aligned with broader educational goals. Crucially, teacher agency is not merely compliance with conventional approaches but necessitates the identification of opportunities for action. Drawing on the ecological approach, teacher agency is multifaceted and constructed through the iterational, projective, and practical-evaluative dimensions.

The iterational dimension emphasizes the role of personal and professional experiences in shaping teacher agency. This dimension recognizes that lecturers draw upon their past encounters and reflections to navigate current situations. Lecturers, through iterative processes, accumulate knowledge and insights that contribute to their agency.

The projective dimension of teacher agency focuses on forward-looking actions. It involves the ability to envision future possibilities, set goals, and plan for effective teaching practices. Lecturers, within this dimension, go beyond immediate concerns and engage in proactive decision-making that aligns with their pedagogical objectives.

The practical-evaluative dimension roots teacher agency in engagement with current practices, encompassing practical evaluations of cultural, structural, and material contexts. This dimension recognizes that teacher agency requires an awareness of the dynamic and context-dependent nature of teaching. Lecturers assess the impact of their actions within the broader educational environment, adapting strategies to suit specific conditions.

The ecological model of teacher agency, as proposed by Priestley et al. (2015), captures the interconnectedness of these dimensions. It emphasizes the dynamic and context-dependent nature of teacher agency, illustrating how personal and professional experiences, forward-looking actions, and practical evaluations intersect to shape effective teaching practices.

Research Question
The central inquiry of this study revolves around understanding how teacher agency is achieved in varying teaching scenarios within university settings. The research question is as follows: How and in what ways is teacher agency achieved in varying teaching scenarios in universities? By delving into the manifestations of teacher agency, the research aims to illuminate the ways in which lecturers navigate diverse teaching situations, drawing on their personal and professional experiences, engaging in forward-looking actions, and conducting practical evaluations within the ecological framework. The research question drives an exploration of the complexities inherent in teacher agency within the university context and seeks to uncover the nuanced dynamics that contribute to informed decision-making in the realm of university education.

In conclusion, this theoretical framework provides a comprehensive understanding of teacher agency within an ecological approach, laying the groundwork for the exploration of its manifestations in university teaching. The interconnected dimensions of iterational, projective, and practical-evaluative aspects underscore the complex and context-dependent nature of teacher agency, setting the stage for a detailed investigation into how lecturers achieve agency in diverse teaching scenarios within higher education.

Introduction

Due to the financial organization of academic research, which is for a large share funded on a temporary and project-basis, junior academics find themselves increasingly in precarious situations. In this paper, we are presenting the aggregated experiences of 676 postdoctoral researchers in the Netherlands. Our first analysis (Van der Weijden & Teelken, 2023), based on quantitative analysis, demonstrated high stress levels, and serious mental health problems due to their lack of academic career prospects, the publication and grant pressure, work-life imbalance, and lack of institutional support.

The meaningful findings of our first analysis and the substantial data provided, stimulated us to carry out a secondary data analysis, by using a more open and exploratory approach. In this second investigation, we are taken a closer look at the explanations provided by the respondents, which we have analyzed in a qualitative manner. This approach helped us to distinguish the various discourses. Our research provides a more nuanced, but no less alarming picture of the current situation of early career academics in the Netherlands.

Research Context: Postdocs trends in the Netherlands

Postdocs are employed and have a temporary contract with their university, University Medical Center or research institutes in the Netherlands. A postdoc is not an official position described in the Dutch university collective labour agreement (UFO), but they are part of the group “other academic staff,” including lecturers and other researchers on temporary contracts. (van der Weijden et al, 2016).

The number of postdocs employed by Dutch universities was 2,146 fte in 2005. In 2021, this number had grown to 3,810 fte (Rathenau Instituut, 2023a). The proportion of female postdocs rose from 34% in 2005 to 41% in 2021, with the share of non-Dutch postdocs increasing from 46% in 2006 to 67% in 2021 (Rathenau Instituut, 2023a). For a researcher recently awarded a doctorate, a postdoc position provides an opportunity to stay and perhaps to advance in academia. However, the academic job market is highly dynamic. More than one in four leave every year, with only a relatively small proportion (18%) moving to a more senior position in the university (Rathenau Instituut, 2023b).

Inclusive research within educational sciences has been less prominent than in social sciences in general (Seale et al., 2014). Inclusive research, encompassing participatory-, participatory action-, and emancipatory research (Nind, 2014), is defined by Walmsley and Johnson (2003) as: ‘Such research [that] involves people who may otherwise be seen as subjects for the research as instigators of ideas, research designers, interviewers, data analysts, authors, disseminators and users’ (p. 10). In short, in inclusive research the role of the researcher and researched is reevaluated throughout the entire research process. Through this evaluation of and increase in participant involvement, inclusive research can have positive effects on the validity of the research (Baxter et al., 2016; Sergeant et al., 2021; Walmsley et al., 2018). The added validity makes inclusive research methodology equipped for the aim of educational sciences: to broadly apply results to policy and practice (Creswell, 2012).

However, the implementation of inclusive research is not as straight forward as one might hope or as it is often portrayed (Todd, 2012). Inclusive research can be arranged in different ways, all with their own contestations such as who gets to participate, what is meant by active participation and not viewing participant involvement as a checklist (Nind, 2014). As Walmsley (2004) states: ‘There is a need for honesty, transparency, realism and detail when we report how we go about doing research inclusively; different contributions to research should be ‘named and described and recognized for what they are, not for what we wish they could be’ (Walmsley, 2004, p. 69). Making transparent which choices researchers make, based on what reasoning, can clarify the validity, value, and interpretation of the results of research in educational sciences.

In this symposium, we not only make transparent which choices we made in our research and its effects on (the interpretation of) the results but also the challenges that occurred while (attempting) inclusive research, its ethical complexities, and reflections on further implementation. We constructed the following research question:

What are approaches to apply inclusive research methodology to (future-orientated) educational research?

To explore different approaches to apply inclusive research methodology we present three studies in which inclusive methodology is consciously employed and the process and effect hereof. In the first presentation, on Shaping Tomorrow: Inclusive Research for Transformative Education, we discuss the necessity of inclusive methodology, and engaged scholarship, through a study which incorporates student voices in a photovoice method. After which, in the second presentation, Facilitating Intercultural Competence Development among International Students, the choices for inclusive methodology and its limitations are explored while zooming in on the authors’ choice for using case study interviews. In the last presentation, Research with Teachers on Inclusive Higher Education, the effects of methodological choices on the interpretation of results in studies on inclusive higher education is presented while showcasing a tool which helps researchers in reflecting on and designing their own research.

The purpose of the symposium is an in-depth dialogue on various ways to implement inclusive methodology, rationale to implement specific approaches and how to deal with its complexities. After the symposium, participants’ have a sense of different inclusive research approaches, the complexities surrounding inclusive methodologies, tools for implementing inclusive methodologies as well as reflecting on existing research, and a deepened consideration of the importance of engaged scholarship within the educational sciences.

In the educational sciences, the primary goal of research lies in its ability to generalize results to policy and practice (Creswell, 2012). Enhancing the generalizability of research outcomes can be achieved through the active involvement of citizens throughout the research data life cycle (Ramcharan et al., 2004). This approach establishes a meaningful connection between research and society, inherently embracing inclusivity by addressing societal challenges. This contribution delves into the vital significance of research approaches that involve active participation, which aim to bridge the divide between educational research and practice. The goal of this study is "engaged scholarship," which emphasizes active collaboration between students, teachers, researchers, and the general public. It specifically emphasizes critical pedagogy and action research (Cahnmann-Taylor & Siegesmund, 2017; Van der Vaart et al., 2018). The approach taken in this study is demonstrated through a case study in higher education, with a specific emphasis on engaging and inclusive research through photovoice. The case study emphasizes both the methodological aspects of participatory research and the ethical complexities of conducting inclusive research, like data ownership and stigmatization, and the importance of considering how different ethnic and socio-economic backgrounds would conceptualize education in a different way. It also discusses the responsibilities and activities involved in collaborative research; specific precautions must be implemented to safeguard participants' privacy throughout the entire research project, such as “privacy by design” or “data equity (Gonzalez et al., 2022). Our focus is on promoting inclusiveness and actively involving a wide range of perspectives. An in-depth analysis of the "Photovoice" case study (Wang & Burris, 1997) highlights the effectiveness of engaging and inclusive methods. Through the active participation of students as co-researchers, we are able to enrich their perspectives and foster a sense of ownership and empowerment, while also valuing and embracing diversity. The findings underscore the relationship between ethical considerations, empowerment, collective ownership, and collaborative creation. This study emphasizes the importance of using participatory and inclusive research methods to enhance meaningful connections and interactions in educational research. In conclusion, this study adds to our understanding of the important connection between education and inclusive research, as well as the methods used in such research. The findings highlight the importance of embracing participatory and inclusive research methods for data collection and translation into educational practice. This approach fosters a strong synergy between education and research, ultimately leading to sustainable improvements in the educational landscape.

Cahnmann-Taylor, M., & Siegesmund, R. (2017). Arts-based research in education. Routledge. Creswell, J. W. (2012). Educational research: Planning, conducting, and evaluating quantitative and qualitative research. Pearson Education, Inc. Gonzalez, N., Alberty, E., Brockman, S., Nguyen, T., Johnson, M., Bond, S., O’Connell, K., Corriveau, A., Shoji, M., & Streeter, M. (2022). Education-to-Workforce Indicator Framework: Using Data to Promote Equity and Economic Security for All. Mathematica. https://eric.ed.gov/?id=ED628916 Ramcharan, P., Grant, G., & Flynn, M. (2004). Emancipatory and participatory research: How far have we come. The international handbook of applied research in intellectual disabilities, 83-111. Van der Vaart, G., van Hoven, B., & Huigen, P. P. (2018). Creative and arts-based research methods in academic research. Lessons from a participatory research project in the Netherlands. Forum Qualitative Sozialforschung/Forum: Qualitative Social Research, 19(2), 30.

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Inclusive higher education is a matter of inclusive education and research. Inclusive research, in which participants actively contribute in every phase of the research process (Walmsley & Johnson, 2003) leads to the strengthening of the validity of the research (Sergeant et al., 2021). Inclusive research is therefore a point of attention for governments and universities in the Netherlands (OCW, 2020; VH, 2022). However, the implementation of inclusive research methodology is in various ways complex there being no one-size-fits-all approach to achieve inclusion (Nind, 2014; Griffiths et al., 1998). To support educational researchers in their quest for creating valuable research which is applicable to practice, three academic research groups in the Netherlands designed an inclusive methodology tool: ‘The 3-Rs of inclusive research: reasons, rolls, and reflexivity’. The tool aims to get researchers to reflect, through an interactive and playful manner, on their own research and methodological choices herein. This all with an inclusive methodology lens and attention to the eventual societal relevance and aim of the research. In this presentation, we showcase the tool’s implementation through studies in our academic group in which inclusive research methodology is, consciously and deliberately, applied in more and lesser matter. By employing honesty and transparency on the (inclusive) research methodologies and rationale behind the chosen methodology, the validity, value, and interpretation of the results is made clear (Walmsley, 2004). The studies consist of the following methodologies: a systematic literature review, surveys, interviews, and interventions, all on teachers’ understanding of inclusive higher education. The studies illustrate the need for reflection on one’s own methodologies through an inclusive methodology lens while also showing the complexity and nuances within applying inclusive methodologies. By providing a tool on inclusive methodology and an example of how to implement it, we aim to give researchers the ability to implement this lens to their own research practices. In this presentation, we reflect on the usability of the tool for employing inclusive methodology and its use in our studies on inclusive higher education.

Griffiths,, M. (1998), Educational Research for Social Justice: Getting Off the Fence, Buckingham: Open University Press. Ministerie van Onderwijs, Cultuur en Wetenschap (2020). Nationaal acteplan voor meer diversiteit en inclusie in het hoger onderwijs en onderzoek. Geraadpleegd op 16 januari 2024, pdf (overheid.nl) Nind, M. (2014). What is Inclusive Research? London: Bloomsbury Sergeant, S. A. A. (2021). Working Together, Learning Together: Towards Universal Design for Research. [PhD Thesis - Research and graduation internal, Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam]. Gompel&Svacina Uitgevers. Vereniging van Hogescholen. (2022). Position Paper: samen werken aan inclusieve hogescholen met oog voor diversiteit. Geraadpleegd op 16 januari 2024, 085_044_08_PP_INCLUSIE_DEFDEFDEF.pdf (vereniginghogescholen.nl) Walmsley,, J. and Johnson,, K. (2003). Inclusive Research with People with Learning Disabilities: Past, Present and Futures, London: Jessica Kingsley. Walmsley, J. (2004). Inclusive learning disability research: the (nondisabled) researcher’s role, British Journal of Learning Disabilities 32: 65–71