Educators are crucial for student success in higher education, yet they often experience high levels of occupational stress which threaten their wellbeing. Informed by a conceptual framework ...initially developed for addressing worker wellbeing in the healthcare sector, another sector where workers experience high levels of occupational stress, this article explores how educator wellbeing is influenced by factors within the teaching environment, institutional environment and the external environment. Through an integrative review of existing literature, this article synthesises their findings to identify work system factors, individual factors, and outcomes and consequences of educator wellbeing across these domains. The resulting framework offers practical guidance for universities to identify, assess and respond to potential threats to educator wellbeing, ultimately enhancing the prospects of student success and meeting organisational goals without compromising the wellbeing of educators.
Research has repeatedly shown that quality of instruction and positive student–faculty interaction are significant contributors to student success and wellbeing in higher education. However, as ...additional workload expectations and resource constraints continue to impact higher education globally, there are growing concerns about stress, workload, burnout and intention to leave academia which have significant implications for the wellbeing of both students and educators. This special issue of Student Success explores the vital contribution of educator wellbeing to student success, and approaches to improving it.
Image: Staff on strike at the University of Newcastle, Australia, 2022. https://betteruniversities.work/uon
Image used with the permission of the NTEU Office (NSW)
Teaching evaluation is deeply entrenched in institutional quality assurance and is a feature of a range of policies including academic recruitment, promotion, and performance management. Universities ...must ensure that evaluation practices meet regulatory requirements, while balancing student voice and wellbeing. There is extensive literature examining the validity, reliability, and bias of student surveys, but limited focus on institutional evaluation strategies and what constitutes best practice. This study analyses and reports on the teaching evaluation strategies and practices of Australian and New Zealand universities. All 29 participating institutions use standardised and centrally deployed surveys to evaluate teaching and participated in external student experience surveys to benchmark nationally. Comparisons are provided between the strategic intent of evaluation; survey practices, technology, analysis, and reporting; and the use of other nonsurvey methods. The study informs higher education institutions' evaluation strategy, policies, and practice and provides an agenda for reframing approaches to evaluation of teaching.
Teaching philosophy statements articulate educators’ beliefs about what makes learning happen. They can be powerful tools in identifying assumptions about teaching, articulating our values as ...educators, and connecting to a community within and across disciplines. Teaching philosophy statements are often an integral part of job applications, promotion and tenure processes, teaching development, and teaching awards. By developing a philosophy and discussing it with colleagues, educators can improve their practice through the process of reflection, dialogue, and engagement with scholarship of learning and teaching. The recipients of the 2020 JME Lasting Impact Award are companion articles “Philosophy rediscovered: Exploring the connections between teaching philosophies, educational philosophies, and philosophy” and “Finding our roots: An exercise for creating a personal teaching philosophy statement” by Beatty et al. These articles have had a profound and sustained impact on management education and other disciplines by furthering understandings of teaching philosophies and their connection to effective teaching and learning. Analysis of subsequent teaching philosophy statement research identifies three strands of inquiry: how to develop a teaching philosophy, the role of teaching philosophies in graduate education, and the relationship between teaching philosophies and continuous professional development. The impact of the papers and areas for future research are canvassed.
It is well established that women bear greater caring responsibilities than men, however little is known about how this care work influences the decision-making processes of female carers who are ...considering Higher Education (HE). These deliberations occur well before women commit to enrolling and frequently result in carers making decisions to delay or not pursue HE, with consequences for their own careers and the persistence of gender inequalities more broadly. A scoping review of academic literature published since 1980 which followed the PRISMA-ScR process for scoping reviews was conducted to answer the research question “What is the scope of the literature regarding the influence of caregiver responsibilities on Australian women’s tertiary education decision making processes?” Studying the literature in one national context enabled the influences of personal as well as contextual influences to be identified. The results show that very little is known about
how
women who have caring responsibilities make decisions about whether or not to undertake HE studies. Important issues were identified such as the lack of a clear definition of carer and recognition of this cohort as an equity group. A complex array of personal, cultural and structural factors which may enable women’s HE decisions were identified, including the desire to achieve personal life goals, the encouragement and support of family members and supportive workplaces. However, constraints such as competing time demands, the continuing prevalence of traditional gendered expectations and idealised notions of HE students as unencumbered were also noted. No studies directly addressed decision-making processes, or how the many elements combined to influence female carers prior to enrolment. The paucity of research points to an urgent need for studies which will address the gaps in knowledge. This review points to new directions in research and decision-making theories to encompass the role of context and care in decisions, and provides some advice meanwhile to inform career practitioners, HE providers and career researchers.
This study examines the utility of a new method of analysing and reporting qualitative student survey comments. Visualisations of the sentiment of and key themes from qualitative student survey ...comments were developed for 34 subjects from two undergraduate health sciences courses undergoing transformation. The course and subject visualisation reports were provided to academics who were members of the two course transformation teams. Utilising focus groups and semi-structured interview methodology, we examined academic perspectives on the potential usefulness of this new method of analysing and reporting qualitative comments from student evaluations of teaching (SET). Results indicate that visualisations are considered useful for focussing educators' attention on themes in qualitative comments rather than on individual negative comments. However, educators did not support use of the visualisations at this stage, citing concerns about the accuracy of sentiment analysis and the validity of SET surveys. There were many opportunities identified through the focus groups for future improvements to a visualisation technique for reporting student survey results.
PurposeThis paper explores how education and training systems can support a digitally-enabled workforce for the Australian manufacturing sector.Design/methodology/approachThe study is based on ...interviews with 17 sector-level manufacturing stakeholders from industry, government and education/training organisations. Semi-structured interviews were conducted to gain an in-depth understanding of how education and training systems currently support a digitally-enabled manufacturing workforce as well as opportunities for alternative configurations or developments.FindingsAnalysis revealed three themes reflecting core dimensions of a supportive education and training system: partnerships, pedagogy and prospects. Cooperative, integrated and sustained partnerships are needed between vocational education and training (VET) institutions, universities, government, industry, high schools and private training providers. Pedagogy emphasises the vital importance of infusing curriculum with digital and technology skills and capabilities, alongside innovative and experiential delivery modes including simulated environments, online learning, on-the-job training, flexible delivery and micro-credentials. Prospects reflects the need for forward-looking assessment and planning to respond to industry trends and develop associated qualifications, skills and investments required to meet future industry needs.Originality/valueWith growing demand for digitally-enabled skills to support manufacturing, an industry which is acknowledged as critical for economic prosperity and national sovereignty, the findings contribute novel insights into current limitations and future opportunities to bridge the gap between skills shortages in the manufacturing industry, and education and training systems that deliver graduate readiness and a digitally-enabled workforce.
This study investigates the perceived benefits to industry experts who engage with academics to co-create higher education learning resources. Academics are increasingly impelled to involve industry ...experts in learning and teaching to ensure that curriculum is authentic and relevant and prepares students for future professional careers. While benefits to students are well established by prior research, individual-level research into industry experts’ motivations to contribute to higher education is scant. When approached to co-create authentic learning resources for postgraduate students, industry experts expressed motivations which focused on three areas: desire to maintain valued relationships with academics or the university, desire to improve the student experience by developing innovative learning resources to bridge the gap between theory and practice and desire to build and promote their profession. In-depth, semi-structured interviews with nine human resource management industry experts identified that the benefits of co-creating learning resources went beyond their stated motivations to include unanticipated benefits which can be explained by the professionalism literature. We outline a taxonomy of benefits for industry experts engaging in co-creating authentic learning resources: students, the professional self, the professional community and the organisation. The implications are that universities and academics may draw on these broader benefits to encourage industry experts to participate in higher education learning resource development. The study provides insights into the potential for industry experts to engage in professional self-reflection by contributing to higher education teaching and learning.
Purpose
Employee reward is central to contemporary debates about work and employment relations; and in the context of ongoing wage stagnation, benefits represent a growing proportion of total reward ...value. Past studies have shown that when employees perceive benefits as unfair, this has a negative impact on engagement, performance and retention. Yet no previous studies have explored the components of a benefits system that influence employees’ fairness concerns. Using organisational justice as a theoretical lens, the purpose of this paper is to examine how dimensions of an employee benefits system influence the fairness perceptions of employees.
Design/methodology/approach
This paper reports on a qualitative, inductive case study of the benefits system in a large finance and insurance company, drawing on three data sources: interviews with the company’s benefits managers, organisational documents and open-text responses from a benefits survey.
Findings
Three dimensions of the benefits system strongly influenced fairness perceptions – constraints on accessing and utilising benefits; prosocial perceptions about the fairness of benefits to third parties; and the transparency of employee benefits.
Practical implications
The study informs organisations and benefits managers about the important role of supervisors in perceived benefits usability, and how benefits may be managed and communicated to enhance employee fairness perceptions.
Originality/value
This study makes a conceptual contribution to the benefits literature through a detailed exploration of the type of organisational justice judgements that employees make about benefits; and identifying for the first time prosocial fairness concerns about the impact of benefits on third parties.
