Social Theory and the Politics of Higher Education brings together an international group of scholars who shine a theoretical light on the politics of academic life and higher education. The book covers three key areas: 1) Institutional governance, with a specific focus on issues such as measurement, surveillance, accountability, regulation, performance and institutional reputation. 2) Academic work, covering areas such as the changing nature of academic labour, neoliberalism and academic identity, and the role of gender and gender studies in university life. 3) Student experience, which includes case studies of student politics and protest, the impact of graduate debt and changing student identities. The editors and chapter authors explore these topics through a theoretical lens, using the ideas of Michel Foucault, Niklas Luhmann, Barbara Adams, Donna Massey, Margaret Archer, Jürgen Habermas, Pierre Bourdieu, Hartmut Rosa, Norbert Elias and Donna Haraway, among others. The case studies, from Africa, Europe, Australia and South America, draw on a wide range of research approaches, and each chapter includes a set of critical reflections on how social theory and research methodology can work in tandem.
Moving beyond the theories traditionally used to describe college student development, this engaging book introduces social psychological theories that address the most relevant issues in higher education today. Covering theories of ecological systems, sense of belonging, prejudice and discrimination, positive psychology, social capital, personality theory, mentoring, and hope theory, this book promotes the understanding and application of social psychological theories to various higher education contexts. Examples from diverse student populations encourage learners’ application to situations in their own contexts. Comprehensive enough to be used as a main text but accessible enough to be used alongside another, this important textbook bridges research, theory, and practice to help practicing and aspiring higher education and student affairs professionals effectively work with college students. Special Features Include: • Reflective exercises that combine theory and practice and help students apply their knowledge solving problems. • Case studies and scenarios for further connections to the reader’s university and college settings. • Guiding questions that encourage students to think beyond the current literature and practice. • List of further readings and references for readers to explore topics in more depth.
This open access book offers a unique and refreshing view on working with social theory in higher education. Using engaging first-person accounts coupled with critical intellectual analysis, the authors demonstrate how theory is grappled with as part of an ongoing practice rather than a momentary disembodied encounter. In a structure that creates a space for relational dialogue, each chapter is followed by a response from another author, demonstrating the varied interpretive possibilities of social theory. Collectively the authors invite the reader to engage with them in questioning the usefulness of social theory in higher education teaching and research, in considering its possibilities and limits, and in experiencing the opportunity it offers to understand ourselves and our work differently. Written in a way that is scholarly yet accessible, the contributors explore how social theories can be used to think through issues that are emerging as key social and political concerns in higher education and beyond. The book will be of interest to advanced undergraduates, postgraduates, and early-career academics, as well as established scholars.
How do we understand and explain who has access to higher education? How do we make sense of persisting and new forms of inequality? How can global, national and institutional policymakers and practitioners make higher education more inclusive? Access to Higher Education: Theoretical perspectives and contemporary challenges seeks to update thinking on these questions, combining new voices and emerging perspectives with established writers in the field. This pioneering text highlights the contribution of social theory to issues of access to education, with chapters introducing and drawing on the works of key interdisciplinary thinkers including Pierre Bourdieu, Margaret Archer, Amartya Sen and Herbert Simon. It then moves to examines how theoretical perspectives can be applied to the contemporary challenges of forging more equal access, with examples drawn from a wide range of contexts, including the UK, the US, Australia, South Africa and Japan. Global in scope, this book documents the shared nature of the access challenge in a period when higher education is growing rapidly, but inequalities continue to be stark. It concludes by proposing a new direction for research and a reassertion of the role of the researcher as a social activist for disconnected and disadvantaged groups, equipped with the thinking tools needed to move the agenda forward. Access to Higher Education is a rigorous text for the global research community, with relevance to policymakers, practitioners and postgraduate students interested in social justice and social policy. It provides those with an academic interest in access and a commitment to enhancing policy with theoretical and practical ideas for moving the access agenda forward in their institutional, regional or national contexts.
Transformation of the University imagines preferable futures for the university, building hope for the institution’s necessary transformation. It transcends old criticisms and presents fresh ideas on how the institution might be conceived, organised and put into practice while safeguarding that which makes it a university – the pursuit of knowledge. This book is divided into three main parts: Part One – ‘Knowledge’ assumes the role of the university in generating knowledge for the benefit of society; Part Two – ‘Cultural Growth’ expands on how the university might contribute to and benefit from the cultural growth of society, with both explicit and implicit connections to social and epistemic (in)justice; and Part Three – ‘Institutions’ focuses on imaginative processes for enacting the university as an institution that meets the unforeseen future challenges facing societies around the world. With contributions from scholars across the world, Transformation of the University is an essential read for all academics, practitioners, institutional leaders and broad social thinkers who are concerned with the future of the university and its contributions to society.
Published annually since 1985, the Handbook series provides a compendium of thorough and integrative literature reviews on a diverse array of topics of interest to the higher education scholarly and policy communities. Each chapter provides a comprehensive review of research findings on a selected topic, critiques the research literature in terms of its conceptual and methodological rigor, and sets forth an agenda for future research intended to advance knowledge on the chosen topic. The Handbook focuses on twelve general areas that encompass the salient dimensions of scholarly and policy inquiries undertaken in the international higher education community. The series is fortunate to have attracted annual contributions from distinguished scholars throughout the world.
This book celebrates the contributions of John Weidman and his colleagues to the understanding of student socialization in higher education. It includes innovative chapters reflecting new approaches to higher education student socialization with respect to students of color, gender, STEM, and students in higher education systems outside the USA. Specifically, the book examines socialization between and within in a range of groups, including national, international and minority students, parents, doctoral students, early career faculty, and scholarly practitioners. The book assesses methodological approaches and suggests directions for reformulating theory and practice. Using sociological perspectives to address issues and concerns at both the undergraduate and graduate levels, the book gives renewed life to the college impact literature. It includes revisions and expansions of the original Weidman frameworks based on the synthesis of existing research with new work reflecting unique perspectives by a variety of authors. John Weidman has been an indisputable force in the study and understanding of student socialization in higher education. This new book by Weidman and his coeditor, Linda DeAngelo, represents an undeniably significant and welcomed expansion of the original “Weidman model” of student socialization. In updating and revising the original model, chapter authors give attention to various contemporary issues such as student diversity, gender differences, early career experiences, and internationalism. Whether one samples only some of the articles that constitute this book or reads all of them, the professional payoff will be substantial. Kenneth A. Feldman, Professor of Sociology, Stony Brook University John Weidman has made a number of groundbreaking contributions to our understanding of student socialization in postsecondary education. This book, edited with Linda DeAngelo, brings together a group of fine scholars whose contributions will push our understanding even further. It is a significant addition to the college impact literature. Ernest T. Pascarella, Petersen Chair in Higher Education, University of Iowa
Activity Theory is a tool that can help make sense of the complex changes taking place in higher education because of the integration of technology. Unlike other theories, it allows for a focus that includes elements in the social, cultural, and historical setting in which the technology is used. In addition, it supports consideration of the practices of individual students and educators as well as practices at the institutional level. Activity Theory Perspectives on Technology in Higher Education presents a compelling theory that will be useful for researchers, academics, policy makers, administrators, and instructors interested in understanding and controlling the shifts that are occurring in education due to the integration of technology.