Academic Identities

I mention my experience and academic writing as I want to be critical of the overall concept of quality assurance (though I suppose it is not the theory of which I am critical, but rather the way the theory seems to be implemented in practice).

Este trabajo resume algunos contenidos del informe final de una comisión externa que evaluó recientemente la investigación educativa de la UPN. Se precisan primero los objetivos de la evaluación realizada y en particular los criterios de "calidad de la investigación" asumidos; se explica después la metodología empleada y las categorías de calificación; en tercer lugar se comentan los resultados globales, y finalmente se formulan recomendaciones de política institucional presentadas a la institución para elevar la calidad de sus actividades de investigación. El artículo es relevante por la metodología seguida y por las recomendaciones finales que sistematizan los aspectos que debe atender cualquier institución de investigación en su organización, normatividad y funcionamiento. This work summarizes the final report made by an external commission that recently carried out an evaluation of educational research at Mexico's National Pedagogical University (UPN). The author states the evaluation's goals, emphasizing the "research quality" criteria assumed; explains the methodology and qualification categories; discusses global results and, finally enumerates some of the institutional policy recommendations presented to the institution. The importance of this evaluation lies on the methodology and final recommendations, which systematize aspects that must be taken into consideration by any research institution in their organization, rules and operation.

This study examines Israeli judges' incorporation of the Arabic language and Islamic religious sources in court rulings within Israel and the West Bank military courts. Analysing seventy-eight judicial decisions (1997-2024) and interviews with legal professionals, we identify six themes motivating this practice: persuasion, authority reinforcement, cultural bridging, mutual respect, substantiation and alternative reasoning. Both Arab and Jewish judges employ this approach across criminal, family and civil law cases. This linguistic and cultural integration enhances court decision legitimacy among Arabic-speaking litigants and fosters intercultural understanding within the legal system. The study contributes to discussions on legal pluralism, judicial behaviour and the role of language in multicultural judicial systems, illuminating how the Israeli legal system navigates its multicultural reality and the interplay between law, language and cultural identity.

There has been a debate over the use of genre-based pedagogy to develop university students’ ability to create valued meaning in academic writing. Some researchers support an implicit genre-based instruction while others support an explicit genre-based instruction. However, few empirical studies move beyond this debate to investigate the effectiveness of genre-based approach to developing university students’ academic writing skills. Therefore, this study investigates the impact of genre-based pedagogy in developing MBA students’ ability to construe critical stance in their writing. The data consisted of 28219 words corpus of 40 essay assignments, collected pre-genre-based course and post-genre-based course. Using Hyland’ s (2005) model of intersubjective positioning and Martin and White’s (2005) theory of evaluation in discourse, the data were analyzed for the distribution of hedges, boosters, attitude markers, and disclaim markers through manual coding using UAM corpus tool.  The results showed a significant decrease in the use of key linguistic resources that function to make a text informal. In addition, the results showed a less significant increase and a less significant decrease in the use of key linguistic resources that function to construe critical stance in academic writing. These results have implication for the use of genre-based pedagogy in developing students’ ability to create valued meaning in academic writing. They show the extent to which genre-based pedagogy, implemented at the beginning or during subject learning, impacts students’ academic writing skills.

Stress during doctoral study is common; however, its presence is of concern to students as it has a deleterious impact on well-being and performance, and to the university which has a duty of care to students and the desire to promote a supportive research environment. This article reports on the qualitative findings from an online survey that sought to identify students' experiences related to stress during the early-stage doctoral study. All newly enrolled PhD students at the University of Otago (New Zealand) received invitations to participate and respond to two questions related to stress during the early-stage doctoral study. In total, 152 survey responses were acquired from 352 first-year PhD students (response rate 43.2%). Nine main areas of concern were identified from an inductive thematic analysis of participants' responses. Key stressors were time pressure, uncertainty about doctoral processes, sense of belonging in scholarly communities, and financial pressures. Some findings are contrary to previous research with novel perceptions on the student-supervisor relationship, different financial issues, and transition stresses contrary to previous research; this may reflect the changed academic landscape of doctoral studies. Findings provide insight into potential support strategies to better support early-stage PhD students.

This research explores perceptions about and experiences of recent changes to policy and practice for academic promotions at Western Sydney University (WSU), with particular reference to gender equity, diversity and inclusion. Engaging with a breadth of promotions stakeholders (recent applicants, mentors, Committee members, and Deans/Directors), the study aimed to assess whether and how these changes are having impact at the University, identify ongoing barriers for academic staff applying for promotion, and scope refinements to policy and practice that may still be required to advance gender equity, diversity and inclusion at WSU. This "Unlocking Equity in Academic Promotions" report evidences recent equity advances in academic promotions policy and practices at WSU, where - broadly speaking - the University's culture around academic promotions is encouraging. Policy frameworks are increasingly inclusive and equity-responsive, as are the practice mechanisms in place to support applicants and other stakeholders. Further improvements are required, especially for socialising (and de-stigmatising) Equity Considerations, ensuring consistent support across disciplines, enhancing feedback processes, and extending the University's attentions to all areas of (in)equity across academic culture.

Celem niniejszej pracy jest obrona poglądu mówiącego o niezbędności czynników społecznych i kulturowych dla rozwoju nauki. Autor utrzymuje przy tym, iż można podkreślać niemożność tworzenia nauki poza społeczeństwem, ale nie musi to prowadzić bynajmniej do relatywizmu kulturowego, czy społecznego, a wprost przeciwnie jest to możliwe do pogodzenia z realizmem naukowym i prawdą rozumianą w sensie klasycznym. Pogląd taki broniony w kolejnych paragrafach poprzez odwołania do języka, praktyki naukowej oraz konieczności krytyki w nauce oraz wskazywanie w każdym przypadku na społeczno-kulturowy kontekst, w którym funkcjonują: bez społecznie rozwijanego języka koniecznego dla formułowanie naszych idei i ich wymiany, praktyki społecznej wdrażającej nas do badań naukowych i umożliwiających je oraz krytyki koniecznej dla rozwijania teorii naukowych, powstanie i rozwój nauki opisującej nasz świat byłyby niemożliwe.

ON THE INDISPENSABILITY OF SOCIAL AND CULTURAL FACTORS
FOR THE DEVELOPMENT OF SCIENCE

The aim of this paper is to defend the view that social and cultural factors
are indispensable for the development of science. The author maintains
that it is possible to emphasise the impossibility of creating science outside
society, but this does not necessarily lead to cultural or social relativism;
on the contrary, it is possible to reconcile such a view with scientific realism
and truth understood in the classical sense. This view is defended in
the following paragraphs by referring to the language, scientific practice
and the necessity of criticism in science, and by pointing in each case to
the socio-cultural context in which they function. It is claimed that without
the socially developed language necessary for the formulation of our
ideas and their exchange, the social practice that introduces us to scientific
research and enables it, and the criticism necessary for the development of
scientific theories, the emergence and development of a science describing
our world would be impossible.

Many approaches to reading that are common in schools focus narrowly on the skills and strategies that comprise the technical ability to read. In contrast, attention to reading identities prompts teachers to center children's ideas about what reading is and who they are as readers. In this article, the author draws on his own experiences with children in prekindergarten to examine the various aspects of children that together make them a reader, including how children conceptualize, perform, and experience reading, and how they connect reading to understandings of language and other aspects of their identities. The author describes approaches to learn about and assess children's reading identities that are based on his work in a prekindergarten classroom. These include intentional talk about reading, drawing about reading, observation during play and classroom activities, and family questionnaires. The author then provides guidance on how these assessments can inform classroom practices, and how teachers can account for the role of identities as they plan instruction for and support early reading.

While university participation has widened, retention and success rates remain lower for some diverse Australian undergraduate cohorts, e.g. students from low socioeconomic status backgrounds, Indigenous students and students with disability. Institutional characteristics and culture are more important factors in attrition than student characteristics. This paper explores how universities could develop learning and teaching communities that are more inclusive through insights into some complex relationships between student diversity, academic roles and identities. Using a critical discursive psychology approach, we identified 12 different subject positions that Australian academics from 19 universities adopted in constructing their identities as teachers of students from diverse backgrounds. We critically discuss illustrative findings from one academic who adopted seven different subject positions to explore the impact of institutional context on social positioning and dynamics related to learning, teaching and student diversity. We conclude that a 'students-as-partners' approach could help universities to better recognise and value diversity.

In China, academic disciplines are generally divided into Arts and Sciences. The former includes literature, history, philosophy, economics, law, and management, while the latter covers natural sciences, engineering, medicine, and agriculture. Since China borrowed the former Soviet experience in the 1950s, there has always been an imbalance between Arts and Sciences. This is also the case in doctoral training, as shown in the distribution of doctorates. In 1996, the proportion of doctorates in Arts and Sciences were 15 per cent and 84.4 per cent respectively.

This study brings forward possible and likely truths that lie behind tenured academics' decisions to take voluntary redundancies despite their jobs involving edifying, rewarding and 'passion' work. In other words, the legality of the severance agreement stresses a voluntary motivation, a choice; but the actuality behind the decision points to a range of histories, of backstories. This researcher asked 12 mid-career academics why they really took redundancy packages. Their stories reveal a raft of themes now commonplace in the literature of the 'ruined university'. This paper aims to develop the theory that what appears at an institutional level to be voluntary is in fact as far from a choice as imaginable. It is risky to speak of 'truths' when my methodology is that of an interpretivist narrative enquiry into individuals' decisions to leave tenured positions via 'voluntary' redundancy. I will speak more explicitly about the epistemological and ethical components shortly. My reference to 'truths' needs contextualisation. It comes from my reflections on the methodological anti-positivism and resolute interpretivism of the anti-capitalist sociologist, Max Weber (1864-1920). I was drawn, particularly, to his 1915 description (in The Methodology of Social Sciences, trans. 1949, p.176) of 'the skeletal structure of causal attributions and truths' (das feste Skelett der kausale Zurechnung). Such 'attributions' , he maintained, lie behind the 'facade' of narrative history and their presence differentiates a work of knowing from a fiction. This led me to wonder how these fabrications, based on the superficial story (the facade), become the official stories. In other wordsand it is not possible to paraphrase without calling Foucault to mindofficial history is fabricated by the legalistic stories of the powerful. This historical process Behind voluntary redundancy in universities The stories behind the story Martin Andrew Otago Polytechnic At a time when universities internationally participate in continual processes of restructuring, repositioning and reprioritising, calls for 'voluntary' redundancy among teaching and learning staff become frequent events. Australian and New Zealand academics, whose stories inform this study, have, particularly, been made subject to severance, voluntary or otherwise, at a time when the modernised university has become the managed, neoliberalised university and, over time, the 'ruined' or 'toxic' university. This study is a narrative enquiry aiming to capture, represent and examine the stories of mid-and late-career higher education teaching professionals during this unsettling period of disturbance and flux. In the light of studies on 'voluntary' redundancy and scholarship critiquing the mechanisms of power and repression of the corporatised university, this researcher asked 12 mid-career academics why they really took redundancy packages with a view to exposing the experienced truth behind the official institutional story that academic professionals 'chose' voluntary redundancy packages.

Teoria rzeczywistości transgresyjnej analizuje, w jaki sposób jednostki kształtowane są przez społeczne systemy poznawcze, wpajane przez mentorów, takich jak rodzina, nauczyciele czy społeczeństwo. Te społeczne interakcje budują wewnętrzne mapy, które organizują percepcję świata, funkcjonując jako ontologiczne modele bytu i tożsamości. Mapy te wyznaczają granice poznawcze, które determinują, jak interpretujemy bodźce i doświadczenia. W miarę dojrzewania, jednostki mogą refleksyjnie oceniać te wzorce, ale rzadko przekraczają granice wyznaczone przez społeczne konstrukcje rzeczywistości.

Autor ozważa także, w jaki sposób systemy te mogą ulec destabilizacji w wyniku doświadczeń transgresyjnych, takich jak psychoza, transcendentne stany świadomości czy hiperrealność. W takich momentach struktury poznawcze nie nadążają za anomaliami, co prowadzi do dezintegracji świadomości. W kontekście teorii rzeczywistości transgresyjnej, kluczowe jest badanie sposobów, w jakie umysł negocjuje granice rzeczywistości oraz jak można je przekraczać, tworząc nowe mapy poznawcze.

This study brings forward possible and likely truths that lie behind tenured academics' decisions to take voluntary redundancies despite their jobs involving edifying, rewarding and 'passion' work. In other words, the legality of the severance agreement stresses a voluntary motivation, a choice; but the actuality behind the decision points to a range of histories, of backstories. This researcher asked 12 mid-career academics why they really took redundancy packages. Their stories reveal a raft of themes now commonplace in the literature of the 'ruined university'. This paper aims to develop the theory that what appears at an institutional level to be voluntary is in fact as far from a choice as imaginable. It is risky to speak of 'truths' when my methodology is that of an interpretivist narrative enquiry into individuals' decisions to leave tenured positions via 'voluntary' redundancy. I will speak more explicitly about the epistemological and ethical components shortly. My reference to 'truths' needs contextualisation. It comes from my reflections on the methodological anti-positivism and resolute interpretivism of the anti-capitalist sociologist, Max Weber (1864-1920). I was drawn, particularly, to his 1915 description (in The Methodology of Social Sciences, trans. 1949, p.176) of 'the skeletal structure of causal attributions and truths' (das feste Skelett der kausale Zurechnung). Such 'attributions' , he maintained, lie behind the 'facade' of narrative history and their presence differentiates a work of knowing from a fiction. This led me to wonder how these fabrications, based on the superficial story (the facade), become the official stories. In other wordsand it is not possible to paraphrase without calling Foucault to mindofficial history is fabricated by the legalistic stories of the powerful. This historical process Behind voluntary redundancy in universities The stories behind the story Martin Andrew Otago Polytechnic At a time when universities internationally participate in continual processes of restructuring, repositioning and reprioritising, calls for 'voluntary' redundancy among teaching and learning staff become frequent events. Australian and New Zealand academics, whose stories inform this study, have, particularly, been made subject to severance, voluntary or otherwise, at a time when the modernised university has become the managed, neoliberalised university and, over time, the 'ruined' or 'toxic' university. This study is a narrative enquiry aiming to capture, represent and examine the stories of mid-and late-career higher education teaching professionals during this unsettling period of disturbance and flux. In the light of studies on 'voluntary' redundancy and scholarship critiquing the mechanisms of power and repression of the corporatised university, this researcher asked 12 mid-career academics why they really took redundancy packages with a view to exposing the experienced truth behind the official institutional story that academic professionals 'chose' voluntary redundancy packages.

This article builds on the social justice and critical and emancipatory dimensions of practitioner inquiry in education. The aim is to demonstrate the potential and challenges of collaborative autoethnography for institutional change, transformative learning and norm critique. Taking Jack Mezirow’s and Paulo Freire’s theoretical framework as a starting point, I analyse four autoethnographic cases conducted by Swedish teachers. I demonstrate the ways in which autoethnography may help teachers realise their own silence and unresponsiveness regarding oppression related to ethnicity, gender, professional role and generational hierarchies in preschools and schools. The collaborative autoethnography also instigates teachers’ realisation of space-time dynamics and other institutionalised constraints and their constitutive power over practices, feelings, understandings and social relations. The transformative learning that has emerged from collaborative autoethnography has led us to recognise the necessity and challenges of conducting empirical analysis, engaging in self-reflection and dialogue, and transforming institutionalised and personal practices and norms. While bringing about institutional change has been challenging, individual and relational transformation has been more achievable. I argue that top-down initiated practitioner inquiry with colleagues and superiors at one’s workplace may be more challenging, and I also argue for the benefits of engaging in practitioner inquiry with people outside one’s own organisation.

procédures institutionnelles des établissements supérieurs découlant de la mise en oeuvre du processus de Bologne. Cet article examine dans quelle mesure ces pressions modifient la carrière du personnel académique ukrainien, leur investissement au quotidien et leur rôle dans la recherche universitaire et l'éducation. Des résultats indiquent que les universités ukrainiennes se situent au confluent de demandes contradictoires qui suscitent des stratégies d'adaptation et qu'elles menacent de miner les efforts nationaux pour moderniser le système de l'enseignement supérieur en Ukraine.

In recent years, local scholars have been playing an increasingly significant role in the global knowledge system. However, in the context of Vietnam, interaction and engagement between Vietnamese social sciences researchers (VSSRs) with the global academic world are limited despite efforts from the Vietnamese government and tertiary institutions. This study explores the barriers that prevent Vietnamese scholars engaging with the international academic community. Eighty-two Vietnamese scholars in various fields of social sciences responded to an online self-reporting questionnaire including 13 closed-ended and nine open-ended questions. The results show that various individual factors (e.g., the researchers’ inadequate proficiency in English or limited research capacities), organisational factors (e.g., the lack of a supportive research environment, the lack of funding and resources, and unsupportive policies), and broader factors (e.g., political censors or the tradition of social ...

El aumento de problemas de salud en el pueblo p’urhépecha se debe a la pérdida de su identidad en un contexto en el que las fallas de mercado al igual que las fallas del Estado contribuyen a su marginación. Esta investigación tiene el objetivo de mostrar cómo las empresas y organizaciones de base social y comunitaria que forman parte de la Economía Social y Solidaria surgen como respuesta ante estas fallas y, por tanto, contribuyen al cumplimiento del derecho a la salud y al buen vivir. Con metodología mixta (cuantitativa y cualitativa) en la forma de información estadística, entrevistas y de tipo documental, se caracteriza la situación actual de los establecimientos del sector salud en la región p’urhépecha. La actividad económica del sector salud en la región es muy diferenciada, siendo muy baja en algunos municipios; respecto a empresas de base social registradas formalmente en el directorio del Instituto Nacional de la Economía Social, no se encontró ninguna. Por otro lado, se identificaron organizaciones sociales con trabajo en salud que se pueden catalogar como parte de la economía social y que se encuentran al margen de la política gubernamental. La Economía Social y Solidaria como paradigma emergente del tercer sector (sector social) surge de forma casi natural como respuesta de la sociedad ante sus necesidades y ante fallas de mercado y de Estado. Organismos gubernamentales como el Instituto Nacional de la Economía Social deben tratar de conectar con estas iniciativas de forma que promuevan su sostenibilidad respetando su autonomía de gestión.

On the occasion of the 370th birthday of the student nations (osakunnat, nationerna) at the University of Helsinki, the authors of this anthology are wondering to what extent and in which way the student nations have contributed and still contribute to the educational task of the university, in the meaning of bringing up the students. It is the merit of the editor that this question runs as a nice connecting thread throughout the volume. In one of the editor’s own chapters the topic is dealt with more specifically, offering an historical overview of the role of the student nations (organized on a regional basis) and other kinds of student unions in transforming the students into (academic) citizens. Yet it is mainly through the personal memories of some seniors from different student nations that the educational task of those nations receives a more tangible and enlivened interpretation. When reflecting on how their activities within the student nations have had an impact on their l...

This journal article delves into the future of distance learning in Cambodia and the potential for collaboration with the Mekong-Lancang Open Education initiative. It explores how distance learning can successfully address the current issues the Cambodian educational system is currently facing. The article discusses the goals and opportunities for collaboration that the Mekong-Lancang Open Education initiative presents, as well as the difficulties and potential solutions involved in implementing distance learning in Cambodia. Moreover, the article also offers insightful case studies and best practices from other countries, offering valuable insights and lessons for Cambodia. Lastly, the article concludes with policy recommendations for the future of distance learning in Cambodia. Future research and studies should concentrate on continually evaluating and improving the Mekong-Lancang Open Education Initiative to ensure that it effectively meets the educational needs of students and educators.

Inspired by Thomas Kuhn's theory of paradigm shift and guided by Fairclough's model of critical discourse analysis (CDA), this paper is concerned with the turns of Translation Studies (TS) from a CDA perspective. It gives account of the way in which Polysystem theory as a nodal discourse redefined translation through the discursive processes of emergence and appropriation, contestation and hegemony, and recontextualization and colonization. This is done by conceptualizing the turns of TS as an order of discourse according to Fairclough's model. The paper attempts to show that the Polysystem theory, having been appropriated into TS, displaced the existing discourses within TS and redefined the methodological and epistemological status of translation by raising a cluster of new conceptual issues, which greatly contributed to the cultural turn in the field. It is concluded that a turn in TS occurs when the three areas of methodology, epistemology and ontology are redefined by discursive processes.

I n every edition of RiSTE we publish a contribution from a guest writer who has links with the Cass School of Education. Stephen J. Ball is Karl Mannheim Professor of the Sociology of Education at the Institute of Education, University of London and Editor of the Journal of Education Policy. His work is in 'policy sociology' and he has conducted a series of Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC)funded studies which focus on issues of social class and policy. Recent books include:

The academic profession in Cambodia has been under growing pressure to pursue excellence in higher education. Nonetheless, various interpretations of what constitutes excellence persist across the public and private sectors, as lecturers follow disparate goals in teaching and research at various jobs and institutions. For many, the diversity of perspectives creates ambiguity and unclear directions for translating academic excellence into quality contribution to social development in the country. This paper illustrates how multiple interpretations and concerns create challenges, inhibiting progress of the Cambodian academic profession and society at large. Qualitative data from national policy papers, personal observations, focus group and expert interviews, were engaged to shed light on the intricacies of competing priorities, and the deficiencies of institutional and systemic support for the scholarly aspirations of the local faculty. The findings in this paper indicate that the lecturers’ limited capacity for intellectually-stimulating scholarship is often coupled with their own hesitation about committing themselves to inquiry-oriented academic work. This study argues that policies on advancing academic excellence can be effective only when the quest for excellence in service is well-matched with enhanced quality of intellectual engagement.

Worldwide, markets challenge academics to keep their professional competency constantly improving. While in some countries governments, universities and individual scholars synergize their efforts to improve conditions for professional development, in others the stakeholders act in a chaotic and uncommitted manner. This paper examines the efforts of Cambodian policy-makers aimed at making structural alignments of interests, strategies, and resources at governmental and institutional levels in response to sporadic changes in academic labor markets. The qualitative research data shed light on a range of asynchronies generated by underinvestment in academic competence improvement and reliance on random actors that make choices in accordance with political circumstances, rather than professional norms. The Cambodian case stimulates thinking on what might be required to align national and institutional personnel policies and enhance opportunities for continued improvement of academic competence in a resource-deficient higher education system.

The internationalisation of higher education is a global imperative that impact on students and supervision practises. Cultural and language diversity as well as the dynamic characteristics of the learners in an Open Distant Learning environment has been given little concern (Lee, Driscoll, & Nelson, 2004) and the impact is not always taken into account. When implementing a scholarship development programme across language, cultural and socioeconomic borders these factors should be taken into consideration as it may affect supervisory practices and thus the success of such a programme. Implementing a masters' programme to enhance scholarship development in a resource poor African context through Open Distant Learning therefore is challenging. Effective supervision was essential in supervising masters' students in the Democratic Republic of Congo in an ODL context. Supervision in a language not mutually understood by me, the supervisor, and students challenged the traditional western methodology and paradigms. A qualitative narrative reflection was done to critically reflect on the challenges faced and to initiate the innovative ideas that emerged from this experience. The Western body of knowledge and dominant logic were challenged in my supervisory practice. New research methodology and paradigms to enhance distant education research were initiated and implemented.

This article is a collective project. It is a rhizome-article that is an assemblage of five heterogeneous essays that trouble dominant practices of assessment, generally, but also within the context of the Covid-19 pandemic. The authors problematise standardisation, measurement, quantification, and other technologies of performativity that dominate contemporary assessment practices in schools and universities. In the essays, the authors invigorate lines of flight from dominant assessment practices and do so in the interest of assessment that is more humane and socially just. They point out that, as with anything else, a rhizome-article also has lines of articulation/connection and invite readers to invigorate these as they read the essays. The authors of this article draw on the works of several scholars but do so to think with them rather than having their work framed by them.

This paper explores the reasons for the author's reluctance to bring examples of her own poetry into her practice as teacher educator on a program for adult literacy tutors. The paper begins with the author's poem, "The Place of Poetry," which is used as a tool for reflection on the author's assumptions about her identities as poet and as educator. The paper ends with poems written by the author's students, which demonstrate that the use of poetry in education has the potential to facilitate transformative learning. The Place of Poetry To avoid embarrassment, poetry should keep itself to itself. It should be private, not shout out loud or pretend that it can sing. There's virtue in the repetitive detail of a daisy, or the simplicity of a tulip; you must agree that orchids are utterly tasteless and profane. Poetry should sit quietly in a corner, knees to its chest, fiddling with its hair. It should make no jerky movements, or appear too suddenly. It should be obedient, perform decorously when requested, and be silent and calm. It should never ever strut about proudly, or dare to overwhelm you; it's just a lesser trickle and never a wave.

The article discusses the issue of the postsecular turn in contemporary anthropology, taking into account the cultural processes involved in its emergence. The author attempts to identify research areas and issues worthy of exploring within this turn, and at the same
time she considers the boundary conditions for its usefulness in scientific research. Referring to the recent anthropological literature on this topic, the author distinguishes two leading epistemological attitudes involved in this turn: the one that acknowledges the supernatural dimension of revelation and the one that sees it as a social fact. Both are heterogenous
and each sees the relationship between anthropology and theology differently. Discussing some anthropological views in this regard, the author aims to revive the dialogue between researchers from various social and human sciences representing the postsecular turn.
On the one hand, this dialogue can initiate new paths of mutual inspiration and co-thinking; on the other hand, it may lead to more conscious distinctions between different varieties of postsecular reflection.

My chapter offers a creative interpretation of my experiences and interests to explore how doctoral research has impacted on me and how my past has shaped my understanding of research and research impact. I invite the reader to join in a playful exploration, through my allegorical relationship with wolves, of what it means to become an academic. If we want to understand the impact of our research, we first need to understand ourselves. I draw on an amorphous body of literature, from diverse sources such as children's author Enid Blyton; Jungian psychologist, Pinkola Estes; and Children's Geographies, long

Doctoral education is the higher level of education in the education systems. Associated with education comes the pedagogy that is implemented and the supervision process. In this research work, we start to study the pedagogy and the supervision practices that were perceived by doctoral students in a specific population Science Education PhD. First, an exploratory survey was applied to PhD students that were participating in a national meeting of Science Education for young researchers. Secondly a similar survey was applied, but in another specific context –students enrolled in Science Education PhD at Nova Lisbon University (UNL). Some similarities were found: the pedagogy perceived by students and the evidence that students’ don ́t monitor or evaluate the research process during the PhD. In addition, some differences were also verify not only in the supervision practices, but as well as in the supervisor engage in the PhD research process.

A solid pedagogy can ensure the achievement of the learning outcomes set for any university qualification, whether at undergraduate or postgraduate level. Currently there is an urgent need for a wider consideration of appropriate pedagogies for doctoral programmes. This paper looks in particular at the characteristics of professional doctorates, which are typically studied part-time and focus on researching a professional setting. Based on the needs of these programmes, it proposes a learning-centred blended mode of delivery that fosters students’ engagement with activities anchored in the set learning outcomes. The range of activities aims at facilitating the multiple interactions necessary for competent researchers by making use of the resources, tools and spaces within two main learning environments: the virtual and the physical. This model prompts universities to consider appropriate pedagogies for the delivery of professional doctorates and suggests the need to ensure the align...

This exploratory study determined PhD completions at a research-intensive university in New Zealand and considered factors affecting PhD completions. Completion data were calculated for PhD cohorts at the University of Otago from 2000 to 2012 (n = 2770) and survival models determined whether gender, enrolment status, age at admission, citizenship, scholarship status and academic field influenced completion. The impact of the doctoral programme and the research environment was also considered. Across all cohorts, 83% submitted their thesis for examination (17% withdrawal). The median submission time was 3.4 years for full-timers, with a median completion time (to award of degree) of 4.1 years. Survival modelling showed that completion can be enhanced by having mainly full-time candidates, but also allowing periods of part-time enrolment near submission, recruiting a large international cohort, and providing three year scholarships. Health science candidates had the highest submission percentages, while commerce candidates submitted in the fastest times. There were only minor or negligible effects of gender and age at admission. Other factors contributing to high submission rates included recruiting quality candidates, close monitoring during candidature, provision of research training, a vibrant research culture, a personal performance coach, high-quality supervision and funding incentives for candidates who submit in under four years.

This paper analyses the 'border' position of counselling services in Italian universities. The concept of 'border' has great relevance in the work of psychoanalytically oriented university students' counsellors. Counselling is part of a continuum of interventions, from befriending to psychotherapy. This closeness encompasses the need for identifying specificities and differences among interventions. Moreover, a university counselling service occupies a 'marginal' position, continuously confronted with the risks of rejection and/or assimilation. The concept of 'border' is also useful to define the developmental phase of university students, crossing the border between late adolescence and young adulthood, as represented by Conrad's novel The shadow line (1917/1999), recently analysed by Green (2008) as the metaphoric demarcation line between youth and adulthood. Finally, most of the students referring to our counselling service come from families that for the first time crossed the border of university education.

The San Jose Gateway PhD program is a doctoral partnership between the School of Information at San Jose State University (SJSU) in the USA, and the Information Systems School at the Queensland University of Technology (QUT) in Australia. Because of Californian legislation, SJSU has not been able to offer PhD degrees. The Gateway Program therefore provides a research pathway for SJSU’s coursework students. It also helps the School to grow the research capacity of academic staff. For QUT, the Program provides the opportunity to advance research agendas and to build strong international connections and partnerships. The Program began in 2008. It is a distance-delivered cohort-based scheme with new students commencing in August of each year. All students are enrolled as part-time students in QUT’s Doctor of Philosophy. Each student is assigned supervisors from both universities. In addition to individual and group supervisory meetings, all students and supervisors meet in a virtual mee...

This dissertation research explores the complexity of transformations of academic lives and academic identities along the multiple, non-linear, conflicting, and paradoxical trajectories of the pre-Soviet, Soviet, and post-Soviet times and spaces. Academic literature on the post-Soviet transformations of higher education has usually focused on structural reforms and policy changes, as well as their compatibility with the European and Western higher education policy agenda. Guided by the theoretical insights from the decolonial and post-Socialist transformation studies, this dissertation research intends to decenter the education policies and reforms from being a focal point of analysis; instead, it spotlights the transformation of Georgian academics through their memories, lived experiences, and imaginations about the future. The study offers insights into personal and collective experiences of being and becoming an academic in the process of navigating the evolving historical, political, cultural, and institutional contexts at three public universities in Georgia. Drawing on the narrative-ethnographic methodology, this study explores the complicated scenes and nuances of Georgian academic space by portraying how academics construct, reconstruct, adjust, resist, negotiate, and reinvent their academic selves during the post-Soviet transformations. Diffractive analysis of the narratives and ethnographic observations illustrates multiple intra-actions of academic identities through various temporal and spatial reconfigurations, revealing that the Soviet past is not left behind, and the European future is not that certain. Instead, the liminal academic space is haunted by the (re)awakened pasts and (re)imagined futures, and their inseparability enacts various co-existing scenarios of defuturing and refuturing of academic identities.

In this study, the Heteroglossic-Engagement patterns are identified in 20MRAswritten in English by Iraqi academic researchers and publishedin Engineering and technology journal which issued in the University of Technology. The study aims at exploring the construal of Engagement in academic writing. In doing so, a comprehensive manual analysis has been done by using Engagement subsystem of Martin and White (2005) appraisal framework. The study investigates how the academic researchers can manipulate Heteroglossic patterns to engage with the alternative voices in the text in order to discuss, challenge, or advocate these studies. The findings showthe predominant of Contractive patternscomparedwith the Expansive patterns. The study avoids generalization and recommends a large corpus study to indicate more linguistic variation.

Public Affairs, was the first to encourage and support the development of this idea from its inception and has been a stalwart supporter throughout the work. Most importantly, recognition and gratitude are due to the eighty women and five Visiting Fellows who took the time to speak to us about their lives. They trusted us with intimacies and ideas; they shared their thoughts for the women who follow. This report draws on their accounts.